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MEMENTOS OF PIONEER DAYS 



I 



THE 

PIONEER HISTORY 

OF 

POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA, 

FROM THE TIME OF ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT 
TO THE PRESENT TIME, IN 

THREE PERIODS: 

I. 1855-1869, PERIOD OF EARLY SETTLEMENT BY THE PIONEERS. 

II. 1870-1882, PERIOD OB" ORGANIZATION AND EARLY RAILWAY. 

CONSTRUCTION. 

III. 1883-1904, PERIOD OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

INCLUDING 

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, TOWN AND 

IMPORTANT BUSINESS ENTERPRISE; BIOGRAPHICAL 

SKETCHES OF THE LEADING CITIZENS; AND 

AN INTERESTING OUTLINE OF THE 

EARLY HISTORY OF IOWA. 

BY 

ROBERT E FLICKINGER, A. B., B. D. 
Pastor of the Presbyterian church, Fonda, 1886-1902. 

AND PUBLISHED BY 

GEORGE SANBORN 
Editor and proprietor of the Fonda Times, 1879-1900. 



PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS, VIEWS AND THE POR- 
TRAITS OF OVER 450 PERSONS. 



Fonda, Iowa, 

THE TIMES PRINT, 
1904. 



?l» 



-IBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Keceived 

DEC 27 iS04 

Copyngfli tntry 

CLASS a- XXc, No; 

COPY B. 



Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1898 and in 1904 by 
GEORGE SANBORN 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



i"» 




GEORGE SANBORN. 



Member of Co. E., 4th Wis. Inf. and Cav. January 1, 1861 to June 19, 1866 ; Editor and 
Proprietor of the Pocahontas, now Fonda, Times from November 1, 1879 to January 
1, 1901. 



REV. ROBERT E. FLICK1NGER. 



Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Fonda, Oct. 1, 1886 to July 6, 1902; Stated Clerk 
and Treasurer of the Presbytery of Fort Dodge, July 1, 1892 to 1904; Moderator of the 
Presbyterian Synod of Iowa, 1901-02; Director of the Iowa State Temperance Alliance for 
the 10th Congressional District, 1890-94; Secretary of the Pocahontas County Temperance 
Alliance, 1888-1902; Secretary of the Fonda Bible Society, 1889-1904; Trustee of Buena 
Vista College and of the Presbytery of Fort Dodge; Organizer in 1901 of the movement to 
secure a reasonable time limit to consent petitions under the Mulct law of Iowa. 



THIS VOLUME 

is 

RESPECTFULLY 

Dedicated to the memory 

Of the hardy PIONEERS, who, coming from 

England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, 

Denmark, Germany, Bohemia and other countries or eastern 

States,patiently and heroically endured the privations and hardships, 

Incident to dwelling in humble CABINS, far out on the frontier, while 

They converted the wild prairies into fertile fields.planted groves.estab- 

lished schools, BETTER HOMES AND CHURCHES; and thus 

Laid the foundation of the progressive civilization that is 

Now enjoyed by the happy and prosperous people of 

POCAHONTAS COUNTY, 

IOWA. 



The busiest life is but 

A chisel stroke of the Omnipotent; 

Enough for thee to make the little stroke; 

The Sculptor's eye is on the final touch. 

Have faith and wait, and waiting know this much, 

If error be not mightier than the truth, 

And wrong than right, and hell than heaven, then truth 

And right and heaven shall win; else God wills not 

To have them win. It must be the 

Omnipotent will yet demonstrate His 

Omnipotence, when once Hie will has stamped 

Its die upon the page of history, 

— T. NlELD. 



PREFACE. 



We will not wait until your heart shall cease 

To throb with human hopes and cares and fears, 

Before we wish you all the joys of peace 

A'nd happiness, to crown your ripening years; 

No! While your heart is warm, and beats with ours, 
We bring our love, our friendship arid our flowers. 

— Mks. McVean Adams, 




|HE author, after passing through a couple of periods of illness 
from which recovery seemed doubtful, has lived to see the 
'completion of the Pioneer History of Pocahontas County, 
while a number, some of whom were valuable helpers in the 
preparation of this work at the beginning, have completed 
.the period of their earthly existence and passed to the en- 
joyment of their eternal reward. The preparation and pub- 
lication of this volume have required many times the time, 
labor and expense anticipated, when it was undertaken. That which was 
undertaken as a pleasurable and useful employment for spare moments in 
pastoral and presbyterial work, has detained him as a resident of the county 
two years after the close of a delightful and honored pastorate of sixteen 
years at Fonda. But if the task has been long— a severe test to the author's 
patience, perseverance and power of endurance — the opportunity of placing 
so many of his fellow travelers through this world in a pretty historic setting 
has been greatly appreciated, and the work has constantly enlisted his best 
endeavor to make it a complete and worthy tribute of loving affection, to the 
memory of the hardy pioneers of Pocahontas county. 

Things That Endure. 

It is delightful to have an opportunity of doing something in this world 
that will endure longer than our short and uncertain lives. All have the 
longing desire to be kindly remembered. "If we work upon marble," said 
Webster, ''it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear 
temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, 
if we imbue them with principles — with the just fear of God and love of our 
fellow men— we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten all 
eternity." Some things quite evanescent, may yet leave an enduring im- 
pression. A rose has but a brief existence and yet it may leave a touch of 
beauty on the hearts of those who behold it. Charles Kingsley wrote, "Never 
lose an opportunity of saying anything beautiful. Welcome beauty in every 
fair face, every fair sky and every fair flower; thank Him for it, who is the 
fountain of all loveliness; and enjoy it as a feast, a cup of blessing." Some- 
times the most transient things leave touches of beauty on the lives of 
others, or put inspirations toward sweeter and better living into their hearts. 



Viii PIONEEEi HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

It is possible to live so that many things we do shall last. In the sphere 
of unseen things, results are rated not according to dollars but moral values. 
There is no immortality to vanity and self-seeking. Only that which is in- 
spired by love for others and is calculated to make the world better will 
endure. It ought to be one of the deepest longings of every heart to leave in 
this world something that will last and continue a source of comfort and 
blessing to others. Good and great thoughts are immortal. They can no 
more be buried than they can be burned or hanged. They are not affected by 
time, but are as fresh today as when they were uttered or expressed. George 
Eliott very truthfully writes, 

Oh, may I join the choir invisible, 

Of those immortal dead, who live again 
In minds made better by their presence; live 

In pulses stirred to generosity, 
In deeds of daring rectitude, 

In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, 
And by their mild persistence urge man's search 
To vaster issues; so to live is heaven. 
Nearly every schoolboy knows the familiar lines that tell of the immor- 
tality of kind words. 

'•Kind words can never die, 

Cherished and blest. 
God knows how deep they lie, 
Stored in the breast." 
"Heaven and earth shall pass away," said Jesus, "but my words shall not 
pass away." A good book also possesses the essence of immortality and will 
survive the decay and ruin of many other things. We are passing througn 
the world but once, and 

"For me to have made one soul 

The better for my birth, 
To have added but one flower 

To the garden of earth; 
To have sown in the souls of men 
One thought that will not die, 
To have been a link in the chain of life, 
Shall be immortality." 

The Spirit of the Pioneer. 

The pioneers of Pocahontas county were principally tillers of the soil. 
In every country the life of the pioneer has been a struggle— a battle for life; 
but here, after a few short years of privation, they were more than conquer- 
ors. Here they found the bountiful earth, the teeming mother of riches. 
This fertile soil, splendid. water j and bracing climate; these Iowa prairies — 
the sod of ages, full of rich, organic matter, the debris of thousands of crops 
of luxuriant grass — formed the prophecy and also the basis of their subse- 
quent prosperity. Their history serves to show that it is a good policy to 
"stick to the farm," and that it is possible to "make the farm pay." The 
number of those, who have accumulated clever fortunes ranging from ten to 
thirty or more thousands of dollars on the farms in Pocahontas county, is 
many times the number of those, who have accumulated similar fortunes by 
embarking in business in the towns of the county. 

"They also built churches where today they stand, 

For all the people lent a willing hand, 

And, when the sabbath bell summoned to prayer, 

The worldliest put away their week-day cire; 

And nocked from miles around to hear the word. 

And hither came a man with snowy hair; 

He preached and they believed the holy things they heard. 

These were the men — not men but higher powers, — 

Whose hardy sinews, stiffening into steel, 

Grappling with the wilderness, made it a garden bower, 

And laid the sure foundation of the commonweal." 
"The old pioneer davs," in the language of President Roosevelt at the 
dedication of the building for the Lousiana Purchase Exposition, May 10, 



PREFACE. IX 

1903, "are gone with their roughn iss, their hardships, their incredible toil 
and their wild, half savage romance. But the need lor the pioneer virtues re- 
mains the same. The peculiar frontier conditions have vanished, but the 
manliness and stalwart hardihood of the frontiersmen can be given even 
freer scope under the conditions surrounding the complex industrialism of 
the present day. The old days were great, because the men who lived in 
them had mighty qualities; and we must make the new days great by mani- 
festing the same qualities. We must insist upon courage and resolution, upon 
hardihood, tenacity and fertility in resource; we must iusist upon the strocg, 
virile virtues; and we must insist no less upon the virtues of self-restraint, 
self-mastery and regard for the rights of others; we must show our abhorrence 
of cruelty, brutality and corruption in both public and private life." The 
hardy spirit of the pioneer is manifested in the present time by a readiness to 
advance along every way, that will secure new conquests for truth and right- 
eousness, blazing the path and marking the 7*ay. 

"Ob, blessed is he to whom is given, 
The instinct that can tr.ll, 

That God is on the field, when He 
Is most invisible. 

And blessed is he who can tell, 
Where real right doth lie, 

And dares to take the side, that seems 
Wrong to man's blindfold eye." 
The successful men of Pocahontas county are presented to the reader in 
such a way in this volume, that 1 he story of their struggles and achieve- 
ments, like a voice from the past, tells how it was done. The veil of mystery 
has been drawn aside and the reader is told plainly the methods adopted by 
those, who have achieved the highest degree of success. Here the agricul- 
turist or farmer will learn how the best results have been achieved on Poca- 
hontas county farms. Here the horticulturist, or fruit grower, may learn 
the conditions of successful fruit culture in this county. Here the one who 
would embark in raising fine or fat stock, poultry or even "process butter" 
will find the valuable experience of those who have achieved a high degree 
of success along these lines. Here the aspiring young teacher will find an 
illustrious example, and the incentives to a high degree of efficiency in that 
noble art. 

The people of Pocahontas county have indeed caught the spirit of the West ; 
the spirit of efficient purpose and noble achievement; a spirit that faces the 
facts of life courageously, hopefully and successfully; a spirit that looks for- 
ward to the future and is undaunted by present disappointments; a spirit 
that moves on to educate and elevate; in tine, the spirit of truth, which is 
mighty to prevail, constitutes the nation's hope and controls the nation's 
destiny. 

• Everything has changed but the sky, It is the same that overhung the 
patient ox or horse team, that drew the canvas-topped schooner across the^e 
same prairies half a century ago. The mind reverts to those times and the 
heart swells with pride and reverence for those hardy pioneers, who, turning 
their eyes toward the setting sun crossed the great Father of Waters, and 
braved the dangers and privations of that lonely time, while they laid the 
foundations of the present progress and prosperity. 

The author's ftim. 

The author in the preparation of this volume has kept constantly in view 
the following objects: To give an accurate narrative of the principal events 
in the history of this county, that should include all that was valuable to 
make it a complete record of the past; to avoid all partiality, partisanship 
and prejudice; to secure a fair representation of every interest and nationality 
in the county, including the pioneer women and teachers of the public 
schools, on its one hundred and ten pages of finely engraved portrait work; 
and in general to make it a volume of real interest and instruction to the 
young — the boys and erirls in the public schools of the county — as well as to 
those advanced in life; and to the new settler as well as the venerable 
pioneer, to whose memory it has been specially dedicated. 



X PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA; 

The opening chapters, including pages 13 to 110, containing a brief synopsis 
of the Early History of Iowa, are intended to familiarize the reader with the 
important events in the history, and the public institutions and buildings, of 
a state, whose history and standing, among the states of the American Union, 
are worthy of the highest admiration. 

The author, conscious that the value of this history would depend largely 
on the authenticity of its materials and correctness of its statements, has 
spared no tinle, labor or expense in his efforts to verify every statement. It 
contains many lists of proper names that have been obtained from many and 
very different sources;— the names of county officers from county records, 
names of homesteaders from the records of the United States land offices, 
civil and school officers from the records of each town and township, the 
founders and officers of churches and civic societies from their respective offi* 
cial records. All of these sources of information are supposed to be strictly 
accurate, and yet in a few instauces of early pioneers, now dead or removed 
from the county, the variations in the spelhug of the same name were so 
numerous, it was difficult to determine their correct form. The utmost vigil- 
ance has been constantly exercised and many letters have been written to the 
postmasters of the county and otners to identify names that were similar, 
and secure uniformity in the spelling of each A few instances of variation 
escaped notice. Pages 793 to 808 were unexpectedly printed in the volume," 
without correcting the typographical errors, that had been previously mark- 
ed, while the author was spending a summer vacation in Puget Sound. 
These and some other slight variations in names, dates and sections of land, 
perceived or received too late for correction, have been noted on a separate 
page at the end of the volume. A review of them will indicate, however, 
that to the general reader none of them are of any special importance. The 
printing of this history, as a weekly serial in the columns of the Fonda 
Times afforded an unusual opportunity for the correction of any matters in 
regard to which the author was under a misapprehension; and it is believed 
that the highest degree of accuracy possible in such a work has been at- 
tained. 

History and Biography. 

The study of history is a study of humanity, and that not in ideal con- 
ditions but as it exists. "Truth is stranger than fiction," and history not 
only furnishes a literature based upon truth, but aiso some of the most val- 
uable information in the world. History is philosophy teaching by example 
and warning; it is the unrolled scroll of prophecy. Kossuth termed it, "the 
revelation of Providence." To forecast the future we must understand the 
present, and to understand the present we must know the past. Guizot, the 
great French historian, philosopher and statesman, observed, "Religion 
opens the future and places us in the presence of eternity; but history brings 
back the past and adds to our own existence the lives of our fathers." The 
men who make history do not always have time to write it; yet nothing 
strengthens a nation so much as familiarity with its history. It makes 
amends for the brevity of life and is the complement of poetry. We cherish 
the knowledge of the past that we may enrich the literature of the present, 
and be inspired to emulate the noble lives of our predecessors. 

The study of history, as a means of cultivating the mind and for its im- 
mediate practical benefits, ever since the days of Moses, who wrote the pio- 
neer history of Israel, and of Herodotus, the father of profane history, 
has formed a necessary part of a liberal and thorough education. He, who is 
able to make the facts and events of history the basis of philosophical re- 
flection and generalization, discovers that there is a living spirit moving 
through it like the force that links every effect to its cause. God is always 
the same in dealing with men, and human nature is an invariable factor. 
One may learn the sure result of certain courses today, by learning what 
they have been in the past, and he is foolish who does not profit by the re- 
corded successes or mistakes of others. 

An easy and excellent grasp on history is obtained by reading the lives of 
those who make it; and among the most interesting and inspiring books that 
can be placed in the hands of young people are those that tell the life-story 



PREFACE. ii 

and achievements of the men and women, who have made and left behind 
them the greatest and best impress upon their church, community or 
country, The lives of great men are our best instructors, and biography, 
which is history teaching by example, is one of the most charming and use- 
ful studies. A later life may be inspired and strengthened by the principles 
and achievements of an earlier one. The departed constitute a cloud of wit- 
nesses, who, looking upon the living with sympathy, know that human ex- 
istence is noc vanity, but can be made a splendid success. 

He who studies the sayings and doings of the pioneers may avoid their 
mistakes and profit by their successes. The men who succeed are thoughtful, 
progressive and are never satisfied with ordinary advancement. This volume 
intended to be an appropriate and an enduring memorial of those who 
planted the institutions and developed the resources of Pocahontas county 
during the first fifty years of its history, contains briefly the experience and 
principles of nearly every one of its leading citizens. 

There are indeed many standards of success or greatness; for men's ideas 
differ greatly as to what constitutes a truly great and successful man. Our 
Lord Jesus gave utterance to the sentiment, "He that humbleth himself 
shall be exalted." This is the standard of Heaven, though it is not always 
recognized on earth. At the head of all biographies stands the Book of 
Books, "the educator of youth, the guide of manhood and the counselor of 
age." It is a series of biographies of patriarchs and prophets, princes and 
heroic leaders, some of whom occupied a very lowly station in common life. 
This volume contains the biographical sketches and portraits of many who, 
from the humblest beginnings, have made the world better by their noble 
lives and worthy achievements. 

"All who labor wield a mighty power; 

The glorious privilege to do 

Is man's most noble dower." 

Ttie Portraits and Other Engravings. 

The hope is indulged that the numerous portraits and other engravings 
will prove an interesting and pleasing feature of the volume to every reader. 
The grouping of nine or mote portraits on the same page at a nominal cost 
of one dollar each, minimized the space and made it possible to secure a por- 
trait of the county officials, both past and present, and one or more repre- 
sentatives, either of the first or second generation, of most of tne pioneer 
families in each of the towns and townships. The photographs used were 
obtained either from the persons or their nearest friends, and in a number of 
instances the one received was the only one in existence. Many of the first 
settlers in this county never had a photograph taken, and a representative of 
the family could be secured only through one from the second generation. 
In order to secure the portraits of some of the first county officials and first 
settlers in the older townships, it was necessary to use some old and faded 
photos. It was impossible for the engravers to make as pretty half-tone 
prints from these as from recent ones, but we did not care to omit them 
merely for that reason. The portraits have been printed upon fine paper, 
and the unusually large number of them make this volume a real treasury of 
human interest whose value, it is believed, will increase with passing years. 
Sallust says, 'T have often heard that Quintus, Publius Scipio and other 
renowned persons of the Roman commonwealth used to say, that whenever 
they beheld the images of their ancestors, they felt their minds vehemently 
excited to virtue." It could not have been the wax nor the marble that 
possessed this power; but, the recollection of their great actions kindled a 
generous flame of noble aspiration in their hearts, that could not be quelled 
until they also had acquired equal fame and glory. 

Easy to Find Things. 

In order that this volume might be one of easy and ready reference, the 
title of each chapter has been placed at the too margin of the right hand 
page; and the townships have been arranged alphabetically, rather than 
numerically, geographically, or even according to the date of their settle- 
ment. The sketches of the pioneers in each township, save a few that were 



xii PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

received too late, are also arranged in the same order. The index is very 
copious, enabling the reader to trace quickly any topic treated in the volume, 
and the number of the page containing the biographical sketch has been 
placed first after each name. Names not printed under the engravings, on 
account of a lack of room, may be found in the list of portraits. Family lists, 
repeated there, show their order according to birth. 

The author has endeavored to reacb tne ideal of a complete, interesting 
and instructive county history, and if this effort has not been crowued with 
success, the failure has been in the execution, rattier than in the aim and 
purpose. 

He has sang the praise of Iowa, 

The fairest state of all the west; 

And of Pocahontas county, 

Where people dwell and prosper well 

On the prairie or in busy town; 

Where the sun is bright, and the stars at night 

Shine like jewels in Nature's crown. 
A grateful acknowledgement is made of the valuable assistance rendered 
by many on whom frequent calls were made to verify doubtful matters, and 
especially to those, who freely furnished general matter for the narrative 
portions, in addition to those referred to in the Introductory Note: To the 
recorders, secretaries and clerks of townships and towns, for official lists of 
officers; to Mr. James S. Smith for the early history of Plover; to the late 
Michael Crahan for valuable contributions to the history of Lizard township; 
to Mr. Fred A. Malcolm for a draught of the Indian battlefield at Pilot 
Creek; to Mpssrs. C. A. Grant and C. H. Tollefsrude for photographic views 
of places of historic interest in the northeast part of the county; to Mr. J. H. 
L'ghter for the free use of the plate for the insertion of his (1903) map of 
Pocahontas county; to the presidents or superintendents of our state institu- 
tions for the numerous and excellent cuts of the Iowa state buildings; to the 
Interior, Chicago, for the four plates illustrating the Story of Pocahontas; 
to the Des Moines Daily Capital for the cuts of Governor A. B Cummins and 
Senator J. P. Dolliver. Also, our indebtedness for the helpful information 
derived from the Plat Book of Pocahontas County, compiled and published 
in 1887 by the National Publishing Company. Philadelphia; and the Plat 
Book published by Mr. J. H Lighter, Rolfe, in 1897. 

The printing of the special pages of engraved work was done partly by 
the engravers, the Bucher Engraving Company, Columbus, Ohio, and partly 
by the binders, the Regan Printing House, Chicago. 

Mr. George Sanborn. 

The Pioneer History of Pocahontas County, as an undertaking or busi- 
ness enterprise, belongs to Mr. George Sanborn, editor and proprietor of the 
Fonda Times for more than twenty-one years. As it is now issuid from the 
press, in the form of a fine royal octavo volume, it is a fitting memento and 
culmination of his long period of faithful and acceptable service of the peo- 
ple of this county and vicinity, through the columns of the Times. When he 
relinquished his interest in the Times to the Fonda Printing and Publishing 
Company, Jan. 1, 19ul, he retained ownership of the Times building and of 
the Pioneer History, then incomplete. Whilst the author gathered the 
materials, prepared the copy, read the proofs and arranged the portrait work, 
including the printing thereof, this was done in response to the request of 
Mr. Sanborn. To him belongs the credit of projecting the work and of print- 
ing it so neatly from new type in the Times office. The people of Pocahontas 
county are to be congratulated upon the fact, that in outlining the plan and 
scope of this work, it was not limited to some special recognition of the read- 
ers of the Times, but was designed to be an historic tribute to the memory of 
all the hardy pioneers of the county. The public spirit manifested in 
launching and completing this work— the most important and valuable con- 
tribution to the literature of Pocahontas county — would seem to merit a high 
degree of appreciation on the part of those to whose memory it has been un- 
selfishly dedicated. 

Indulging the hope, that a considerate judgment will give just recogni- 



PREFACE 



XIII 



tion to whatever worth this volume contains, it is now sent forth to accom- 
plish its mission, — to perpetuate the memory of the hardy pioneers of Poca- 
hontas county. 

"May the God above 

Guard the dear friends we love 
In east or west. 

Let love more fervent grow, 

As peaceful ages go, 
r_. And strength yet stronger grow, 

Blessing and blest. 

Be noble! and the nobleness that lies 

In other men sleeping, but never dead, 

Will rise in majesty to meet thine own." 

Very truly, 
Fonda, July 15, 1904. R. E. F. 





Hon. albert B. Suramins, Governor of Iowa. 

Per favor of Des Moines Daily Capitol. 



CONTENTS. 

Preface , vn 

List of Portraits and Other Engraving's xxi 

Introductory Note 9 



FIRST PART. 

Early History of Iowa. 



CHAPTER I. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT. 

The Mound Builders — Toltecs in Mexico— Incas of Peru 15 

CHAPTER II. 

THE INDIANS OF IOWA. 

Two Great Nations— The Algonquins— The Sioux— Blackhawk War — 

Sioux Outlaws— Indian Battles— Western Iowa Treaty 21 

CHAPTER III. 

THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE AND PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 

Removal of Fort Dodge Military Post— Murder of Sidominadota— The 
Grindstone War— Other Events— Murder at Lake Okoboji, Spirit 

Lake and Springfield 27 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE RELIEF EXPEDITION TO SPIRIT LAKE. 

The Facts Learned— Difficulties Encountered— The Return— The Burial 

Party— The Captives 35 

CHAPTER V. 

LAST INDIAN TROUBLES IN IOWA. 

Later Troubles in Minnesota and Northwest— Frontier Soldiers— Sittirjg 

Bull— Gen. Custer's Sad Fate 42 

CHAPTER VI. 

SPANISH GRANTS AND IOWA INDIAN TREATIES. 

The Louisiana Province — Dubuque's Treaty and Grant -Girard Grant— 

Honori Grant— St. Louis Treaty— Iowa Indian Treaties 48 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE TRANSITIONS FROM DISCOVERY TO STATEHOOD. 

Fernando De Soto— Marquette and Joliet — La Salle— Louisiana Province 
Divided— Territory of Missouri — Michigan. Wisconsin, Iowa — Early 
Settlements — Pioneer Legislature— Territory Named—Territorial 

Legislation— Territorial Governors— uld Zion Church ; . 54 

CHAPTER VIII. 

STATEHOOD, A HALF CENT CRY 'S GROWTH. 

Iowa's Growth— Natural Resources— The Prairies— Rivers and Lakes — 
Mineral Wealth, Building Rock — Soft Coal, Iron, Zinc, Lead — Sand. 
Clay, Gypsum— Chalk— Water — Climate— Agricultural Resources- 
Commercial Facilities — Railroads 65 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OF IOWA. 

Iowa's Capitol— State University— College of Agriculture and Mechanic 
Arts— Normal School— College for the Blind— Industrial Home for 
the Blind— School for the Deaf— Institution for Feeble Minded 
Children— Soldier's Orphan's Home— Soldier's Home— Industrial 
Schools at Eldora and Mit.chellville— Hospitals for the Insane— Peni- 
tentiaries— Other State Organizations 83 



xvi PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

CHAPTER X. 

EDUCATION, RELIGION AND PATRIOTISM. 

Education— The State Board— Board of Control— Churches and Church 
Work— Patriotism— Succession of Governors— Cabinet Officers— U. S. 
Senators 101 



SEe©ND PART. 

History of Pocahontas (bounty. 



Pioneer Period, 1855*69. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE COUNTY ESTABLISHED AND STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 

Act of the Legislature— Powhatan— Pocahontas-- Weds John Rolfe— 

The Descendants of Pocahontas— Who Suggested Pocahontas?. . : 113 

CHAPTER II. 

INDIAN BATTLE AT PILOT CREEK. 

The Sioux and the Winnebagoes— The Battle— Indians along the Des 
Moines River— Indian Graves and Relics— Indian Mound— Indians 
Along the Lizard— The Sioux— Indians in Lincoln— Bellville— The 
Pottawattamies 125 

CHAPTER III. 

THE SURVEY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY. 

The Government Survey of the County— Plan of 13*7 

CHAPTER IV. 

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTY 

Surface Features— Soil— Limestone Beds in Clinton— Other Rock Beds in 
Iowa— Drift and Boulders— Glacial Period— Wood in Wells— Flowing 

Wells— Surface Soil 141 

CHAPTER V. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 

The Lizard Settlement/— Sketches of Pioneers.— EmOarrassing Events 155 

CHAPTER VI. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS TN THE NORTHEAST PART OF THE COUNTY. 

The Des Moines Settlement — Sketches of the First Settlers — Lizard and 
Des Moines Settlers 169 

CHAPTER VII. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 

1859— The First Court House— Swamp Lands— I8i0— Public Improve- 
ments—Roads — Kirst Division of the C<-.untv — Re arranged— Town- 
ships Organized— County Sear, Re-located — Original Order for the 
Organization of the County 184 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 

County Judges — Board of Supervisors — Auditors— Clerks of the Courts — 
Treasurers — Recorders — Sheriffs — Superintendents — Surveyors — Coro- 
ners — Drainage Commissioners — A ttornevs— District Attorneys — Dis- 
trict and Circuit, Judges — Representatives— State Senators— Congress- 
men— General Exhibit of County Officers .• 197 

CHAPTER IX. 

OTHEE IMPORTANT EVENTS. 

Proceedings of the Board of Sunervisors — Newspapers — Honor Roll — 
First Tax Sale- -Highways and Bridges— Wolf Bounty— Unity Pres- 
byterian Church— Last Buffalo Chase— Last Indian Hunt— Grass and 
Mosquitoes — Trials and Priyations— Pioneer Dwellings— Lost on the 
Prairie— Postoffices— Trials on the Way— The Prairie Fire— Population 
—New Settlers 1865-69— Grove Planting— Trapping— Pre-emption 



O 



CONTENTS. XVII 

Claims — Homestead — Timber Claim — Source of Supplies— U. S. Land 
Offices— Railroad Lands— Other Land Grants— District & Circuit 
Courts — Hait's Sawmill 214 

Second Period, 1870 to 1882. 

CHAPTER X. 

PERIOD OF RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION AND TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 

The First Railroad — Fonda B'ounded in 1870 — Cedar Township's First 
Settlers— Williams Township, 1868-1870 — Townships Organized— Grass- 
hoppers— Railroad Strikes of 1877— Second Period of Hard Times — 
Gophers — Blackbirds— Blizzards — Tree Exemptions— Prairie Wolves — 
Muskrats — Bees and Rabbits— Beavers -Elk— Deer— Wild Ducks, 
Geese, Cranes and Other Native Biids— Public Improvements — 
Change of County Seat— Farewell to Old Rolfe— School Lands— Out 
of Debt in 1876 — Delegate to the Centennial — Mail Routes and Post- 
offices — The Pocahontas Times — Population 1859 to 1895— Census 
Taken — Churches Established— New Homesteaders — Era oi Better 
Times— 1878 — Corn. Used for Fuel— Farm Machinery and Mortgages — 
1881 — First Democratic Convention— New Railroads — Toledo&Nortb- 
western, and Des Moines & Fort Dodge — Des Moines & Northwest- 
ern — Boom in Land — Prohibition , 248 

Third Period, 1883 to 1899. 

CHAPTER XI. 

PERIOD OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

Standard Time Adopted — Drainage of the County — Democratic Party 
Organized — Peoples' Party — Corn Record — Nursery of D. C. Wiliams 
— Farmers' Alliance— Crops of 1890— County Farm— Free Mail Deliv- 
ery—Good Roads— Populist Party Organized— 1893, Cyclone Year— 
Mu'ct Law— Drought— Nebraska Relief— Saloon Issue— Hog Cholera 

— Its Cause and Cure 303 

CHAPTER XII. 

BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 

First Settlers— Public Schools— Teachers and Officers— Civil Officers- 
Emmanuel German Church— First Birth and Death — Bellville Cream- 
ery — Other E*rly Settlers— Biographical Sketches— County Officers — 
Palmer— Blanden Stock Farm— Signs of Progress— Tornado of 1878. . . 335 
CHAPTER XIII. 

CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 

Civil Officers— School Officers and Teachers— Marvin— Fonda— Town Offi- 
cers—Cemetery — High School— Teachers and Graduates— Railway 
Agents— Postmasters— Churches— G. A. R. Post— Fraternal Organi- 
zations—Big Four District Fair— Fonda Creamery — Northern Tele- 
phone Co— Tornado of 1882— Fonda in 1900— Personal Sketches- 
First Death-First Wedding— Public Officers 360 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CENTER TOAVNSHIP. 

Early Settlement— Officers— School Officers— Pocahontas in 1900— 
Churches — Wooing a Railroad— Newspapers — Shannon and Charlton 
Ranches— Creamery— Pocahontas Point— First Sunday School— Pub- 
lic Officers— Leading Citizens —Case Sisters' Section 452 

CHAPTER XV. 

CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 

General Features— Officers— Rolfe in 1900— Town Officers— No Saloons 
— Cemetery — Historic Incidents— Agents and Postmasters— Schools 
Teachers and Graduates— Public Spirit— Park — Good Roads — Banks — 
Churches— County Mutual Insurance Association— County Bible 
Society— Egg Packing House — Telephone Company— Mill— News- 
papers— Cuban Soldiers— Sketches of Pioneers— Assessment in 1870. . 481 
CHAPTER XVI. 

COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 

First Settlers— Organization and Officers— Schools, Officers and Teachers 



xvni PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

—Creamery— Swede Churches— Sketches of Pioneers— Sod Shanties- 
Purgatory Slough— County Officers 534 

• CHAPTER XVII. 

DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 

Surface Features— Pre emptors and Homesteaders— Officers— Civil War 
Volunteers— Old Rolfe— County Officers— Families in 1880— Cooper- 
town— Leading Citizens , 559 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

DOVER TOWNSHIP. 

First Settlers— Officers— Cemeteries— Varina in 1901— Churches— Leading 
Citizens— First Death 571 

CHAPTER XIX. 

GRANT TOWNSHIP. 

Early History— Summary of Progress— Recent Growth— Rusk— Creamery 
—Officers— Schools— Church— Uniformly Republican— County Officers 
—County Farm— Wellington Farm— Elk and Deer— Pioneer Women 

—Leading Citizens— Rake's Salve ' .' 595 

CHAPTER XX. 

LAKE TOWNSHIP. 

General Features— Settlement— Organization and Officers— Schools— Gil- 
more City— Newspapers, Banks and Churches— Rural Free Delivery- 
Leading Citizens— Captain Beers' Wheelbo'at and Early Exploits" on 
the Des Moines River 619 

CHAPTER XXI. 

LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 

Henry C. Carter— First Settlers— Officers— Schools— Church— County Offi- 
cers—Leading Citizens 638 

CHAPTER XXII. 

LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 

General Features— Pioneer Settlers— Severities and Hardships— Fear of 
Indians— Settlers After the Civil War— Officers— County Officers- 
Schools— Young People— Postoffice— Cemetery— Churches— Oxen and 

Horses— Leading Citizens— The Irish in Lizard Township 649 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 

General Features— Thornton, Greene & Co. Farm— EarJy Settlement- 
Officers— Schools and Teachers -Groves— Incidents— County Officers 
— Leading Citizens 679 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 

Powhatan— Early Settlement— Interesting Events— Historic Addresses 
—Difficulties and Trials— Officers— Schools— Plover in 1902— Churches 
—Poultry Yard— County Officers— Leading Citizens— Brodsky's Fine 
Stoc* Sales— Old Abe, the War Eagle— Gandertown— Powhatan— 

Postin Day Contest— Other Election Contests 692 

CHAPTER XXV. 

SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 

General Features— Early Settlement— Officers— Schools— Interesting 
Events— Ware in 19)2— Bank— Creamery— Public Officers—Leading 
Citizens ; 732 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 

General Features— Early Settlement— Stock Farms— Postoffices— Officers 
—Schools— Public Officers— Incidents— Laurens— Great Fire of 1898— 
Officers— Churches— High School— Noble Opera House— G. A. R, Post 
— Banks — Elevator Companies— Poultry Dealers— Mill— Process But- 
ter—Rural Telephones— Newspapers— Laurens in 1902— Leading Citi- 
zens, . . , 747 



CONTENTS. xii 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 

General Features- -Early Settlement — Officers — County Officers— Schools 
— Havelock — Great Longevity —In 1882 — Officers — School and Churches 
—In 1902— Banks — The Item — Creamery— Rural Free Delivery Routea 
and Carriers — Rural Telephone— Williams' Nursery— Old Soldiers' and 

Settlers' Reunions — Leading Citizens — Clinton Farm 787 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Alphabetically Arranged . . * 815 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

GARFIELD TOWNSHIP. 

Organization and Officers 844 

CHAPTER XXX. 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Their Development— Report for 1903— Consolidation— Teachers'Institutes 

and Normal Training Schools— Teachers' Library 846 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS. 

Physicians— Attorneys— Druggists— Editors— Sunday Schools— Temper- 
ance Alliance 851 

RPPENDIX. 

Public Officers from 1900 to .1904— Spanish War Volunteers— Church 

Growth — Material Growth 862 

History of Elections 867 

Index 880 

HDDEND&. 

Pocahontas County Farmers' Institute 901 

Fonda and Palmer Rural Mail Routes 901 

Pocahontas Graduates, First, 1904 902 

Legend of Pocahontas County 903 

Work Reviewed and Commended 905 



LIST OF PORTRAITS 

And Other Engravings, Alphabetically 
Arranged. 



Adams, Minnie, Haffele 

Agricultural College, Main Build- 
ing •■ 

Agricultural College, Morrill Hall 
" •• Farm Bams 

Ainslie, George H. Rev 

Allen, Charles S. . . , 

" Charles S., Residence 

" Daniel J 

•' Joseph H 

" Joseph H. Residence 

Anderson, Robert 

Apples, Patten's Greening 

Atkinson, William F. & Mrs 

Avery, Oscar F. Mrs 

Barron, Port C. & Mrs. Mary E. . . 

Barthel, O. H. Dr 

Beam, W. W. Dr 

Beard, Edward L 

Beers, Percv M 

Beneke, Diederic & Family: 

Henry, John, Diederic, Mrs. 

Beneke, William and Mary... 

Beneke, Rudolph, Residence & 

Family: Anton, August, Ru- 



376 dolph, Henry, Mrs. & Annie, 

Mr. & Mary, Barbary 345 

64 Beswick, Robert F 428 

68 " Robert F., Residence... 581 

72 Bissell, Hiram W 196 

415 Blake, D. 456 

761 Blomberg, Andrew G. & Family. . 617 

741 Bollard, Joseph B 441 

760 " May Ella 196 

456 " Richard D 196 

457 Bott, William...... 428 

697 Boyd, Simon P 536 

900 Bradshaw, Zenas C. Rev 329 

681 Brennan,,J. F. Rev 372 

168 Brick School House, Old Rolfe.... 216 
465 Bridges, William F., Mrs., William 

452 C. &John 404 

303 Bruce, James J 488 

408 " James J., Mrs 489 

624 " Marion 302 

Bruce & McEwen's Store 216 

Brower, George L. & Mrs 249 

640 Brown, Orlando & Roana 405 

R. P 516, 505 

Budolfson, B. C '. . . . 453 

(xx) 



LIST OF PORTRAITS. 



sxi 



Burnip, Robert, Rev 

Busby, Jean, Mrs 

Butler. Stephen, Rev 

Byrne, Matthew 

Calligan, Maggie 

" Thomas J 

Campbell, William E. & Mrs 

Carroll, James A 

" Joseph, M. D., Mrs, Alma 

& Flora 

Carroll, P. J., Rev 

Capitol, Iowa State 

" Old One, Iowa City.... 60, 

Carpenter, John D 

Carstens, Jacob 

" Jacob & Residence 

Catholic Cemetery, Lizard 

s " Church, Gilmore City... 

" " Rolfe 

" " Sacred Heart, 

Pocahorjtas, Dedicated 

Nov. 6, 1%2 

Chapman, Harriet Clemens 

" Joseph 

Charlton, Charles A 

Children's Chorus,* Presbyterian 

Church, Fonda 

Christeson, Ole E 

Clark, W. S 

Clifton, Charles W,, Rev 

Coal Region Mississippi Yailey... 

Colfax Township. S. P. Boyd 

Collins, William J 

C mdon, Ellen 

Conroy, Frank M 

Cooper, Beriah 

Core, George W 

County Asylum & House 

" Seat, Old Rolfe 

" " Pocahontas 

" Officers, R D. Bollard.... 

" Supervisors, M. A. Hogan 

Court House. Old Rolfe 

" " fPocahontas & County 

Officials in 1896...: 

Craft, George G 

Crahan, Michael & Family 

Crahan, Michael, Residence 

" Store Block 

Crilly, Rose Ann 

Crummer, John A. & Mrs 

Cummins, Albert B 



440 
249 
625 
360 
665 
453 
489 
408 

752 
329 
14 
112 
388 
594 
664 
1 
625 
501 



459 
441 
866 
196 

377 
453 
456 
855 
150 
536 
665 
665 
360 
480 
513 
200 
201 
473 
196 
197 
279 

200 
441 
512 
513 
512 
665 
594 

XIV 



92, 



Curkeet, William J. & Mrs.. 

Dart, Amos 

Davis, Arthur W 

Deaf, State Industrial School, 

99 

Des Moines River Valley 

Detwiller. John 

DeWolf , Merton E 

Donahoe, Rose Ann 

Dorton, George M 

Dower, T. J. Dr 

Doyle, Terrence 

Dunn, Alexander 

Duty, George H., Rev 

Eaton, Adelia 

" Harvey 

" Jennie 

Edgar, David W . , Dr 

Ellis, Edward, Mrs. & Maud (Dah- 

lin) 

Elsen, Charles, 

" '• Residence 

Elsen, Charles B 

England, Llewellyn E 

L. E., Mrs ».... 

Enright, Thomas F. & Mrs 

Fairburn, George 

" George, Mrs 

" George, Residence 

Ferguson, Duncan 

" Duncan, Residence 

Ward 

Fish, Romeyn B 

Fitzgerald, William 

Fiickinger, Robert E., Rev 

" Mary A., Mrs 

Flint, Charles W.. Rev 

Fonda, Brick & Tile Works 

" Presbyterian Church 

" Presbyterian Manse 

" Public School Building... 

" Times Office 

Fonda & Vicinity, A. B. Wood... 

" Dollie WykofT... 

" " Geo. B. Sanborn. 

" " Harvey Eaton... 

" " J. B. Mackey 

" " Maud Jordan 

Ford, Walter 

Fraser, Charles E. & Mrs 

" John 



580 
409 
328 . 

168 
217 
408 
761 
665 
408 
373 
197 
360 
415 
376 
409 
376 
303 

404 
197 
648 
664 
481 
489 
665 
248 
249 
233 
516 
558 
524 
216 
373 
5 
440 
460 
389 
375 
232 
861 
289 
249 
376 
440 
409 
408 
441 
664 
525 
480 



*Third Row: Rev. R. E. Flickins«r, leader; Minnie Haffeie, organist; RosaSelzer, Flor- 
ence Ellis, Oarrie Busby, Mary Cartlidge, Florence Farley. Edna Dunn, fearah Weaver, Bes- 
sie Karr, Jessie McDermott, Rena Busby, Edith Haffeie, Mrs. Fiickinger. 

Second Row: Bert Forbes, Robert B^swick. Alma McMichael, Madge Hughes, Hazel 
Wilde, Mata Bireren, Minnie Swenson, Ethel Dunn, Velma Brown, Theo Stevens, Pearl 
Eaton, Valley Heflin, Roy Eongnecker. 

First Row: Arthur Messenger, Harrison Busby, Gracie Blizzard. Erma Rule, Charlotte 
Busby, Mazie Ellis, Laura Sargent, Ruth Sargent, Gertrude S. Eaton, Eolo Nichols, Lilly 
Selzer, Bessie Beswick, Linn Forbes, Newell Forbes, June Bollard— 42. 

tCounty Officials: F. G. Thornton, auditor; Michael Bartosh, citizen; F. L. Dinsmore, 
county attorney; Michael A. Hogan, supervisor; O. P. Malcolm, deputy treasurer; J. J. 
Bruce", chairman, supervisors; F. H. Plumb, clerk; R. U. Bollard, recorder ;May Ella Bollard, 
deputv recorder; Terrence Doyle, supervisor; C. A. Charlton, treasurer; J A. Crummer, 
Sheriff; J. W. Wallace, deputy sheriff; H. W. Bisseli, surveyor; U. M, Hunt, deputy auditor. 



sxii PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



John, Mrs 697 

" John, Log House 1 

Fuchs, Joseph & Mrs 372 

Gar lock, Abram O 414 

" Abram U.. Mrs 415 

Garrison, Brick Block 180 

Charles F 505 

Geological E'ormations 146 

Gilchrist, Fred C 761 

" James C. Prol' 740 

Gill, Samuel H 786 

" Samuel H , Residence. 787 

Gilmore City, Catholic Church... 625 

Gottfried, Delia A . 376 

Grant, Cyprian A. & Mrs 516 

" Cyprian A., Residence 517 

'' Twp. Group, Mrs. H. L. 

Norton 616 

Grapes, Fluke's Seedling 904 

Grasses Native, Frontispiece, (1) 
Prairie or Panic 3i feet; (2) 
Fine Slough, or Fresh Water 
Cord, 7J feet; (3) Wild Rye. ... 1 

Greene, Rufus & Mrs 680 

Gunderson, Charles L. & Family. 595 

Hakes, *Montague 761 

Halt, William H. & Mrs 168 

" William, Residence 389 

Hamble, Philip & Mrs 712 

Hamerson, John, Rev 440 

Hancher, Barney, Mrs 697 

Hanson, Leonard E 196 

Niels 536 

Harvey. Ora & Mrs ... 216 

Havelock, Public School Building 787 

Hawkins, B, K 360 

" Joseph 408 

Hawley, Charles A. & Mrs 681 

Hazlett, William 460 

Heald, George A 452 

Healy, William H 329 

Henderson, George 697 

George W 505 

James & Mrs 713 

Hersom, Samuel T. & Mrs '. 420 

Higgins, J. W,, Dr 753 

Hogan. Michael A 197 

Holmes, John A. & Mrs 544 

Hronek, Frank E 472 

Frank & Mrs...'.... 472 

Hubbell, Alexander F. & Mrs.... 580 

" Frances M., Mrs 580 

Hubel, William A. & Mrs 713 

Hudek, Joseph 453 

Hughes, George & Mrs 360 

" George, Residence '. 421 

Hunt, CM 197 

Hunter, Robert 453 

Ibaon, Peter G 409 

Indian Battle Field, Pilot Creek. 126 
" Massacre, Gardner Home. . 31 

" Massacre Monument 41 

Iowa Soldiers' & Sailors' Monu- 
ment 109 



Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines. . 14 

" State Capitol, Iowa City 112 

" State Hospital for Insane. . . 106 
" Siate Institution for Feeble 

Minded 94 

Iowa State Normal School 90 

" State School for Deaf, 92, 99, 168 
Iowa State University Buildings: 
Medical, Old Capitol, Lib- 
rary, Science Hall, 60; Chem- 
ical Laboratory, 100; Close 
Hall. 78; Medical Hospital, 
162; Natural Science Hall. . . 84 

Jarvis, Henry & Mrs 489 

Johnsun, Claus 197 

" -George F. & Mrs 752 

" J. R. . .'. 409 

M. Sophia," Dr.'. '..'.'.'..'.'. 440 

Jolliffe, John B 697 

Jordan, Maud Marshall 441 

Keenan, M. J 196 

Kelleher, James J 453 

Kees, John A., Rev 460 

Kelley, Maud Sargent 441 

Kelly, Charles J ., Dr 665 

Kepnedy, John 440 

William C 481 

" William C, Mrs 489 

Kent, John B., Col. & Mrs 484 

Kerr, Samuel H. & Mrs 525 

" Samuel H. Residence 558 

Kezer, Charres & Mrs 344 

Lange, Louie E 302 

Larson, Torkel, Helen Mrs., Hor- 
ace, Ira, lva, Cora & Ella. .. 617 

Laurens, M. E. Church 753 

Leithead, Calvin P 505 

Lemp, John 428 

Lenihan, Thomas M., Rev 372 

Lieb, Louisa, Mrs 610 

" Louie J. & William C 616 

Lighter, Joseph H 524 

Lind, Niels A.., Shorthorns 559 

Lindell, John P , Rev 545 

LinDan, Michael W 373 

Lizard, Catholic Cemetery , . . 1 

" Twp. & Vicinity, Rose 

Ann Donahoe 665 

Lothian, John W., Rev 524 

Loughead , George N '. 697 

Lowrey, Gad C. & Mrs 536 

" . Jason H 536 

Lucas, David O, Mrs., Jennie, 

Mabel, Eben, Howard 388 

Lynch, William & Mrs 409 

Mackey, John B. & Mrs 408 

MacVey, Frank L. & William Lee 696 

Thomas L. & Mrs 480 

" Thos. L., Pioneer Home 712 

Malcolm, Augustus H 481 

" OraP 196 

Malllson, Joseph, Capt. & Mrs. ... 249 

Manse, Presbyterian, Fonda. ..... 232 

Marmon, Henry C 624 



LIST OF PORTRAITS. 



XXIII 



Map, Coal Region, Mississippi 

Valley 150 

Map, Pocahontas County 1861.... 194 

" Pocahontas County 1903 905 

" Supervisors' Districts 204 

" Townships & Sections 140 

Martin, Samuel S • • • • • 408 

Mathers, Ellen W. Struthers..: . 489 

Maxwell, Alexander & Mrs 536 

McCaffrey, D. F., Rev 373 

McCartan, Thomas F 453 

McCaslin. R. R .453 

McComb. David S., Rev 219 

McEwen, Alexander & M rs 697 

William D., Esq.... 169, 504 

William D., Mis 415 

William D., Residence. 181 

Will D • 456 

Will D., Residence. .... 457 

McKinney, Samuel W 536 

McManus, F. W„ Dr 624 

Medical Hospital, State 162 

Mercer, Effie, Nellie, Celina, May 



M. E. Church 461 

Pocahontas Public School Building 473 
" Sacred Heart Catholic 

Church 457 

Pocahontas & Vicinity, Joseph 

Hudek 453 

Post, Nathan 376 

Powhatan & Vicinity, Robert 

Anders on 697 

Powhatan's Grave 115 

Presbyterian Church, Fonda 375 

Masse. Fonda 232 

" Church, Rolfe 498 

Public School Building, Fonda. 861 
" Ravelock.... 787 • 
" Old Boife.... 216 

" Kolfe 491 

" " Pocahontas.. 473 

Q inn, Mary 665 

Ralston, William C 464 

Ratcliff, John 196 

Reamer, Thomas 594 

Reniff, Garrett R , Ella B , Elha- 

nan & Catherine 405 

197 



MerS^Tames & Mrs.". .... .'.'.'.'. .'. 429 Richey Alfred ,B . • • " " 197 

Metcalf, Fred A., Rev 696 Rigby, Lulu Sanborn 440 



Methodist Church, Laurens 753 

" Church, Pocahontas. .. 461 

" Church, Rolfe 497 

Miller, Maud Fuller >■■■■ 441 

Mitchell, Wilham L 453 

Monument, Iowa Soldiers' 109 

" Spirit Lake ■ 41 

Mulholland, David 624 

Mullen, John P. & Mrs 420 

Norton, Herkimer L., Mrs 616 

Nowlan, David, Dr 787 

8B,wSLSiiy:::::r.: m t 

Osburn, Benjamin F.«, Mrs 440 

Pape, W. A-, Rev 



Robinson, Guy S 452 

" Joseph P. 329 

Rolfe, Catholic Church 5'>1 

" M. E. Church & Parsonage 497 

" Presbyterian Church 498 

" Public School Building 491 

" & Vicinity, Mrs J.J.Bruce 4b9 
" Old, Brick School H<>use. • • 216 
" " Bruce & McEwen's 
Store 216 



Court House 279 

Russell, Mamie 376 

Michael T 665 



Parrish, Charles E 616 

Felix W. & Mrs 616 

Patterson, Michael F., Dr'. 303 

Clarence M. (at right ^ 

of Manse) ••• 232 

Perkins, Charles, Rev & Mrs... 



George, Mrs 440 

George B. & Lulu 440 

" George, Residence. . , . . . 232 
" George, .Pioneer Resi- 
dence 879 

Saylor, Christian M. & Family: 
Herbert B., William J., Mr., 

Mrs. & Calvin B - • 041 

409 



Peterson, Alexander & Mrs 544 Schoentah , Henry *"» 

^.t^ 011 ' Alexander, Barn 648 Schultz^ Alva L. 302 

Pfeiffer, Godfrey & Mrs 4u8 Shaw, Prentice J «g 

Pilot Creek Battle Field.... ...... 126 Silvers, M.J f 

" & Des Moines River Slosson, David. £j° 

ValWs 201 Smith, George, Mrs - - - - • • 616 

Plumb Frank H • • • ^ " John, Capt 119 

P^n^Boeiab Avenue,»1896 473 ^y^r. Pearl Sayre • |<6 

Indian Princess 117 Spiel man, David 



xxiv PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Spirit Lake Massacre 

" " Monument 

Starr, F, M 

State Savings Bank, Rolfe 

Stegge, John , H 

SteinbriDk, Carl & Family 

Steiner, Rose 

Stewart, Robert C. & Mrs 

Strong, Dora 

" James O, Mrs., Alva A., 
. William, Jason, Mary, Myrtle 
Luella 

Strong, Oscar I 

Struthers. Robert 

" Robert, Mrs 

William E., Ellen W.. 

Swenson, Gustave T. & Edith 
Busby 

Swingle, Fred & Mrs . 

Tabor, Edward B 

Tavlor, Emma Pfeifler 

" Robert W., Rev 

Thatcher. Isham O 

Thomas, Henry,' Log House, Er- 
roneously Credited to Ira 
Strong 

Thompson, Cyrus. . .-. 

Thornton, Albert M & Mrs 

" Alonzo L. & Mrs. Emily R. 

" Alonzo R. 

" Lottie Tollefsrude 

" Lucius C 

Times Office, Fonda 

Tishenbanner, Frank J 

Tobin, William & Family: Mary, 
Bernhart, Ann, Hqnry, Will- 



31 

41 
196 
181) 
472 
649 
441 
536 
697 



786 
505 
169 
168 

489 

376 
429 
428 
441 
460 
197 



1 

441 
680 
465 
302 
616 
464 
289 
625 



iam, Catherina, Mrs. Tobin 

& Minnie 640 

Tollefsrude, Christian H. & Mrs. 484 
" Christian II., Residence 485 

" Elisha M 616 

" HansC. & Mrs 616 

Tower, Old Church, Jamestown. . 123. 
Tumble Weed, or White Pig 

Weed (Amaranthus aibus... 1 
University of Iowa, View from 
the Southeast Corner of the 
Campus, Showing at the Left 
the Medical Building, Old 
Capitol, Library, & science 

Hall 60 

University, Chemical Laboratory 100 

Close Hall 78 

" Medical Hospital.. .. 162 

" Natural Science Hall 84 

VanAlstine, Sewell 481 

Vance, Ulvses S 452 

Wallace, George & Mrs 536 

John W. & Mrs 464„ 

Weaver, James B 409 

Whelan. Maggie Calligan 665 

White, Fran k 388 

Frank, Poland China Pigs 537 

Whitney. Charles R.. Dr 3' '3 

Wood, AlpheusB. P. & Mrs 249 

•' Adelbert S., Residence 581 

" John, Stone Dug-out 1 

Woorlin, David M. & Mrs 360 

Wright, Oharles G., Rev 524 

" Lew R 376 

Wykoff, Dollie 376 




INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



"The pleasant books, that silently among 
Our household treasures take familiar places, — 

And are to us, as if a living tongue 
Spake from the printed leaves or pictured faces!" 

The gathering of the materials for the following pages has been the work 
of spare moments on the part of a busy pastor, principally during the last 
twelve months. The preparation of this volume is an humble effort, under- 
taken by special request, to place in grateful remembrance the exploits and 
achievements of those hardy sons and daughters of toil, the pioneers of Poca- 
hontas county, who, seeking and establishing homesteads or abodes in these 
once western wilds, have developed their material resources, devised and built 
up their educational and religious institutions and thereby transformed them 
into a land of plenty, a paradise of beauty, the home of the happy and 
prosperous. 

This history of Pocahontas County has been undertaken with the convic- 
tion that such a volume would meet an oft expressed desire on the part of 
many of the old settlers. At various times in the past leading citizens of the 
county have prepared, and, in some instances, read on public occasions, valu- 
able papers on the early history of the county or of particular townships, and 
these have appeared and a few of them re-appeared in the public press of the 
county, especially in the Pocahontas (now Fonda) Times, the Pocahontas 
Pecord and Eeveille. 

There are yet living, in or near the eastern part of this county, a few of 
the first residents in it who are connecting links that bind the present with 
the past; and as one and another of their former number have "gathered 
about them the drapery of their couch," and been carried to their last earthly 
resting place the wish has oft been expressed that some one might perpetuate 
in some suitable and convenient form the story of their early experiences. 

The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Statehood of Iowa at 
Burlington, Dec. 28, 1896, turned anew the public mind of the state to histor- 
ic 



10 INTBODUCTOEY NOTE. 

ic research and under the impulse of this movement George Sanborn, one of 
the very first to locate on a homestead in Cedar township (1869), editor and 
proprietor of the Pocahontas (now Fonda) Times since November 1, 1877, de- 
cided soon thereafter to undertake the publication of a brief history of Poca- 
hontas County as a matter of public spirit and called upon the writer to see if 
he would not be willing to arrange and prepare the copy for publication. 
This request found us wholly engrossed with other engagements and though 
our assent was given a few weeks later, months passed before we were per- 
mitted to enter vigorously upon the work of gathering the necessary material. 

In the early part of the year 1876 Governor Kirkwood issued a proclama- 
tion urging all the township officers that year to compile histories of their re- 
spective townships to that date, and that they be made a matter of record at 
the ensuing Centennial anniversaries of that year, in order that they might 
form a true and accurate basis for future records of advancement and prog- 
ress. In accordance with this request the history of Grant and Powhatan 
townships were compiled in an admirable manner, the former by Mr. C. H. Toll- 
efsrude, the latter by Messrs. P. J. Shaw and Thomas L. Mac Vey. An ac- 
count of the last Indian battle in it, and a brief outline of the general history 
of the county were prepared at the same time by Wm. D. McEwen, Esq., who, 
as an officer of the county from 1866 to 1887, with the exception of two years, 
1884 and 1885, — a period of twenty years of public life, — had excellent op. 
portunity of doing this work very efficiently. 

We would make grateful acknowledgment of the valuable contributions 
of these gentlemen to the matter contained in this volume and for their very 
cordial co-operation. Others who have favored us with more recent contribu- 
tions are, John M. Eussell, the complete history of Lizard township; Messrs. 
Marion Bruce and A. E. Thornton, editors of the Eeveille, copies of that pa- 
paper containing their own articles on the "Aboriginal Inhabitants" of tlTis 
country, "Indian Graves aud Belies" by Fred A. Malcolm, "The Belief Ex- 
pedition to Spirit Lake" by A. H. Malcolm and the "Topography of the Coun- 
ty" by Lute C. Thornton; Port C. Barron, editor, for files of the Pocahontas 
Becord, April, 1884, to April, 1891, that contained the historic papers, with 
one exception, of the first three contributors named and a number of others 
of real value, of which we may note the "Drainage of the County" by the late 
County recorder, Alonzo L. Thornton, and successful "Fruit Culture" in this 
section by the late D. C. Williams, nurseryman; Geo. Sanborn for files of the 
Pocahontas Times from April, 1876, to date, with their numerous articles of 
historic value, especially McEwen 's account of the "Last Indian Battle" and 
the weekly letters of Hon. J. J. Bruce giving the development of the north- 
east part of the county previous to 1884 and an account of the "Swamp Lands" 
of the county. We would express our obligations also to the county officials 
for access to the county records, to Hon. Bobert Struthers, Swan Nelson, 
Wm. Brownlee and the many other friends who have so kindly aided us in 
the work of gathering the materials for this volume in their respective locali- 
ties. 

The work has been embellished with the portraits of nearly two hundred 
of the leading men and women that have been, or are now, residents of the 
county, and with many beautiful views of the fine residences and buildings in 
the towns and rural districts. This feature was not included in the original 
plan of the work, but is the development of an after-thought on the part of 
the writer that has had for its object the beautiful setting of some represent- 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 11 

ative of every family of the early pioneers in a place where they might be 
held in living, loving and grateful remembrance. 

The fact that we have been enabled to afford this opportunity to so many 
persons, and, throughout the entire edition of this work, to insert, in finely 
printed form by the engravers, the portraits of all those who have entrusted 
to us the privilege of securing their plate work, and that, too, at rates so 
nominal as to represent merely the ordinary cost of good plates, has been to 
us a source of great satisfaction. The ready acceptance of this opportunity 
of recognition, on the part of so many of those to whom it has been extended, 
shows that it has been highly appreciated. These illustrations add very much 
to the attractiveness and permanent value of the volume. 

The biographical or family sketches herein contained are confined either 
to those who have come into greater or less prominence as pioneer settlers of 
the County, or by dint of their industry, energy and perseverance have made 
a commendable success in their particular calling, or have specially identified 
themselves with some public or private interest worthy of grateful mention. 
No one has paid or promised any consideration for this recognition. The 
sketches of leading individuals have been prepared to illustrate the achieve- 
ments of the early settler in a rural district and to convey to others their 
methods of attaining the highest degree of success in their particular calling. 
It is believed that interest in these personal sketches will increase as the 
years go by. 

History deals solely with the past and its aim is to preserve the annals of 
the past and the foot-prints of those who have been leading actors. The lead- 
ing men of all countries have been those who have best represented the ruling 
ideas of their times and by the aid of the people, brought them into promi- 
nence and success. It is not incumbent on the historian that he should pass 
judgment upon the persons and the events he reviews, and try them by his 
own standard; but it is his privilege to trace the origin and development of 
particular events and if possible, show their influence upon succeeding ones. 
He should be a careful observer and a correct reporter of the past. Abraham 
Lincoln observed, "If we could first know where we are and whither we are 
tending we could better judge what to do and how to do it." Every fact in 
history has a bearing on the future and to those who are gifted with foresight 
the history of the past becomes a prophecy of the future. 

The loss already of the earliest records of the oldest townships and some 
others belonging to those more recently organized, together with the fact that 
a number of others have been kept at times in a fragmentary manner, made it 
impossible for us to obtain the full succession of officers in the various town- 
ships from the township records, the natural sources of information. The ef- 
fort to complete these lists through two other lines of research involved an ex- 
penditure of time and labor that was wholly unexpected. 

That this volume might be one of easy and ready reference, the histories of 
the several townships, including their respective towns, have been arranged in 
the alphabetical, instead of the numerical, or even chronological order; and 
the biographies at the end of the volume have been arranged in accordance 
With the same rule. 

In view of the greatly increased size of the volume, due to the insertion 



12 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

of so many pages of illustrations and a desire on our part to give it a reasona- 
ble degree of completeness, its publication has involved an expenditure of 
funds many times greater than was at first contemplated, and in consequence, 
the completed volume, instead of being presented to friends as a souvenir, as 
originally intended by the publisher, will be offered for sale and at a price so 
reasonable as to place it within the reach of all. 

The strictest accuracy has been steadily kept in view in the preparation 
of this volume, and the highest degree of this, it is trusted, has been attained 
that could be expected, in view of the loss already of so many of the township 
records. That it is not free from imperfections we are only too conscious, yet 
we feel assured it has this advantage, that its value and interest as a record 
of the past, instead of being lessened, will be greatly increased with the flight 
of years. 

The hope is therefore expressed that copies of this humble volume of pi" 
oneer history will be preserved in the home, the school and public libraries of 
the county, and that it will become the basis upon which the historian of Dec. 
28, 1946, the first Centennial of Iowa, will find his record of early events for 
Pocahontas County. 

R. E. F. 

Fonda, Iowa, Aug. 1, 1898. 



14 PIONEEE HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




EARLY HISTORY OF IOWA. 



Motto — "Our Liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain. " 



I. 



LOCATION AND EXTENT. 

"Let me sieze the pen prolific, 
While the muses guide me on, 

Let me chant the song seraphic 
Of Iowa, land of corn." 




(HE name of this beau- 
tiful prairie state, 
like Ohio, "The 
Beautiful Eiver,"is 
of Indian origin and 
signifies "The Beau- 
tiful Land" or "Land of Beauty." It 
became identified with this section of 
country from the name of a tribe of 
Indians, who, previous to 1840, occu- 
pied the territory along the Iowa Kiv- 
er. The name of this tribe has been 
perpetuated in the name of- this river, 
a county and a city of the State, and 
the latter was the first seat of the 
State Government. To this wander- 
ing tribe of Indians must be accord- 
ed the discovery of the fact that is now 
so richly realized by the sturdy yeo- 



manry of Iowa that "This is the place" 
"You ask what land I love the best, 
The fairest land of all the West, 
From yonder Mississippi's stream 
To where Missouri's waters gleam: 
'Tis Iowa, fair Iowa." — Byers. 
The State of Iowa has an out-line 
figure very nearly resembling a rec- 
tangular parallelogram, the northern 
and southern boundaries being nearly 
due east and west lines and its eastern 
and western boundaries are determin- 
ed by rivers that flow in a southeast- 
erly direction — the Mississippi on the 
east and the Missouri, together with 
its tributary the "Big Sioux," on the 
west. The northern boundary is upon 
the parallel of 43 degrees, 30 minutes, 
and the southern is approximately 
upon that of 43 degrees, 36 minutes, 

(15) 



16 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



north latitude. The distance from 
the northern to the southern bound- 
ary, not including the small angle at 
the southeast corner, is a little more 
than 200 miles, and the extreme width 
from east to west is a little more than 
300 miles. The area of the State is 
55,044 square miles or 35,228,200 acres. 

The whole state may be regarded as 
a part of a great plain situated near 
the center of the Mississippi Valley and 
having a gentle slope to the southeast 
where it is only 444 feet above the 
level of the sea. The average height 
of the whole State is not far from 800 
feet, although it is located more than 
1000 miles from the nearest sea coast. 
Iowa is also centrally situated in the 
American Republic, its southwest cor- 
ner being very near the geographical 
center of the territory of the United 
States, not including Alaska. 

THE MOUND BUILDERS. 

In many places, not only in Iowa, 
but throughout the valley of the Miss- 
issippi and its tributaries, the Ohio 
and the Missouri, there may yet be 
seen the remains of the works of an 
extinct race of men who seem to have 
made advances in civilization far be- 
yond the tribes of the red men dis- 
covered here by the first European 
adventurers. These remains consist 
chiefly of mounds of earth, or of earth 
and rock, sometimes in the form of 
pyramids, but frequently in the form 
of ramparts that enclose areas of 
greater or less extent, and that have 
manifest regularity and similarity of 
form. The walls or ramparts of these 
enclosures vary in thickness and 
height and sometimes enclosed areas 
that ranged from 100 to 400 acres. 
They were usually placed upon eleva- 
tions or upon the banks of streams 
and the area enclosed sometimes bore 
no proportion to the relative labor be- 
stowed on them. In the State of 
Ohio, where it is estimated there are 
10,000 of them, in one instance an area 
of not more than 40 acres is enclosed 



by circular mounds a mile and a half 
in circumference. 

The smaller mounds, having the 
form of low pyramids, appear to have 
been used at times as burying places 
for the dead, but the larger ones built 
in the form of a hollow square or cir- 
cle must have served either as tem- 
ples for worship or castles for defence. 

Wisconsin, the meeting grounds 
later of the Algonquin and Sioux 
Indian tribes, is noted for its large 
number of mounds, the work of the 
Mound Builders. They were located 
along the rivers and lake banks, and 
were two to six feet high and fre- 
quently two hundred feet long. There 
were found in the ramparts there 
brick built into a regular wall, and in 
the smaller mounds a very large col- 
lection of pre-historic implements of 
copper. 

MOUNDS IN IOWA. * 

' 'The mounds in Iowa are not so large 
or elaborate as those found in the 
Ohio Valley, but they present the 
same characteristics and in them are 
found the evidences that they were 
erected by the same people. They are 
scattered over the entire State and 
are of two classes, elongated or oval, 
and round. The former are in some 
instances 600 feet in length and are 
usually flat on top, resembling those 
found in Mexico and Central America. 
Their height varies from two to thirty 
feet, those of small area being usually 
the highest, and in some instances 
they have contained stone sepulchers 
or yaults for the dead. 

A considerable number of these 
mounds are scattered along the valley 
of the Des Moines river the and are 
usually found in groups. There are 
several on the banks of Lizard creek 
in Webster county and others in the 
vicinity of Fort Dodge. Some of the 
latter when opened were found to con- 
tain the remains of human beings, the 
fairly preserved parts of skulls and 
*Reveille. 



THE MOUND BUILDERS. 



17 



teeth, together with pieces of charred 
wood and ashes. Others in this vi- 
cinity appear to have been fortifica- 
tions; they are built of earth, and 
their arrangement discovers consider- 
able knowledge and skill in the use of 
the strategic art for self-defense. 

On the second bottom of the Rac- 
coon river, near Sac Gity, there is a 
group of eight that range from two to 
six feet in height and from thirty to 
ninety feet in diameter. Along the 
Little Sioux river there are a number 
of them, especially in Cherokee coun- 
ty, and in these there were found 
pieces of ornamented pottery. In 
others in Woodbury county earthen 
pots and jars were found covered with 
hieroglyphics, or figures, and many of 
them appear to have been glazed." 

THEIR BUILDERS. 

In view of the number and extent 
of these mounds, it must have requir- 
ed the labor of a numerous population 
that had both the leisure to under- 
take and the energy to carry to com- 
pletion, operations so vast. The ques- 
tion therefore presses, to what people 
must we ascribe the construction of 
these vast works'? They cannot with 
certainty be attributed to the ances- 
tors of the North American Indians, 
for they never made any use of them, 
and their disinclination to work, es- 
pecially in the ground, has ever been 
proverbial. They had even lost the 
story of them. Neither can they be 
attributed to the early Norwegian 
Colonists of Iceland and Greenland of 
the Ninth Century, for they were few 
in number and seem never to have 
passed westward of the Alleghanies. 

Beyond the works themselves to 
which we have alluded, and similar 
ones found in other parts of the 
American Continents, no trustworthy 
information has come to us in regard 
to these Mound Builders, save a curi- 
ous tradition through the Iroquois 
tribe to the effect that when the 
Lenni Lenapi the common ancestors 



of the. Iroquois and other tribes, whose 
language is still widely spread among 
the Indians, advanced from the North- 
west to the Mississippi, they found on 
its eastern side a great nation more 
civilized than themselves, that lived 
in fortified towns and cultivated the 
ground. This people at first granted 
the Lenni Lenapi leave to pass through 
their territories to seek an eastward 
settlement, but afterward treacher- 
ously attacked them while crossing 
the river. This conduct gave rise to 
inveterate hostilities in the end of 
which the fierce and war-like Indians 
overcame and forced southward the 
Mound Builders, thereby acquiring 
their lands, but none of their refine- 
ments or arts. This tradition, though 
imperfect, is not wholly improbable, 
and is likely to be all that we shall 
ever learn of the people who built the 
mounds that now excite our surprise. 

The origin of the aboriginal popu- 
lation of America is a problem that 
yet remains to be solved. In Europe 
it is known that man was in existence 
at a very remote period; and there are 
some facts that lend some support to 
the view that man has been a resident 
of America for many centuries. Por- 
tions of the human skeleton and frag- 
ments of human handiwork, associ- 
ated with the bones of mammals 
which now have no existence, have 
been found under circumstances that 
imply great antiquity. In most in- 
stances, however, it is not certain that 
these relics are of the same age of the 
deposit in which they have been 
found. 

Human skeletons and bones in a fos- 
silized state or associated with bones 
of extinct mammals have been found 
in Missouri, Kansas, near Natchez, 
New Orleans, in the Florida reefs and 
in California. Some of these have 
been referred to a very distant period 
ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 years. 

The histories of these communities 
generally agree that civilization was 



18 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



introduced by persons who first ap- 
peared as strangers amidst the people 
already in possession of the country. 
Hence the question has a two-fold as- 
pect, namely, the origin of the earliest 
uncivilized as well as that of the earli- 
est civilized tribes. It is possible, as 
the traditions suggest, that people 
have arrived upon the shores of Amer- 
ica from different quarters and at 
different times. 

EARLIEST AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS. 

In relation to this subject, it will no 
doubt be of interest to note that the 
earliest American . civilizations are 
those of Yucatan, Peru and Mexico, 
including the intervening points along 
the line of the Ancles. 

TOLTECS IN MEXICO. 

On the testimony of Humboldt and 
others, the history of Mexico is traced 
as far back as the year 544 of our era, 
when the Toltecs left their original 
location (Chic / -o-moz-toc) far to the 
north or west, and, after a long jour- 
ney, in the year 748 invaded Mexico 
which was then occupied by wander- 
ing hordes. About the year 895 a very 
formidable rebellion occurred and one 
of the chiefs leaving the country with 
a few chosen attendants founded a 
new Toltec Empire further north, the 
ruins of which are yet seen near the 
city of Pueblo. This Toltec popula- 
tion later penetrated further south, 
but after the lapse of a few centuries, 
having been reduced by famine, pesti- 
lence and unsuccessful wars, disap- 
peared from the land as silently and 
mysteriously as they had entered it. 

After the fall of the Toltec Empire 
there commenced the great movement 
of the northern tribes toward the 
south, a movement that continued 
through the 11th, 12th and 13th Cen- 
turies. This movement consisted of 
a succession of migrations, and its 
starting point appears to have been in 
New Mexico and California, which re- 
gion was evidently the seat of a semi- 



civilized Empire. Among these in- 
vading tribes there was one that sub- 
sequently rose to high importance, 
namely, the Aztecs, or Mexicans prop- 
er, who, living at Atz-lan, a country 
described as being surrounded by wat- 
er, and where the usual occupation of 
the people was that of boatmen and 
carriers of wood, (believed to have 
been Lower California,) commenced 
their journey to Mexico in 1090, 
reached Chic / -o-moz-toc, the original 
home of the Toltecs, in 1116, An-a-hu- 
ac in 1177, and laid the foundation of 
the city of Mexico in 1325. The series 
of Mexican Kings that commenced in 
1352, was continued through "eight 
monarchies to Montezuma, who, in 
1519 surrendered to Cor-tez. 

Prescott in the "Conquest of Mex- 
ico" calls attention to the following, 
among other points of resemblance, 
between the Aztecs and the nations of 
Europe, as indicating their European 
origin. 

1. Their traditions and religious us- 
ages; the former including a reference 
to a great deluge that a man and his 
wife, together with a dove and some 
pairs of animals, survived, and the 
latter, the use of the Sacraments in- 
stituted by Christ, namely, the com- 
munion and baptism, the latter by 
touching the head and lips of the in- 
fant with water. 

2. The analogies of science. Their 
annals were kept by means of hiero- 
glyphics, or picture writing; the year 
had 385 days, divided into months, 
and of the twelve signs of the zfodiac, 
eight were represented by crea- 
tures or designs identical with 
those in present use. 

3. Their own traditions point to a 
western or northwestern origin and 
their physical features, such as their 
reddish complexion, approaching a cin- 
namon color, their straight glossy hair, 
high cheek bones, eyes obliquely di- 
rected towards the temples, narrow 
forehead and prominent nose, all simi- 



THE MOUND BUILDEKS. 



19 



lar to the inhabitants of eastern Asia, 
confirm these traditions. 

INC AS OF PERU. 

Humboldt, in speaking of the an- 
cient empire of the Incas of Peru, 
more extensive than Mexico since it 
occupied a seacoast of 2500 miles in 
extent, says, ' 'Although they had no 
money, and no knowledge of iron or 
glass and no animals fitted for draught, 
yet they had utensils of copper, and, 
like the ancient Egyptians, they un- 
derstood masonry and mechanics suf- 
ficiently to dress and move stones 
thirty feet in length into the walls of 
their fortresses, and their architect- 
ure displays a remarkable uniformity 
not only of style but plan. The ruins 
of immense structures, apparently 
never completed, exist on the southern 
shore of lake Tit-i-ca-ca that appear 
to have been erected by powerful sov- 
ereigns with unlimited command of 
labor, and their unfinished state seems 
to indicate the overthrow of the gov- 
ernment that conceived them and 
which must have held sway over the 
whole of this lost, pre-historic em- 
pire. 

According to their traditions, about 
the year 1000 of our era Manco Capac, 
with his wife and sister Mama Ocello, 
persons of majestic appearance, ap- 
peared as strangers on the banks of 
lake Tit-i-ca-ca and announced them- 
selves as "Children of the Sun" sent 
by their beneficent parent to reclaim 
the tribes living there, from the mis- 
eries of savage life. Their injunc- 
tions, addressed to a people who pro- 
bably worshiped the god of day, were 
listened to by a few who settled 
around them and founded Cuzco. By 
degrees the surrounding tribes were 
induced to renounce their wandering 
habits and give attention to agricult- 
ure and religion. Huay'-na (woP-na) 
Capac, the twelfth in succession from 
the founder of the dynasty, occupied 
this throne when the first party of 
Spaniards visited Peru in 1520 and 



the empire was then still in a state of 
progress. 

The following points of resemblance 
between these ancient people and the 
people of China, as suggestive of a 
Chinese origin, have been noted. 

1. In both, the emperor assumed 
the title of the "Father of his people" 
and affected to have sprung from an- 
cestors, who sprung from heaven like 
the "Children of the Sun. " 

2. Both extended an ostentatious 
patronage to agriculture by celebrat- 
ing an annual festival in its honor. 

3. Both constructed roads for the 
use of pedestrians and erected store- 
houses or places of refreshment at 
proper distances, on precisely the 
same plan. 

4. The bodies of the dead, instead 
of being interred, in both were placed 
on the ground and a tumulus or 
mound raised over them. 

5. The Peruvians made coarse pot- 
tery, an art in which the Chinese ex- 
celled. 

6. Both built suspension bridges, 
made of ropes, over deep ravines. 
This is a remarkable coincidence as 
these suspension bridges have been 
found only in China and the neighbor- 
ing country of Thibet. 

7. Both, while displaying a little 
taste in agriculture, had the power of 
cutting and moving immense masses 
of stone and the same uniformity of 
style pervades their structures of ev- 
ery size and description. 

These and other points of similar- 
ity, that might be named, suggest 
that the ancient Incas, the Mound 
Builders of Peru, had been imbued 
with a civilization by persons who de- 
rived their ideas from China. 

YUCATAN. 

The earliest traces of civilization in 
America, however, if the native tra- 
ditions are to be credited, originated 
in Yucatan and the neighboring dis- 
tricts in Central America, where it is 



20 PIONEER HISTORY OF rOCAIIONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



said, "Vo-tan' and his companions, 
wearing long flowing garments arriv- 
ed in large ships about the year 955 B. 
C." They found the whole of the 
country from Darien to California 
"occupied by a barbarous people who 
used the skins of wild beasts for 
clothing, caverns and huts made with 
branches of trees for shelter, and wild 
fruits and roots with raw fish for 
food." Vo-tan\ it is said, wrote an 
account of the origin of the Indians 
and of their immigration into Amer- 
ica, attempting to prove "that they 
were descendants of Imos of the race 
of Chan, or the Serpent. " The forest 
covered ruins of Mexico and Central 
America present so many different 
architectural styles that it seems very 
probable they were built at different 
periods of time and by people of dif- 
ferent civilizations. 

Iceland was discovered about 860 
and was colonized in 874; and that 
land had been occupied by the Irish 
Culdees, a monastic order, many years 
before. Red Erik, a resident of Ice- 
land, arrived in Greenland in 986, a 
colony of Norwegians settled there 
sometime afterward, Christianity 
was introduced and Arnold appointed 
the first bishop in 1126, a stream of 
emigration set in and in 60 years 4000 
homesteads had been occupied, and in 
1261 a form of colonial government 
was established there under Hakon 
Hakonsen, King of Norway. This 
settlement of Norwegians became ex- 



tinct about the end of the 15th cent- 
ury and for a period of 200 years fol- 
lowing, Greenland was neglected and 
forgotten. But when the first persons 
arrived in Iceland and Greenland they 
found these most northern parts of 
America already inhabited by the 
Es v -ki-mo, or, as they called them- 
selves the In N -nu-its which signifies 
"The People." 

America, in view of the traditions 
and facts above stated, must have 
been known to the barbarous tribes of 
eastern Asia for hundreds and even 
thousands of years, and it is singular 
that it should have been visited by 
one of the most enterprising nations 
of northern Europe five centuries be- 
fore the time of Columbus without 
awakening the attention of either the 
statesmen or philosophers. 

These mounds, and the things found 
in them, indicate that their builders 
were much further advanced in civil- 
ization than the red man, known as 
the North American Indian. Their 
numerous fortifications suggest that 
they resisted the encroachments, but 
were unable to cope with their fero- 
cious invaders. It is believed that 
the ruins of the immense temples, 
monuments, highways and other as- 
tonishing achievements of engineer- 
ing skill found in Mexico, Central 
America and Peru, are the handiwork 
of these same Iowa Mound Builders 
developed to a higher degree of pro- 
ficiency. 



THE INDIANS OF IOWA. 



21 



II. 

THE INDIANS OF I0WH. 

"Such of late 
Columbus found the American, so girt 
With feathered cincture; naked else, and wild 
Among the trees, on isles and wooded shores. "—Milton. 

TWO GREAT NATIONS. 




URINGr the occupan- 
cy of this territory 
by the mound build- 
ers, who were an agri- 
cultural or shepherd 
race rather than hun- 
ters, game became very plenty. The 
Indians who relied upon the chase for 
a livelihood, learned of these delightful 
hunting grounds and took possession. 
There came from the St. Lawrence 
region, the Algonquin or Delaware 
stock that embraced the Delawares, 
(sometimes called Lenni Lenapi,) the 
Chip'-pe-was, Shaw'-nees, Ottawas, 
Pot-ta-wat-tamies, Nar-ra-gan'setts, 
Illinois, Pow'-ha-tans, (a confederacy 
of thirty-three tribes) Sac and Fox 
and other tribes to the number of 
thirty or forty. All of these spoke 
dialects of the same language and oc- 
cupied the territory that extends 
from the upper Mississippi to the At- 
lantic, and from South Carolina as far 
north as Hudson's Bay. From the 
northwest there came a more savage 
horde known as the Sioux (Soo) or 
Dakota (allies as they called them- 
selves) families that included the Da- 
kotas proper, the Assiniboin (rebels 
because they withdrew from the con- 
federacy about 1600 and settled in the 
Assiniboin river district,) the Win-ne- 
ba'-goes, (parent stock of the Iowas, 
Kansas, Quappas or Arkansas. Oma- 



has, Osages and other tribes of the 
lower Missouri district,) and others 
whose domain extended over the west- 
ern prairies between the Mississippi 
to the Rocky Mountains and from the 
Sas'katch / -a-wan to the Red river of 
Texas. 

These two great streams of savages 
came first against each other in the 
valley of the upper Mississippi and 
then turned southward. The Algon- 
quins from the east seem to have out- 
flanked the Sioux and began to oc- 
cupy that part of Iowa that lies south 
of a line extending from the mouth of 
the Iowa river in Louisa county, to 
the mouth of the Big Sioux near Sioux 
City; and the Sioux occupied the ter- 
ritory north of this line. 

I— THE ALGONQUINS. 

The Algonquins were represented 
on Iowa soil by the Chippewas from 
the Lake Superior region, the Sac and 
Fox tribes from the vicinity of G-reen 
Bay, Wisconsin; the Ottawas and Pot- 
tawattamies from the country south 
of the Great Lakes, and the Illinois 
from the Illinois river district. 

The Chippewas were a powerful 
tribe that ranged formerly over most 
of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minneso- 
ta and were constantly at war with 
the Sioux and others of their neigh- 
bors. They took sides with the Eng- 
lish in the Revolutionary war of 177fi 



22 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and again in 1812. They number at 
present about 20,000 and are located 
on thirteen reservations in the above 
named states and are making gratify- 
ing progress in civilization. 

The Ottawas in 1650 were driven by 
the Iroquois, (at one time the most 
powerful confederation of Indians on 
the American continent and some- 
times called the" "Six Nations,") be- 
yond the Mississippi only to be forced 
back a little later by the Sioux. 
They then settled near Mackinaw, 
Michigan. They aided the French in 
their war with Great Britain in this 
country, known as the French and In- 
dian War of 1754, and aided the En- 
glish in the Revolutionary War. The 
tribe has been reduced to a mere 
handful and they have been moved to 
Indian Territory. 

The Pottawattamies were driven 
from Michigan into Wisconsin by the 
Iroquois. They were allied with the 
French in their wars against the Iro- 
quois and participated in the Indian 
conspiracy led by Pontiac, chief of the 
Ottawas, who besieged the city of De- 
troit for eleven months in the year 
1769. In the Wars of the colonists 
with Great Britain they aided the lat- 
ter. In 1838 most of them were re- 
moved to a reservation in Kansas. 
Most of these became citizens and 
abandoned the tribal relation. Of the 
others, some are in Kansas, some in 
Indian Territory and the remainder 
became wanderers. 

The Sac and Fox tribes were united 
about the beginning of this century. 
They originally occupied the southern 
part of Wisconsin, especially the Fox 
river district, and also the Rock river 
district in Illinois. In 1832 they were 
conducted across' the Mississippi and 
united with the Iowas. A little later 
all were removed to the Sac river dis- 
trict, Missouri, but subsequently were 
located on special reservations, one in 
Indian Territory, the other in Tama 
Township, Tama County, Iowa, The 



latter is a part ofthe original hunt- 
ing ground of the Iowas. These In- 
dians number about 450, and this year 
(1898) have harvested for their own 
support, 1,000 bushels of wheat, 2,000 
bushels of oats and 20,000 bushels of 
corn. 

II — THE SIOUX (SOO) OR DAKOTAS. 

The Sioux or Dakotas, the other 
great family, were represented in Iowa 
by the Dakotas proper, from the up- 
per Mississippi region, the Winneba- 
goes from the country west of Lake 
Michigan, the Iowas identified with 
the Iowa River district, and the Otoes 
(now united with the Missouries,) the 
Omahas, Sissetons and Yanktons. 

The Omahas after a fatal visitation 
of small pox that greatly reduced 
their numbers, wandered westward to 
the Niobrara river and together with 
the Otoes have been located on reser- 
vations in eastern Nebraska. 

The Yanktons in 1803, when Lewis 
and Clark made their remarkable tour 
of discovery through the northwest, 
were found in northwest Iowa. The 
description given by Ihem of these 
Yanktons is that they were "strong, 
well-proportioned, bold and dignified." 
They found a brotherhood among 
them consisting of a chosen few, the 
bold, athletic ones, who vowed they 
would never say die or give up a pur- 
pose formed, for anything. They 
camped and held their pow-wows sep- 
arate from the balance of the tribe. 
In council their word was law. While 
making a trip to the Black Hills they 
met the Kites, and eighteen of the 
twenty-two that formed this brother- 
hood, licked the dust in an engage- 
ment that ensued. 

The Sioux nation, for many years, 
has been the most powerful of all the 
Indian tribes of North America. The 
chiefs and warriors of this tribe have 
been noted for their "fine physique, 
great personal courage and great skill 
in warfare." Though slow to adopt 
civilization their intellectual powers 



THE INDIANS OP IOWA. 



23 



compare favorably with those of most 
other tribes. Their number at pres- 
ent is about 40,000, divided into twen- 
ty-one sub-tribes that are more or less 
independent of each other. Their 
reservations include 108,450 square 
miles and they range over most of the 
unsettled portion of the Dakotas, east- 
ern Montana and north-eastern Wy- 
oming. 

The history of the Sioux has, from 
the first, been one of war, and their 
name a terror to their Indian neigh- 
bors, as well as to the whites. In 
their progress toward the east they 
encountered the Chippewas, who at 
that time formed a tribe sufficiently 
powerful to cope with them. After a 
long continued warfare with the 
Chippewas they were driven back into- 
Minnesota. 

In 1851 a band invaded the settle- 
ments along the Little Sioux river in 
this state committing depredations at 
first, but murder at Lake Okoboji and 
vicinity, known as the Spirit Lake 
Massacre. Again in 1862 the bands in 
Minnesota fell upon the white settlers 
and a terrible massacre ensued. As a 
result of these outbreaks they were 
placed on reservations in the Dakotas. 

The bands inhabiting the country 
farther west were in a state of almost 
constant hostilities with the whites 
until 1811 and the protection of the 
border settlements required almost 
constant presence of large bodies of 
troops. In 1875 and 1876, the chief, 
Sitting Bull, at the head of a large 
body of warriors maintained a success- 
ful resistance against all the troops 
that were brought against him 
and finally escaped across the bound- 
ary line into the domain of Canada 
with the bulk of his followers. 

The Winnebagoes at the time of the 
advent of the whites, formed the van- 
guard of the eastward migration of 
the Sioux and were found in the vi- 
cinity of Winnebago Lake and Green 
Bay, Wisconsin, They also aided the 



French in their early wars with the 
English, and the latter in the time of 
the Eevolution and the war of 1812. 

The Winnebagoes, some time pre- 
vious, or about the time of their re- 
moval to Iowa, seceded from the Con- 
federacy of the Sioux and became the 
allies of the Sac and Fox tribe. This 
placed them on bad terms with the 
Sioux, their neighbors on the north, 
in the northeastern part of Iowa, and 
trespassing on each others' huntiDg 
grounds afforded pretext for continued 
war between them. To remedy this 
difficulty, on the 15th of July, 1830, the 
United States Government entered 
into a treaty with the above named 
tribes by which each of them ceded 
to the Government a strip of land 
twenty miles in width along their line 
of division from the Mississippi, (vi- 
cinity of Prairie du Chien,) in a 
southwesterly direction to the 
mouth of the Boone or head waters of 
the Des Moines river. This strip, 
forty miles in width, was called the 
"neutral ground" and both parties 
were to have the privilege, in common, 
of hunting and fishing upon this broad 
division line. 

THE BLACKHAWK WAR. 

"Far from the tumult fled the roe, 
Close in her covert cower 'd the doe, 

Till, far beyond her piercing ken, 
The hurricane had swept the glen." 

For a number of years previous to 
1825 the Winnebagoes and their neigh- 
bors, the Sac and Fox tribe, had pos- 
session of and worked the lead mines 
in southern Wisconsin. These mines 
had been known from the earliest days 
of exploration by the French, and had 
attracted a mining population of con- 
siderable extent. The encroachments 
of the whites led to hostilities with 
the Winnebagoes in 1828 and as a re- 
sult the entire lead region was ceded 
to the government and the Indians 
agreed to occupy the territory west of 
the Mississippi. 

These Indians were reluctant to 



24 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



leave their villages and the hunting 
grounds they had occupied for several 
generations, and their removal by the 
government was immediately followed 
by the Black Hawk War of 1832. 

Black Hawk was a brave and noted 
chief of the Sac and Fox who aided 
the British at Detroit in the War of 
1812, and, until he was complete- 
ly subdued, never had a friendly feel- 
ing toward the government of this 
country. The principal village of his 
tribe was located on the Rock River, 
three miles above its mouth or near 
the present city of Rock Island. 

Having been removed to Iowa in 
1831 without his consent, in the spring 
of the following year he re-crossed the 
Mississippi with a band of 200 warriors 
and on May 14, 1832, won a victory over 
the first force that was raised against 
him. But in three different engage- 
ments with United States troops at 
Galena, June 24th, at Blue Mounds 
July 21st, and a little later near the 
Mississippi, he was defeated and his 
power completely broken. He fled 
but was captured by the Winnebagoes 
and delivered to the government. 
After an imprisonment in Fortress 
Monroe for a year, he was taken to 
several of the principal cities of this 
country that he might see the folly of 
contending against the whites. 
When released to go to his country- 
men, he was deeply moved, as he pas- 
sed the village where he was born, 
where he had lived so happily, and 
where he hoped to die, for he found it 
occupied by another and himself a 
wanderer. He passed the remainder 
of his days with his tribe in Iowa, and 
died in 1849. 

SIOUX OUTLAWS. 

The Sioux, in an early day, had no 
chief. This was an unnecessary lux- 
ury with them until they had deal- 
ings with the British which required 
a spokesman and Wah-ba-shaw was 
the first to hold this position. 

They were entirely different from 



the other families of Indians in cus- 
toms, language and almost everything. 
Schoolcraft, the great Indian author- 
ity says, their feasts, sacrifices, burnt- 
offerings and supplications to the 
Great Spirit, etc., remind him of sim- 
ilar customs and observances among 
the Asiatic tribes before the Christ- 
ian era. Another authority claims 
they have descended from the Tar- 
tars of Asia. They have often been 
alluded to as the Arabs of Western 
America and their fondness for war 
has been proverbial. 

When the cabin of the white settler 
began to break the monotony of the 
prairies of northern Iowa this tribe 
sought less molested hunting grounds 
in Dakota and Minnesota, but a band 
of Sioux outlaws, chiefly from the 
Sisseton tribe continued to roam over 
this section of country. Having mur- 
dered an aged chief, they had been 
expelled from the main tribe, but had 
drawn strength from other tribes un- 
til they numbered about 500 at the 
time when settlements were first made 
in Webster, Cherokee and Woodbury 
counties. They were then under Si- 
dom'-i-na-do-ta, (Two-Fingers) and as 
wanderers moved from place to place 
without regularity. As Pocahontas 
county was slow to receive settlers, 
they spent much of their time in this 
county. 

These Indians were in league with 
another band of desperadoes, who re- 
sided along the St. Peter's river in 
Minnesota, of whom Young-Sleepy- 
Eyes was the chief. These two bands 
lived in a state of almost constant 
outlawry upon other tribes and some- 
times united in waging war against 
the Pottawattamies in the southwest, 
or the Sac and Fox tribes in the south- 
east part of the state. The early set- 
tlers tell of battles fought by them at 
various places, as at Adel, Mud Lake, 
Hamilton county, and along the banks 
of the Cedar, Skunk, Iowa, and upper 
Des Moines rivers, and Pilot Creek 



THE INDIANS OF IOWA. 



25 



in Pocahontas county. 

INDIAN BATTLES. * 

"The battle at Adel occurred in the 
year 1811, at which time the Sac and 
Fox tribe was encamped in the vicin- 
ity of Des Moines. A party of twen- 
ty-four Delawares who were return- 
ing from Nebraska to visit the Sac 
and Fox tribe, with whom they were 
on friendly terms, were followed by 
a band of these Sioux, overtaken in 
the vicinity of Adel and in the bloody 
conflict that ensued, there fell twenty- 
three of the former and twenty-six of 
the latter. The only Delaware that 
survived through concealment in the 
grass, hastened to the Sac and Fox 
village, related the terrible fate of 
his companions and immediately five 
hundred warriors under Pa-she-ta-ho, 
then eighty years of age. mounted 
their ponies, started in hot pursuit of 
the ruffians, and, overtaking them 
about 100 miles north of Adel, com- 
pletely routed them, killing many, and 
sustaining a loss of seven of their own 
number. 

Another battle that occurred six 
miles north of Algona on the east 
branch of the Des Moines river is of 
historic interest. When in 1869 A. E. 
Fulton visited this spot he found 
"portions of skeletons mercilessly in- 
dented with tomahawk marks, and 
other relics of the battle." His ac- 
count of the battle is in part as fol- 
lows: "In April, 1852, a portion of 
the Musquakie (Fox) tribe, then and 
still residing in Tama county, under 
the leadership of Ko-ko-wah, went 
north by the way of Clear Lake to 
what was then called the Neutral 
Ground. While encamped at Clear 
Lake, their scouts brought informa- 
tion that a band of their old enemy, 
the Sioux, were encamped over on the 
east branch of the Des Moines. Ko- 
ko-wah with sixty warriors proceeded 
to attackthem. They arrived in the 

f^evellle, Feb, 30, 1896, 



night and concealed themselves in the 
timber, a mile above the Sioux en- 
campment, where, unperceived, they 
learned the exact position of the 
enemy. 

In the morning, after many of 
their warriors had gone on a hunt, 
they swooped down upon the unsus- 
pecting Sioux when they were not 
prepared to make a successful resist- 
ance. For a short time the conflict 
was desperate, but the advantage was 
all on the side of the attacking party, 
and the Sioux were completely van- 
quished. Sixteen of them were killed, 
including some women and children. 
The Musquakies lost four braves. 
They charged into the village after 
the first fire and a noted warrior was 
killed by a squaw, who sent two ar- 
rows through his body. But few of 
the Sioux warriors escaped and all 
their dead were left unburied. Aft- 
er the fight the Musquakies hastily re- 
turned to their village in Tama 
county." 

Si-dom-i-na do-ta's band was en- 
gaged in battle with the Pottawatta- 
mies at Twin Lakes and on the South 
Lizard, where they were victorious 
and the war between these two tribes 
was at an end in Iowa. 

We next hear of this notorious band 
of Indians in 1848 in Webster county, 
a short distance south of Fort Dodge, 
where they notified a party of survey- 
ors who were establishing a correction 
line across the state, not to go west of 
the Des Moines river as that was their 
territory. After serving this notice 
they departed and the surveyors con- 
tinued their work, but when they had 
proceeded a short distance west of the 
river the band returned and surround- 
ed the surveyors. They broke their 
instruments, stole their horses and 
provisions, and destroyed their land- 
marks, thereby convincing them they 
had better go no further into their 
territory. After this, Si-dom-i-na-do- 
t)as' "band again comes into noticg by 



26 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



reason of their frequent robberies of 
the new-comers who had located above 
Boone and were waiting for the new 
lands west of the river to be opened 
for settlement or purchase. The mil- 
itary post at Fort Dodge was opened 
in 1850, the time had come for the ad- 
vancement of the whites and these 
outlaws could no longer prevent the 
occupation of the territory by them." 

WESTERN IOWA INDIAN TREATY. 

Western Iowa was ceded by the In- 
dians to the United States on July 15, 
1830. The Sac, Fox, Western Sioux, 
Omaha, Iowa and Missouri Indians 
sold this large tract of land to the 
Government and in consideration 
therefor, they received as follows: 
Sacs, $3,000; Foxes, $3,000; Sioux, 
$2,000; Yankton and Santee bands of 
the Sioux, $3,000; Omahas, $2,500; 
Otoes and Missouris, $2,500; total, 
$16,000. This amount was paid to the 
Indians in annual installments for ten 
years, and provision was made for 
farm implements for the Indians and 
schools for their children. 

This treaty was negotiated and com- 
pleted on behalf of the Government by 
William Clark, Superintendent of In- 
dian Affairs, and Col. Willoughby 
Morgan, of the first United States In- 
fantry. The boundaries described in 
the treaty were as follows: "Beginning 
at the upper fork of the Des Moines 
river, and passing the sources of the 
Little Sioux and Floyd rivers, to the 
fork of the first creek that falls into 
the Big Sioux river, or Calumet, on 
the east side; thence down said creek 
and Calumet river to the Missouri 
river, thence to the Missouri state 
line above the.-Kansasf.thence along 
said line to the northwest corner of 



the ,state; thence to- the. high lands 
between the .waters falling .into the 
Missouri and^Des Moines, passing to 
said highlands along the dividing 
ridge i between the- u forks Jg of 
the GrandJ^ river; thence/j d along 
the highlands that form the 
dividing ridge, separating the waters 
of the Missouri from tliose of the Des 
Moines, to>a poin^oppositethe source 
of the Boyer river, "and^thence in a di- 
rect line to the upper fork of the Des 
Moines river, the place of beginning." 

This treaty went into effect on Feb- 
ruary 24, 1831, by {proclamation- and 
the settlement by the whites began>at 
once, though.at tirst„but few families 
had the daring.to take up their- homes 
in this wild country at that time. 

At the time of this sale western 
Iowa abounded -in buffalo, elk and 
deer, and the streams abounded with 
fish. The Indians lived off the game 
and were loath* to 'give > up- their fine 
hunting' grounds. They made '.-no 
further claim to the lands,.after the 
treaty, but there were frequent out- 
breaks of the different tribes, and sev- 
eral times it became necessaryito^call 
the Federal Troops to the assistance 
of the organized companies of pioneers. 
Reservations were set aside for the 
Indians, but it was with considerable 
trouble for many years that they were 
kept within bounds. 

The location of troops at Fort Dodge 
in 1850 awed the Indians in the north- 
ern part of the state and settlers east 
of the river were not molested, but in 
1853 the troops were unwisely removed 
and the Indians very soon afterward 
inaugurated a reign of terror among 
the settlers as far east as the Cedar 
river. 



THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE. 



27 



III. 

THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE HMD PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 

"Westward the Star of Empire takes its Way." 

I— REMOVAL OF FORT DODGE MILITARY POST. 




HEN the military 
post was established 
at Fort Dodge in 
1850 the Indians de- 
serted the east side, 
and the majority of 
them fell back from ten to twenty 
miles on the west side of the Des 
Moines river to a region which at that 
date was as yet comparatively unex- 
plored, an Indian territory. Although 
they were occasionally seen on the 
opposite side of the river, apparently 
to observe the movements of the 
troops, it was nearly nine months be- 
fore any intercourse could be had with 
them. By the treaty of 1851 they 
ceded the last of their lands in Iowa to. 
the Government, but as in the case of 
previous treaties, they were permitted 
to occupy them for hunting and fish- 
ing until the arrival of white settlers 
upon the domain thus ceded. In 1852 
some robberies were reported on the 
Boyer river and a detachment of 
troops from Fort Dodge overtaking 
the culprits, held Ink-pa-du-ta and 
Um-pa-sho-ta, two of the chiefs, a 
few days, until the stolen property 
was returned. 

In the summer of 1853 the garrison 
at Fort Dodge was transferred further 
north to a new post on the Minnesota 
river in Minnesota. On the removal 
of this garrison, Major William Will- 
iams, who had been a member of it, 
remained, and in partnership with 



John Lemp, purchased from the state 
of Iowa the section of land on which 
the garrison had been stationed; and 
in March of the following year, 1854, 
platted thereon the town site of Fort 
Dodge, at which time, there were on 
the ground, only two other men, 
James B. Williams and John M. Hef- 
ley, and one family, that of Wiliam 
Miller, besides himself. 

After the removal of the troops the 
Indians became more impudent and 
annoying in their depredations, and 
for the protection of the frontier set- 
tlers, who now began to arrive in con- 
siderable numbers, Governor Hemp- 
stead, in 1854, and also his successor 
Governor Grimes, empowered Major 
Williams to keep them in check, and 
to raise men for this purpose if neces- 
sary. The roving bands that inhabited 
this portion of Iowa became very 
friendly to the Major, his word to them 
was law, and he succeeded in keeping 
them peaceably disposed until Henry 
Lott, a desperate character of Web- 
ster county, waylaid and shotSi-dom'- 
i-na-do-ta, Chief of the Sissetons or 
Sioux out-laws, and murdered his 
squaws and children. 

II — MURDER OF SI-DOM / -I-NA-DO-TA.* 

"Twas not as when, in rival strength, 

Contending nations meet, 
Or love of conquest madly hurls 

A monarch from his seat." 

"Henry Lott, as the first settler, 

♦Centennial History of Webster county. 



28 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



erected the first cabin in Webster 
county near the mouth of the Boone 
river, where in 1846, he was found by 
the pioneers "selling whiskey to the 
Indians, stealing their ponies and 
running them off to the south." In 
his dealings with the Indians he was 
so unfair that they finally became sus- 
picious of him, threatened his life, and 
in the winter of 1846 drove him from 
his cabin, but did not meddle with his 
family. His two sons, fearing for the 
safety of their father, followed him, 
became lost, separated, and one was 
frozen to death near Elk Rapids. In 
November, 1853, he and his son began 
to occupy a claim near Lott's creek in 
Humboldt county and laid in as a win- 
ter's supply — three or four barrels of 
whiskey and some goods, as he said, 
"with a view of trading with the In- 
dians." 

In January, 1854, Lott and his son 
went to the camp of the old chief, Si- 
dom-i-na-do-ta, who was then living on 
the creek a mile west of Lott's cabin, 
and telling him there was a drove of 
elk feeding on the bottom lands, in- 
duced the old Indian to mount his pony 
and go with them. Lott and his son 
followed, and when a safe distance 
from his camp, treacherously shot and 
killed him, and that night, disguised 
as Indians, attacked the chief's wife, 
his mother and six children, and mur- 
dered all but two, a little girl aged 
ten, who hid in the bushes, and a boy 
of twelve years, whom they thought 
they had killed, but who regained con- 
sciousness and recovered." 

The murderded chief and family 
were discovered about ten clays after 
the tragedy by a party of Indians, liv- 
ing on Lizard creek, who, starting to 
hunt, called on their way and expected 
to see their friends. They found the 
little boy and girl and reported the 
affair at Fort Dodge, The settlers, 
on making an investigation, found 
also that the cabin of Lott had been 
burned m<\ that be 81$ bis son. 



taking with them the pony of the 
Indian chief, had left for parts un- 
known. At a coroner's inquest, the 
jurymen being Indians, the children 
so testified and the jury so decided, 
that the chief and his family had 
been murdered by Lott and his son 
(or step-son?). Subsequently the re- 
port became current that Lott had 
been killed on the plains on the way 
to the Pacific coast. 

After this outrage, and especially in 
view of the fact that Lott had not 
been captured and punished, the 
Indians became sullen and suspicious, 
and in fact behaved in such a manner 
as to cause all the settlers to fear 
that they would retaliate on the 
whites. For some time they threat- 
ened the whites with destruction if 
they did not capture Lott and give 
him up to them. The only course 
possible was to promise them he 
should be taken and continue mani- 
fest efforts to capture him until they 
had time to prepare for defence. 

Ill— THE GRINDSTONE WAR. 

About this same period, an incident 
of real interest occurred in the vicin- 
ity of Clear Lake that finds a place 
in the annals of that period under the 
title of the "Grindstone War," that 
led to the abandonment for a time of 
the frontier and spread alarm far in- 
to the settlements. 

A party of Indians were passing the 
cabin of a settler by the name of Dick- 
erson on a begging expedition and see- 
ing a handsome rooster, a young red- 
skin in chasing it around the premises 
in the effort to capture it, knocked 
over the grindstone, broke it to pieces 
and started off with the largest piece 
of it. Dickerson followed him, jerked 
the grindstone away, sent the Indian 
sprawling on the ground and when he 
rose knocked him insensible with a 
piece of the grindstone. The Indians 
demanded $100 in reparation, but were 
for the time appeased by Mrs, Dicker- 
ion giving them wbat jnoney sl^e bar) 



THE SPIEIT LAKE MASSACRE. 



29 



($6.00), some quilts and other articles. 
The day following, the settlers • at 
Clear Lake, Mason City and vicinity, 
to the number of twenty-five, mount- 
ed and well armed, determined to 
drive the Indians out of that section. 
The latter awaited the onset until 
they were within gun-shot, when the 
chief advanced with a flag of truce in 
one hand and a great pipe— the pipe 
of peace — in the other. The articles 
received of Mrs. Dickerson were re- 
turned, the pipe of peace was mutual- 
ly smoked; but the treaty so unexpect- 
edly made did not allay the fears of 
the settlers, all of whom were seized 
with a panic soon after and fled for a 
short time as far east as Nora 'Springs. 

IV— OTHER EVENTS. * 

"In the summer of 1855, settlers 
began to push their way up both 
branches of the Des Moines river and 
the Lizard fork from Fort Dodge. 
Their pre-emptions were made where 
groves dotted these streams, that tim- 
ber might be obtained for erecting 
rude homes and for fuel. The foun- 
dations of many pioneers' homes were 
made that season, though a majority 
of the founders did not remain, but 
returned with their families and 
effects the following spring to make 
their permanent homes. It was dur- 
ing this influx that Pocahontas county 
received its first settlers. Some set- 
tlers, more venturesome than others, 
journeyed along the Lizard to its head- 
waters, crossed over to the Little 
Sioux and located their claims at or 
near what is now Sioux Rapids. 

The winter that followed was one of 
remarkable severity, but with the re- 
turn of the warm spring sun and the 
disappearance of the snow there came 
those conditions that were so peculiar 
to this section in early days. Spring 
in those days came as a pardon from 
the Great Executive of the Universe, 
*by A. H. Malcolm, a resident of Clinton 
Township, a reprint from the Reveille, March 
19, 1896. 



releasing prisoners from their impreg- 
nable walls of snow, causing general 
rejoicing and a desire to gambol even 
as the lambs. Such was the spring of 
1856, and the return of those who had 
visited the country the previous sum- 
mer, together with the new-comers, 
inaugurated a veritable boom. 

This was the year when settlements 
were made in northwestern Iowa on a 
permanent basis. From every patch 
of timber along the streams came the 
sound of the axe as it was sturdily 
plied in felling timber for the log 
cabin, or in cutting crotched poles 
with which to make a shelter for a 
few cattle. It was during this sum- 
mer that the banks of the beautiful 
Iowa_ lakes, known as Spirit and Oko- 
bojis, became dotted with a few cab- 
ins. It was late when these settlers 
arrived, and with hard work they 
barely had time to erect their homes 
before a winter set in that was a win- 
ter, indeed. Northwestern Iowa had 
become generally settled this season, 
and yet during the severe winter the 
settlers were as isolated as if sepa- 
rated by mountains of granite. 

During the time of these settle- 
ments, Ink-pa-du-ta's band of Indians 
occasionally made their appearance 
and usually frightened timid settlers, 
but no general scare was inaugurated. 
The greater part of their time was 
spent on the plains of Dakota, whith- 
er they had followed the buffalo and 
other game. In February, 1857, this 
band of Indians appeared on the Sioux 
in the northwestern part of Wood- 
bury county, and a quarrel was pre- 
cipitated with the whites, but with 
no serious results. The Indians 
claimed to be on a hunting expedi- 
tion, but doubtless their real object 
was to beg, rob and plunder. They 
were sullen and abusive as they passed 
up the Little Sioux, and doubtless the 
lives of several families were saved by 
the exercise of forbearance. 

In Buena Vista county they robbed 



30 



PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the house, shot the cattle and shame- 
fully abused a family by the name of 
Weaver. In Clay county, near the 
present town of Peterson, their out- 
rages on two families— Mead and Tay- 
lor — were even more bold and villian- 
ous. Finally, on March 7, they reach- 
ed the Okoboji Lakes, when their 
pent up savagery became an insatiate 
thirst for blood. They had found 
their rich hunting grounds pre-empted 
and no doubt felt that they were 
being driven to the land of the setting 
sun. Ink-pa-du-ta, brother and suc- 
cessor as chief of Si-dom-i-na-do-ta, 
doubtless saw an opportunity to strike 
a last terrible blow at the whites and 
thereby avenge the death of his broth- 
er and mother before quitting the soil 
of Iowa." 

MURDERS AT LAKE OKOBOJI, MARCH 8, 

1857. * 

"Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of time; 
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime." 

"On the morning of March 8, just as 
the Gardner family were about to 
breakfast, an Indian entered the cab- 
in. He professed friendship and the 
Gardners shared their breakfast with 
him. He was soon followed by several 
more with their squaws and papooses, 
led by Ink-pa-du-ta himself. The 
family shared their scanty stores with 
all these hungry visitors. After they 
had eaten they began a series of inso- 
lent and menacing interferences with 
the family and their household goods. 
One demanded ammunition and when 
Mr. Gardner was taking some from a 
box to give him, he snatched the box; 
another attempted to take the pow- 
der horn from the wall, but was pre- 
vented by Mr. Luce, a son-in-law of 
Mr. Gardner. 

The Indians staid about the house 
until nearly noon, and finally left, 
after shooting some of the cattle and 
driving others before them. They 
went in the direction of the Mattock 

*Ex-Gov. C. C. Carpenter, in Midland 
Monthly, July, 1895. 



cabin, near which was the cabin of 
three young men, Dr. Harriot and 
Messrs. Granger and Snyder. In the 
judgment of Mr. Gardner, who had 
learned something of Indian character 
by his experience with them while liv- 
ing at Clear Lake, there was no 
longer any doubt as to the hostile pur- 
pose of the Indians. The situation was 
hastily discussed, and at the request 
of Mr. Gardner, the two young men at 
his home, Luce and Clark, started for 
the homes of the other settlers to notify 
them of the danger and summon them 
to the home of Mr. Gardner for mu- 
tual defence. They never returned 
from this perilous mission and their 
bodies were found on the lake shore 
the following summer. , 

About an hour after they had gone, 
several gun shots were heard by the 
Gardners in quick succession, and in 
the direction of the Mattock cabin. 
This convinced them that the work of 
of death had begun. Later they dis- 
covered several Indians approaching 
the cabin. The impulse of Mr. Gard- 
ner was to barricade the door and sell 
his life as dearly as possible. But his 
wife, feeling the hopelessness of any 
attempt at defense dissuaded him 
with the argument that if there was 
any hope for the family, it was in try- 
ing to conciliate them. Meanwhile, 
they reached the house and coming in, 
asked for flour, and when Mr. Gard- 
ner turned to get it, they shot him 
through the heart. Then one leveled 
a gun to shoot Mrs. Gardner. Mrs. 
Luce, her daughter, grabbed the gun 
and pulled it down, when the Indians 
seized both mother and daughter and 
beat them to death with the butts of 
their guns. Then they snatched the 
helpless babe of Mrs. Luce from the 
arms of the girl of thirteen, — now Mrs. 
Abigail Gardner Sharp, — to whom 
were clinging with the instinct of ter- 
ror, not only the babe, but her six- 
year-old brother and another little 
child of Mrs. Luce. Snatching all 



THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACEE. 



31 





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32 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



three of these helpless little ones from 
the dazed and paralyzed girl, they 
carried them outside the house and 
beat them to death with sticks of 
wood. They ransacked the cabin, 
taking such things as curiosity or 
their wants prompted, and then led 
away Abigail, a helpless captive, from 
this appalling scene to the Mattock 
cabin. 

At the Mattock cabin the dead 
bodies of the family were found scat- 
tered over the ground, the cabin was 
in flames and two of the household 
had been left to perish in the fire. 
Here there had been an attempt at 
defense, but they had become con- 
scious of their danger too late for or- 
ganization. Near the house Dr. Har- 
riott was lying dead, his gun still be- 
ing in his hands. Snyder, also dead, 
was lying in the vicinity, indicating 
that when the attack was made upon 
the Mattock family, these two young 
men had, undoubtedly, crossed the 
straits to aid in the defense of their 
friends and had died with their faces 
to the foe. It was now evening and 
with savage intuition they celebrated 
the carnage of the day with an Indian 
war-dance at this place. 

MURDERS AT EAST OKOBOJI, MARCH 9. 

The next morning the savages, with 
appetites sharpened for blood, sallied 
forth on the war path for the cabins 
on the east side of EastOkoboji. Here 
were living the families of Howe, his 
son-in-law, Alvin Noble, and Thatcher 
with whom was stopping a young man 
Ryan, another son-in-law of Mr. 
Howe, and all were entirely ignorant 
of the fate of their neighbors and of 
the presence in the neighborhood of 
Ink-pa-du-ta and his band. 

Mr. Howe, having started on an 
errand to the Gardner cabin, was met 
and shot a short distance from his 
home, and his head severed from his 
body. The savages then went to the 
cabin and murdered the remainder of 
the family, comprising his wife and 



six children, a young man, a young 
woman and four younger children. 

They next visited the Noble cabin, 
in which were Noble, his wife and in- 
fant child, his brother-in-law Ryan, 
and also Mrs. Thatcher and infant 
child. As usual they feigned friend- 
ship on entering the house, and as 
soon as opportunity was afforded they 
shot both Noble and Ryan. Seiz- 
ing the two infant children from their 
mothers' arms, they dashed their 
brains out against a tree at the door. 
After plundering the house, shooting 
several of the cattle and killing the 
poultry, they left with their booty, 
dragging the two helpless and horri- 
fied women — Mrs. Noble and Mrs. 
Thatcher — into captivity. On the 
route to their camp, which was near 
the Mattock place, they stopped at 
the cabin of the Howes where Mrs. 
Noble was still more horrified on see- 
ing the dead bodies of her mother, 
brothers and sisters. 

MARBLE GROVE, SPIRIT LAKE, MARCH 11 

On the tenth of March they moved 
westward across West Okoboji, and 
the next day northward to Marble 
Grove at Spirit Lake. Here another 
opportunity presented itself to slake 
their thirst in blood. Living alone, 
far from neighbors, were these two 
young people, Mr. and Mrs. Marble. 
Before they were aware of the pres- 
ence of a human being besides them- 
selves, the Indians were in and around 
their cabin. As usual they pretended 
to be friends and made signs of good 
will. They invited Marble out to 
shoot at a mark. After a few shots, 
when his gun was empty, the target 
fell and they motioned him to set it 
up. His wife sitting at a window, 
with a woman's instinct divined their 
purpose, and, as she suspected, when 
he turned his back to set up the tar- 
get, they shot him through the heart. 
His wife in horror sprang from the 
house to run to his relief, but was led 
to their camp a captive. Before leav- 



THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE. 



33 



ing Marble's Grove they again repeated 
the fiendish orgies of the war dance. 

AT SPRINGFIELD, MINNESOTA. 

After these events, the Indians 
moved northwestward with their 
four captives and booty. On March 
26th, they were encamped at Heron 
Lake, about fifteen miles northwest of 
Springfield, Minnesota, and thither 
they started early in the morning of 
that day. 

Their arrival here was, in some 
measure, anticipated. The day on 
which they had visited the Howe and 
Noble cabins, Morris Markham had 
gone fifteen miles east, to the Des 
Moines river, for a stray yoke of oxen. 
Returning to the Gardner cabin late 
in the evening and finding it a scene 
of destruction, he believed it to be the 
work of Indians and started for the 
Mattock place, where he was diverted 
from running into the Indian camp — 
located within the timber and brush — 
by the barking of the Indian dogs. 
Thence he hastened to the Howe and 
Noble cabins— the latter his own 
home — only to find them desolate, or 
strewn with the mangled remains of 
former friends. Having traveled thir- 
ty miles that day, without food or 
rest, he remained in the timber until 
daylight and then hastened to Spring- 
field, eighteen miles north, where, 
half-frozen and half -starved, he deliv- 
ered his startling message. 

On hearing Markham 's story, sever- 
al families assembled at the home of 
James B. Thomas, (father of Sylvester 
P. Thomas, of Havelock,) the largest 
home in the place and resolved to de- 
fend themselves to the end. They 
also dispatched two young men, Hen- 
ry Tretts and Mr. Cliffen, to Fort 
Ridgely for troops. At first there 
were twenty-two persons, old and 
young, in the Thomas house, and here 
most of them remained for seventeen 
days. 

About three o'clock on the after- 
noon of March 26th, a little eight year 



old son of Thomas, who had been play- 
ing in the yard, rushed to the door, 
saying, "the boys are' coming," refer- 
ing to the two young men who had 
gone to Fort Ridgely and who were 
hourly expected. Quite a number of 
the people in the house came to the 
door, several stepping outside, when 
in an instant there sprang from be- 
hind the stable and the neighboring 
trees a score of Indians, who imme- 
diately fired a volley into the group of 
persons that stood in and around the 
door. The little boy, William Thom- 
as, who had been deceived by an In- 
dian dressed in a white man's suit, 
and who had called them to the door, 
fell mortally wounded in the head. 
Mr. Thomas was wounded in the wrist, 
causing the loss of an arm; David Car- 
ver was wounded in the left arm and 
Miss Drusilla Swanger in the should- 
er. But in the excitement and rush 
for the door, none of them realized 
that they were wounded, and little 
Willie, who had fallen unnoticed, was 
left outside, where he soon died of his 
wound. 

Now began a fight for life. There 
were three men, Jareb Palmer, Brad- 
shaw and Markham, that were not 
wounded. The two latter seized each 
a gun, and, knocking the chinking 
from between the logs to get sight of 
the enemy, began firing. Palmer, as- 
sisted by Mrs. Thomas, barricaded the 
door, pulling up puncheons or timbers 
from the floor to strength- 
en it and protect the inmates from the 
shower of bullets that came against it. 
Miss Swanger, though wounded, and 
Miss Gardner, a sister of Abbie, ren- 
dered efficient service during the siege 
by casting bullets. Mrs. Louisa 
Church not only assisted by loading 
guns, but stood at a port-hole and 
fired at every Indian head she could 
see. It is believed that she fired the 
only shot that really killed an Indian. 

While this battle was in progress at 
the Thomas house, a detachment of 



34 PIONEER HISTORYQOF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Indians attacked the store, killing 
William and George Woods, the pro- 
prietors, and carrying away their 
goods. Others went to the Stewart 
cabin, where they killed Stewart, his 
wife and two children, one little boy 
of eight years saving himself by flight 
and hiding behind a log. Two 
cabins— that of Wheeler, where there 
were two men, Henderson and Smith, 
lying with frozen limbs, and that of 
Sheigley, where he and his little son 
were momentarily expecting an at- 
tack, were overlooked and left undis- 
turbed. 

The assault on the Thomas house 
was vigorously maintained and as vig- 
orously resisted, till nearly sunset, 
when the Indians ceased firing and 
were seen throwing clubs at the horses 
that were running loose around the 
stable, to drive them beyond gun- 
shot from the house. About dark 
little Johnnie Stewart was seen ap- 
proaching the house, creeping on the 
snow amid the timber; and a little 
later Sheigley arrived, wholly uncon- 
scious of the tragic events that had 
been transpiring." 

FLIGHT FROM SPRINGFIELD. 

Having no knowledge of the plans 
for their relief, and fearing the In- 
dians would fire their dwelling under 
the cover of night, about nine o'clock 
it was decided to leave the place. 
Finding a yoke of oxen left in the 
stable, they hitched them to the sled 
and the seventeen persons that were 
there, three of them having wounds 



undressed, taking no baggage and no 
clothing except what they had on, and 
leaving the body of little Willie where 
he fell, sadly and silently started in 
the darkness of the night on a perilous 
journey down the valley of the Des 
Moines to Fort Dodge, seventy-five 
miles distant. They arrived in the 
course of time, in a forlorn and desti- 
tute condition, having tarried two 
nights and one day at the cabin of 
George Granger, the nearest settler on 
the Des Moines, where is now the city 
of Estherville, meeting . the Fort 
Dodge volunteer relief company on 
the afternoon of March 30th, and stop- 
ping at the Irish settlement, fifteen 
miles north of the mouth of Cylinder 
creek, on the way. 

The Indians, finding that a detach- 
ment of troops from Fort Ridgely had 
arrived the next day after the battle 
at the Thomas cabin, having killed 
thirty-three persons at the Okoboji 
lakes, one at Spirit Lake and seven at 
Springfield — total, forty-one*— fledim- 
mediately with their four captives, 
Abbie Gardner, Mrs. Marble, Mrs. No- 
ble and Mrs. Thatcher, to the country 
west of the James river in Dakota. 

The reason why the foregoing tragic 
events have always been called "The 
Spirit Lake Massacre," when Marble 
alone was killed near that particular 
lake, is due to the fact that at this 
early period, this whole lake region 
was known abroad as that of Spirit 
Lake. 

*Major Williams' report in History of Spirit 
Lake Massacre. 



THE RELIEF EXPEDITION TO SPIRIT LAKE. 



35 



IV. 

THE RELIEF EXPEDITieiM TO SPIRIT LAKE. 

"Ne cede malis, sed contra audentior i to. "—Virgil. 
"Yield not to misfortunes, but on the other hand, more bravely go forwards 

THE FACTS LEARNED.* 




MONG the settlers 
who had located in 
the Spirit Lake re- 
gion during, the fall 
of 1856, there were 
three men from 
Jasper county — Orlando C. Howe, R. 
A. Wheelock and B. F. Parmenter— 
who, very fortunately , returned to 
their homes after locating their 
claims. About the first of March fol- 
lowing they started from Newton 
again for the lakes, and their trials 
during that journey, could they be 
narrated, would scarcely be believed. 
Their wagons were drawn by oxen, 
which, on good roads moved slowly 
but when wollowing through the 
sloughs barely moved at all, and yet 
in an emergency of this kind they 
made as good speed as horses and 
more than a locomotive that was not 
provided with a snow-plow. When 
they had arrived within a few miles 
of the lakes, on March 15th, their 
oxen became completely exhausted 
and they felt constrained to leave 
them and proceed on foot. They ar- 
rived at the lakes after the shades of 
evening had fallen, and the darkness 
was increased by the gloom of the 
scenes of death and desolation that 
met their gaze. All congratulations 
over the completion of a perilous jour- 
* A. H. Malcolm, Reveille, March 19, 1896. 



ney were ended. Instead of the 
smiles and hearty welcomes, .that 
they had expected from the settlers 
with whom they had became ac- 
quainted the previous fall, they were 
greeted with the stony glare from the 
eyes of those who were cold in death. 

They arrived first at the cabin of 
Joel Howe, and here they spent the 
night. In the morning they went to 
the Mattock cabin, a mile an a half 
distant, and found it in ashes and the 
family murdered. These were gloomy 
moments for these men, and, conclud- 
ing that the entire settlement had 
been wiped out, without tarrying for 
further investigation, they hastened 
to return to Fort Dodge, where they 
arrived on the evening of March 21st, 
and delivered their startling message. 
A public meeting having been called, 
nearly every able-bodied man attend- 
ed and it was determined to raise 
two companies of volunteers to march 
to the scene of the massacre for the 
purpose of rescuing any settlers that 
mightjiave escaped, and, if possible, 
to overtake and punish the Indians. 

That winter A. H.' Malcolms/worked 
for George'^H. Rogers, on Soldier 
creek, east' of Fort^Dodge. On the 
evening' ' of March] 23d, 'he went to 
Fort;Dodge,and receiving his first in- 
formation of the massacre, learned 
that a rescuing party was to leave in 



36 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the morning. Major Williams had 
organized two companies of men from 
Fort Dodge and Homer, who had 
elected as their captains — Company A, 
Charles B. Richards, and Company B, 
John F. Duncombe. Runners had 
been sent to Webster City, and on 
this same day, about thirty men had 
marched across the prairie from that 
place to Fort Dodge and organized by 
electing!. C. Johnson, captain. A. 
H. Malcolm became a member of 
Company B. and Guernsey Smith, 
who also afterward became a resident 
of Pocahontas county, joined this 
company. The battalion numbered 
about one hundred men and was under 
the command of Major William Will- 
iams. 

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED. 

On the morning of March 24th, 
with loaded teams, the expedition 
started upon its long, difficult and 
arduous campaign. As stated before, 
the winter had been a severe one, but 
on this particular morning the weath- 
er was so mild it began to thaw. The 
snow was about two feet deep upon 
the level and elevated places and' 
often ten feet in the hollows, rendering 
them almost impassable. The means 
of transportation consisted of three 
wagons drawn by oxen, and three or 
four horses. It became necessary at 
times, in order to get the wagons 
through the snow, to form the com- 
mand into two lines, separated the dis- 
tance of the wagon wheels apart, and 
then march and counter-march un- 
til they had made a hard beaten track. 
Sometimes the snow would not pack 
and then the entire body of men, tak- 
ing hold of a strong rope, would draw 
the wagons, and even the oxen, 
through the drifts by main force. 
When all pulled with the strength of 
determination then prevailing, it took 
more than snow to keep something 
from moving. Under these circum- 
stances they made slow progress, ad- 
vancing some clays not more than six 



or seven miles. 

"The experience of camping on the 
open prairie, one night without fire, is 
well remembered. We were some dis- 
tance east of the present town of 
Bradgate. The night overtoook us at 
a place where there was no timber or 
fuel, and we camped on an elevated 
spot, from which the wind had blown 
the snow. Our feet were wet and we 
pulled off our boots, wrung our socks, 
put them on again quickly, lest they 
should freeze, and then to keep warm 
trotted around the knoll most of the 
night. When morning came we pro- 
ceeded to McNight's Point, where we 
built a fire and remained the balance 
of that day and night. One of the 
men, Geo. W. Brazee, from Chicago, 
was court-martialed that evening for 
some fancied misdemeanor. He was 
a droll sort of a fellow, but, as we 
found out, nobody's fool. He plead 
his own case and the incident fur- 
nished no small amount of fun for the 
battalion. 

The next morning we moved on- 
ward, following, as nearly as the snow 
would permit, the dragoon trail from 
Fort Dodge to Fort Ridgely. The 
experience of each day was very simi- 
lar to its predecessor until the second 
day after we left Medium Lake (on 
the banks of which Emmetsburg is 
now located,) when we met the set- 
tlers from Springfield, Minnesota, 
whom the Indians had attacked after 
their bloody work at the lakes. They 
were glad to meet relief and they 
needed it. They had learned of the 
approaching Indians, barricaded 
themselves in the log house of Mr. 
Thomas and had succeeded in beating 
them off. Under the cover of night, 
these fleeing settlers had started for 
Fort Dodge, four days previous, and 
were nearly exhausted when met by 
the expedition. The wounded were 
cared for, provisions provided and the 
refugees sent on southward. This oc- 
curred on March 30th. 



THE BELIEF EXPEDITION TO SPIRIT LAKE. 



37 



The impression now prevailed that 
the Indians could be overtaken, and 
we pressed onward the following 
morning with a renewed determina- 
tion. Before night Granger's grove 
had been reached, and it was there 
learned that troops from Fort Bidge- 
ly had already scouted the country 
from Springfield to the lakes and that 
the Indians had fled. 

The battalion was now one hundred 
miles from the nearest source of 
supplies, and had only three day's 
rations on hand. It was conced- 
ed that it was useless to further pur- 
sue the Indians, and inadvisable for 
the entire command to go to the lakes 
to bury the dead. Major Williams de- 
cided to send on this latter errand 
every fourth man, and that the main 
body should immediately return. 

THE RETURN, CYLINDER CREEK. 

"It fell to my lot to return, and the 
experiences of the march homeward 
were terrible. The day we passed 
from Medium lake to Cylinder creek, 
in Palo Alto county, it rained contin- 
ually so that the creek, which was or- 
dinarily "a mere thread meandering 
through a low bottom," had overflown 
its banks, >and flooding the bottoms, 
one-half mile in width to the depth of 
three feet, was ten feet deep in the 
channel. "We arrived at the creek 
about three o'clock in the afternoon, 
having waded through sloughs and 
marched twelve miles in the rain. As 
a matter, of course, there was not a 
dry thread in the crowd; and what 
should we do, seeing that we could 
not cross the creek? 

Various experiments were made to 
devise some method of surmounting 
this new and unexpected difficulty. 
It was first decided to calk a wagon- 
box, two or three to cross in it, and if 
possible, stretch a rope over the deep 
channel by the help of which, it was 
hoped, the wagonrbox might be swung 
back and forth over the channel, and 
f he men and teams reach it by wading 



across the bottoms. This experiment 
was made. Duncombe, Bichards and 
Smith tore up quilts, calked the wag- 
on-box and when they had it sufficient- 
ly tight to use as a boat, called for 
volunteers to cross the creek. All 
were loath to try it the first time, so 
I (A. H. Malcolm) joined them and we 
crossed over, "barely escaping ship- 
wreck in the passage, owing to the 
swiftness of the current and violence 
of the wind, which had now veered 
to the north. " We were unable to re- 
turn with our rude craft, and as our 
clothes were wet and freezing we jour- 
neyed on to Shippey's cabin, two and 
a half miles south, where we obtained 
something to eat and spent the 
night." 

"Major Williams*, seeing we could 
not return, was urged to take the 
wounded refugees and the best team, 
and return to Medium Lake, where 
there were four or five Irish families, 
and he acquiesced. 

The great body of the men on the 
north side of the creek began to pre- 
pare for protecting themselves, as best 
they could, for the approaching night. 
They took the top off the wagon, 
and, placing the front and hind wheels 
some distance from each other, 
stretched over these a wagon sheet and 
a tent cloth, which they had with 
them, and pinned them to the ground 
on the north, east and west. The 
wind was sweeping down from the 
north, the rain had turned to snow, a 
blinding blizzard raged and the cold 
became intense, freezing the wet 
clothing on the bodies of the men; 
in short, it seemed as if the storm 
king had unlashed all the furies of his 
Arctic Empire. Thus, without food, 
without fire, without dry clothing, the 
men huddled under their improvised 
shelter for the night. As the snow 
increased, some of the more resolute 
went put and banked the shelter on 
the north, east and west, Here they 
*Ex»Gqv. C. C. Carpenter, in Mialan^. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



remained not only through the night, 
but through the.; next day and the^next 
night, when the stormabated. In the 
forty-eight hours'of'its continuance^ t 
had bridged the Cylinder, so that the 
entire command, including teams and 
horses, crossed on the ice." 

On the first morning after Dun- 
combe, Richards, Smith and A. H. 
Malcolm had crossed, as the storm 
was raging fiercer than ever, they had 
fears that the boys on the bank of the 
creek had frozen during 1 the night. 
After breakfast they ventured to their 
boat and found the ice on the creek 
sufficient to carry the weight of a man, 
except over the channel where the 
current was swift. Any effort to cross 
the channel was attended with a great 
deal of risk. As no one could be seen 
at the .camp, and it was impossible 
to make themselves heard across the 
stream, they were very much con- 
cerned. Being the lightest in the 
party, it fell to the lot of Malcolm to 
make the effort to cross over. Taking 
a board found in the wagon box, he 
laid it across the channel and care- 
fully crawled over. He found all the 
men alive, but not one of them willing 
to risk the ice, so he re-crossed and 
they returned to Shippey's cabin. 

On the second morning the stream 
was frozen hard, the ice was strong 
and the entire command, that had 
lain forty hours on the open prairie 
without food or fire, crossing over, 
proceeded to Shippey's cabin, where 
they were fed and otherwise Cared for. 
Here they remained to follow at their 
leisure, while Duncombe, Richards, 
Smith and Malcolm passed on to the 
cabin of Mr. Evans, at McMght's 
Point, where they arrived some .time 
after dinner and received some baked 
potatoes that were greatly enjoyed. 
Leaving Captain Duncombe at this 
place, the other three proceeded 
homeward, reaching Dakota City 
about nine o'clock in the evening and 
Fort Dodge the next day; and the 



main party arrived two days later, 
after an absence of seventeen days. 

THE BURIAL PARTY. 

Although the hardships and suffer- 
ings of the main command were se- 
vere, they were not equal to those of 
the other party, that went to the 
lakes to bury the dead. This detach- 
ment, having proceeded to the East 
and West Okobojis, buried twenty- 
nine bodies of the dead, marking the 
resting place of some with piles of 
stone that still remain, and were 
ready to return on Saturday, April 4, 
the morning it began to rain. The 
majority were in favor of returning 
that day and started in the early 
morning, leaving behind R. A. Smith, 
Messrs. Howe, Wheelock, Parmenter 
and one or two others. 

The party that left found a difficult 
and wearisome journey before them. 
They met the same impediments, only 
more difficult to overcome, that the 
main command met on its march 
from Medium Lake to Cylinder Creek. 
They had to wade through sloughs 
full of snow and slush, and cross 
streams on which the ice was breaking 
and the water overflowing their banks. 
In picking their way around sloughs 
and looking for crossings over streams, 
they were greatly delayed and wearied. 
When the mild weather of the morn- 
ing turned to a pitiless blizzajd, they 
were still on the prairie between the 
lakes and the Des Moines. The dark- 
ness and the storm were so intense 
that they knew it would be impossible 
to keep the right course if they pro- 
ceeded, so they stopped on the prai- 
rie about eight o'clock in the evening. 
The stronger and more resolute kept 
their feet all night and constantly 
aroused those who were becoming 
drowsy. When morning came, some 
who had pulled off their water-soaked 
boots the night before, finding it im- 
possible to get them on, had to cut 
their blankets and wrap their feet so 
they could travel. 



THE RELIEF EXPEDITION TO SPIRIT LAKE. 



39 



SAD FATE OF CAPTAIN J. C. JOHNSON 
AND WM. E. BURKHOLDER. 

They could see the timber in the 
distance and started on their way to- 
ward it, but coming to a slough too 
deep to wade, they differed as to the 
best route around it, and unfortu- 
nately while some went one way, oth- 
ers took the opposite direction. Mr. 
Laughlin, who first reached the tim- 
ber, gathered some dry leaves from 
under the trunk of an old tree, loaded 
his musket with some paper wadding, 
fired it into the leaves and started a 
fire. The others came straggling in, 
one after the other, until all had 
reached the timber but two — Captain 
J. C. Johnson, of Webster City, who 
commanded the detachment, and 
William E. Burkholder, the newly 
elected treasurer of Webster county, 
who, going by themselves, were last 
seen about five o'clock that day two 
miles distant from their companions, 
traveling in a southerly direction. 
Every effort was made to find them, 
but without success, and their sad 
fate, as they were special favorites, 
threw a gloom over the whole com- 
pany. They perished in a slough, 
west of the Des Moines river, in Palo 
Alto county, where in August, 1868, 
eleven years later, their remains and 
the remnants of their guns were 
found. 

After the lapse of nineteen days 
the remainder of the burial party ar- 
rived at Fort Dodge, having suffered 
greatly from exposure and fatigue. 
Fourteen were so badly frozen that 
they did not recover for nearly a year, 
and some were maimed for life. 

THE CAPTIVES. 

Those who would know the whole, 
sad story of the captives,"! will turn 
with interest to the "History of the 
Spirit Lake Massacre," by Mrs. Abbie 
Gardner Sharp,' at present, the only 
survivor of their number. 



When the Indians fled at the ap- 
proach of the troops from Fort Ridge- 
ly, the captives were made to carry 
heavy burdens the same as the squaws, 
and, after six weeks ' marching through 
snow and slush, oftentimes waist-deep, 
they arrived at the Big Sioux river. 
While crossing this river on a bridge 
of drift, that consisted of a single log 
a part of the way, an inhuman mon- 
ster, who had previously relieved her 
of her burden, thrust Mrs. Thatcher 
into the deep, seething current of the 
river. By a superhuman effort, she 
swam to the bank, and clung to the 
root of a tree, a short distance down 
stream. From this slender refuge she 
was thrust back with clubs and a 
little later perished in the swollen 
current. She was only nineteen years 
of age. 

Early in May, while they were en- 
camped at Skunk Lake, thirty miles 
west of the Big Sioux, two Indians 
from the Yellow Medicine Agency, in 
Minnesota, came to the camp of Ink- 
pa-du-ta, and, with a ransom, secured 
possession of Mrs. Marble, and took 
her with them to be, as it seemed, an 
adopted daughter to their chief, but a 
few days later she was delivered to 
Hon. Charles E. Flandreau, of Minne- 
sota, for $1,000. Subsequently she be- 
came the wife of S. M. Silbaugh, and 
in 1885 they resided at Sidell, Napa 
county, California. 

About four weeks after the depart- 
ure of Mrs. Marble, Mrs. Noble and 
Abbie Gardner were purchased by a 
party of Yanktons, who fell in with 
Ink-pa-du-ta and journeyed with him 
further westward. But one night, 
when she was about to retire, Roar- 
ing Cloud, son of Ink-pa-du-ta, came to 
the tepee, or wigwam, where she and 
Abbie Gardner were together, and, 
seizing Mrs. Noble by the arm with one 
hand and a stick of wood with the 
other, he dragged her from the tent in 
a fit of madness and ruthlessly killed 
her in front of it; 



40 



PIONEER HISTORY OE POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



A few days later they reached the 
west bank of the James river, where 
now is situated the town of Old Ash- 
ton, in Spink county, South Dakota, 
where there was an encampment of 
one hundred and ninety lodges of 
Yanktons, a powerful branch of the 
Sioux nation. 

Mrs. Marble and her purchasers 
gave full information in regard to the 
captivity of Mrs. Noble and Abbie 
Gardner. Governor Medary, of Min- 
nesota, Hon. Charles E. Flandreau 
the government agent, and Colonel 
Alexander in command at Port Ridge- 
ly, assisted by the missionaries, Rev. 
Messrs. Riggs and Williamson, now 
put forth every effort to get some of 
the more friendly and intelligent 
Indians to go to the camp and rescue 
them. 



On the morning of May 30th, only a 
few days after the death of Mrs. Noble, 
three Indians sent by them arrived at 
the Yankton camp, and by means of a 
ransom gained possession of Abbie 
Gardner, conveyed her to St. Paul, 
from whence she passed to Dubuque, 
then to Fort Dodge and later to her 
friends, at Hampton, Iowa, where 
she became the wife of Mr. Cassville 
Sharp. She now resides at her fath- 
er's cabin, on the southeast bank of 
Lake Okoboji. 

A magnificent monument of gran- 
ite, fifty-five feet in height and of 
graceful proportions, has been erected 
upon the site of the massacre, by the 
state of Iowa, at a cost of $5,000, to 
mark this interesting spot. It was 
dedicated with appropriate ceremonies 
July 26, 1895. 




THE SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE. 



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42 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Y. 



LAST INDIAN TROUBLES IN I©Wfl. 

"But hark! the heavy sound breaks in once more, 
As if the clouds its echo would repeat; 
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!" 




OON after the com- 
mencement of our 
civil war, in the 
spring of 1861, ma- 
rauding bands of In- 
dians from south- 
western Minnesota, Dakota and north- 
ern Nebraska began to cross over into 
Iowa and commit depredations upon 
the settlers along the Sioux and Floyd 
rivers, in Monona and Woodbury coun- 
ties. Horses were stolen, cattle and 
other stock killed, gardens and 
fields were robbed. 

- On July 9, 1861, two citizens, Thom- 
as Eoberts and Henry Cardua, were 
killed by the savages, within three 
miles of Sioux City. They had left 
the town that morning for the pur- 
pose of working a patch of potatoes, 
three miles distant, and when found 
the day following, the circumstances 
indicated they had been fired upon by 
the Indians in ambush, while return- 
ing to their team from a spring in a 
wooded ravine, where they had eaten 
their dinner. Both men had families, 
and the tragedy awakened fear over 
that portion of the frontier. After 
this occurrence, the^Frontier Guards 
of Sioux City, a company of citizens of 
that place, who had organized for the 
better protection of the counties of 
Northwest Iowa, made an expedition 
up the Big Sioux river, nearly 100 
miles, and crossing thence to Spirit 



Lake, returned down the Little Sioux 
river to Cherokee and Sioux City. 
Although no punishment was inflicted 
upon the Indians, this expedition in- 
spired a feeling of greater security 
among the scattered settlements of 
that region. 

LATER TROUBLES IN MINNESOTA. 

On August 18, 1862, the Sioux In- 
dians in Minnesota, under Little Crow 
and other chiefs, attacked the set- 
tlers at New Ulm, Mankato and 
other portions of that state, killing 
indiscriminately, the unsuspecting 
men, women and children. Not less 
than 800 persons were the victims of 
savage ferocity, and a vast amount of 
property was destroyed. This sud- 
den and unexpected outbreak depopu- 
lated a large portion of Minnesota 
and spread consternation through- 
out the northwestern counties of Iowa. 

Two small volunteer companies of 
armed settlers from Spirit Lake and 
Estherville, going twenty miles north 
of Jackson, Minnesota, found and 
buried fifteen bodies. Returning the 
next day to Estherville, they con- 
structed a high stockade of heavy, 
sawed timber set on its end in the 
ground, around the court house at a 
distance of twenty feet, and occupy- 
ing it as a military station, it contin- 
ued to be so used until 1865. The 
first troops that occupied it was a de- 



LAST INDIAN TROUBLES IN IOWA. 



43 



tachment of the Sioux City cavalry, 
and the last a detachment of Brack- 
et's battalion of Minnesota, but 
in the meantime it had also been oc- 
cupied by detachments of the Sixth 
and Seventh Iowa cavalry. During 
this summer (1862) a similar stockade 
was erected at Cherokee, and Captain 
A. J. Millard, of Sioux City, occupied 
it as headquarters for the detach- 
ments located at Sioux City, Spirit 
Lake, Estherville and that place. 

Gen. Henry H. Sibley, ex-governor of 
Minnesota, raising and commanding 
a volunteer force, pursued, overtook 
and on September 23d, 1862, won a de- 
cisive victory over Little Crow and 
his combined force of Indian warriors, 
at Wood Lake. The. defeated chief, 
accompanied by 300 of his followers 
and their families, fled westward, to 
the protection of other powerful 
bands of their kindred, and left their 
camp, occupied by more than »2000 
souls and 120 white female prisoners, 
to be captured by Gen. Sibley, two 
days later. Among the captured were 
500 warriors, of whom 300 having been 
court-martialed and sentenced to be 
executed, 39 of them suffered the 
death penalty at Mankato, Minnesota, 
Friday, December 19, 1862. 

LATER INDIAN TROUBLES IN THE 
NORTHWEST. 

In May, 1863, Gen. Alfred Sully was 
assigned to the command of the De- 
partment of Dakota, for the better 
protection of the frontier. His com- 
mand consisted of six companies of 
the 6th Iowa cavalry, under the com- 
mand of Col. David S. Wilson, of 
Dubuque; Brackett's and Hatchet's 
battalions, six companies each; and 
the 2d Minnesota cavalry, a full reg- 
iment, making altogether about 2,500 
men. 

The company of cavalry, known as 
the 'Frontier Guards,' of Sioux City,* 
became his body guard, accompa- 

*Red Men of Iowa, by A. R. Fulton. 



nied the command in the expedition 
of that year, and on September 3, 1863, 
participated in the battle of White- 
stone Hill, where 136 prisoners were 
captured. After this battle they 
were consolidated with the Seventh 
Iowa Cavalry as Company I. On their 
return to Sioux City, Captain Millard, 
commanding the company, was assign- 
ed by General Sully to the command 
of a sub-district, embracing north- 
western Iowa and eastern Dakota, 
with headquarters at Sioux City. 
They continued in the service until 
November 22, 1864, when their term 
of enlistment expired. 

FRONTIER SOLDIERS. 

The following residents of Pocahon- 
tas county participated in this frontier 
warfare against the Indians: William 
Fitzgerald and A. F. Burdick, of Dov- 
er township; Chas. Whitney ana Hon. 
James Mercer, of Cedar; Henry 
Schoentahl, formerly of Colfax; Henry 
Hayward, of Des Moines, and Col. 
John B. Kent, of Rolfe. 

William Fitzgerald, September 29, 
1862. in Allamakee county, enlisted 
for three years and became a member 
of Co. F., 6th Iowa Cavalry under Cap- 
tain Scott Shattuck and Col. David S. 
Wilson, of Dubuque. He participated 
in the engagement at White Stone 
Hill, September 3, 1863, when they en- 
countered 3000 Indian warriors, and in 
the engagement that ensued, 300 war- 
riors and 80 soldiers were killed or 
wounded, and 136 warriors taken cap- 
tive. In the fall of 1864, he was with 
a detachment of 1,500 soldiers, that 
met about 2,500 Indians at Killed 
Deer, and in a skirmish that lasted all 
day, many were wounded. He partici- 
pated also in the battle in the Bad 
Lands where the Indians made an at- 
tack on the troops while on their way 
to Fort Union, located near the junc- 
tion of the Yellowstone and Missouri 
rivers. He was mustered out at Sioux 
City in October, 1865. 

Henry Schoentahl enlisted at Du- 



44 PIONEEB HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



buque October 16, 1862, for three years 
as a member of Co. M., 6th Iowa Cav- 
alry under Captain V. J. Williams 
and continued in the service until 
Oct. 15, 1865, when he was mustered 
out at Sioux City, having served three 
years, lacking only one day, and par- 
ticipated in the battles with the In- 
dians at White Stone Hill, Hart 
Mound and the Black Hills. 

The 6th Iowa Cavalry, which Messrs. 
Fitzgerald and Schoenthal joined at 
the time of its organization, was re- 
cruited about the first of October, 
Co. A. from Scott and Clinton coun- 
ties; Co. E. and Co. M., Dubuque 
county; Co. C, Fayette; Co. D., Win- 
neshiek; Co. E., Pottawattamie; Com- 
panies F., I. and K., Johnson and con- 
tiguous counties; Co. G., Delaware; 
Co. H., Linn; Co. L., Clayton county. 
The regiment went into camp at 
Camp Hendershott, Harrison street, 
Davenport, about the last days of No- 
vember, 1862, and was mustered into 
the United States service January 31 
and February 3, 1863. 

Colonel David S. Wilson was in com- 
mand until June, 1864, when he re- 
signed and Lieut. Col. Samuel M. Pol- 
lock, of Dubuque, was promoted. 
Eev. David N. Mitchell, of Cedar Bap- 
ids, was chaplain. 

There was a romantic idea* existing 
among a number of the men, that the 
great majority of the Indians were the 
real nobility of the country; that the 
few who had been committing the di- 
abolical outrages at Spirit Lake, New 
Ulm and other places, were the off- 
scourings of that noble race. But the 
first sight of a camp of friendly In- 
dians — at the Yankton Agency on the 
Missouri river — dispelled that ro- 
mance and every subsequent acquaint- 
ance with 'the noble red' went to em- 
phasize the idea that "the good In- 
dian was the dead one." 

The regiment left Davenport March 

*J. H. Tripp in "Three Years Among the 
Indians in Dakota." 



16, 1863, with an equipment consisting 
of one wagon, drawn by six mules, for 
each company, and several additional 
ones loaded with supplies. They were 
to join the command of Gen. Sully at 
Fort Eandall, D. T., make an expedi- 
tion against the hostile Indians and 
subjugate them. 

On the route through Iowa they 
passed Iowa City, Marengo, Des 
Moines, Grove City Cass county, 
Council Bluffs and Sioux City, where 
they arrived April 25th. Here they 
crossed the Missouri river and arrived 
at Yankton on May 20th, opposite 
Fort Eandall two days later, and at 
Fort Pierre June 4th, where they 
found a detachment of the 7th Iowa 
Cavalry on guard. 

The discovery of the camp of Sioux 
Indians under the command of Little 
Crow and Big Head, September 3, 
1863, where the White Stone Hill bat- 
tle was fought, was made by the Third 
Battalion of this regiment, consisting 
of companies O, F., I. and M., under 
command of Major A. E. House. The 
savages were camped on a little lake 
surrounded by hills that were covered 
with white stones. On reaching the 
summit of one of the surrounding 
hills, this band of 300 men suddenly 
discovered, that in front of them and 
only a short distance away, were hun- 
dreds of tepees and about 3,000 In- 
dians. They deemed it unwise to pre- 
cipitate an attack until the arrival of 
Gen. Sully with his command, twelve 
miles distant. 

When Gen. Sully was discovered by 
them in the distance, near sunset, 
the squaws and old men began to take 
down the wigwams and load the po- 
nies with tent poles, one on each side, 
with a strap over the back. The pap« 
pooses were put in baskets and strap- 
ped on the poles that extended from 
the ponies to the ground. The wolf 
dogs were loaded the same as the 
ponies, only the loads were lighter. 
The young warriors, who on the arriv 



LAST INDIAN TROUBLES IN IOWA. 



45 



al of the battalion, with a wild yell 
never to be forgotten, rushed to the 
lake and taking some blue clay marked 
themselves hideously for the fray, 
now, fully aware of their danger, un- 
dertook to retreat toward the James 
river. The battalion moved to the 
east of them to hold them in check. 
Then they raised their war-song and 
when it ceased, one of the chiefs fired 
the first shot, and it struck Caspar 
Wagner, one of the best young men of 
Co. F., in the forehead, killing him 
instantly. Wm. Fitzgerald, who 
stood next to him in the ranks, re- 
ceived at the same time a severe 
wound in the side. 

At a signal given by their chief, the 
Indians rushed forth from the ravine 
shouting, "Get awav! get away!" and 
throwing their buffalo robes over their 
heads, stampeded the horses of the 
battalion. By this means, and under 
the cover of night, many of the war- 
riors made their escape, leaving the 
old men, the squaws, pappooses and 
dogs, all of whom, including fifty 
warriors, were captured and taken to 
Fort Sully. 

This defeat was severely felt by the 
Indians, since they had made this 
camp to catch and cure their winter's 
meat, and the season being pretty 
well advanced they had a large quan- 
tity on hand, all of which was de- 
stroyed. 

Charles Whitney, residing at that 
time in Moore county, Minnesota, 
at Fort Snelling, near the Falls of St. 
Anthony, enlisted December 28, 1862, 
in Co. B.,'2d Minnesota. He passed 
first to Fort Bipley, Minnesota, where 
they spent the first winter, and thence 
in the spring of 1863 to Fort Rice, 
where, under the command of Gen. 
Sully, they tarried until the arrival of 
the 6th Iowa cavalry. Then they 
crossed the Missouri river and went 
through the nameless regions beyond, 
until they arrived at the large Indian 
camp in the Bad Lands, (White Stone 



Hill.J This camp was protected on 
each side by a rocky bluff, and a short 
distance above it was a large spring of 
water which, flowing out of a sand- 
rock, formed a large basin and thence 
flowed in a strong stream through the 
center of the Indian camp. On the 
approach of the Minnesota troops to 
which Whitney belonged, the Indians 
deserted their camp. Their tepees, 
or wigwams, were made of tamarack 
poles covered with dried buffalo hides. 
Most beautiful robes were found here 
and many-other desirable and valu- 
able things, but no soldier was per- 
mitted to take anything away with 
him. Explicit orders were given that 
everything must be destroyed or 
burned, and when after two days they 
departed, every wagon was searched 
and all contraband goods found con- 
cealed, were destroyed. Thence they 
moved northwest to Fort Berthold, 
on the north bank of the Missouri, 
within thirty miles of British Amer- 
ica, and later westward to Fort Union, 
at the junction of the Yellowstone 
and Missouri rivers. 

From Fort Union they returned to 
Crow creek, a tributary of the Mis- 
souri, and began the erection of a fort 
and winter quarters, afterwards known 
as Fort Wardworth, where there 
seemed to be no materials at hand 
suited to their needs. They began by 
digging a three-foot trench and throw- 
ing up an embankment around a 
square that was about thirty rods in 
length on each side, and when that 
was completed the men built sod 
shanties for themselves, covering 
them over with brush and earth. In 
these sod shanties six companies of 
the 2d Minnesota regiment spent the 
winter of 1863; and 1864. In 'these 
rude winter quarters, Charles Whit- 
ney experienced the severest blizzard 
of his life; one that prevented the 
soldiers from going out of their shan- 
ties for food during its continuance, 
and caused the loss of seventeen 



46 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



mules and thirty horses belonging to 
the command at the Fort. 

Henry Hayward, formerly of Des 
Moines township, now a resident of 
Rolfe, in September, 1864, became a 
member of Co/G., 6th Iowa cavalry, 
under Captain A. B. Moreland, and 
spent the ensuing winter at Fort 
Berthold, within thirty miles of Brit- 
ish-America. In": June, 1865, V this 
company returned to Fort Rice where, 
together with four companies of the 
First and three companies of the 
Fourth U. S. V. infantry, it was left 
to guard the Fort during the months 
of July and August, while the com- 
mand under Gen/ Sully was at Devil's 
Lake. 

On July 28, (1865) the Indians in 
that vicinity undertook to destroy 
the Fort and plunder the premises. 
Their plan of battle covered a field 
two miles in extent- from right to 
left, and the attack was made simul- 
taneously at all points, indicating 
preconcerted action, and preventing 
the troops in one part from knowing 
what was transpiring in another. The 
operations on the field were directed 
by Lieut. Col. Pattee, of the 7th cav- 
alry. Company G., of the 6th Iowa 
cavalry, occupied the left wing, and 
twelve Indians were found dead in 
that part of the field. The Indians 
were repulsed with fatal effect at all 
points of the line, and it was said 
"There is many a squaw that will be- 
wail the brave killed on the 28th of 
July, 1865. " A large number were 
killed and wounded. After one year's 
service on the frontier, Henry Hay- 
ward was mustered out with the 6th 
Iowa cavalry, October 17, 1865, at 
Sioux City. 

A. F. Burdick, of Dover township, 
on October 11, 1864, became a member 
of Co. K. , 6th Iowa cavalry, under 
Captain John Logan, and spent the 
ensuing winter at Fort Sully, Dakota 
territory, and accompanied the com- 
mand under Gen. Sully, to the Devil's 



Lake region, in July and August. 

Hon. James Mercer, of Cedar town- 
ship, on October 28, 1864, in Dubuque 
county, became a member of Co. M. , 
6th Iowa cavalry, and spent the en- 
suing winter at Fort Randall, Dakota 
territory, and accompanied the com- 
mand under Gen. Sully in the expedi- 
tion to the Devil's Lake region, during 
the summer of 1865. Later, he spent 
some time at Fort Berthold and 
Yankton, and on October 17th, follow- 
ing, at Sioux City, was mustered out 
with his regiment, having spent one 
year in the service. 

Col. John B. Kent, of Rolfe, in 1879, 
in Minnesota, enlisted in the regular 
army of the United States for service 
on the frontier, and spent the first 
two years in the military school at 
St. Paul. As a member of the 7th 
U. S.' infantry, he served three years, 
1881 to 1884, under Gen. John Gibbon, 
and participated in several expedi- 
tions in the northwest, traversing the 
states of Minnesota and Wisconsin 
and the, territories of Colorado and 
Wyoming. At the time of his dis- 
charge, March 10, 1884, at Fort Lara- 
mie, Wyoming, he held the rank of 
First Sergeant. 

On February 1, 1894, by Gov. Frank 
D. Jackson, he was appointed an aid- 
de-camp to the commander-in-chief of 
the Iowa National Guard, with the 
rank of Lieut. Colonel. 

SITTING BULL. 

Little Crow, (Tah-o-ah-ta-du-ta) the 
Sioux chief who directed the Minne- 
sota Massacre of 1862, met his richly 
merited death while making a raid 
with a small party in 1863, and his 
successor, Sitting Bull, the Bad, (Ta- 
tun-ka E-yo-tun-ka) became one of 
the most famous of the warrior chiefs 
of the Indians of this country, taking 
rank with Te-cum-seh and Black 
Hawk. 

In 1864, when Red Cloud and Spot- 
ted Tail accepted terms of peace, 
Sitting Bull refused to meet the 



LAST INDIAN TEOUBLES IN IOWA. 



47 



peace commissioners and, making war 
on the steamboats and commerce of 
the upper Missouri, massacred several 
boatloads of returning miners and 
captured large quantities of gold-dust 
that he traded with the northern 
half-breeds for arms and ammunition. 

In 186? he threatened the Gallatin 
Valley, in Montana, and in 1868 at- 
tacked the settlement of Muscleshell, 
but suffered defeat and the loss of 
thirty-six warriors. In 1869 and 1870, 
he devoted his attention to the 
slaughter of the Crows, Shoshones 
and other tribes that were friendly 
to the whites. In 1872, one of his 
bands made a raid through the Galla- 
tin Y alley, massacreing a number of 
farmers and capturing 500 horses. 
In 1873, he made a night attack on 
Col. Baker, and the year following 
drove the Crows from their agency 
and reservation. In 1875, he captured 
a government wagon train on the 
Carroll road, and killed a number of 
recruits who were on their way to 
the Montana military posts. 

He defied the government and in- 
dulged the hope he could get the en- 
tire Sioux nation to join him and he 
would then drive the whites back into 
the sea, out of which they came. 

GEN. CUSTER'S SAD FATE. 

On June 25, 1876, Gen. Custer's ex- 
pedition against him was literally an- 
nihilated. Gen. Custer marched up 
the Eosebud and thence to the Little 



Big Horn river, where there was an 
Indian village or encampment of 2,000 
lodges, and immediately attacked it. 
With five companies he made a charge 
into the camp, and in a very short 
time every man was killed. Nothing 
is known of the operations of this 
battalion except that which was in- 
dicated by their dead bodies. The In- 
dians received them with a murder- 
ous fire from all directions, while the 
greater portion of them fought on 
horseback. Custer, his two brothers, 
a nephew and brother-in-law were all 
killed, and not one of his detachment 
of 200 escaped. Major Keno, who 
commanded the other seven compa- 
nies of his army, attacked another 
portion of the camp and when the In- 
dians retreated, the battle-field which 
was a narrow ravine, looked like a 
slaughter pen. Three hundred and 
fifteen of the troops had fallen, and 
fully twice the number of Indians. 

No opportunity presented itself for 
chastising the Indians until in May, 
1877, when Gen. Miles met a force 
under Sitting Bull, routed them and 
killed fourteen of their number. Aft- 
er this battle, Sitting Bull and his 
warriors crossed to the British pos- 
sessions where they remained until 
the summer of 1881, when he and his 
followers, disheartened and greatly 
reduced in numbers, surrendered to 
the military authorities of the United 
States. 



48 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



VI. 



SPANISH GRANTS AND I©WA INDIAN TREATIES, 

"The better part of valor is— discretion. " 

THE LOUISIANA PROVINCE. 




HE treaty of peace 
between France and 
England at the close 
of the Seven Years' 
war, which was iden- 
tical in time with 
the French and Indian war in Amer- 
ica, was signed at Paris, February 10, 
1763. By this treaty France relin- 
quished her claim to the territory east 
of the Mississippi, and that river be- 
came the western boundary of the 
British Colonial possessions. When 
this treaty had been signed, England 
assigned the valley of the Ohio and 
the adjacent region as Indian domain, 
and by proclamation dated October 7, 
1763, prohibited the intrusion of white 
settlers upon these lands. This meas- 
ure, however, came too late, for a few 
settlements had already been made 
and the tide of emigration was mov- 
ing rapidly to that part of the front- 
ier. 

The territory within the limits of 
Iowa prior to 1763 was claimed by 
France by virtue of the right of dis- 
covery, but in that year, with a vast 
extent of other territory known as the 
Province of Louisiana, and which in- 
cluded all the country from the Gulf 
of Mexico on the south to the Rritish 
possessions on the north and from the 
Mississippi river on the east to the 
Sabine river and range of the Rocky 
Mountains on the west, was ceded to 



Spain, and in that year French power 
disappeared from North America. 
Added to her other North American 
Colonies, this Province gave to Spain 
control of more than half the conti- 
nent at that time. Spain held the 
Sovereignty of the Province of Louisi- 
ana until Oct. 1, 1800, when it was 
ceded back to France. In 1803 it was 
sold to the United States by Napoleon 
for 60,000,000 francs, to prevent it 
from falling into the hands of Great 
Britain. 

During the thirty-seven years that 
Spain held possession of it, several 
grants of land within the limits of the 
present state of Iowa were made. 

DUBUQUE'S TREATY. 

September 22, 1788, at Prairie du 
Chien, the chiefs of the Fox tribe of 
Indians, who had a village on the west 
side of the Mississippi, near where the 
city of Dubuque is now located, sign- 
ed an article by which they conveyed 
to Dubuque, who was called by them 
"Little Knight," a tract described in 
the conveyance as "147,176 acres of 
land situated at a place called the 
Spanish Mines on the river Mississippi 
at a distance of 440 miles from St. 
Louis, forming in superficies about 
twenty-one leagues, beginning at the 
heights of the little Maquoketa to 
the heights of the Mesquatic Manque, 
being in front of said river seven 



SPANISH GRANTS AND IOWA INDIAN TREATIES. 



49 



leagues, by depth three leagues; the 
whole forming the said tract of the 
the Spanish Mines. " 

This was the first conveyance of any 
title to Iowa soil by the Indians to 
the whites, and here Julien Dubuque 
became the founder of the white 
man's first settlement in Iowa. The 
conveyance, however, comprehended 
only the right to occupy and work the 
mines within the limits specified. 

Dubuque was regarded by the neigh- 
boring Indian tribes with great favor, 
and especially by the Sacs and Foxes, 
he having taken as a wife a maiden of 
the latter tribe, named Po-to-a. 

DTJBTJQTTE GRANT. 

Julien Dubuque, having in 1788 ob- 
tained from the Fox tribe of Indians, 
permission to work the lead mines 
where the present city that bears his 
name is situated, found his claim so 
valuable that he began to desire a 
more complete title. Therefore, in 
1796, he filed a petition with Coronde- 
let, the Spanish Governor of Louisiana 
and received a grant of a tract that 
embraced more than 20,000 acres on 
which the lead mines were located, 
and which he continued to work until 
his death in 1810, when they reverted 
again to the Indians. The latter con- 
tinued to hold possession of the coun- 
try in this part of Iowa until 1832, 
when the "Black Hawk Purchase," 
which included the "Dubuque Claim" 
with their "Mines of Spain," was 
made by the United States govern- 
ment. 

GIRARD GRANT. 

In 1795, the lieutenant-governor of 
Louisiana granted to Basil Girard, a 
tract of 5,760 acres situated within the 
limits of the present county of Clay- 
ton. Girard was a French trader, and 
had been the companion of Dubuque 
at Prairie du Chien. He continued to 
occupy the land so granted during the 
time the country passed from Spain, 
and later from France to the United 



States. In consideration of this occu- 
pancy, the United States, July 3, 1811, 
issued a patent for the land to Girard 
in his own right. His heirs subse- 
quently sold the entire tract for $300. 
The present city of McGregor is situ- 
ated on the "Girard Tract." 

THE HONORI GRANT. 

On March 20th, 1799, the lieutenant- 
governor of Upper Louisiana granted 
Louis Honori-Tesson a tract of land one 
league square where the present town 
of Montrose, in Lee county, is situa- 
ted. On this claim apple trees had 
been planted by a half-breed Indian 
named Red Bird, as early as 1798. 

ST. LOUIS TREATY. 

On November, 3, 1804, at St. Louis, 
four Indian chiefs and head men who 
were, as Black Hawk affirmed, with- 
out authority to act for their nation, 
entered into a treaty with the United 
States, by which they sold all the 
claim of the united nations of the 
Sacs and Foxes to the immense tract 
of country lying between the Missis- 
sippi, Illinois, Fox river of Illinois 
and Wisconsin . rivers, comprising 
about 50,000,000 acres. The consider- 
ation given was the protection of the 
United States and goods delivered to 
the value of $2,234.50 and an annuity 
of $1,000 ($600 to the Sacs and $400 to 
the Foxes) forever. An article in 
this treaty provided that as long as 
the United States remained the own- 
er of the land, "the Indians belonging 
to the said tribes shall enjoy the priv- 
ilege of living and hunting" on said 
land. 

This treaty it was alleged, was vio- 
lated by those tribes who, in the 
war of 1814, took sides with the Brit- 
ish, and on May 13, 1816, it was re- 
newed and re-enacted with the chiefs 
and warriors of the Sacs of Rock river 
and the adjacent country. 

IOWA INDIAN TREATIES. * 

1. With the Sioux, 1815.— This 

*Red Men of Iowa, 412. 



50 



PIONEER HISTORY OE POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



treaty, made at Portage, Minnesota, 
July 19, 1815, by William Clark and 
Ninian Edwards, commissioners, with 
the chiefs and head men of the Sioux 
Indians, occupying northern Iowa and 
Minnesota, was ratified December 26, 
following. It was made at the close 
of the war of 1812, and was merely a 
treaty of peace and friendship on the 
part of these Indians toward the 
United States. 

2. With the Sacs, 1815. -This treaty 
was made September 12, 1815, at Port- 
age, by Messrs. Clark, Edwards and 
Auguste Choteau, commissioners, and 
the chiefs and head men of the Sac 
tribe. This was a treaty of peace 
and friendship, and included a re- 
affirmation of the general treaty made 
at St. Louis in 1804. 

3. With the Foxes, 1815.— The same 
commissioners, at Portage, September 
14, 1815, concluded a separate treaty 
with the chiefs and head men of the 
Fox tribe, of similar import to the 
one made with the Sac tribe. In 
this treaty the Foxes agreed to deliver 
all prisoners held by them, to the of- 
ficer in command at Fort Clark,— now 
Peoria, Illinois. 

4. With the Iowas, 1815.— The same 
commissioners at the same place, on 
September 16, 1815, concluded a treaty 
of peace and good-will with the Iowa 
tribe of Indians, that was ratified 
December 26, following. 

5. With the Sacs of Rock River, 
1816.— This treaty was concluded by 
the same commissioners at St. Louis, 
May 13, 1816, and was ratified Decem- 
ber 30th, following. In it the St. 
Louis treaty of November 3, 1804, was 
re-affirmed by twenty-two chiefs and 
head men of the Sacs of Rock River. 
Black Hawk attached to it his signa- 
ture, or, as he said, "touched the 
goose-quill." 

6. With the Sacs and Foxes, 1824.— 
This treaty was concluded at Wash- 
ington city, August 4, 1824, by Will- 
iam Clark, commissioner, and ten reg- 



ularly delegated chiefs and head men 
of the Sac and Fox tribes. By this 
treaty the latter for a valuable con- 
sideration sold all their title to lands 
in Missouri, which consisted, of the 
northern portion of the state, extend- 
ing from the Mississippi to its west- 
ern boundary. By this treaty, 119,000 
acres were reserved in southeastern 
Iowa, for the use of the half-breeds of 
the Sac and Fox nation, and was 
called the ' 'Half Breed Tract. ' ' This 
tract occupied the strip of country be- 
tween the Mississippi and Des Moines 
rivers, south of a line drawn from a 
point on the Des Moines river, about 
one mile below Farmington, east to the 
Mississippi river, -at the lower end of 
Fort Madison; including Keokuk and 
all the land between said line and the 
junction of the rivers. This reserva- 
tion was suggested and urged in the 
council by a half-breed orator of the 
Fox tribe, named Morgan. This 
treaty was ratified January 18, 1825. 
7. With Various Tribes, 1825.— On 
August 19, 1825, a treaty was conclud- 
ed at Prairie du Chien, by William 
Clark and Lewis Cass, commissioners 
on the part of the United States, and 
representatives from the Chippewas, 
Sacs and Foxes, Menemonies, Winne- 
bagoes and a portion of the Ottawas 
and Pottawattamies. The principal 
object of this treaty was to make and 
preserve peace between certain con- 
tending tribes as to the limits of their 
respective hunting-grounds in Iowa. 
It was agreed that the United States 
should run a boundary line between 
the Sioux on the north, and -the Sacs 
and Foxes on the south, as follows: 
Commencing at the mouth of the Up- 
per Iowa river, on the west bank of 
the Mississippi and ascending said 
Iowa river to its west fork; thence up 
the fork to its source; thence crossing 
the fork of Red Cedar river in a di- 
rect line to the second or upper fork 
of the Des Moines river; thence in a 
direct line to the lower fork of the 



SPANISH GKANTS AND IOWA INDIAN TKEATIES. 



51 



Calumet (Big Sioux) river, and down 
that to its junction with the Missouri. 

8. With the Sacs and Foxes and 
Sioux.— On July 12, 1830, the Sacs and 
Foxes in a council at Prairie du Chien, 
ceded to the United States a strip of 
country twenty miles in width, lying 
south of the line established in the 
treaty of August 19, 1825, and extend- 
ing along on the south side of said 
line from the Mississippi to the Des 
Moines. In the same treaty the 
Sioux, whose possessions were north 
of this line, also ceded to the United 
States a similar strip twenty miles 
wide, extending along the north side 
of said line from the Mississippi to 
the Des Moines. At the ratification 
of this treaty, February 24, 1831, the 
United States came into possession of 
a portion of Iowa, forty miles in 
width, extending along the Clark 
and Cass line of 1825, from the Miss- 
issippi to the Des Moines. This was 
the tract that was known as the 
"Neutral Ground, " and the tribes on 
either side of the line were allowed 
to fish and hunt on it unmolested, 
until it was made a Winnebago reser- 
vation, and the Winnebagoes moved 
to it. 

9. With Various Tribes in 1830.— 
At the same time and place the treaty 
was made respecting the "Neutral 
Ground," July 15, 1830, the Sacs and 
Foxes and other tribes ceded to the 
United States a portion of the west- 
ern slope of Iowa, the description of 
which appears on the 26th page of 
this volume. 

10. With the Winnebagoes, 1832.— 
This treaty was concluded at Fort 
Armstrong, on Kock Island, Septem- 
ber 15, 1832, by General Winfield Scott 
and Governor John Beynolds, of Illi- 
nois. The Winnebagoes ceded to the 
United States all their lands on the 
east side of the Mississippi, and in 
part consideration therefor, the Unit- 
ed States granted to the Winnebagoes, 
to be held as other Indian lands were 



held, that portion of Iowa known as 
the "Neutral Ground, " the exchange 
to take place June 1, 1833. The Unit- 
ed States was also to give the Winne- 
bagoes, beginning in September, 1833, 
and continuing for twenty-seven suc- 
cessive years, $10,000 in specie, estab- 
lish a school among them with a farm 
and garden and to provide other fa- 
cilities for the education of their 
children, not to exceed in cost $3,000 a 
year, for twenty-seven successive years. 

11. With the Sacs and Foxes, 1832. 
— By this treaty, concluded Septem- 
ber 21,1832, the United States came 
into possession of that portion of Iowa 
known as the "Black Hawk Purchase. " 
The commissioners on the part of the 
United States were General Scott and 
Governor Keynolds, and the council 
was held on the west bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, where Davenport is now sit- 
uated. Keokuk, Powesheik, Pashepa- 
hd and some thirty other chiefs and 
head men of the Sac and Fox tribes, 
were in the council, the treaty was 
ratified February 13, 1833, and took 
effect June 1st, following. 

Although this treaty was not the 
first by which the Indians relinquished 
to the United States their title to lands 
in Iowa, it was the first that opened 
up any portion of Iowa for settlement 
by the whites. The limits of the ter- 
ritory ceded in this treaty are thus 
described: "Beginning on the Missis- 
sippi river at a point where the Sac 
and Fox northern boundary line, as 
established by the second article of 
the treaty of Prairie du Chien, July, 
1830, strikes the river; thence up said 
boundary line to a point fifty miles 
from the Mississippi, measured on 
said line; thence in a right line to the 
nearest point on the Bed Cedar, of 
Iowa, forty miles from the Mississippi; 
thence in a right line to a point in 
the northern boundary of the state of 
Missouri, fifty miles from the Missis- 
sippi river; thence by the last men- 
tioned boundary to the Mississippi 



52 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



river, and by the western shore of said 
river to the place of beginning. " 

Out of this purchase a reservation 
of 400 square miles on Iowa river was 
made for the Sacs and Foxes, includ- 
ing Keokuk's village on its right bank, 
and it was known as "Keokuk's Re- 
serve." Under this treaty, and in 
consideration of the lands ceded, the 
United States agreed to pay the Sacs 
and Foxes annually, for thirty consec- 
utive years, the sum of $20,000 in spe- 
cie, and to pay the debts of the Indians 
at Rock Island, amounting to $40,000, 
the accumulations of seventeen years. 

12. With the Sac and Foxes, 1836.— 
This was the treaty by which the Sacs 
and Foxes ceded to the United States 
"Keokuk's Reserve," being 400 square 
miles on Iowa river. In consideration 
of this relinquishment, the govern- 
ment stipulated to pay $30,000 and an 
annuity of $10,000 for ten consecutive 
years, together with some indebted- 
ness of the Indians. This treaty was 
negotiated by General Henry Dodge, as 
commissioner, at a council held on the 
site of the present city of Davenport. 

13. With the Sacs and Foxes, 1837. 
—This treaty was made at the city of 
Washington, October 21, 1837, and by 
Carey A. Harris, commissioner. By 
reference to the map it will be seen 
that the western boundary of the 
Black Hawk Purchase of 1832 was very 
far from a straight line, and in 1837 it 
was proposed to make it a straight 
line. By this treaty the Sacs and 
Foxes ceded to the United States a 
tract of country west and adjoining 
the Black Hawk Purchase, containing 
1,250,000 acres. This treaty Was rati- 
fied February 21, 1838, and the lands 
were usually called by the early set- 
tlers the "Second Purchase. " 

At the same time and place the Sacs 
and Foxes relinquished to the United 
States all their right and interest in 
the country lying south of the bound- 
ary line between the Sac and Fox 
tribes and Sioux, as described in the 



treaty of August 19, 1825, and between 
the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, 
the United States paying for the 
same $160,000. 

14. With Sacs and Foxes, 1842.— 
This treaty was concluded at the Sac 
and Fox Agency (now Agency City) 
October 11, 1842, John Chambers, gov- 
ernor of the territory of Iowa, acting 
as commissioner, and it was ratified 
March 23, 1843. In this treaty the 
Sacs and Foxes ceded all of their lands 
west of the Mississippi, to which they 
had any claim or title, and were to be 
removed from the state at the expira- 
tion of three years from October 11, 
1842. A part of them were removed 
to Kansas in the fall of 1845 and the 
rest in the spring of 1846. The site of 
the city of Des Moines was included 
in this treaty. 

15. With the Sioux, 1851.— In 1851, 
a treaty was made with the Sioux, by 
which they relinquished to the Unit- 
ed States their title to all lands with- 
in the limits of the state of Iowa, 
that were not included in previous 
treaties. Under this treaty were 
comprised all the lands north of the 
Neutral Ground, east of the Des 
Moines river, and west of it all lands 
not included in the Western Slope 
treaty of July 15, 1830. That part of 
Webster county, that is west of the 
Des Moines river, Pocahontas and 
other counties of northwest Iowa con- 
tinued to belong to the Sioux In- 
dians until this treaty of July 23, 1851, 
when the last Indian title to lands in 
Iowa was extinguished and possession 
given two years later. 

'•The warrior lover woos no more 
His dusky, dark-eyed forest maid, 

Nor wins her heart by counting o'er 
The braves beneath his war-club laid." 

The Indian, who possessed the soil 
at the dawn of civilization, was here 
in his own right. He believed in the 
Great Spirit. He worshipped no idols 
nor bowed to any superior but the 
great "Manitou. " He made no sac- 
rifice of human life to appease the 



SPANISH GKANTS AND IOWA INDIAN TEEATIES. 53 

wrath of an offended Deity. He be- ground. He never blasphemed 

lieved in a future of rewards but not His home is where the finger of des- 

of punishments, and was ever ready tiny points; yet his sympathies often 

and proud to sing the death-song even clustered deeply around the place of 

at the stake, that he might enter his nativity and the scenes of his 

the elysian fields of the good hunting- earlier life. 




54 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



VII. 



THE TRANSITIONS FROM DISCOVERY TO STATEHOOD. 

"Arms and the man I sing, 
Who, first from the shores of Troy sailing, 
Driven by fate, came to Italy and the Lavinian Country; . 
Much was he tossed over land and sea, by the powers supernal, 

While he builded his city." — Virgil. 

FERNANDO DE SOTO. 




HE early history of 
the Province of Lou- 
isiana, of which Iowa 
formed a part near 
the center, is one of 
the most interesting 
chapters in the annals of our country. 
It was first visited in 1541, by Fer- 
nando De Soto, a Spanish captain, 
who had assisted Pizarro in the Con- 
quest of Peru, and later had been ap- 
pointed by the king of Spain, governor 
of Cuba and president of Florida. 
This daring explorer, intent on find- 
ing gold, in 1539, landing on the west 
coast of Florida with 600 followers, 
made his way through pathless for- 
ests and almost impassable swamps to 
the Mississippi river, which he dis- 
covered early in 1541. Crossing it he 
passed many miles up the Washita 
river and there spent the ensuing 
winter. On his return to the Missis- 
sippi, in May or June, he died and his 
body was sunk in its waters. 

MARQUETTE AND JOLIET. 

In May, 1673, James Marquette, a 
French Jesuit Missionary, and Louis 
Joliet, a far trader of Quebec, started 
from the settlements in Canada, to 
find a great river that the Indians 
told them lay west of Lake Michigan. 
Making their way in birch-bark ca- 



noes to the head of Green Bay, they 
paddled up the Fox river to a place 
they called Portage — now Portage 
City — then carrying their canoes 
across, a distance of two miles, they 
embarked on the Wisconsin river, and 
on the 17th of June, 1673, re-discovered 
the Mississippi, the mighty stream 
the Indians had called the "Father of 
Waters." They and their compan- 
ions, who consisted of five assistant 
boatmen, floated down the river with- 
out exploring the country or seeing 
any of its inhabitants, until the 25th 
of June, when they landed at a place 
near the mouth of the Des Moines 
river, now Lee county. Here, going 
ashore, they were probably the first 
white men to set foot on the "Beauti- 
ful Land," and, finding fresh traces 
of men on the sand and a path that 
led to a prairie, these two heroic pio- 
neers followed the latter until they 
discovered an Indian village on the 
bank of the river and two other In- 
dian villages on a neighboring hill. 
After proceeding southward to the 
mouth of the Arkansas river, where 
they were warned not to go farther, 
they returned, paddling their canoes 
against the powerful current of the 
river, feeling well repaid for their 
voyage of discovery. 



THE TRANSITIONS FROM DISCOVERY TO STATEHOOD. 55 



LA SALLE. 

Six years later (1679), the French 
voyager and discoverer La Salle, a 
man of active brain and iron will, set 
out from Montreal to complete the 
work of Marquette and Joliet. To 
carry the supplies for his expedition, 
he built on the shores of Lake Erie, 
not far above Niagara, the first sail- 
ing vessel ever launched on the great 
lakes. In the fall of 1681, landing at 
the foot of Lake Michigan, where 
Chicago now stands, he crossed over to 
the Illinois, and going down that riv- 
er, entered the Mississippi in Febru- 
ary, 1682. On the 19th of April fol- 
lowing, he had reached the sunny 
waters of the Gulf of Mexico. There 
he set up a rude wooden cross on 
which he fastened a metal plate, bear- 
ing the arms of France. Then with 
volleys of musketry and loud shouts of 
"God save the King!" he took posses- 
sion of the entire vast territory water- 
ed by the Mississippi and its tribu- 
taries. To this region of unknown ex- 
tent at that time, twice as large as 
France, Spain and Germany united, 
he gave the name of Louisiana, in 
honor of Louis XIV, the king of 
France. 

As stated above, this vast province 
was held by France until 1763, when 
it was ceded to Spain. In 1800 it was 
ceded back to France, and in 1803 pur- 
chased by the United States, and yet 
its western boundary was not definite- 
ly determined until the treaty of 1819 
with Spain, when Florida was includ- 
ed and also ceded to the United 
States. 

THE LOUISIANA PROVINCE DIVIDED. 

The purchase of the Louisiana Prov- 
ince was a great event in American 
history. It was referred to as "an 
event so portentous as to defy meas- 
urement; it gave a new face to poli- 
tics and ranked in historical import- 
ance next to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. " As soon as it came into 
the possession of the United States it 



was formed into one territory, that 
a few months later was divided into 
Upper and Lower Louisiana; and the 
occupancy of St. Louis by the} United 
States as a military station, was im- 
mediately followed by the important 
treaty of 1804, in which j the Indians 
relinquished their title to the lands 
east of the Mississippi river. That 
year nearly all of what is now the 
state of Louisiana was erected into a 
territory under the name of Orleans, 
and in 1810 this territory was in- 
creased with an addition east of. the 
Mississippi, and in 1812 it was ad- 
mitted as a state under its present 
name (Louisiana), and with its pres- 
ent boundaries. 

"March 20, 1804, congress provided 
that Upper Louisiana — that part of 
the province north of the 33d 
parallel, consisting now of Arkansas, 
Missouri, Iowa and southern Minne- 
sota— should be organized into a court 
district and attached it to the terri- 
tory of Indiana for governmental and 
judicial purposes." This arrange- 
ment gave rise to the term "District 
of Louisiana," that occurs in the 
early history of this part of the coun- 
try, and extended from the Mississippi 
river to the range of the Rocky Mount- 
ains. 

In 1807, for a brief period, Iowa was 
attached to the territory of Illinois 
for judicial purposes. 

TERRITORY OF MISSOURI. 

The first division of Upper Louisi- 
ana, to which Iowa belonged, was in 
June, 1812, when the territory of Mis- 
souri, including Iowa was organized. 
In 1818, Missouri^ applied -for admis- 
sion to the Union as a slave -State. 
Two years of bitter controversy over 
her request to be received as a slave 
state, i followed in congress, that 
threatened the dissolution of the 
Union. This controversy was settled 
by the adoption of the famous "Mis- 
souri Compromise," that forbade slav- 
ery in all that portion of the Louisi- 



56 



PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ana Purchase lying north of the par- 
allel of 36 degrees, 30 / north latitude — 
the northern boundary line of Arkan- 
sas — except in Missouri. 

When, on July 19, 1820, Missouri be- 
came a state, Iowa was detached and, 
with other territory, remained, with- 
out a government either political or 
judicial, until June 28, 1834, — one year 
a-fter it was opened for settlement, — 
when, because of unpunished outlawry 
and crime, it was included in the ter- 
ritory of Michigan. 

MICHIGAN, WISCONSIN, IOWA. 

By an act of congress, June 28, 1834, 
all the country north of Missouri, 
that was included in the Upper Prov- 
ince of Louisiana "for the purpose of 
temporary government, was attached 
to and made a part of the territory of 
Michigan," and so continued until 
the admission of that territory into 
the Union as a state, June 15, 1836. 
July 4, 1836, Iowa became a part of 
the newly organized territory of Wis- 
consin, that included the present 
states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota 
and the eastern part of North and 
South Dakota- 
July 12, 1838, the territory of Iowa, 
including Minnesota and the eastern 
part of North and South Dakota, was 
organized. 

December 28, 1846 after eight years 
of territorial government, Iowa was 
admitted into the Union as a sover- 
eign state, in succession the twenty- 
ninth. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

For 113 years after the discovery of 
Iowa by Marquette and Joliet, it re- 
mained virtually an unknown land. 
In that period of slow transportation 
and limited reading, but of numerous 
discoveries of new lands, the discovery 
of this interior portion of the North 
American continent, failed to attract 
public attention. No effort was made 
to effect any settlement within the 
borders of what is now the state of 



Iowa, until the fall of 1188, when 
Julien Dubuque secured from the In- 
dians the grant of land containing 
the lead mines, along the Mississippi, 
which he occupied until his death, 
March 24, 1810, when his lease ex- 
pired. 

In 1795, Basil Grirard located on the 
Girard Tract, in Clayton county, and 
occupied it with others under the 
Spanish, French and American gov- 
ernments. He was finally granted a 
patent in his own right, by the land 
office of the United States. 

In March, 1799, Louis Honori estab- 
lished a settlement upon the site of 
the town of Montrose, in Lee county, 
which he improved and occupied until 
1803. Two years later this property 
passed to Thomas F. Roddick, and to 
his heirs the original title to one sec- 
tion of land was confirmed, making 
this the first and oldest legal title to 
lands in Iowa. 

Various venturesome parties of 
hunters, trappers and Indian traders 
made temporary settlements along 
the Mississippi, within the limits of 
Iowa, from 1820 to 1830, but did not 
permanently remain. In 1809 a mili- 
tary post was established at Fort 
Madison, but inasmuch as it was in 
violation of a treaty stipulation, it 
was soon abandoned. 

The western border of Iowa was 
traced in 1805, -by Captains Lewis and 
Clark. They held an important coun- 
cil with the Indians, on the Missouri 
river bluffs in the northwest corner of 
what is now Pottawattamie county, 
and named the place "Council Bluffs. " 
As they journeyed northward on the 
east bank of the Missouri, one of their 
men, Sergeant Floyd, died and was 
buried on a bluff that has since been 
known as Floyd's bluff, and the little 
river in that section has been called 
Floyd river. 

St. Louis was founded in 1764. In 
1807, Robert Fulton made his suc- 
cessful trial trip on the Hudson with 



THE TRANSITIONS FROM DISCOVERY TO STATEHOOD. -57 



the "Clermont," and steam, as a mo- 
tive power on American rivers, was 
demonstrated to be a practical force 
and soon had large application. In 
1817, the first steamboat reached St. 
Louis. That trading post for Indians 
and hunters then passed from its pri- 
mal stage to a growing and important 
commercial center. Steam naviga- 
tion being applied on the Ohio, and 
Mississippi brought settlers into south- 
western Illinois and northeastern Mis- 
souri, and prepared the way for the 
settlement of Iowa. 

In -June, 1829, James Lyon Lang- 
worthy, resident of G-alena, 111., an 
energetic pioneer of Welcb descent 
that inherited Puritan hardihood, and 
who, two years before being employed 
by the United States Government, had 
accompanied General Henry Dodge 
while negotiating, the treaty with the 
Winnebago, Sac and Fox Indians at 
Portage, Wisconsin, that secured to - 
the United States all northwestern 
Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin, 
crossed the Mississippi, at a point 
afterward called Dunleith (now East 
Dubuque) in a canoe, swimming his 
horse by his side, and, having obtained 
permission for the space of three 
weeks, from the Chief of the Indian 
village at that .place, explored the 
whole region of country lying between 
the Maquoketa and Turkey rivers. 

In June of the next year (1830), ac- 
companied " by his brother Lucius 
(father of Oscar A. Langworthy, hard- 
wareman of Fonda, 1878 to 1883,) and 
others, he again crossed the Mississippi 
and, with the consent of .the Indians, 
resumed work in the lead mines of Ju- 
lien Dubuque, that had not been 
worked, except by the Indians, from 
the time of his death in 1810. 

The first act resembling legislation 
in Iowa was drawn up by Mr. James 
L. LangwOrthy at this time, and con- 
sisted of an agreement regulating the 
claims of miners and the amount of 
labor necessary to hold a claim, 



They continued to work successfully 
until the winter of 1831, when the 
United States Government ordered the 
miners to desist and remove from the 
territory west of the Mississippi. 
They obeyed and returned to Galena. 
In the spring following, the "Black 
Hawk War" occurred in that vicinity, 
and, at its close, Mr. Langworthy and 
his fellow-miners returned to their 
claims on the west side of the river. 
Their stay, however, was of short du- 
ration, for in the fall of that year 
they were again ordered from the west 
side of the river. This order was en- 
forced by Colonel (afterwards Presi- 
dent) Zachary Taylor, commander of 
the Military Post at Prairie du Chien 
(Fort Crawford) accompanied by his 
son-in-law, Lieut. Jefferson Davis, ex- 
rebel president. 

On June 1, 1833, the Rock Island 
treaty went into effect and the whole 
eastern portion of Iowa, being thrown 
open for settlement, became at once 
the theatre of the white man's enter- 
prise. Mr. Langworthy and his fellow- 
miners, accompanied by about five 
hundred other adventurous pioneers, 
crossed the Mississippi, took possession 
of their mining and homestead claims, 
made the first permanent settle- 
ment and in the village of Dubuque, 
near the site of the . present Female 
Seminary, erected that same year, the 
first school house in Iowa. 

On the opening of Iowa for settle- 
ment, in 1833, settlers rushed into the 
territory along the Mississippi, and 
the city of Dubuque was first 
founded. Davenport, Burlington, 
Fort Madison and other cities along 
the Mississippi were planted, from 
which the new settlements spread 
westward and the growth of the Ter- 
ritory and State has been rapid and 
steady from that time. 

In 1836, three years after Iowa was 
opened for settlement, the population 
of the territory numbered 10,315. Two 
years later the population had in- 



58 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



creased to 22,850. In the census of 
1840, seven years after the territory 
was opened for settlement, the popu- 
lation numbered 43,112. Six years 
later it numbered 96,088; in 1850, 192,- 
204 and in 1860, 674,913. 

The star of Empire was moving 
westward, the people of the timber- 
clad east had heard of the beauty and 
productiveness of this prairie-land, 
where a farm could be made in a sea- 
son with a yoke of oxen and a plow, 
and were coming in by thousands to 
enjoy the beauty of its broad land- 
scapes, the glory of its sunshine, the 
purity of its waters and the fertility 
of its acres. The fame of its wonder- 
ful natural meadows and the beauty 
and fertility of its prairies had spread 
not only over this country, but had 
crossed the seas, and the people of 
other countries, as well as the states 
in the east were crowding in to find 
homes in this richly inviting region of 
the prairie west. 

PIONEER LEGISLATION. 

The first official publication in 
which the name "Iowa" appeared was 
an act passed by the Legislative Coun- 
cil of the Territory of Michigan, Octo- 
ber 9, 1829, forming the county of 
"Iowa" of the country south of the 
Wisconsin and Fox rivers in what is 
now the state of Wisconsin.* 

The first act of legislation for Iowa 
was the third act passed at an extra 
session of the Sixth Legislative Coun- 
cil of the Territory of Michigan at De- 
troit, September 6, 1834, and entitled 
"An Act to lay off and organize coun- 
ties west of the Mississippi River." 
This act created the counties of 
"Dubuque" and "Demoine"— each 
consisting of one township 
named respectively Julien and 
Flinthill — from the Territory in Iowa 
then open for settlement, known as 
the Black Hawk Purchase; the bound- 
ary between them being a line run- 
ning due west from the foot of Rock 

*Apoals of Iowa, 1897, p. 224, 



Island. Dubuque was named as the 
seat of justice of the former, while the 
county seat of the latter was left to be 
designated by its own county court. 
Burlington was selected as the seat of 
justice for Des Moines county and the 
first court held there was in April, 
1835, in a log house on the hill on lot 
number 384. The laws of "Iowa coun- 
ty (now of the State of Wisconsin) 
not locally inapplicable, " were extend- 
ed to the two counties thus organized. 

Although the Legislative Council of 
the Territory of Michigan erected the 
first two counties west of the Mississ- 
ippi, September 6, 1834, and they were 
entitled to representation, no election 
of members to that body was held in 
the two Iowa counties that year, the 
first after settlement. 

When on the third day of July, 1836, 
the Territory of Wisconsin, including 
the Iowa District, came into existence 
with its organic act providing that all 
free white male citizens should be en- 
titled to vote, for the first time in the 
history of this territory was the pre- 
requisite of tax-paying omitted from 
the qualifications of voters. Hence 
the first time the people of this sec- 
tion elected their law makers a prop- 
erty qualification to vote was not re- 
quired. "In no part of the whole 
country east of the western line of the 
state of Iowa, except in Iowa and 
Minnesota, has it been true that the 
people have always exercised the right 
of suffrage without the prepayment of 
some sort of a tax." In 1836, three 
members of the Legislative Council 
and twelve members of the House of 
Representatives of the territory of 
Wisconsin were chosen by the people 
of the counties of Dubuque and Des 
Moines. The names of those first 
elected were as follows: 

County of Dubuque:— 

Council— Thomas McCraney, John 
Foley, Thomas McNight. 

House— Loring Wheeler, Hardin 
Nowlin, Hosea T, Camp, Peter Hj|} 



THE TRANSITIONS FROM DISCOVERY TO STATEHOOD. 



59 



Engle and Patrick Quigley. 
County of Des Moines: — 

Council — Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Jo- 
seph B. Teas, Arthur B. Inghram. 

House — Isaac Leffler, Thomas Blair, 
John Box, George W. Teas, David R. 
Chance, Warren L. Jenkins and John 
Reynolds. 

The first session of this body was 
held at Belmont, Iowa county, (now 
in Lafayette county, Wisconsin,) and 
continued from October 25th to 
December 9th, 1836. Peter Hill En- 
gle, of Dubuque, was chosen Speaker 
of the House. Congress had provided 
for the division of the Territory of 
Wisconsin into three judicial districts 
and the Legislature at this session 
constituted the counties of Dubuque 
and Des Moines into the second dis- 
trict, to be presided over by Hon. 
David Irvin, one of the associate jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court. 

The first and most noted act of local 
legislation was "an act to incorporate 
the stock-holders of the Miners Bank 
of Dubuque," of date November 30, 
1836. The history of this bank was 
fruitful of incidents in the politics of 
the subsequent Territory of Iowa. A 
full set of its notes may be seen framed 
in the Historical Society at Des 
Moines. 

A second and important act was to 
provide for "constructing a public 
road from Farmington, on the Des 
Moines river, through Burlington 
(Flint Hills), Wapello (Old Chief's 
Village) and Dubuque to the Ferry 
(now McGregor), opposite Prairie du 
Chi en. " 

The third act divided the county of 
Des Moines into Lee, Des Moines, 
Henry, Louisa and Musquitine (Mus- 
catine) counties, and from a strip on 
the south part of Dubuque county or- 
ganized the county of Cook (now 
Scott) and attached it to Musquitine. 

The second session of the territorial 
legislature of Wisconsin was held at 
Burlington, now in Iowa, November 



6, 1837, and continued until January 
20, 1838. Arthur B. Inghram was 
president of the Council and Isaac 
Leffler speaker of the House. At this 
session, Alexander McGregor appeared 
in place of Hosea T. Camp, deceased. 
A special session of the same Legisla- 
ture was held at Burlington, June 11th 
to 25th, 1838, and Lucius H. Lang- 
worthy appeared in place of Mr. Mc- 
gregor, who had resigned. The con- 
nection ' of the people west of the 
Mississippi with the Territory of Wis- 
consin terminated July 3d following, 
when the latter became a State and 
the former the Territory of Iowa. 

TERRITORY NAMED. 

In April, 1836, Lieut. A. M. Lea, of 
the United States Dragoons, publish- 
ed some ' 'Notes on Wisconsin Terri- 
tory, with a map," that consisted, 
however, of a sketch of the "Iowa Dis- 
trict," a name he gave to the Black 
Hawk Purchase. In this little vol- 
ume is found the following prophetic 
paragraph: 

"Though this district may be con- 
sidered, for a time, as forming a part 
of this Territory, yet the intelligent 
readers will have little difficulty in 
foreseeing that a separate government 
will soon be required for Iowa." 

In three years from the time that 
section was opened for settlement Du- 
buque had grown into a village of note 
and on May 11, 1836, John King, Esq., 
issued the first number of the Dubuque 
Visitor, the first newspaper published 
in Iowa. It had for its motto "Truth 
our guide — the public good our aim," 
and for its head-line "Dubuque Lead 
Mines, Wisconsin Territory." 

About this time a bill was introduc- 
ed in Congress to divide the Territory 
of Wisconsin, and a writer in the Vis- 
itor, referring to this matter in an ar- 
ticle entitled "A Vision," fancies that 
he hears in his slumbers the call, "The 
Legislature of the State of Iowa," will 
commence its session. These words 



60 



PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




THE TRANSITIONS FROM DISCOVERY TO STATEHOOD. 61 



served to direct public attention to 
the name to be given to the new Ter- 
ritory that was erected July 4, 1838, by 
the Act of Congress of June 12th, sep- 
arating from Wisconsin the territory 
west of the Mississippi. 

TERRITORIAL LEGISLATION. 

On November 6, 1837, Congress pass- 
ed an act to divide the Territory of 
Wisconsin and to establish the terri- 
torial government of Iowa. This act 
was approved June 12th and went into 
effect July 4th, 1838. This act 
provided for an election that was held 
September 10, 1838, for a House of rep- 
resentatives, consisting of twenty-six 
members and a council of thirteen 
members. 

The first territorial officers were ap- 
pointed by President Van Buren, and 
were as follows: 

Governor— Robert Lucas, of Ohio. 
Secretary of the Territory— Wm. 

B. Conway. 
Chief Justice— Charles Mason, of 

Burlington. 
Associate Justices— -Thomas S. Wil- 
son, of Dubuque, and Joseph Wil- 
liams, of Pennsylvania. 
Attorney General— M. Van Allen, 

of New York. 
Marshal ,of the Territory — Fran- 
cis Gehon, of Dubuque. 
The first delegate to Congress elect- 
ed by the people of the Territory was 
William W. Chapman. 

The complexion of the Legislature 
that was elected on the same date was 
democratic. 

January 25, 1836, Jesse M. Harrison, 
John S. David and John Claypole were 
chosen commissioners by the Legisla- 
tive Assembly to superintend the erec- 
tion of the penitentiary at Fort Madi- 
son. 

January 18, 1839, Chauncey Swan, 
John Rolands and Robert Ralston 
were appointed commissioners to lo- 
cate the seat of government at Iowa 
City. 
Feb. 12, 1841, the office of Superin- 



tendent of Public Instruction was 
created and William Reynolds was ap- 
pointed to that position, but on March 
9 th of the next year the office was 
abolished. 

The Territory was represented in 
the 25th and 26th Congresses by Wm. 
W. Chapman and in the 27th, 28th and 
29th by Augustus C. Dodge. 

Soon after the organization of the 
Territory, the question of Statehood 
became one of discussion. In 1840, 
the Territorial Legislature passed an 
act that was approved July 31st, pro- 
viding for taking the sense of the peo- 
ple on the question of calling a con- 
vention for the revision of the Consti- 
tution, but a majority of the people 
were opposed to calling the conven- 
tion. February 16, 1842, an act was 
approved, providing for ascertaining 
by popular vote whether or not the peo- 
ple were in favor of a convention to 
frame a Constitution for a state gov- 
ernment, and at the election, held Au- 
gust 1, 1842, the vote stood, for the 
convention 4,146; against, 6,868. Every 
one of the seventeen counties that 
voted gave a majority against it. 

Two years later this subject was 
again agitated, and on February 16, 
1844, an act was passed, providing for 
submitting the question at the town- 
ship elections in April, following. At 
this election the people decided in fa- 
vor of a convention by a large major- 
ity, the vote standing 7,221 for and 
4,308 against. 

This first Constitutional convention 
met at Iowa City, Oct. 7, 1844, and 
continued in session until November 
1st, following. It consisted of seven- 
ty-two members, representing twenty- 
three counties. The boundaries of 
the State, as proposed in this Consti- 
tution, included a large part of the 
present state of Minnesota and ex- 
cluded a large triangular piece, em- 
bracing more than the present coun- 
ties of Lyon, O'Brien and Plymouth, 
in the northwest part of the statei 



62 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The boundary proposed by Congress 
was quite different, both on the north 
and west; and at an election held in 
April, 1845, the people, on this ac- 
count, rejected the proposed Constitu- 
tion. The Legislative Assembly soon 
afterward passed an act, over Gover- 
nor Chambers' veto, to resubmit the 
proposed constitution at an election 
held August, 1845, and it was again 
defeated. 

January 17, 1846, the legislative as- 
sembly passed an act providing for an 
election, in April following, of dele- 
gates to another constitutional con- 
vention. This second convention met 
at Iowa City, May 4th to 19th, 1846, 
and consisted of 32 delegates, repre- 
senting 32 counties. The constitution 
approved by this convention was rati- 
fied by the people at an election held 
August 3, 1846, when 9,492 votes were 
cast for it, and 9,036 against it. The 
first election of state officers was held 
October 26, following, pursuant to 
proclamation of Gov. James Clarke, 
when Ansel Briggs, of Jackson county, 
was elected Governor, (the first of the 
state); Elisha Cutler, Jr., Secretary of 
State; Joseph F. Farles, Auditor of 
Public Accounts and Morgan Reno, 
Treasurer. 

These officers entered upon their 
respective duties in December follow- 
ing. This constitution was approved 
by congress, December 28, 1846, and 
the statehood of Iowa was recognized. 
This first constitution continued in. 
force until the year 1857, when a third 
constitutional convention was held at 
Iowa City, January 19th to March 5th. 
The constitution adopted by this con- 
vention was sanctioned by the peo- 
ple at an election held August 3d, fol- 
lowing, when there were cast "for the 
constitution ' ' 40, 311 votes and ' 'against 
it" 38,681. It went into effect Sep- 
tember 3, 1857. 

The seat of government, which had 
been at Burlington from November 6, 
1837, the date of the second session of 



the territorial legislature of Wiscon- 
sin, and at Iowa City from December 6, 
1841, was by this constitution changed 
to Des Moines, Polk county, and the 
State University was permanently lo- 
cated at Iowa City. 

TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS. 

During the eight years of Territori- 
al government, 1838-1846, three men 
served as governors of the Territory, 
by the appointment of the President 
of the United States. 

Robert Lucas, (1838-1841) of Ohio, 
who had twice filled the gubernatorial 
chair of that state, was the first gov- 
ernor. He proved to be a wise selec- 
tion, and exercised the authority 
vested in him with good judgment 
and benefit to the future common- 
wealth. He established the tempo- 
rary seat of Territorial government, 
at Burlington and convened in the 
Zion church there, the first legislature 
of Iowa, November 12, 1838. April 30, 
1841, he issued a proclamation changing 
the capital from Burlington to Iowa 
City, and convening the legislature at 
that place, December 1, 1841. Iowa 
City thus became the permanent capi- 
tal of the Territory and the tempo- 
rary capital of the State. 

After three years, Governor Lucas 
was succeeded by John Chambers, 
(1841-1845) of Kentucky, who had been 
aid-de-camp to General (President) 
Harrison, by whom he was appointed. 
He was succeeded by James Clarke, 
(1845-1846) of Pennsylvania, but at 
the time of his appointment, editor of 
the Territorial Gazette at Burlington. 
No Territory ever boasted of a more 
worthy trio of Governors. "Simple 
and unostentatious in private life, as 
they were honest and patriotic in the 
discharge of their public duties, they 
gave Iowa the stamp of a pure char- 
acter, and reared for themselves a 
monument of fame worthy of the 
highest and most lasting honor of our 
whole people. " 



THE TRANSITIONS FROM DISCOVERY TO STATEHOOD. 



63 



Under their wise rule the Territory 
rapidly filled with a population of 
hardy, enterprising pioneers who, act- 
ing upon their recommendations, as 
contained in their annual messages, 
laid broad and deep the foundations 
of a free government, of wholesome 
legislation and the institutions of en- 
lightenment for which her sons have 
ever shown their warmest regard. 

OLD ZION CHURCH. * 

The first church built in Burlington 
was that known as "Old Zion," on the 
west side of Third, between Wash- 
ington and Columbia streets. Other 
halls have witnessed more important 
and more tragic scenes, but we may 
look in vain for those which could they 
speak, would give a more varied his- 
tory of what had transpired within 
them. Here was embodied, for sev- 
eral years, the legislative wisdom of 
the Territory of Iowa; the lower 
House paradoxically occupying the 
upper auditorium, and the upper 
House the lower one. From these 
halls in the "Old Zion" church of 
Burlington went forth those legisla- 
tive edicts that for many a year ruled 

* Iowa State Gazetteer, 171. 



this goodly land of Iowa. Here, the 
supreme judicial tribunal of the Ter- 
ritory sometimes held its sessions; 
and here the regular terms of the dis- 
trict court were held for many suc- 
cessive years. 

Within these walls the Governor of 
the Territory met in friendly confer- 
ence the representatives of some of 
his dissatisfied red children, to hear 
their complaints and at least to prom- 
ise them redress— an easy and oft re- 
peated remedy. Here the citizens 
listened to the eloquence of the un- 
tutored red man and were treated to 
the exhibition of the song and the war- 
dance. The wild whoop of the sav- 
age, which had so often carried dismay 
and horror to many a stout heart, 
failed to make any impression upon 
the walls of "Old Zion," that looked 
upon these varied scenes with staid 
gravity, and seemed to be fully de- 
termined not to be surprised at any 
strange events that might transpire 
within them. 

"Now rose thy walls, "Old Zion," that have 

stood, 
The dread assault of wasting time and flood. 
Thou wast our Forum, scene of many a sport, 
In Pleasure's drama and Ambition's court. 
Here, too, our village beauty rushed to see 
The motley Indian dance with savage glee." 




64 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY; IOWA. 




o a 



B 

ft 

ha 

o 




STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 



65 



VIII. 

STATEHOOD, HHflLF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 

"Iowa, the affections of her people, like the rivers within her borders, flow to 
an inseparable union. "—Lieut. Gov. Eastman. 

"Midland where mighty torrents run 
With placid brow and modest mien, 
With bosom glowing to the sun, 
Sits the majestic prairie Queen. 
Imperial rivers kiss her feet, 
The free winds through her tresses blow, 
Her breath with unsown flowers is sweet, 
Her cheeks are flushed with morning's glow. 

Grand in her beauty, what cares she 
For jeweled cliffs or rills of gold? 
For seats along the sounding sea, 
Or starried monuments of old? 
Her bands are strong, her fame secure, 
Her praise on lips whose praise is dear; 
Her heart, her hope and purpose pure, 
And God in all her landscapes near." 

— Byers. 
iowa's growth. 




fj T^r^tSSSs^/? I O W A became a sep- 
fl\r/vdmvSffl> J arate Territory with 
the capital at Bur- 
lington, in 1838, and 
was admitted into 
the Union in 1846, 
with a population of 97,000. At the 
close of the civil war this number had 
increased to 754,699, and of these 
about 70,000 were soldiers— a number 
nearly equal to one-tenth of the popu- 
lation, or one-half the voters of the 
state. In 1860, the population had in- 
creased to 1,194,020; in 1880 to 1,624,615; 
in 1890 to 1,911,896 and in 1895 to 2,058,- 
069. 

The half century and two years that 
have passed since Iowa became a state, 
have wrought great changes. Most of 
the improvements of earth, most of 
the progress in the arts and sciences 
and most of the advance in civiliza- 



tion have been wrought within the 
period of our state history. Time 
and space do not permit us to recount 
the achievements in the political, in- 
dustrial, financial, agricultural, me- 
chanical, scientific, educational, relig- 
ious or moral world, save to note that 
in all these Iowa has rendered her full 
measure of blessing; a fact due to the 
natural resources of the state and the 
excellent character of her people. 

NATURAL RESOURCES. 

The State of Iowa is centrally lo- 
cated in relation to the territory of 
our nation; the eastern boundary is 
nearly 1,000 miles from the Atlantic 
tide at Plymouth Rock, and the west- 
ern border about 1,500 miles from the 
surf -beaten .shores of the Pacific; from 
the northern line of the state to the 
British possessions 400 miles inter- 
vene, and from our southern border to 



66 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the Gulf 760. It is located in fruitful 
embrace of two of the mightiest rivers 
of the earth— the Mississippi and the 
Missouri — and is bounded on the north 
and south by the two powerful and 
growing states of Minnesota and Mis- 
souri, respectively. The area of the 
state embraces 55,000 square miles of 
the most productive, well-watered, 
undulating and beautiful land that 
the sun enriches with its wealth of 
heat and light in all its yearly journey. 
There is less waste and a larger pro- 
portion of arable land in Iowa than 
probably in any equal area upon the 
face of the earth. 

"A position so central in the rich- 
est, freest and most powerful nation 
of modern times, central also in the 
vast system of river navigation con- 
nected with the great rivers that form 
its eastern and western boundaries, 
and so central that the principal 
lines of railway, binding ocean to 
ocean, cross its territory, must ever 
possess incalculable advantages in the 
security its location affords, the mar- 
kets it assures, and the commercial 
advantages that must ever accrue to 
its citizens. " 

THE PRAIRIES. 

Iowa has been known as the "Prai- 
rie State," because seven-eights of its 
surface was originally prairie or grass 
land. The charm of a prairie consists 
in its extension, its green, flowery car- 
pet, its undulating surface and the 
skirt of forests whereby it is surround- 
ed. A more pleasing view cannot be 
imagined than that presented in the 
spring of the year when the young 
grass has clothed the soil with a car- 
pet of most delicate green and the 
rays of the sun, rising behind a dis- 
tant elevation, are reflected by myr- 
iads of dew-drops. "The delightful 
aspect of the virgin prairie and the 
absence of that sombre awe inspired 
by forests, contribute to force away 
that sentiment of loneliness, that 



usually steals upon the mind of the 
solitary wanderer in the wilderness; 
for though he espies no habitation, 
sees no human being and knows that 
he is far away from every settlement 
of man, he can scarcely defend him- 
self from believing that he is travel- 
ing through a landscape embellished 
by human art. The flowers, so deli- 
cate and elegant, that appear to be 
distributed over the prairie for mere 
ornament, and the groves 
and groups of trees that seem to be 
arranged to enliven the landscape, 
render it so expressive that one can 
scarcely prevent the impression in- 
vading the imagination, that the 
whole scene has been flung out and 
created for the satisfaction of the sen- 
timent of beauty." * 

The origin of the prairies has been 
the subject of considerable speculation 
and the question is probably not yet 
satisfactorily settled. The soil of the 
low prairies, in the bottoms along the 
courses of the larger rivers, is almost 
a pure silicious sand, different from 
that of the high prairies which con- 
sists of a sub-soil of argillaceous loam 
covered with rich, black vegetable 
mould, usually from one to two or 
more feet thick. This soil is very fer- 
tile, producing the greatest yield of 
the various crops cultivated in this 
latitude. 

"Whatever the origin of the prairies 
may have been, we have the positive 
assurance that their present existence 
in Iowa and its immediate vicinity is 
not due to the influence of climate, 
the character or composition of the 
soil, nor to the character of any of the 
underlying formations. It now re- 
mains to say, without hesitation, that 
the real cause of the present existence of 
the prairies in Iowa is the prevalence of 
the annual fires. If these had been 
prevented fifty years ago Iowa would 
now be a timbered instead of a prairie 

'Captain Basil Hall, an English traveler. 



STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 



67 



state."* 

Her broad, treeless prairies have 
been the glory of Iowa. In their nat- 
ural condition they were not vast 
marshes, or great breadths of barren 
clay, or sterile, unproductive sand, 
but as they have proved to be, the 
finest lands that ever awaited the 
plow to convert them into cultivated 
and productive farms. Iowa now 
ranks among the first of the states of 
the Union in the wonderful aggregate 
amount of food produced each year. 
This is not due to the extent of her 
area, for in this respect, she is twen- 
tieth in the list, but to the wonderful 
and uniform productiveness of her soil. 

The fact that the prairies consti- 
tuted so large a part of her area favor- 
ed the rapid settlement of Iowa. The 
first settlers had known something of 
the slow, toilsome process of making 
farms with a mattock and axe, in 
heavily wooded sections. Going to 
the "raw prairie" with a breaking 
plow and team, and turning the first 
furrow, probably one mile in length, 
without a rock, grub, tree or stump to 
hinder the plow, they very soon saw 
the great difference between making 
a farm on eastern wooded lands and 
the fertile prairies of Iowa. Infinite 
wisdom caused seven-eights of her 
surface to be prairie, that Iowa might 
the more easily and speedily be turned 
into a paradise. 

"The prairies of Iowa did not invite 
settlers merely by the ease by which 
they were turned into fine farm 
homes, but the beauty of the. views 
they afforded, the breadth and grand- 
eur of the great natural meadows and 
pastures they offered and the ease of 
communication they provided between 
neighbors and neighborhoods were al- 
so potent influences in inducing set- 
tlers from the heavily wooded east. 
In driving across them there was no 
climbing over stumps and logs. The 

*Charles A. White, State Geologist in 1868, 
Geology of Iowa, Vol. 1, 133. 



Iowa farmer had use for a carriage 
from his first settlement on the 
prairie. 

It has been said that there are ter- 
rible blizzards and awful cyclones on 
these Iowa prairies. It is admitted 
that there are storms in Iowa, just as 
there are terrible storms and blizzards 
in timber covered countries. There 
are tumults in Nature's domain in all 
regions, and men are helpless before 
Nature's forces in all places. De- 
structive tornadoes in Iowa, like de- 
structive earthquakes in California 
are of but rare occurrence. 

There have been severe winters in 
Iowa, but they have been few in its 
history. There may have been danger 
for pioneer settlers in journeying 
across Iowa prairies, from winter 
blizzards, in the past, but those dan- 
gers are now matters of history. Iowa 
winters on Iowa prairies are desirable 
now for the benefits and pleasures 
they afford. 

The prairies, yet beautiful, are not 
now as they were when the pioneer 
chased over them the agile deer and 
the fleeing elk. Their great breadths 
were then open commons with sloughs 
and streams unbridged. Eire in the 
fall swept off their summer vegeta- 
tion and left naught to hold in place 
the falling snow. The settlers' cab- 
ins, built in grove or sheltered nook, 
were far apart. The great breadths 
of open prairie were houseless and 
many of the pioneer settlers were poor 
and thinly clad. Then there was 
nothing to mark the traveled road in 
the winters' snow storm, and the 
traveler seeking to cross the broad 
prairie, may have been in danger 
when such a storm overtook him, dis- 
tant from his home or a shelter. But 
terrible, life destroying blizzards have 
been of rare occurrence in the history 
of the state, while mild, beautiful, 
healthful winters, giving months of 
delightful sunshine and smoothest 
possible roads for winter travel, have 



63 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




05 a 

-p o c* d 

l ~" 1 «3 ;/} c3 



STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 



been common. Terrible prairie fires 
may be read about in our history, but 
they will probably never more be seen. 

Our broad prairies, originally beau- 
tiful, have been made more grandly 
so by human handiwork, directed by 
cultured mind. They are now broad 
realms of finely improved, pro- 
ductive and enclosed farms. Good 
roads are common, and the streams 
and sloughs are bridged. Thrifty vil- 
lages, thriving towns and cities have 
multiplied and the whole breadth of 
the country has been dotted with 
beautiful artificial groves and orchards. 
Now, everywhere over Iowa prairies 
there are human habitations, and the 
danger to a traveler in a winter bliz- 
zard has passed forever. 

But with all this improvement and 
change made by human intelligence 
and industry, there are some things 
pertaining to the prairies of Iowa that 
are unchanged. Tbe depth, richness 
and porousness of the soil, qualities 
that give it superior excellence for ag- 
ricultural productiveness, are yet un- 
changed. Proper culture never di- 
minishes but increases its productive 
power. The perennial streams cours- 
ing through these broad prairies, yet 
flow in the same channels cut deep in- 
to the earth, with the same, ever con- 
tinuing, rapid current yielding untold 
advantages. The prairies of Iowa, no 
longer grand in their wild luxuriance, 
have been made more truly beautiful 
by the art and industry inspired by 
our christian civilization and will ever 
be renowned for their agricultural su- 
periority. Beautiful, fertile and' ex- 
uberantly productive, their possessors 
are truly a fortunate people." * 

Iowa is coming to be more generally 
recognized as the Garden of Eden of 
all the world. She always has plenty 
and to spare. Her granaries are nev- 
er empty, her stock-yards are con- 
stantly filled, her meats, -fruits, vege- 
tables and dairy products are always 

f^oyya at \\i$ Columbian Exposition, 242, 



on the market and her manufactured 
goods are steadily seeking customers. 
Her cornucopia is always full and 
there is no reason why her yeomanry 
should not be the happiest people on 
this sublunary sphere. 

"Ah! grandly in her ample lap, 
Are annual harvests heaped sublime, 
Earth bears not on her proudest map 
A fatter soil, a fairer clime. 
How sing her billowy seas of grain, 
How laugh her fruit on vine and tree, 
How glad her home in plenty's reign 
Where love is lord and worship, free." 
No country now affords more grace- 
ful landscapes, when clothed in sum- 
mer's green, or when its groves are 
dyed in their autumn robes of silver 
and scarlet, gold and purple. Iowa 
landscapes are grandly beautiful, and 
the traveler sees a breadth of farm- 
houses beautiful in situation and sur- 
roundings. The great fields of grow- 
ing grain, in their season, add beauty 
to the delighting panoramas, by every 
shade of green, covering the broad and 
billowy areas over which the eye ex- 
tends. In the summer season great 
herds and flocks feed amid, blooming 
flowers and rich herbage, and add en- 
chanting variety to the inviting 
picture. 

RIVERS AND LAKES. 

Iowa is a realm of beautiful rivers 
and smaller streams that for the most 
part flow in deep channels and with a 
swift current. The crest or summit 
forming the watershed between the 
waters of the Mississippi and the Mis- 
souri, extending from Dickinson south 
to Audubon, and thence southeast to 
Appanoose county, divides the rivers 
of the state into two systems. In the 
eastern system are the Upper Iowa, 
Turkey, Maquoketa, Wapsipinicon, 
Cedar, Iowa, Skunk and the Des Moines 
with its branches, the principal of 
which are South, Middle and North, 
the Raccoon with its branches, and 
the Boone. In the western system 
are found the Eloyd, Rock, Lit- 
tle Sioux, Maple, Boyer, Nishnabotna, 



70 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Nodaway. Platte, Grand and Chariton. 

These are mostly perennial, and 
many of them furnish power for man- 
ufacturing purposes. Along their 
courses were many fine, natural groves 
of timber that attracted the early set- 
tlers. AH flow in fertile valleys bor- 
dered by sloping uplands, and are 
sources of pleasure as well as utility 
and add beauty by giving variety to 
the luxuriant landscapes through 
their course. 

The lakes of Iowa all lie in the cen- 
tral third of the northern half of the 
state upon its most elevated portion, 
where the watersheds are developed 
into broad tablelands, and are princi- 
pally bodies of clear, pure water. None 
of them are large enough to be of 
value for commercial purposes, but in 
the hunting season they have been 
very inviting to the sportsman, since 
immense numbers of migrating water- 
fowls, consisting of geese, ducks, 
brants, swans, cranes, etc., have been 
accustomed to visit them annually; 
they have also furnished large quanti- 
ties of fine fish. On the shores of 
many of them are beautiful groves of 
native timber, located in breadths 
that give a charm to the scenery and 
make them specially inviting to those 
seeking rest or health giving recrea- 
tion. 

Clear Lake, in Cerro Gordo county, 
and Storm Lake, in Buena Vista, are 
each about five miles in length 
and two in breadth. Large gather- 
ings of people annually assemble in 
the capacious auditoriums, erected 
upon the banks of these charming and 
beautiful lakes, for Chautauquas, 
camp meetings, courses of lectures, 
musical conventions and other pur- 
poses. 

There are three lakes in the state 
that are called Wall Lake, from the 
stone walls that girt a portion of their 
shores. They are located in Sac, 
Wright and Hamilton counties. Some 
have entertained the idea that a 



strange people built these walls in the 
prehistoric period; but the scientist 
assures us "that when the vast ice- 
bergs or ponderous glaciers were ex- 
erting their mighty forces in forming 
the wonderful drift coverings of .this 
region, great numbers of boulders 
were borne by these forces from the 
north country, and being deposited 
about these bodies of fresh water, the 
forces of winter frosts and ice have 
lifted them, in the shallow portions of 
these lakes, and piled them in courses 
upon their shores. " 

Spirit Lake and Lake Okoboji, in 
Dickinson county, are the two largest 
lakes in the state. They' are located 
upon the summit of the great water- 
shed of the state near the Minnesota 
line, and have become very popular 
summer resorts. 

Serene and sweet and smiling as a bride, 
Nestles Okobo.ji on the green divide; 
The groves around it, the blue sky above, 
The summer sunshine bathing it in love; 
Fair as the lochs that lie in Scotia's glens, 
Worthy the praise that comes from poet's pen 
Its sparkling waters in the sunshine g'eam 
Full of the glamour of the sweetest dream. 

MINERAL, WEALTH, BUILDING ROCK. 

Chas. R. Keyes, Assistant State Ge- 
ologist, has very truly observed that 
"Iowa is so pre-eminently an agricult- 
ural state that usually her mineral re- 
sources are almost entirely overlooked. 
Yet, her geological features are none 
the less interesting scientifically and 
none the less important from an eco- 
nomic standpoint." 

There is spread everywhere over the 
state a mantle of drift, the debris left 
by the retreat of the great ice sheets 
or glaciers, and this surface deposit is 
so deep that the older rocks are hid- 
den from view throughout large areas 
except where the streams, cutting 
their channels through the drift, have 
exposed sections of the rocks or har- 
dened clays. 

The Sioux quartzite or red granite, 
a massive crystalline rock that is found 
upon the surface in the northwest 



STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 



71 



part of the state, is one of the most 
compact and durable building rocks of 
the northwest, and some of the lead- 
ing churches and office buildings in 
Sioux City, Omaha, Council Bluffs, 
Des Moines and other places have 
been erected from this rock with very 
pleasing effect. 

Abundant supplies of good building 
rock are found in the Trenton and 
Galena limestone formations. The 
former is a very compact rock of blue- 
ish tint, interesting to an observer on 
account of the large number and beau- 
ty of the fossil remains enclosed in 
some of the strata and is widely dis- 
tributed along the Mississippi and the 
eastern part of the state. The Galena 
limestone, a heavily bedded rock of 
brownish tint overlying the Trenton 
in the northeast part of the state, has 
proved the greatest source of wealth 
to Dubuque county where the princi- 
pal quarries are located. The high 
bluffs at the city of Dubuque are of 
this rock. It contains no fossils, but 
is the formation in which the lead is 
found that has been so'extensively and 
profitably mined since the days of Ju- 
lien Dubuque. It makes a superior 
quality of lime, which is used, like the 
rock, for building purposes, no one as 
yet thinking of applying it to the land 
as a fertilizer. 

Other valuable rock formations are 
the Niagara limestone (upper Silurian) 
along Turkey river and the Mississippi 
south of it, massive dolomites, yellow- 
ish or brown in color; the Devonian 
limestone of Cedar Yalley, which is 
highly charged with fossils of many 
kinds; the Montpelier limestone of 
Muscatine county; the St. Louis lime- 
stone of southeastern and Nishna- 
botna sandstone of southwestern 
Iowa. 

SOFT COAL. 

Of all sources of mineral wealth in 
Iowa the deposits of soft coal are the 
most important, The coal area of the 



state is the north part of the' great in- 
terior coal field of the American 
continent, and it includes about 20,000 
square miles, located principally in the 
south half of the state. The most 
productive portion of this area is a 
broad belt extending in a southeaster- 
ly direction from Fort Dodge to Keo- 
kuk, along the Valley of the Des 
Moines river. The coal in this belt is 
of excellent quality and the supply in- 
exhaustible. 

"Coal," says Newberry, "is entitled 
to be considered as the mainspring of 
civilization. By the power developed 
in its combustion, all the wheels of in- 
dustry are kept in motion, commerce 
is carried on with rapidity and cer- 
tainty over all portions of the earth's 
surface, and the useful metals are 
brought from the deep caves in which 
they have hidden themselves, are puri- 
fied and wrought to serve the purposes 
of man. By coal, night is, in one 
sense, converted into day, winter into 
summer, and the life of man, measur- 
ed by its fruits, greatly prolonged. 
Wealth with all the comforts, the lux- 
uries and triumphs it brings, is its 
gift. Though black, sooty and often 
repulsive in its aspect, it is the em- 
bodiment of a power more potent than 
that attributed to the genii in orient- 
al tales. Its possession, is therefore, 
the highest material boon that can be 
craved by a community or nation. 
Coal is also not without its poetry. It 
has been formed under the stimulus 
of the sunshine of long past ages, and 
the light and power it holds are noth- 
ing else than such sunshine stored in 
the black casket, to await the coming, 
and serve the purposes of man. In the 
process of formation it composed the 
tissues of those strange trees that lift- 
ed up their scaled trunks and waved 
their feathery foliage over the marshy 
shores of the carboniferous continent, 
where not only no man was, but gi- 
gantic salamanders and mail clad fish- 
es were the monarchy of the animated 



72 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA, 



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STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 



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world."* 

Filling a place of so great import- 
ance in the material advancement of 
our modern civilization coal must long 
rank first among the mineral resources 
to be desired in a country. 

Being one of the prairie states, hav- 
ing a surface with no marked contrasts 
of altitude, and possessing a soil unri- 
valed in fertility by any country on 
the face of the earth, it has been cus- 
tomary to regard Iowa as a strictly 
agricultural province. Comparisons 
are made with sister states, and the 
fact is noted that as a producer of 
corn, oats and potatoes, Iowa stands 
first on the list, and second in the pro- 
duction of flax, barley and hay. The 
conclusion that Iowa is a great farm- 
ing country is irresistible, and this is 
true. 

It must not, however, be forgotten 
that Iowa has other resources as 
boundless as her agricultural produc- 
tions—resources which half the na- 
tions of the globe would consider of 
priceless worth if they only possessed 
them— untold wealth that Nature has 
bestowed with lavish hand and that is 
destined to contribute to the onward 
progress of humanity. These are her 
mineral resources, the inherited pos- 
sessions bound up in the coals, the 
clays and the metallic ores. 

In the production of coal, Iowa 
ranks first among the states west of 
the Mississippi and fifth among the 
states of the Union. The only states 
surpassing Iowa in the annual produc- 
tion of coal are Pennsylvania, Illinois, 
Ohio and West Virginia. 

England, the richest and most pow- 
erful of European countries, owes her 
high position almost entirely to her 

*The coals of Iowa often contain iron py- 
rites and occasionally small flakes of lime or 
grypsum, along the line of fracture. The coal 
beds, almost without exception, are under- 
laid with a stratum of soft, white clay, which 
is excellent for the manufacture of Are brick. 
The roots of lepidodendrous are j;usually 
iound abundantly in this under clay. 



manufactures, and from her little isle 
has extended her possessions around 
the globe. The area of England is 
about the same as that of Iowa and 
her coal fields approximately 10,000 
square miles, which is the estimated 
extent of Iowa's coal bearing territory. 

The coal fields of Germany embrace 
not more than 3,000 square miles, 
those of Belgium and France together 
only 2,500; Spain has about the same 
area of coal lands and other countries 
of Europe, less. 

The coal fields of Iowa, therefore, 
are as extensive as those of the great- 
est of European nations, and several 
times greater than those of the other 
great nations of that continent. 

IRON, ZINC, LEAD. 

The production of iron in Iowa has 
not attracted public attention, owing 
to the fact that it is an industry as yet 
undeveloped. There is, however, a 
bed of excellent iron ore, of brown 
hematite, a short distance northeast 
of Waukon, in Allamakee county,- that 
covers more than three hundred acres 
of land. This bed is found under a 
surface soil ranging from one to four 
feet in depth, is itself more than thirty 
feet in depth and is described as being 
"an almost solid mass of iron ore, " of 
which hundreds of tons bave already 
been mined. It has been estimated 
that 500 tons daily could be mined here 
for 100 years. 

Zinc in the form of the sulphuret, 
has been found in very small quanti- 
ties in the sub-carboniferous and low- 
er coal measures of Wapello, Webster 
and several other counties. In the 
lead mines of Dubuque this ore is 
found both in the form of the carbon- 
ate and sulphuret, and quite exten- 
sive works have been recently erected 
in that city for the preparation of 
this metal for commerce. 

The productive lead region of the 
Upper Mississippi occupies the larger 
portion of the territory along that 
river from the Apple river in Illinois, 



U PIONEER HISTORY OF. POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



northward to the Wisconsin river. 
The Mississippi runs near the west- 
ern edge of the district, but there is 
a considerable area of productive ter^ 
ritory on the west side of that river. 
The mines in the vicinity of Dubuque, 
on the west side of the river, are 
among the most interesting and prof- 
itable of this region. They are found 
upon a belt about four miles in width, 
extending from Catfish creek in a 
northwesterly direction as far as the 
middle fork of the Little Maquoketa, 
in Dubuque county. This belt in- 
cludes about fifteen square miles, and 
there is probably no district of equal 
extent in the Mississippi Yalley that 
has produced so large an amount of 
ore. The ore is found in the vertical 
sheets or upright crevices of the galena 
limestone formation forming the 
high river bluffs of this section. The 
great softness and purity of the lead 
of this locality, attracted adventurers 
to this section many years before the 
territory of Iowa was opened for set- 
tlement, and has since secured for it a 
higher price than for the imported 
article. 

SAND, CLAY AND GYPSUM. 

Sand is an essential element in our 
industries. Many important mechan- 
ical and manufacturing operations de- 
mand its use. Although upon the 
prairies and other upland surfaces, 
there are no accumulations of it where 
it would impair the fertility of the 
soil, yet nature has provided numer- 
ous banks or deposits of sand for these 
purposes, along the shallows, shores 
and flood-plains, wherever the streams 
have cut their channels or valleys 
through the surface drift. These ac- 
cumulations are of sufficient purity 
for all practical purposes and, as the 
streams are numerous, furnish nearly 
all the sand used in the state. The 
builder, brick-maker and iron-moulder 
readily find sand suited to their re- 
spective needs, while the manufactur- 
ers of glass, and proprietors of smelt- 



ing furnaces import it, in large quanti- 
ties for their work, from this state. 
The silica or quartz sand found in 
Clayton county is of exceeding fineness 
and whiteness and is returned to us 
from Missouri manufactured into the 
finest plate glass. 

Clay has come to be an essential ele- 
ment in manufactures. "The savage 
may build his wigwam frame of poles 
and cover it with grass, skins or bark. 
The pioneer may build his cabin of 
logs or sod, but by industry and econ- 
omy he soon provides the means for 
better things. The services of the 
brick-maker and mason are soon need- 
ed, openings invite the pottery and 
tile factory, and search is made for 
clays suitable for these manufac- 
tories." 

The clays of Iowa have been moved 
to their present positions by glacial 
action, and may be divided into the 
impure drift and those more or less 
pure; the latter having been softened 
and modified by exposure to the at- 
mosphere and frost. Pure clay (sili- 
cate of alumina) alone, does not make 
good brick, and ordinarily the clay of 
no one spot contains the proper pro- 
portions of ingredients to insure the 
production of the best quality of 
brick, but ordinarily the ingredients 
that are lacking in the Iowa clays 
may be obtained in the same vicinity. 
These clays are found near the sur- 
face, and there is no large part of the 
state destitute of the materials for 
the successful manufacture of good 
brick and tile. 

"The day of building cheap, perish- 
able shan ties for residences and struct- 
ures, of cheap, combustible and per- 
ishable material for business uses, 
has been outgrown in this state. Our 
cities and towns have their 'fire- 
limits' and the erection of cheap, un- 
attractive, combustible structures in 
our business centers is largely prohib- 
ited. This wise provision encourages 
improved architecture and the use of 



STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 



75 



building material of substantial qual- 
ity, and so the brick-maker's art is 
encouraged and his business enlarged. 
No better clays can be found for the 
manufacture of the finest quality of 
pressed brick than are now obtained 
in numerous places in this state. " Su- 
perior clay for the manufacture of 
stoneware and the finer forms of pot- 
tery is found in numerous places. 

Gypsum is found along the Des 
Moines river in the vicinity of Fort 
Dodge, Webster county. About three 
miles south of Fort Dodge, including 
the bluffs on both sides of the river, is 
the largest and most important de- 
posit of gypsum yet discovered in the 
United States. It is found here not 
in "heaps" or "nests," as in the 
states farther east, but in the form of 
a "regularly stratified, continuous 
formation as uniform in texture, color 
and quality throughout the entire 
region from top to bottom of the de- 
posit (about thirty feet,) as is the 
granite of the Quincy quarries in New 
England."* 

This bed of gypsum extends about 
seven miles along the river and is ap- 
parently inexhaustible. The rock is 
of a gray color, but becomes quite 
white by grinding and still whiter by 
the calcining process necessary in 
the preparation of plaster of Paris. It 
is used as a building rock, a fertilizer 
and for the manufacture of stucco. In 
the latter form it was very largely used 
in the manufacture of "staff," that 
formed the external covering of 
the World's Fair buildings in Chicago 
in 1893. This gypsum industry gives 
employment to about sixty men and 
the annual production is about $55,000. 

CHALK. 

There is a deposit of chalk in the 
vicinity of the Big Sioux river, in 

* This bed of gypsum is fouud under the 
drift and over the coal measures; it is there- 
fore older than the former and newer than 
the latter. It contains no fossils and seems 
to be a formation of the Mesoaoic age. 



Northwest Iowa, especially in Sac, 
Woodbury and Sioux counties, that is 
as valuable as any in England and 
that, in the not distant future, will 
doubtless furnish the raw material for 
a number of important manufact- 
uring industries. 

This chalk formation consists of 
fine calcareous layers not unlike clay, 
and has a thickness of 25 feet along 
the Sioux river in Iowa, 50 feet at 
Ponca, Nebraska, 130 at Yankton, 
South Dakota, and 200 feet at the 
mouth of the Niobrara river. This 
rock, wherever it is exposed, is of a 
pure white or yellowish color, soft in 
texture and may be quarried in great 
blocks that are easily cut with a com- 
mon saw into any required dimension. 
It is composed of the more or less 
broken skeletons of the little shell 
creatures called Foraminifera and of 
minute coralline plants known as 
Coccoliths. It is formed only in the 
bottom of a clear; open sea, remote 
from land, flood deposits or other dis- 
turbances. 

This chalk deposit, found only in 
the cretaceous series of this section, 
is intensely interesting to the student 
of Nature, since it proves beyond a 
doubt that this whole region was 
once the bottom of a wide and deep 
sea. It rests upon a bed of Dakota 
limestone, an accumulation that was 
doubtless formed when the region 
about Sioux City was covered with 
shallow, brackish water. "The sand 
composing this deposit was carried 
into the sea from land that was not 
very far away, probably only a few 
miles eastward. The sea be- 
tween was not stationary, but was 
slowly subsiding, the rate of subsid- 
ence being greater, however than the 
rate at which the sandstone accumu- 
lated. 

"As a result of the subsidence, the 
sea became deeper over the given 
area, as at Sioux City, and for the 
same reason encroached gradually up- 
on the land, and the shore line be- 
came more and more remote. With 
increasing depth of sea and increas- 
ing distance of the shore, the coarser 
sand failed to reach Sioux City. Only 
the finer mechanical sediments were 
carried so far seaward. * * * The 
waters deepened still more over the 
site of Sioux City until the bottom 
was no longer affected by waves and 
rurrents, and the shore line, now east 



76 



PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY. IOWA. 



of the middle of the state, was so re- 
mote that practically no flood materi- 
al from the land found its way to the 
area we are considering. Neither 
sand nor clay was deposited in any 
appreciable amount as far west as 
Yankton, St. Helena or even Sioux 
City. 

Now it was in this clear, open, quiet 
sea that the Niobrara chalk was slow- 
ly deposited. The little shell creat- 
ures called Foraminifera, flourished 
upon the bottom of it or serenely 
floated in its depths. And either 
floating or resting upon the bottom, 
were the peculiar coralline plants of 
which the bodies called Coccoliths 
and Ehabdoliths were constituent 
parts. 

All these organisms secrete carbon- 
ate of lime, and it was the dead skel- 
etons of successive generations of 
such organisms, accumulating under 
the conditions described, that made 
the entire bulk of our American 
chalk, the region of which extends 
from Iowa to the Eocky Mountains, 
and from Texas to the Arctic Sea. It 
was about the time that the subsid- 
ence reached its maximum that the 
chalk was deposited near Auburn, in 
Sac county."* 

FOREST AND SHADE TREES. 

Wood, for many years, was the prin- 
cipal and preferred fuel of the people 
of this state. Forest trees can be cul- 
tivated upon all varieties of the soil of 
the state as successfully as a crop of 
corn. The principal kinds of native 
trees that have been used as fuel, be- 
fore the general use of coal, are the 
following, their order indicating their 
estimated relative abundance: Oaks, 
several varieties, including white, lau- 
rel, burr and black; cottonwood, elm, 
white maple, linden, hickory, sugar 
maple and black walnut. Other native 
trees, such as the hackberry, ash, 
honey-locust, slippery elm and butter- 
nut, have also been used, but their 
number has been more limited. 

Experience and observation indicate 
that the following named forest trees 
give good results under cultivation, 
their order indicating their rapidity 

*Samuel Calvin in Geology of Iowa. Vol. 3, 



of growth, and their inverse order 
their relative value for fuel: Cotton- 
wood, white maple, box-elder, black 
walnut, oak, sugar maple and hickory. 
The black walnut and hickory suc- 
ceed well upon the prairie by artificial 
propagation from the seed and with 
very little labor. So rapid is the 
growth of the cottonwood that, it is 
estimated, ten acres planted, at the 
end of Ave years, will supply a large 
family continually with all the nec- 
essary fuel. For rapidity of growth 
the white maple ranks next to the cot- 
tonwood and makes better fuel. It 
succeeds well upon all varieties of soil 
and is readily propagated from the 
seed. These facts indicate that in a 
prairie region the farmer may not 
only determine "the location of his 
fields and woodlands, but also the 
kinds of crop, whether of grain or 
trees, that shall be grown upon each." 

WATER. 

It would be difficult to find a region 
more bountifully watered than the 
state of Iowa, and so general is the 
drainage through its numerous rivers, 
creeks and rivulets, that almost its 
entire surface is available for agricul- 
tural purposes. Valuable springs are 
frequent in the valleys, and even upon 
the highest prairies no difficulty has 
been experienced in obtaining excel- 
lent water a few feet beneath the sur- 
face. 

All the water of Iowa is hard, hold- 
ing in solution more or less carbonate 
of lime. It is nevertheless pure and 
wholesome, giving vigor to youth, 
strength to manhood and solace to 
age. In the moonlight fountains and 
the sunny rills, in the warbling brook 
and the giant river, the water of Iowa 
is clear, beautiful and invigorating. 
"The beneficent Creator gave to Iowa 
a wealth of resources of more priceless 
value than mountains of precious met- 
als, in her ever recurring showers, 
her numerous springs and perennial 
streams,." 



STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTUEY'S GEOWTH. 



"Merry laughing, sparkling water, 
O'er the prairies flowing free; 

Making all so bright and happy, 
In the vale and on the lea, 
How I love thee!" 

Waters of medicinal value are also 
found here. There are streams that 
flow from fountains that give strength 
to the weak and restore health to the 
sick. 

The mineral springs at Colfax have 
become so famous that that health re- 
sort has been designated the "Saratoga 
of the West." This fountain flows 
from a boring sunk for coal four hun- 
dred and fifteen feet in depth. Other 
medicinal wells are found at Des 
Moines, Cherokee, Lineville and other 
places. On the western shore of Wall 
Lake, Sac county, there is a natural 
spring known as the Lake View Min- 
eral Spring, that has a considerable 
reputation for the cure of many of the 
ills to which our mortal nature is 
subject. 

CLIMATE. * 

Of the two essential elements of ag- 
ricultural prosperity, a fertile soil and 
a favorable climate, the latter may be 
said to be the more important, for 
nothing can fully compensate for the 
lack of rainfall during the growing 
season. Only a small portion of any 
arid region can be made productive by 
irrigation. 

The claim may be made that in re- 
spect to these two essentials, soil and 
climate, Iowa stands foremost among 
the agricultural states of the Union. 
There is no question as to the exceed- 
ing richness and depth of the soil, for 
it has maintained a large measure of 
its original fertility under a system of 
continuous cropping that would have 
reduced to barrenness the thinner 
soils of less favored sections. And its 
climate has served as a fit complement 
of its soil in the production of those 
vast crops that have figured so con- 

* Gleaned from Climatology, by John R. 
Sage, Director of the Iowa Weather and Crop 
Service. 



spicuously in the agricultural statist- 
ics of the country. 

Situated midway between the oceans 
the climate of Iowa is strictly conti- 
nental. Its altitude ranges from four 
hundred and forty-four feet above the 
sea level at the confluence of the Des 
Moines and Mississippi, to one thou- 
sand six hundred and fifty feet at a 
point near Spirit Lake; and as there 
are no mountain ranges nor extensive 
forests the physical conditions give to 
the state a climate very similar 
throughout. 

The moisture precipitated over Iowa 
comes almost entirely, either directly 
or indirectly, from the Gulf of Mex- 
ico. And as the gulf is permanent 
there is no danger that this region 
will ever become arid or unproductive. 

Blodget's rain chart for the conti- 
nent shows the average annual rain- 
fall in the eastern and southeastern 
counties is forty-two inches, through 
the central belt from southwest to 
northeast it is thirty, and in the ex- 
treme northwestern section twenty- 
five inches. 

The annual precipitation in Iowa is 
equal to that of any of the Atlantic 
or Middle states in the same latitude, 
with the exception of points along the 
sea-coast or in mountainous districts. 

Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs, who origi- 
nated the Iowa Weather Service and 
served over twelve years as its director, 
said in his last annual report: "While 
Iowa has a continental climate in re- 
gard to temperature, it enjoys the fer- 
tilizing advantages of a high and well 
distributed rainfall usually restricted 
to the coast only. In fact, there is no 
region in the interior of any continent 
that has a climate like that of Iowa, 
in which the extremes of temperature 
are coupled with an abundance of fer- . 
tilizing moisture. Eight close to the 
south the immense boiler of the gulf 
is furnishing vapor; the heated conti- 
nental expanse north causes the south- 
erly current prevailing throughout the 



78 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



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STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTUEY'S GKOWTH. 



79 



summer. These southerly winds car- 
ry the moisture of the gulf all over 
the Mississippi valley, where it de- 
scends normally in great abundance, 
making it the best watered valley in 
the world." 

In Iowa the summers are decidedly 
warmer and the winters slightly cold- 
er, though marked by a diminution 
in the amount of snow, than in the 
eastern states on the same parallels. 
The relatively dry atmosphere during 
the winter months has a favorable ef- 
fect upon the health and comfort of 
the inhabitants of this region, enab- 
ling them to easily withstand the low 
temperature of that season of the 
year. 

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. 

The following exhibit will serve to 
show the marvelous development of 
the agricultural resources and the in- 
dustrial condition of the state of Iowa 
in the years 1850, 1880 and 1895, re- 
spectively: 

1850 1880 1895 

Wheat, bus 1,530,381 31,151,205 14,612,054* 

Oats " 1,524,345 50,610,591 201.600,000 

Corn " 8,656,799 275,024,247 285,000,000 

Potatoes 282,368 10,084,9J5 16,700,000* 

Butter, lbs 2,171,188 55,481,958 45,245,627 

Cheese " ...... 209,840 1,075,988 449,416 

Horses 38,536 792,322 1,333,302 

Cows 45,704 854,857 1,087,279 

Hogs 323,247 6,034,336 5,044,577 

Sheep 149,960 455,359 492,875 

Other cattle 91,000 1,755,343 2,110,305 

*1896. 

In 1897, the aggregate value of 
farm products amounted to $130,934,- 
328.00. 

In the year 1891, the estimated val- 
ue of all the agricultural products of 
Iowa, including the crops and stock of 
all kinds, was $464,219,308. 

The Iowa corn crop alone brings an- 
nually more gold and silver than the 
products of all the mines in all of the 
states of the Union, combined. 

In the great staples, that together 
make up the food of the country, 
Iowa ranks out of all proportion to 
her population. In the year 1879, the 



yield of corn equaled a production of 
9,480 pounds for every inhabitant of 
the state; of wheat 1156 pounds; of 
oats 997 pounds and of all cereals 
11,809 pounds. There was also raised 
that year 371 pounds of potatoes for 
each inhabitant. The production of 
these elements of food that year in 
Iowa reached the enormous aggregate 
of 12,180 pounds, or six tons and one 
hundred and eighty pounds for every 
man, woman and child within her 
borders. The state thus produced 
nearly four times as much of these el- 
ements of food, proportionately, as 
did the country at large. It is be- 
lieved this aggregate of production in 
proportion to population, is without 
a parallel anywhere or at any time. 

The live stock interests of the state 
have also grown to immense propor- 
tions. In 1870, Iowa ranked seventh 
in the number of horses, but ten 
years later only Illinois and Texas 
had more. 

In 1870, there were seven states 
that had more milch cows, but ten 
years later Iowa ranked next to New 
York and Illinois. 

In 1880, Iowa ranked fourth in the 
production of butter, New York, 
Pennsylvania and Ohio producing a 
larger quantity; but in the manufact- 
ure of creamery butter, Iowa stood 
first, making nearly one-third of the 
creamery product in the United 
States. In 1897, there were in the 
state 773 creameries, 118 skim stations 
and 76 cheese factories. The value of 
the butter products shipped by the 
railroads was $13,936,680.17. 

In 1870, six states raised more swine, 
but ten years later Iowa had nearly a 
million head more than any other 
state and more than one-eighth of the 
whole number throughout the coun- 
try. Iowa can beat the world in rais- 
ing cheap pork, because there are 
here the finest clover pastures and as 
cheap corn as can be produced any- 
where. The Iowa farmer, by jUdi- 



FTONEEE HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



cious management and careful hand- 
ling, can double his capital invested 
in hogs every few years, if not in a 
single year, raising his own grain and 
milk for the pigs, and fattening them 
for the fall or early winter market. 

During all the years of the general 
financial depression— from 1892 to 1896 
— when the price of nearly every com- 
modity went constantly downward, 
the value of Iowa farms steadily 
mounted higher. Her people rank 
among the most intelligent, thrifty 
and public-spirited of any state. 
They do not live in Iowa as they do in 
some places, "merely because they 
have to do so." Here they build fine 
houses and live to enjoy life. 

The late Stephen A. Douglass, who, 
as a member of the Committee on 
Territories, in 1846, presented to con- 
gress the bill for the admission of 
Iowa into the Union, said: "Vermont 
is a good place to be born in, if one 
should emigrate quite young, but 
Iowa is a good place to be born in and 
a good place to stay in. " 

This observation reminds one of 
an interesting incident that occurred 
at a certain revival meeting held in 
the early days: 

"All persons in the congregation," 
said the evangelist, "who want to go 
to Heaven will please rise to their 
feet." Every person in the house 
rose, but one godless granger sitting 
on the back seat. 

"Now," continued the evangelist, 
"if there is any person in the congre- 
gation who desires to go to the 'bad 
place' let him stand up," looking 
hard at the granger, who still kept 
his seat. The evangelist descended 
from the pulpit and, approaching the 
case-hardened sinner who refused to 
testify in the way proposed, said, 
"My perishing friend, you seem to 
have no desire to reach Heaven, nor 
to plunge into perdition; where do 
you want to go?" "I don't want to 
go anywhere," replied the man, "I 



want to stay right here in Iowa." 

It is quite probable that he was 
the only one in the house who told 
the whole truth. 

COMMERCIAL FACILITIES— RAILROADS. 

The position of Iowa enables her to 
command the advantages of 20,000 
miles of inland water navigation, the 
cheapest of all forms of transporta- 
tion. Her great rivers are perma- 
nent fixtures, and as the years roll on 
and population and wealth increase, 
public interest will demand that these 
great channels of interior communi- 
cation and transportation be main- 
tained in the most perfect condition, 
and their benefit will increase with 
each succeeding generation. These 
divinely formed channels of trade a.nd 
transportation were the first to be 
utilized and will be indispensable to 
Iowa. They will yet bear a large pro- 
portion of the products of her farms, 
orchards, dairies, mines and manu- 
factories to distant markets and bring 
in return immense supplies of com- 
modities and material that her indus- 
tries and people will demand. 

The first settlers of Iowa came from 
the east by teams. When they 
crossed the Mississippi the only means 
of interior transportation in the aid 
of trade were the shoulders of the 
dusky squaw, the Indian pony, canoe 
or an occasional pack-horse of a vent- 
uresome hunter. These were supple- 
mented by the ox teams and horses 
brought by the settlers, which con- 
stituted the only means of interior 
transportation, until the closing years 
of the sixties. There were then no 
wagon roads or bridges, and the 
sloughs and streams had to be wal- 
lowed through or forded. How 
changed the scene today! Now there 
are in this state 110,000 miles of well 
constructed highways provided with 
innumerable culverts and thousands 
of well constructed bridges. 

In 1847 a meeting was held at Du- 
buque for the purpose of securing a 



STATEHOOD, A HALF CENTURY'S GROWTH. 



81 



railroad connection with Chicago. 
In the winter of 1848, just fifty years 
ago, a convention was held at Iowa 
City that projected two railroads, one 
to extend from Dubuque to Keokuk 
and the other to span the state from 
Davenport, via Iowa City, to some 
point on the Missouri, at or near 
Council Bluffs. The first of these 
roads was never built. The first rail- 
road company organized within the 
state was the one formed at this time 
to baild the latter road from Daven- 
port to Council Bluffs. The congress 
of the United States was asked to aid 
in its construction, and in 1850 that 
body adopted the policy of making 
land grants to encourage the build- 
ing of western railroads. 

The year 1856 marked a new era in 
the history of Iowa. In 1854, the 
Chicago and Rock Island had been 
completed to the east bank of the 
Mississippi, opposite Davenport, and 
in the same year the corner-stone of 
the railroad bridge that was to be the 
first that spanned the "Father of 
Waters," was laid with appropriate 
ceremonies at this point. January 1, 
1856, this railroad, the first in Iowa, 
was completed to Iowa City. In the 
meantime, two other railroads had 
reached the east bank of the Missis- 
sippi—the Burlington and Quincy op- 
posite Burlington, and the Illinois 
Central opposite Dubuque. 

On May 15th, that year, (1856) con- 
gress passed an act, approved by Pres- 
ident Pierce, that made the first grant 
of land in aid of railroad building in 
the state of Iowa. This act provided 
for the grant of the alternate, or odd 
numbered sections, for a distance of 
six miles on each side of four main 
lines of railway across the state. 

On August 8, 1846, congress had 
granted to the Territory of Iowa, for 
the purpose of improving the naviga- 
tion of the Des Moines river from its 
mouth to the Raccoon fork, the alter- 
nate sections, remaining unsold, in a 



strip five miles in width, on each side 
of that river. This grant proved a 
fruitful source of legislation and cor- 
ruption, the river, unsatisfactory for 
navigation, and the grant was finally 
utilized for the construction of a rail- 
road up the valley of the river to 
Des Moines. 

Under these two grants, and others 
that followed soon after, the railroads 
in Iowa received land as follows: 

Acres 
Burlington & Missouri river (C. B. & Q.) 287,095 

Miss. & Missouri river (C. R. I. & P.) 550,194 

la. Cent. Air Line (Chicago &NW.) 775,454 

Dubuque & Pacific( 111. Cent.) 1,226,558 

McGregor & Missouri (C. M. & St. Paul) 372 293 

Sioux City & St. Paul 407,879 

Des Moines River Improvement Co 1,105,968 

Total 4,674,745 

This was a princely donation, but 
the settlers asked for it and expected 
the benefits derived therefrom would 
be commensurate. The few settlers 
in the interior counties were la- 
boring in privation, difficulty and 
poverty, and were unable to convey 
their surplus to market. Lands were 
then taken slowly at $1.25 per acre 
and there was not sufficient wealth in 
the state to provide the transporta- 
tion facilities that were needed. 

Although this land was granted 
and the surveys made, the railroads 
were not immediately constructed. 
The financial crisis of 1857 stopped all 
railroad enterprise, and before the 
country had sufficiently recovered to 
justify new and great undertakings, 
the civil war began, and railroad con- 
struction was suspended until after 
the collapse of the rebellion. 

At the close of the war, there fol- 
lowed a period of great activity m 
railroad building in Iowa. The Chi- 
cago and Northwestern, first to cross 
the state, reached Council Bluffs ia 
1861. The Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington 
and Quincy reached that city early in 
1869; and during the following sum- 
mer the Illinois Central reached 



82 TTONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Sioux City. Other roads soon fol- 
lowed, and today the state is crossed 
by five great railways and covered 
with a network of steel tracks, that 
extend into all the 99 counties and 
bring to her people commercial ad- 
vantages unsurpassed by those 
of any other state. There are now 



8,600 miles of railway within the 
boundaries of the state that, together 
with the rolling stock, depots and 
terminals, represent a cost of $25,000 
per mile and a total cost of $212,500,- 
000. They give employment to 30,192 
men, whose annual salaries amount to 
$17,807,915.89. 




THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OF IOWA. 



83 



IX. 

THE STHTE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS ©F IOWfl. 

"Education is the cheap defense of nations. "—Garfield. 

IOWA'S CAPITOL, DES MOINES. 

"Peerless Iowa, 'tis of thee, 
Fair state of industry, 
Of thee I sing."— H. P. Branch. 




I HE present capitol 
building, of which a 
cut appears on page 
14, is a fine speci- 
men of modern ar- 
chitecture. It is an 
object of beauty and a source of pride 
to every citizen of the state. 

The first act for the erection of this 
building wa passed by the 12th Gen- 
eral Assembly and approved April 6, 
1868. The first Board of Commission- 
ers, appointed in 1870, to determine 
its plan and superintend its construc- 
tion, consisted of Governor Samuel 
Merrill, chairman ex-officio; Gen. G. 
M. Dodge, Hon. James F. Wilson, of 
Fairfield, and six other members 
chosen by the senate and house of 
representatives in joint convention, 
viz: James Dawson, of Washington 
county; Simon G. Stein, of Muscatine; 
James O. Crosby, of Clayton; Charles 
Dudley, of Wapello; Col. J. N. Dewey, 
of Des Moines, and William L. Joy, of 
Woodbury county. A. B. Fulton was 
chosen secretary of this Board. The 
plans approved were prepared by 
Messrs. Cochrane and Piquenard, of 
Chicago, 111. In 1872, when this 
Board was reorganized, the following 
persons became members of it, name- 
ly: John G. Foote, of Des Moines 



county; M. L. Fisher, of Clayton; B. 
S. Finkbine and .Peter A. Dey, of 
Johnson county. 

Its construction was begun in J une, 
1871, the first stone being laid August 
1st and the corner-stone, November 
23d following. On this last occasion 
the following distinguished citizens 
delivered addresses: Hon. James F. 
Wilson, Hon. Samuel Merrill and 
Hon. John A. Kasson; and a poem 
was read by Hon. John B. Grinnell. 

The corner-stone, 7x3x3 feet, was 
cut from granite obtained in Buchan- 
an county, and presented for that 
purpose by David Armstrong, of that 
county. The stone for the founda- 
tion was obtained from the Madison 
county quarries near Winterset, and 
for the basement from the old Capitol 
quarry in Johnson county, near Iowa 
City. The outside steps and platform 
are of the "Forest City" stone, from 
near Cleveland, Ohio, and the 
rails of granite from Sauk Bapids, 
Minnesota. All the columns, piers 
and pilasters in the corriders of the 
first story, are from Lemont, Illinois; 
most of those in the basement, from 
Anamosa, and the red granite col- 
umns of the second story, from Iron 
Mountain, Missouri. 

The statuary, beginning north of 



84 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OF IOWA. 



85 



the library door, represent History, 
Science, Law, Fame, Literature, In- 
dustry, Peace, Commerce, Agriculture, 
Victory, Truth and Progress. 

The four pictures on the ceiling of 
the supreme court room, are of the 
type of Greek mythology, and repre- 
sent Justice, Columbia, Justice and 
Peace ruling over the land and bring- 
ing prosperity, culture and happiness, 
and Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. 

Its general dimensions are: length 
north and south, 363 feet; breadth, 
246 feet, and height to top of finial, 
275 feet. The height of the first 
story is 23 feet; of the second, 22 feet, 
and of the third, 20 feet. The diam- 
eter of the rotunda is 66 feet and of 
the dome, 80 feet. The senate cham- 
ber is 58x91 feet, the house of repre- 
sentatives 14x91 feet and the library 
52x108 feet. It is lighted by an 
electric light that requires an engine 
of eighty-horse power. 

The last stone was laid June 18, 
1881, and the interior was completed 
two years later. The work was all 
done by the day, the structure was 
paid for as completed and the cost 
was nearly $3,000,000. 

"From spire and from dome, 
From shop, school house and home, 

Ring a glad chime; 
Sing of her constant gain, 
Her wealth of brawn and brain, 

Noble, sublime." 

STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY. 

(See group of buildings, p. 60.) 

"Blessings on Science and her hand- 
maid Steam! 

They make Utopia only- half a dream; 

And show the fervent of capacious 
souls, 

Who watch the ball of Progress as it 
rolls. " — Mack ay. 

In the year 1840, the congress of the 
United States passed an act setting 
apart two townships for the use and 
support of a University within the 
Territory of Iowa, whenever it should 
become a state. This gift was ac- 
cepted, as set forth in the constitu- 



tion of the state, and in 1847, the 
University of Iowa was organized by 
an act of the legislature of Iowa, ap- 
proved February 25, 1847. The Gen- 
eral Assembly at this session granted 
the capitol building at Iowa City, to- 
gether with the ten acres of land on 
which it was situated, for the Uni- 
versity. It also donated at the same 
time, two townships or seventy-two 
sections of land, to constitute a 
permanent fund for the endow- 
ment of the institution and such 
branches as might be later estab- 
lished. 

The organization was completed by 
the appointment of a Board of fifteen 
trustees, who held their first session 
July 15, 1847. In January, 1849, two 
branches of the University were es- 
tablished — one at Fairfield and the 
other at Dubuque. The latter gained 
only a nominal existence. At Fair- 
field, the board of directors organized 
and erected a building at a cost of 
$2,500. This was nearly destroyed by 
a hurricane the following year, but 
was rebuilt by the citizens of Fair- 
field. This branch never received 
any aid from the state, and January 
24, 1853, its relation to the state was 
terminated. In February, 1854, the 
Medical College located at Keokuk, 
was recognized and established as the 
medical department of the University. 

Very little, however, was accom- 
plished until 1855, when the institu- 
tion at Iowa City was first opened for 
the reception of students. 

In April, 1858, the University was 
suspended in all its departments, in 
order that the productive fund might 
accumulate so as to enable the insti- 
tution to be established upon a more 
liberal basis. The University was 
subsequently reorganized, and under 
the new organization reopened on 
September 19, 1860, and this may fair- 
ly be regarded as the date of the be- 
ginning, of the existing institution. 

The control of the University is in- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



trusted to a Board of Regents, con- 
sisting of the Governor of the state 
and the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, ex-offlcio, and one member 
from each congressional district, who 
are elected by the General Assembly 
to serve six years. 

The University comprises the fol- 
lowing six departments: Collegiate, 
Law, Medical, Homeopathic Medical, 
Dental and Pharmacy. 

The Collegiate Department em- 
braces four general courses of study — 
one classical, two philosophical and 
one general scientific; and two tech- 
nical courses — civil engineering and 
electrical engineering. 

The growth of the University has 
been very encouraging. The last cat- 
alogue issued (1898) shows an enroll- 
ment of 1313 students in the various 
departments. With the progress of 
years, new buildings have been erected 
until there are now twelve fine, large 
buildings, costing $424,000, supplied 
with apparatus costing $150,000, all 
available for the various uses of the 
University. 

The central building in the group 
that appears on page 60, is the former 
state capitol. It is built of stone, 
120x60 feet, and is two stories in 
height. At the right of it are the 
Medical and West buildings, and on 
the left the Dental building. Cuts of 
Close Hall, the Natural Science 
building, the Chemical Laboratory 
and the Medical Hospital may also be 
seen in this volume. 

Prof. A. N. Currier is acting-presi- 
dent of this institution; President 
Charles A. Schaeffer having died Sep- 
tember 23, 1898. 

THE IOWA STATE COLLEGE OF AGRI- 
CULTURE AND MECHANIC 
ARTS, AMES, IOWA. 
WM. BEARDSHEAR, LL. D., PRESIDENT. 

"The farmer's trade is one of worth; 
He's partner with the sky and earth; 
He's partner with the sun and rain; 
And no man loses for his gain; 



And men may rise, and men may fall; 
The farmer he must feed them all. " 

The Iowa Agricultural College, 
erected in 1868, occupies a delightful 
and healthful location upon high, roll- 
ing land just west of Ames, Story 
county, thirty-seven miles north of 
Des Moines. The college domain in- 
cludes 860 acres, of which about 120 
acres in the southwest part, have been 
set apart for the college buildings and 
grounds. Fifteen commodious build- 
ings, heated mainly by steam and 
lighted by electricity, have .been erect- 
ed by the state at a cost of $500,000, for 
the exclusive use of the various de- 
partments of the college. These 
buildings are clustered around an at- 
tractive and beautiful campus, that 
affords delightful scenery and a most 
healthful environment. 

The entire equipment of this insti- 
tution, in buildings, lands and endow- 
ment provided by the state and na- 
tion, represent an investment of $1,- 
250,000. It is the pride of those in 
authority, to equip each department 
with the tools, apparatus and facili- 
ties that will most wisely and thor- 
oughly furnish a suitable outfit for 
the efficient work of the students and 
faculty. Tuition is free to students 
of Iowa; those outside the state are 
charged $30 a year, though this is usu- 
ally remitted to worthy students by 
the faculty or trustees. The college 
library contains 11,500 volumes, cata- 
logued by the Dewey system. The 
Museum of Natural History is com- 
prehensive, and the cabinet of Miner- 
al Specimens furnishes material from 
many parts of the globe, for the study 
of geology. 

The curriculum provides for a short 
course in Agriculture and Dairying; a 
three years' course in Veterinary Sci- 
ence, and four-year courses in Agri- 
culture, Science, Mechanical, Civil, 
Electrical and Mining Engineering; 
and a Special course for ladies. For 
the study of Horticulture the fields, 



THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OF IOWA. 



87 



gardens, green-house and grounds af- 
ford exceptional advantages. The 
national government gives the college 
annually about $35,000, for original 
investigation and experimentation in 
agriculture and the sciences related 
to the industries. This enables those 
in authority to make the fields and 
the barns veritable laboratories of ex- 
tensive and most practical investiga- 
tion and observation. After this year 
(1898) the college commencement will 
be held in June instead of November, 
and the college year will open the last 
of July instead of February. 

The history of this institution be- 
gins with the year 1858, when the leg- 
islature passed an act appropriating 
$10,000 for the purchase of a farm on 
which to locate an Agricultural Col- 
lege. In 1859, a tract of 648 acres in 
Story county was purchased, and that 
county made a donation of $10,000 to- 
wards it, that was supplemented by 
$7,000 contributed by citizens of Story 
and Boone counties. 

In July, 1862, congress appropriated 
to the several states in the Union, for 
agricultural colleges, 30,000 acres of 
land, for each senator and representa- 
tive in congress. Every state accept- 
ing this grant was required to erect 
the necessary college buildings with- 
in five years from the acceptance of 
the grant, and without using any of 
the proceeds of the lands for that pur- 
pose. The state of Iowa, at the spe- 
cial session held in September, 1862, 
accepted this grant and received 240,- 
000 acres. These lands were selected, 
from those that had not been previ- 
ously homesteaded or sold in the vari- 
ous counties of the state, and they 
were designated "Agricultural Col- 
lege" land. The income from these 
lands is intended to meet the annual 
expenditures of this institution, al- 
though a part was used for the pur- 
chase of additional land as a suitable 
site for the college buildings and 
grounds. 



In 1890, a bill for the more com- 
plete endowment and support of 
these colleges, was approved by Presi- 
dent Harrison. It appropriated $15,- 
000 for the year ending June 30th, 
that year, and provided for an annual 
increase of the amount of each appro- 
priation thereafter for ten years, by 
an additional sum of $1,000 over the 
preceding year. 

The object of this institution is "to 
advance and conserve the interests of 
agriculture and the mechanic arts," 
with the practice of agriculture, and 
to seek to make use of this intelli- 
gence in developing the agricultural 
and industrial resources of the state. 
Its aim is to make the student famil- 
iar with the things immediately 
around him, the powers of nature he 
employs and the material, through 
which under the blessings of Provi- 
dence, he lives and moves and has his 
being; and since Agriculture, "the 
great mother science and industry of 
the ages," more than any other of the 
industrial arts is important to man, it 
follows that this should receive the 
highest degree of attention. "What- 
ever is necessary for man to have done 
is honorable for man to do, and the 
grade of honor enduing is dependent 
upon the talent and fidelity exhibited 
in performing it. All students, with- 
out regard to pecuniary circumstances, 
are therefore required, at this insti- 
tution, to perform manual labor as an 
essential part of the college education, 
discipline and training. 
"He that by the plough would thrive 
Himself must either hold or drive." 

The Iowa Experiment Station, in 
connection with this institution, 
was established in accordance with an 
act of congress, approved March 2, 
1887, for the purpose of aiding "in ac- 
quiring and diffusing among the peo- 
ple of the United States useful and 
practical information on subjects con- 
nected with agriculture, and to pro- 
mote scientific investigation and ex* 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



periments respecting the principles 
and applications of agricultural sci- 
ence." It is subject to the regula- 
tions of the United States department 
of agriculture. The results of all ag- 
ricultural investigations and experi- 
ments, including those relating to 
live stock, are published in bulletins 
that are issued quarterly, and sent 
free to all farmers of the state apply- 
ing for them. 

Views of the Main building, Morrill 
Hall and the Farm Barns may be seen 
on pages 64, 68 and 72. 

THE IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 

CEDAR FALLS, 
HOMER H. SEERLEY, A. M. , PRESIDENT. 

"Study to show thyself approved; 
* * * apt to teach. "—Paul. 

The public belief in the special edu- 
cation of teachers as a necessity, ex- 
isted before the year 1876, when the 
legislature of Iowa decided to found a 
Normal school and maintain it there- 
after as one of the necessary state in- 
stitutions. The Normal school grad- 
uate from New York, Pennsylvania 
and other states, had already proved 
the practical advantage of such edu- 
cation and had created a public de- 
mand for professional teachers, before 
there was any local supply. 

Hon. T. S. Parvin, of Cedar Rap- 
ids, at the very beginning of the 
school system in Muscatine, had sent 
to New York to obtain a trained 
teacher, in the person of D. Franklin 
Wells, and had introduced the spirit 
and methods of Normal work among 
the teachers." In the year 1849, by an 
act of the legislature, the statewas di- 
vided into three Normal districts, 
and a Normal school located in each 
as follows: One at Andrew in Jack- 
son county, one at Mt. Pleasant in 
Henry county and one at Oskaloosa in 
Mahaska county. Of the three schools 
thus located, only one— that at An- 
drew—was opened; and it was main- 
tained only for a few years, the state 



in 1855, ceasing to make the annual 
appropriation towards its support. In 
the same year a Normal department 
was added to the State University, 
that was maintained for seventeen 
years. Prof. D. F. Wells became 
principal of this Normal Department 
of the State University and by his in- 
struction to the advanced students 
in the "science and art of teaching," 
made it the most prominent depart- 
ment of that institution. In 1873 
this Normal Department of the Uni- 
versity was abolished and in its place 
there was established a chair of Di- 
dactics — the first professorship of 
teaching, established, it is said, in 
any college or university in the Unit- 
ed States. 

The founding of a Normal school 
was now advocated by state superin- 
tendents, by the state teachers' associ- 
ation and by leading teachers and 
citizens, so that the demand was prom- 
inent in public opinion. In the year 
1876, Hon. H. C. Hemenway, the rep- 
resentative in the General Assembly, 
from Black Hawk county, supported 
energetically the measure and secured 
the passage of a bill, with a majority 
of one vote, that gave to the present 
institution at Cedar Falls, a legal ex- 
istence. 

The Board of Regents, appointed 
by Governor Kirkwood, did a wise act 
in the selection of Prof. J. C. Gil- 
christ as the first president of the fac- 
ulty, as he was the best informed man 
in Iowa at that time, to undertake 
the great task, and he probably accom- 
plished a work, during his ten years of 
public service, at this institution that 
is rarely equaled for permanency and 
efficiency. The other members of the 
first faculty, M. W. Bartlett, D. S. 
Wright and Miss Frances L. Webster, 
were also wisely chosen. 

This institution, established for the 
special training of teachers for the 
common schools of the state, was 
opened for the reception of students, 



THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OF IOWA. 



89 



September 6, 1876. It lias now an 
equipment consisting of six buildings 
and forty acres of ground, estimated 
at $167,500, that are used exclusively 
for the work of the school and resi- 
dences of its officers. North Hall, 
previously one of the soldiers' orphans' 
homes, was transferred March 5, 1876, 
and became the original home of the 
school. The superintendent's home 
was transferred at the same time and 
both buildings were reconstructed to 
adapt them to their new uses. South 
Hall, in which are the chapel and lab- 
oratories of physics and chemistry, 
was erected in 1882, at a cost of $30,- 
000. Central Hall, containing the 
president's offices, the library and the 
museum, was erected in 1895, at a 
cost of $35,000. The steam plant that 
heats the entire institution was erect- 
ed in 1896. The library, which is free 
to all students, contains more than 
8,000 volumes. 

The students are charged an ex- 
pense fee of $5.00, a term of twelve 
weeks. To secure entrance as a 
teacher-student, it is necessary for 
each applicant to sign the following 
declaration. "I hereby declare that, 
in becoming a student of the Iowa 
State Normal School, it is my inten- 
tion, in good faith to follow the busi- 
ness of teaching in the state of Iowa. " 

The moral and religious influences 
of this institution are very excellent. 
There is, perhaps, no school in the 
state that has more religious work in 
progress or that is more successful in 
influencing students to undertake and 
maintain a life of high moral and re- 
ligious culture. 

The use of tobacco, being a hin- 
drance to intellectual progress and un- 
becoming in a teacher, is not allowed 
in any form at this institution. 
Games of chance and other amusements 
that hinder study, are also prohibited, 
and indulgence in the use of intoxi- 
cating liquors is regarded as a very 
serious offense. 



Two members of the first faculty, 
Prof. M. W. Bartlett and Prof. D. S. 
Wright, continue in charge of their 
respective departments; Miss Anna E. 
McGovern since 1880, and Prof. Seer- 
ley since 1886. 

New departments have been added 
as follows: Music in 1878; Special 
Training in 1884, discontinued two 
years later and reorganized in 1891; 
Latin in 1897 and the Military in 1892. 
The latter is in charge of a retired U. 
S. army officer, Major W. A. Dinwid- 
die. 

In the year 1878, the first gradu- 
ating class numbered four persons, 
and in 1898, there were 186 graduates, 
making the whole number in twenty- 
two years, 1325. The number of stu- 
dents in attendance last year was 1318. 

THE IOWA COLLEGE FOR THE BLIND, 
VINTON. 

Thomas F. McCune, A.M., Prin. 

"I will bring the blind, 
By a way they knew not; 
I will lead them in paths 
They have not known." — Isaiah. 

The Iowa College for the Blind, es- 
tablished at Iowa City in 1852, and 
opened for students the year follow- 
ing, was transferred to its present lo- 
cation at Vinton, Benton county, in 
1862. The college, as its name indi- 
cates, is a school, not a home, and the 
annual session begins on the first Wed- 
nesday of September and ends on the 
second Wednesday of June, following. 
During the summer vacation the stu- 
dents are required to return to their 
homes, and all officers and employes 
are then discharged, except those nec- 
essary for the care, cleaning and re- 
pair of the buildings. 

The biennial report of 1897 shows 
that 186 pupils were in attendance 
that year, and 208 the year previous. 
During the forty-five years of the ex- 
istence of this institution, 1007 stu- 
dents have been enrolled, of whom 
fifteen per cent make their own living 
and forty per cent are educated and 



90 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




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THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OF IOWA. 



91 



respectable members of society. Of 
the whole enrollment, ten per cent 
have completed the literary course 
and received their diplomas. Four 
have become successful ministers of 
the gospel; one is an evangelist of 
more than ordinary power; one is rap- 
idly rising into prominence as a writer 
of stories for children, and another, 
as author and lawyer, has attained a 
marked standing in one of the largest 
cities of the land. 

The main building, 108x70 feet, is 
located near the center of the grounds 
that comprise forty acres. These are 
beautifully arranged and ornamented 
with all kinds of trees and shrubs. 
The estimated value of the buildings, 
grounds, machinery, etc., represented 
by this institution, is $313,650. 

Its design is to furnish to the blind 
children of the state equal education- 
al advantages with children who en- 
joy the boon of sight. The branches 
taught are raised print, point system, 
arithmetic, spelling, geography, his- 
tory, grammar, natural philosophy, 
civil government, political economy, 
geometry, English and American 
literature. 

The department of music is supplied 
with twenty-three pianos, one pipe or- 
gan, three cabinet organs and a suffi- 
cient number of violins, guitars, bass 
viols and brass instruments. Every 
student capable of receiving it is giv- 
en a complete course in this branch. 

In the industrial department the 
girls are required to learn knitting, 
crocheting, fancy work, hand and ma- 
chine sewing; the boys, netting, mat- 
tress making and cane seating. Those 
of either sex who desire, may learn 
carpet weaving and broom making. 

Several years ago, congress appro- 
priated $250,000 as a permanent fund, 
the interest of which, $10,000, was to 
be paid semi-annually to the trustees 
of the American Printing House for 
the Blind, a corporate body, in Louis- 
ville, Ky., to be expended in publish- 



ing embossed books and manufacturing 
apparatus for the blind. These books 
and apparatus are supplied to the 
thirty-seven institutions for the blind 
in the United States, in proportion to 
the number of pupils in attendance 
at each. 

No work presents more complex 
problems than that of educating the 
blind, yet no work has made greater 
progress than this during the last 
quarter of a century. 

INDUSTRIAL HOME FOR THE BLIND, 
KNOXVILLE. 

The Industrial Home for the Blind 
was established in 1890, by the Twen- 
ty-third General Assembly, which ap- 
propriated $40,000 for the purchase of 
grounds and the erection of buildings. 
Under the provisions of this act, the 
governor appointed a board of com- 
missioners to select a location and su- 
perintend the construction of the 
buildings. They selected Knoxville, 
Marion county, as the site for the 
Home, and by January 1, 1892, had it 
ready for the admission of inmates, 
with accommcditionsfor two hundred. 

The object of this institution is 
the instruction of the adult blind of 
the state in some suitable trade or vo- 
cation, and to furnish a working home 
for the blind, who have learned a 
trade or vocation and desire to be em- 
ployed therein. It is open to every 
blind person who has a legal residence 
in the state and is physically and men- 
tally able to perform such labor as 
may be required in the trade or voca- 
tion carried on therein. Broom mak- 
ing is the principal industry. Ham- 
mocks and nets are also made. All 
assignments of work are made on the 
basis of adaptation. Each works at 
that for which he is specially fitted 
and is paid what he earns, according 
to a schedule of wages. 

The legislature makes biennial ap- 
propriations for its support, those last 
made for the years 1898 and 1899, 
amounting to $18,000. 



92 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




O 0" 

1-1 rt 



THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OE IOWA. 



93 



During the first five years of its ex- 
istence, or the period ending June 30, 
1897, ninety-one inmates had been re- 
ceived and they had made 26,966 doz- 
ens of brooms, 8,4LH dozens of whisks, 
1,071 hammocks and 330 nets. 

The value of the property represent- 
ed by this institution is estimated at 
$30,000, and it is in charge of three 
trustees who are elected by the legis- 
lature for a term of six years. Cam. 
Culbertson is the present superintend- 
ent. 

IOWA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, 
COUNCIL, BLUFFS. 
HON. HENRY W. ROTHERT, SUPT. 
G. L. WYCKOFF, PRINCIPAL. 

"Education is a capital to a poor 
man, and an interest to a rich man." 
—Horace Mann. 

The Iowa School for the Deaf is lo- 
cated in Pottawattamie county, three 
miles east of the city of Council 
Bluffs. Arrangements were made for 
the establishment of this institution 
by the General Assembly of Iowa, in 
January, 1855. It was located first at 
Iowa City, where Mr. W. E. Ijams, a 
gentleman of liberal education and 
considerable experience in the instruc- 
tion of the deaf, had established a 
private school for their benefit. In 
December, 1870, it was transferred to 
Council Bluffs, where permanent and 
commodious buildings have been pro- 
vided for its use. It was first called a 
"State Institution for the Deaf and 
Dumb, " but this name was changed 
to its present form in 1892. 

The main building is one of the 
largest structures in the state, being 
350 feet long, 60 feet wide and five 
stories high in the central part. The 
wings of this building are used chiefly 
for sleeping apartments, while in the 
central part provision is made for 
study, the care of the sick and the re- 
ception of friends. The school house, 
two stories in height, contains twenty 
large, well ventilated recitation rooms. 
The center building of the Industrial 



Schools was erected in 1889, to meet 
the growing and urgent requirements 
of the Industrial Department of this 
institution. It contains a large steam 
cylinder press, on which a weekly pa- 
per, The Deaf Hawkeye, is printed. 
The south wing of this building was 
erected in 1875, and at that time.it 
was considered ample to provide for 
the wants of this school. The Chapel 
and Dining Hall are in the same 
building, 70x85 feet, two stories in 
height. All of these buildings are Of' 
brick, and together with grounds, ap- 
paratus, etc., represent an investment 
by the state of $400,000. 

This institution is free to all from . 
the age of nine to twenty-five, who are, 
too deaf to be educated in the com- . 
mon schools, but who are sound in 
mind, free from immoral habits 
and free from contagious or offensive 
diseases. A competent corps of in- 
structors of long and successful expe- 
rience is employed in every depart- 
ment. The trades taught in this in- 
stitution are printing, shoe-making, 
carpentering, dress-making, farming 
and gardening, drawing and painting; 
light housework, plain sewing and 
knitting are also taught. The session 
of the school begins the 1st day of 
October and continues until the last 
day in June of each year. 

IOWA INSTITUTION FOR FEEBLE MINDED 
CHILDREN. 

"The secret of life—it is giving; 
To minister and to serve." 

—Lucy Larcom. 

This worthy institution is located 
at Glenwood, Mills county. Three 
homes for orphan children had been 
founded during the war of 1861-1865, 
and maintained by the state until 
1876, when the number of dependent 
children having greatly diminished, 
it was decided to unite them in the 
present institution at -Davenport. 
This closed the homes at Cedar Falls 
and Glenwood, and the former be- 
came the State Normal School and 







- Jia^aEwaBwjUHi jt 



THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OF IOWA. 



95 



the latter the Institution for Feeble 
Minded Children. The first child was 
admitted, September, 1876. For a 
time there was an unwillingness on 
the part of parents of this class of 
children to turn them over to its care, 
but now that diffidence has been 
largely outgrown. The present build- 
ings cost $350,000, the furnishings and 
machinery $35,000 and together with 
the 300 acres of land on which they 
are located, represent an investment 
of $405,000. 

The aim of this institution is to 
provide special methods of training 
for that class of children, who are de- 
ficient in mind or marked with such 
peculiarities as may deprive them of 
the benefits and privileges provided 
for children with normal faculties. It 
aims to make the children as nearly 
self-supporting as practicable and en- 
able them to approach as nearly as 
possible the actions of normal people. 
It further aims to provide a home for 
those who are not susceptible of men- 
tal culture, but must rely wholly on 
others to supply their simple wants. 

In the school department, lessons 
are imparted in the simple elements 
of instruction taught in the public 
schools, as well as in the industries 
suited to their capacities. Children 
are admitted between the ages of five 
and eighteen years. 

THE IOWA SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME 
AND HOME FOR INDIGENT CHIL- 
DREN, DAVENPORT. 

At the outbreak of the rebellion, in 
1861, the state of Iowa was settled 
chiefly by young men of limited means, 
who were maintaining their families, 
to a great extent, by agricultural pur- 
suits. The call for volunteers was 
answered patriotically. Large num- 
bers went to the front and many, fall- 
ing in the defense of their country 
and homes, left their families in des- 
titute circumstances. Some of the 
benevolent people of Davenport, 
among them Hon. Hiram Price, Hon. 



John L. Davies, Mrs. P. V. Newcomb 
and many others, conceived the plan 
of founding a home for the orphan 
children of Iowa soldiers, to be sup- 
ported by the charity of Iowa people, 
assisted by the comrades of the fallen 
heroes. Similar enterprises were un- 
dertaken at Farmington, Glenwood 
and Cedar Fails. 

The Davenport Home was first or- 
ganized December 1, 1863, as a private 
charitable institution, and was opened 
for the reception of children, July 13, 
1864, utilizing the old barracks, known 
as Camp Eoberts. 

In June. 1866, it became a state in- 
stitution, under the name of the Iowa 
Soldiers' Orphans' Home, the legisla- 
ture assuming control of it and pro- 
viding a special fund for its mainte- 
nance and for its permanent location 
at that place. In 1876 it became the 
only home for soldiers' orphans, in 
Iowa, by the transfer of those at Ce- 
dar Falls and Glenwood. The sphere 
of its usefulness was widened the same 
year by opening its doors to other de- 
pendent children of the state. Two 
classes of children are therefore now 
received; first, soldiers' orphans, who 
are maintained by the state, and sec- 
ond, county orphans, who are main- 
tained by the counties sending them. 

Only children healthy in body and 
mind are admitted, and these for no 
period less than one year. None are 
received under the age of one year, 
and the boys are not kept beyond fif- 
teen, nor the girls after sixteen. 
Homes in families are then solicited 
for them. 

This institution now consists of 
eighteen well equipped cottages, ac- 
commodating from twenty-five to 
thirty-five children each, a school- 
house with seating capacity for 500 
children, a large, two-story hospital, 
a laundry and engine house, a manual 
training building and a barn with a 
storage capacity for 100 tons of hay 
and stable room for twenty-five cows 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and six horses. These buildings are offenders or those who, through lack 
located on a beautiful plot of ground of proper home control, promise to 
containing '51 acres, in the east sub- become criminals, 
urban part of the city, and represent The school at Eldora was opened 
an investment of $180,595. The aver- September 1, 1868. The improve- 
age number in the home the last year ments CO nsist of amain building, cost- 
(1897) was 487. i ng $50,000, five family buildings cost- 

the soldiers' home, marshalltown. ing the same amount, a hospital, shop, 
The legislature made provision for chapel, barn, electric and steam heat- 
the establishment of the Iowa Soldiers' ing plants and other necessary im- 
Home at Marshalltown, in 1886, and provements, on 760 acres of land that 
the main building was opened with altogether represent an investment of 
proper ceremonies, November 30, 1887. $201,500. About 450 boys are now 
Since that time enlargements and im- cared.for at this institution, 
provements have been made so that The school for girls was opened at 
the estimated value of the buildings Mitchellville in 1879, as a branch of 
is $183,200; the grounds, over 400 acres, the former. The improvements con- 



$25,000, and miscellaneous property, 
$16,000; total value, $224,200. 

This institution is maintained for 
dependent, honorably discharged Un- 
ion soldiers, sailors and marines, their 
dependent widows, wives and moth- 
ers and dependent army nurses. It is 
a worthy monument of the grateful 
patriotism of the people of the state 
towards its defenders, who, broken in 
health, or suffering from wounds re- 
ceived in their country's dangerous 
service, now need its care. Women 
were first received in 1893, when four 
were enrolled. The annual enroll- 
ment shows that the number of per- 
sons at this home has been as follows: 

1888 140 1893 376 

1889 258 1894 404 

1890 349 1895 516 

1891 432 1896 605 

1892 426 1897 632 

A number of cottages have been 
erected for the accommodation of 
married veterans needing the advan- 
tages of this home. 

INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, ELDORA AND 
MITCHELLVILLE. 

Two industrial or reformatory 



sist of a main building, two family 
buildings, hospital, barn, electric 
plant, steam heating, apparatus, etc., 
located on 160 acres of land, all val- 
ued at $90,125. 

The children who are committed to 
these schools are not the hardened, ir- 
redeemable criminals, but those who 
are young in years— eight to sixteen— 
and whose natures are still susceptible 
to the influence of kindness, moral 
training and proper discipline. These 
beneficent influences could never ac- 
complish the desired results amid the 
environments of prisons and peniten- 
tiaries. 

Our state has wisely taken these 
facts into consideration, and no less in 
self-defense than in charity, has es- 
tablished these institutions as homes 
for our unfortunate youth. It has en- 
joined upon those who have the super- 
vision of these schools the duty of 
having the boys and girls instructed 
in morality, such branches of use- 
ful knowledge as are adapted to their 
age and capacity and in some regular 
course of labor. The results of the 



schools, one for boys, at Eldora, Har- work done by these schools prove be- 
din county, and one for girls, at Mitch- yond a doubt the possibility to re- 
ellville, Polk county, have been found- claim wayward youth and make good 
ed by this state, and are maintained citizens of them when they are put 
for the purpose of reforming youthful under proper control. 



THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OE IOWA. 97 



HOSPITALS FOR THE INSANE, MOUNT 

PLEASANT, INDEPENDENCE, CLA- 

RINDA AND CHEROKEE. 

Liberal provision has been made by 
the people of this state for the care of 
the insane, by the erection of four 
large and commodious hospitals or 
asylums. 

The one at Mount Pleasant, Henry 
county, was established January 24, 
1855, by an appropriation of $44,425 
for 160 acres of land and buildings. 
It was formally opened March 6, 1861. 
The development of this institution 
is expressed in the following esti- 
mates of value: Buildings $800,000; 
grounds, including farm, -$58,000; mis- 
# cellaneous property $100,000; total val- 
' ue $958,000. 

The second, located at Independ- 
ence, Buchanan county, was opened 
May 1, 18*73. The investment here is 
as follows: Beal estate $26,400; build- 
ings $1,015,950, making with other im- 
provements, $1,112,020. 

The third, located at Clarinda, Page 
county, was opened December 15, 1888. 
This institution has 513 acres of land 
and accommodations for 1000 patients. 
The inventory shows value of land 
$38,475 and of buildings $821,000, mak- 
ing with other permanent improve- 
ments and fixtures, $923,356. 

The fourth, located at Cherokee, 
Cherokee county, in 1894, ft not yet 
completed. The appropriations have 
been $24,000 for 640 acres of land and 
$400,000 for the erection of buildings. 

PENITENTIARIES, PORT MADISON AND 
ANAMOSA. 

This state has now two penitenti- 
aries, one at Eort Madison, in Lee 
county, and the other at Anamosa, 
Jones county. 

The one at Eort Madison was estab- 
lished by an act of the territorial leg- 
islature, January 25, 1839. In the act 
of congress, establishing the territory 
of Iowa, provision was made for the 
government to appropriate money for 



the erection of public buildings, and 
under this provision the old Capitol 
at Iowa City (now used by the State 
University) and the main building of 
the penitentiary at Fort Madison 
were built. The latter was completed 
in 1841, and is probably the only 
building of the kind provided for any 
state at the expense of the national 
government. The value of the pres- 
ent buildings and wall is $500,000; 
other property additional, $45,000. 

In 1872, an additional penitentiary 
was built, mainly by convict labor, 
at Anamosa. It is a. very fine 
structure and has a library of more 
than 3300 volumes. The present val- 
ue of buildings and grounds is esti- 
mated at $2,650,000; machinery and 
supplies additional, $32,000. 

The criminal statistics show that 
the number of inmates in these insti- 
tutions during the past ten years has 
been, in December, as follows: 

1886 666 1892 662 

1887 638 1893 806 

1888 .588 1894 898 

1889 599 1895 999 

1890 , 603 1896 1086 

1891 668 1897 1145 

OTHER STATE ORGANIZATIONS AND 

SOCIETIES. 

The State Library, established in 
1860, and the State Historical Depart- 
ment, organized July 1, 1892, have 
their location in the Capitol, at Des 
Moines. Though separate and distinct 
institutions, they are managed by the 
same board of trustees, consisting of 
the Governor, the Supreme Judges, 
the Secretary of State and the Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction. 

The State Library was founded for 
the special benefit of the Supreme 
Court, but afterwards there were add- 
ed other books useful to the members 
of the legislature and other state offi- 
cers. In 1895, it contained 45,000 vol- 
umes, of which 21,000 were in the law 
department. It has grown until it 
has become known as one of the best 
libraries in the United States, and is, 



PIONEER HISTORY. OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



therefore, a great institution for ref- 
erence and study. 

The Historical Department, com- 
monly known as the Aldrich collec- 
tion, was established for the purpose 
of promoting the collection and pres- 
ervation of historical materials re- 
lating to Iowa, and the territory from 
which it was established. Three rooms 
located in the southeast basement 
story of the Capitol have been set 
apart for this collection and they are 
in charge of Hon. Charles Aldrich, 
curator, the founder of the collection. 

In 1884, Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Aldrich, 
residents of Webster City, through the 
trustees of the State Library, present- 
ed the state their autograph collec- 
tion, on the condition it should be 
kept by itself, in suitable cases, in the 
library, and that they should be per- 
mitted to make additions to it from 
time to time thereafter. From this 
beginning, through the personal ef- 
forts of Mr. Aldrich, has grown the 
"Historical Department of Iowa," 
with its wealth of facts, curios and 
collection— a veritable depository of 
varied and valuable historical matter 
—perhaps the most elaborate possess- 
ed by any state in the Union. This 
collection is always open to the free 
inspection of the people, to whom it 
now belongs. 

The Historical Society, organized in 
1857, for the purpose of collecting, 
arranging and preserving a library of 
books, pamphlets, statuary and other 
material, illustrative of the history of 
Iowa, has its headquarters at the 
State University, Iowa City. It pub- 
lishes quarterly a periodical of 80 pages 
entitled, The Annals of Iowa. 

The Agricultural Society ^ organ- 
ized in 1854, held the first state fair in 
October of that year. Previous to 
1885, the annual exhibitions of the 
products of the state were held in 
different localities, but that year 
large and valuable grounds were pur- 
chased at Des Moines, and the official 



headquarters of the society were lo- 
cated permanently in the Capitol. 

The Horticultural Society, organ- 
ized in 1864, has for its object the pro- 
motion and encouragement of horti- 
culture and arboriculture in Iowa, by 
the collection and dissemination of 
practical information regarding the 
cultivation of such fruits, flowers and 
trees as are best adapted to the soil 
and climate of the state. It publish- 
es lists of fruits, as well as trees for 
timber or ornament, that may be suc- 
cessfully grown in this state. In or- 
der to facilitate this work the state is 
divided into twelve districts, each 
having its own director, and holding 
its own yearly meeting. It has now 
established twenty experimental sta- 
tions in different parts of the state for 
the purpose of testing trees, shrubs, 
plants and fruits before recommend- 
ing them for cultivation. 

It is a voluntary association, the an- 
nual membership fee being $1.00, and 
a life membership $5.00. The annual 
meetings, since 1892, are ordinarily 
held at their rooms in the Capitol, on 
the second Tuesday of December, and 
the proceedings are published in an 
annual report that is usually full of 
interesting and valuable papers. 
This is sent free to all the members 
of the society. 

The Improved Stock Breeders' Asso- 
ciation, organized in 1874, has for its 
object the improvement of Iowa live 
stock and the promotion of that in- 
dustry. 

The Iowa State Teachers' Associa- 
tion is a voluntary organization of ed- 
ucators from the various departments 
of that work in the state. This asso- 
ciation was formed at Muscatine, 
May 10, 1854, and holds an annual con- 
vention during the holidays. 

The Iowa Academy of Sciences, or- 
ganized in 1886, has for its object the 
encouragement of scientific work and 
the collection of a library for the 
state, consisting of the publications of 



THE STATE INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS OE IOWA. 



99 



the scientific societies of the world. 
It holds an annual meeting at the 
same time and place as the State 
Teachers' Association. 

The Educational Board of Exam- 
iners was created in 1882, to encourage 
training in the science and art of 
teaching, and consists of the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, the 
Presidents of the State University 
and State Normal School and two ad- 
ditional persons, one of whom must 
be a woman, appointed by the govern- 
or. This Board holds at least two ex- 
aminations annually, and issues state 
certificates for five years and state di- 
plomas for life, to competent, experi- 
enced teachers who are examined by 
it. 

There are three State Boards of Con- 
trol that issue certificates to those en- 
tering their respective fields of effort, 
namely: The Commissioners of Phar- 
macy, created in 1880; the Board of 
Dental Examiners 1882, and the Board 
of Health, in 1886. 



The members of the latter are ap- 
pointed by the governor, one each 
year, and they hold office for a term 
of seven years. To regulate the prac- 
tice of medicine, a State Board of 
Medical Examiners was created in 
1886, to consist of the physicians of 
the State Board of Health and its 
Secretary. Every person practicing 
medicine in the state of Iowa is re- 
quired to procure a certificate from 
this Board. 

The first geological survey of the 
state was instituted January 31, 1855, 
by the appointment of James Hall, of 
"New York, as State Geologist. The 
second was authorized April 2, 1866, 
by the appointment of Charles A. 
White, of Iowa City, as State Geolo- 
gist, and he published two volumes of 
valuable information. The third sur- 
vey was authorized in 1892, when the 
Geological Board appointed Samuel 
Calvin, of Iowa City, as State Geolo- 
gist. Three valuable volumes have 
been prepared by him and the survey 
is still in progress. 




ri,fl lil&&_ -- ■'.-' i 




SCHOOL HOUSE OF SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, COUNCIL BLUFFS. 



Lof 



100 PIONEER HlSTORY'OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




EDUCATION, RELIGION AND PATRIOTISM. 



101 



X. 

EDUCATION, RELIGION AND PRTRI0TISM. 

"The rewards of Heaven are to be the development of something within us, 
rather than the addition of something from without." — Sttnson. 

EDUCATION. 

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." 




!IIE first school in the 
present limits of 
Iowa was taugbt by 
Berryman Jennings, 
at 'Nashville, Lee 
county, in the last 
months of the year 1830. In Decem- 
ber of the same year, J. K. Robinson 
began a term of school at Keokuk. In 
the winter of 1833-4, G-eo. Cubbage 
taught a school in a log church in Du- 
buque. The first lady teacher was 
Mrs. Rebecca Palmer at Fort Madison 
in 1834. In 1837, Louisa King opened 
a school for young ladies, at Dubuque, 
and conducted it for several years. , In 
1839, Alonzo Phelps established in the 
same city a classical school for both 
sexes, that was afterwards continued 
by Thomas H. Benton, Jr. 

The first building used chiefly as a 
public school house, was erected of 
roughly hewn logs, donated by the 
patrons, at Burlington in 1833. The 
school house built at Dubuque in 1844 
was the first one erected from funds 
derived by taxation under the law of 
January 1, 1839, which granted the 
voters of any school district the power 
to levy a tax, select a place and build 
a school house. 

The constitution under which Iowa 
entered the Union in 1846, declared: 
"The General Assembly shall encour- 



age by all suitable means the promo- 
tion of intellectual, scientific, moral 
and agricultural improvement." It 
also required that every school dis- 
trict support a school at least three 
months each year. The right and du- 
ty of a state to maintain a general 
system of popular education and gen- 
erously to support the same by a uni- 
form levy of taxes, became thus clear- 
ly recognized and permanently estab- 
lished as the policy of the new state. 

The school law of 1849, authorized 
the electors of any district to deter- 
mine whether a school of higher grade 
should be maintained, and several of 
the more populous districts, availing 
themselves of this favorable enact- 
ment, very early began to classify and 
grade their schools. 

During the fifties, the increase in 
population became very rapid and 
there was a corresponding develop- 
ment of school facilities. Rural com- 
munities and villages multiplied as if 
by magic, towns put on the air of 
cities, larger school-houses were de- 
manded and supplied, and the need of 
graded and high schools became more 
keenly felt. Before 1860, the cities of 
Dubuque, Davenport and Tipton had 
made provision for a systematic or- 
ganization and the selection of a city 
superintendent* 



102 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Previous to ,1857, the money raised 
by general taxation proved insuf- 
ficient to maintain the schools as long 
a period each year as the people de- 
sired, and the term of school was 
supplemented by subscriptions on the 
part of the parents or guardians of 
the pupils in attendance. An en- 
lightened public sentiment at this 
time demanded that the schools be 
free and wholly supported by general 
taxation. 

In 1858, the General Assembly of 
Iowa passed a comprehensive act, cre- 
ating a State Board of Educa- 
tion, providing for the examina- 
tion of teachers and, in " general,, em- 
bodying the essential features of the 
admirable system of education in this 
state, of which, including recent mod- 
ifications, we append a brief summary. 

1. Each civil township forms a 
school district and it is divided into 
as many sub-districts as there are 
neighborhoods requiring separate 
schools. When it is fully settled, the 
township will ordinarily consist of 
nine sub-districts, each embracing the 
families residing on four sections of 
land. Each sub-district elects annu- 
ally, on the second Monday in March, 
a sub-director. These sub-directors 
compose the Board of Directors for 
the township, and meet regularly 
on the third Monday in March and 
September. In rural independent 
sub-districts,* the Board consists of 
three members, one of whom is elect- 
ed annually to serve a term of three 
years. In the independent districts 
of cities of the first class, the Board 
consists of seven members and in other 
independent city or incorporated town 
districts, of five members all of whom 
are elected for a term of three years. 
It is the duty of these Boards of Di- 
rectors to select sites and make con- 
tracts for the erection of school hous- 
es, to employ teachers, to determine 
the amount of tax necessary to be 

♦Lizard Township, Pocahontas Counly. 



raised in the district in addition to 
the state and county apportionment 
and to maintain a free school in each 
sub-district, at least six months in 
each year. 

' 2. Each county elects biennially a 
Superintendent of Public Schools, who 
examines teachers, issues and revokes 
certificates, visits schools, hears and 
determines cases appealed from the 
board of directors, has general over- 
sight of the public schools of the coun- 
ty and makes an annual report to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

3. A State Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction is elected biennially 
by the people, who has general super- 
vision of the County Superintendents 
and of the public schools of the state. 
He renders written opinions on the 
administration of the school laws, de- 
termines cases appealed from the de- 
cisions of County Superintendents, ap- 
points Teachers' Institutes in the va- 
rious counties, prepares and distrib- 
utes school laws and blanks to the 
County Superintendents and makes a 
biennial report to the General Assem- 
bly. 

4. The public schools are maintain- 
ed chiefly by funds derived from the 
following sources: 

First, By the interest on the Per- 
manent School Fund. This fund, now 
amounting to several millions of dol- 
lars, and constantly increasing, is de- 
rived from the sale of public lands do- 
nated by Congress, being section num- 
ber sixteen in each township, the ad- 
ditional grant of 500,000 acres in the 
Act of December 28, 1846, admitting 
Iowa into the Union and from five per 
cent on the sale of government lands 
within the state. 

Second, By a county tax of not less 
than one mill nor more than two and 
one-half mills on the dollar, on the 
assessed value of all taxable property 
in each county. 

Third, By a district tax — amount 
unlimited— on all the taxable property 



EDUCATION, RELIGION AND PATKIOTISM. 



103 



in each district township. 

5. In addition to the provisions 
made for the support of common 
schools, the state appropriates fifty 
dollars annually to each county hold- 
ing a teachers' institute. 

The bible shall not be excluded from 
any public school or institution in the 
state, but no child shall be required 
to read it contrary to the wishes of 
his parent or guardian. 

"Four things a man must learn to do 
If he would make his record true: 
To think without confusion clearly; 
To love his fellow-men sincerely; 
To act from honest motives purely; 
To trust in God and Heaven securely. " 
—Henry J. Vandyke. 

The pioneer log school house in- 
creased in numbers until 1861, when 
893 were reported out of a total of 3,479. 
As population and wealth increased 
school houses were built larger, of bet- 
ter material, more inviting in appear- 
ance and more frequently supplied 
with the facilities necessary for the 
attainment of the highest degree of 
success in school work. 

In 1849, the average value of each 
of the 387 school houses was about 
$100; in 1850 the average of the 3,208 
buildings was $376; in 1874 of the 9,228 
$802; and in 1891 of the 13,273, $1,040. 
The gradual and continued improve- 
ment in the school houses and their 
surroundings is an index of the great 
advancement in all valuable and de- 
sirable particulars. 

If natural shade does not already 
exist on the school grounds, the law 
directs that trees for shade and orna- 
ment shall be planted. This enact- 
ment of 1882 prepared the way for the 
state-wide observance of tree planting 
and since May 4, 1887, Arbor Day has 
been designated for this annual festi- 
val and the floating of the flag from 
the school house. 

In 1850, seventy teachers out of 
every hundred employed were men. 
This difference gradually diminished 
until 1862, when the number of the 



gentler sex employed became the 
greater, and in 1897 they numbered 
22,208 and the men only 5,824. The 
eminent fitness of women for the office 
of teacher has thus been favorably 
recognized in Iowa. 

The constant and rapid increase in 
the amount expended for educational 
purposes is indisputable evidence that 
the public schools are appreciated by 
the people. The amount paid in 1897 
for school purposes was $11,910,706.58 
— all raised by voluntary taxation ex- 
cept the semi-annual apportionment 
of $816,044.27, a part of which is de- 
rived from the interest on the perma- 
nent fund. 

The census of 1880 credited Iowa 
with a lower percentage of illiteracy 
than any other state of the Union. 
The interest the people of Iowa have 
always manifested in all that pertains 
to education furnishes abundant 
ground for confidence in the continued 
growth and development of their 
matchless system-of free schools. In- 
telligent labor insures prosperity, and 
the public schools of Iowa afford the 
humblest boy an opportunity to ac- 
quire the intelligence necessary to 
enable him to fill high positions with 
credit and honor. 

The higher education is provided 
for in the State University, State Nor- 
mal School, Agricultural College and 
the 275 t;ther educational institutions 
established throughout the state by 
the churches or by individual enter- 
prise, employing, in 1895, 1,391 in- 
structors, and representing an invest- 
ment in buildings and grounds of 
$4,179,250, with an additional perma- 
nent endowment fund of $1,157,000. 

THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

After the adoption of the constitu- 
tion of 1857, the system of education 
in Iowa was modified by the creation 
of a State Board of Education that 
was continued until March 23, 1864. 
On December 24, 1858, this Board 
abolished the office of State Superin- 



104 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tendent of Public Instruction, and the 
secretary of this Board performed the 
usual duties of that public officer, 
from December 29, 1858, to March 23, 
1864, when the Board of Education 
was abolished and the office of Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction was 
restored. 

THE STATE BOARD OF CONTROL. 

There are sixteen State Institutions 
in Iowa, established by the legisla- 
ture. As they were founded provis- 
ion was made for their management 
by the appointment of a separate 
board of trustees for each institution. 
This system of administration proved 
a source of considerable trouble to the 
several state officers in making their 
biennial reports to the Governor and 
was unsatisfactory from the economic 
standpoint. For these reasons the 
legislature in 1898 abolished the sever- 
al separate systems of independent 
management and organized a new 
system under one management, called 
"The State Board of Control." This 
Board, consisting of three members, 
appointed by the G-overnor with the 
approval of two-thirds of the senate in 
executive session, assumed control Ju- 
ly 1, 1898. It has been assigned 
complete authority over thirteen 
of the State Institutions, which in- 
cludes all of them except the Univer- 
sity, the Agricultural College and the 
Normal School. Over these three it 
exerts supervisory control only so far 
as the management of their financial 
affairs is concerned. This Board has 
its office in Des Moines, and its first 
or present members consist of Hon. 
William Larrabee, Hon. L. G. Kinne 
and Hon. John Cownie. 

CHURCHES AND CHURCH WORK. 

Walk about Zion, 
Mark ye well her bulwarks; 
Consider her palaces, 
That ye may tell it to the genera- 
tion following. — David. 

If the people of Iowa have shown 
great interest in securing for their 



youth the means of an intellectual 
culture essential to useful and honor- 
able life, they have also recognized the 
importance of the proper culture of 
the moral faculties, and, desiring the 
prevalence of sobriety, piety and good 
order, they have not only taxed them- 
selves to provide facilities for public 
education, but have contributed volun- 
tarily large gifts to promote religious 
instruction, moral culture and the 
public worship of God. 

Devoted christian men and women 
came with the first immigration in 
the permanent settlement of this ter- 
ritory. Loyal to their God, their 
christian profession and the moral in- 
terests of the communities they were 
establishing, they soon invited the 
services of the ministers of religion, 
and in their humble circumstances 
generously planned and labored to se- 
cure this beautiful region to the do- 
minion of their Lord. They endured 
privations, worshiped in lowly cabins, 
often in the shady groves, "God's first 
Temples," and by their fidelity to 
christian principles, made the relig- 
ious freedom, privileges and moral ex- 
cellence we now enjoy, a gracious pos- 
sibility. 

Enthusiasm in religious work led to 
the discovery of Iowa. The settle- 
ment of the territory did not immedi- 
ately follow its discovery. One hun- 
dred and sixty years passed before the 
first settlers came to found homes in 
the area now constituting this state. 
In that period of time, through the 
leadings of Divine Providence, great 
intellectual and political changes oc- 
curred. Inventive genius evolved 
new agencies of moral as well as intel- 
lectual, mechanical and military pow- 
er, that resulted in vast changes, not 
only in their geography, but also in 
the social condition and the religious 
ideas pervading christian nations. 
Under divine guidance this fertile 
and divinely favored region was re- 
served for settlement until these forces 



EDUCATION, RELIGION AND PATRIOTISM. 



105 



were in effective operation and an in- 
telligent, liberal christian citizenship, 
hating oppression and loving right- 
eousness, should bring to this beauti- 
ful land the highest type of christian, 
civilization ever enjoyed by men. 

The country east of the Mississippi 
river was thrown open for settlement 
in 1828, and Galena, in the vicinity of 
the lead mines, became an active 
frontier town, with a resident minis- 
ter. In 1833, the permanent settle- 
ment of Iowa began and on the 8th of 
August that year, a Congregational 
minister from Galena, held religious 
services at the home of Mrs. Willough- 
by, in, the settlement at Dubuque. So 
far as known, this was the first relig- 
ious service held within the bounda- 
ries of the state. Soon thereafter, in 
the same settlement, Father McMa- 
hon, a Catholic clergyman, celebrated 
mass in the home of Patrick Quigley. 

On the 6th of November the same 
year, Rev. Barton Randle, a mission- 
ary of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
visited Dubuque and held services in 
a private house. Early in the follow- 
ing year, he organized a class* in the 
town and this appears to have been 
the first religious society formed in 
Iowa. During that season this soci- 
ety built a small church of logs, 20x26 
feet, and this was the first church 
building erected in the state. In the 
winter of 1835-6, Rev. Cyrus Watson, 
a Presbyterian minister, preached 
about three months in this log build- 
ing, alternatnig with the Methodists. 
A Presbyterian church was organized 
and at his instigation measures were 
taken for securing a house of worship 
that resulted in the erection of a stone 
church, that after the lapse of some 
years, was transferred to the Christian 
church. The corner-stone of this 
building was laid July 1, 1836, in the 
presence of Judge Dunn, Chief Justice 
of the Territory of Wisconsin that 
embraced at that time the wbolc v;ist 

"Four members. 



section west of Lake Michigan to the 
Missouri river and north of the states 
of Illinois and Missouri. This was the 
first Presbyterian church erected in 
all this territory. The Catholics 
erected their first church in Iowa at 
this place the same year. 

From these small beginnings, that 
but dimly suggested speedy enlarge- 
ment, have grown the great religious 
organizations that now flourish with 
richness of blessing, in all parts of 
the state and yield their rich fruitage 
of cultured christian beneficence to 
carry the tidings of grace to other 
communities. Many of the three score 
and four years, that have passed since 
the first church was built in Iowa, 
were years of privation and hardship, 
nevertheless the progress of the 
churches has been wonderful. Beau- 
tiful and substantial church edifices 
have been erected in every center of 
population and in addition thereto 
206 colleges, academies and other ec- 
clesiastical institutions of learning 
have been erected through their in- 
strumentality. These religious edu- 
cational institutions represent a be- 
nevolent investment of more than 
$5,000,000, of which $1,000,000 is in the 
form of a permanent endowment for 
their support. Thousands have de- 
vised liberal things for the establish- 
ment and maintenance of the church 
and her handmaid christian educa- 
tion, in Iowa. 

EXHIBIT OF CHURCH GROWTH IN IOWA. 





1850 


1870 




1895 


Church buildings, 


207 


I44G 




4480 


Value of b'dgs, 


$177,425 S5.730.352 815, 


105.085 


Average of " 


8809 


S3, 963 




83,375 


Seating capacity, 


43,529 


431,709 


1,305 


Denominations rep 


13 


— 




43 


Meth. church b'dgs 


76 


492 




1,382 


Pres. " " 


38 


222 




454 


Luth, " «■ 


5 


45 




424 


Cath, " 


18 


195 




411 


Bap. " " 


23 


165 




398 


Christ. '• " 


11 


48 




255 


Oong. " •' 


14 


125 




251 


U. B. 




28 




156 


Friends " " 


5 


60 




82 


Ref'd 


4 


17 




66 


Epis. " " 


5 


m 




65 


Other denominations 17 


148 




53fi 


Population, ' 


192,214 


1,194,020 


2, 


q;S,Q6ij 


The statistics for the 


year 1895 


sho\f 



106 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



dmmmmlmmgmm<' ■ i 





EDUCATION, RELIGION AND PATRIOTISM. 



107 



that the communicant membership of 
the church was at that time, 571,261 
and the Sunday School membership 
was 365,441. The voluntary offerings 
of the people for the support of the 
church that year, which was one of 
"hard times," were as follows: 

Salary of clergy, $2,076,055 

Contingent Expenses paid 800,779 

Paid for new buildings in 1894 846,555 

Paid for support of Sunday Schools... 172,442 

Making annual support of church 13,901,831 

Value of Church buildings was 115,105,085 

Value of Parsonages was 2,492,906 

Making churches and parsonages. ...817,597,991 
Amount Invested in Christian 

Educational Institutions was.. 5,000,000 

Making the amountof... 122,598,091 

Permanently invested in buildings and 
property belonging to the church in 
Iowa, and freely donated during the 
first half century of her history. 

It will be perceived this exhibit 
does not show the missionary offer- 
ings of the churches which now 
amount to nearly half a million dol- 
lars annually. It should also be noted 
that the voluntary offerings for the 
support of the church in 1892, before 
the hard times set in, were more than 
$5,000,000, instead of the $3,901,831 of 
1895. 

The work of the church in every 
community is a vital factor in pro- 
moting its best interests. The work 
done by those devoted, godly men and 
women who laid the foundations for 
these grand results in the formative 
years of this commonwealth, did 
much to insure and accomplish its 
prosperity. This liberality demon- 
strates, not only that the christian 
people of Iowa are of a progressive 
disposition, but also that they are in 
prosperous circumstances and have 
regard for their religious convictions 
and privileges. 

Iowa has an active working State 
Sabbath School Association that holds 
an annual convention. In 1895, there 
Were nearly 5,000 Sunday Schools,- rep- 



resenting a membership of 365,441 per- 
sons, and the amount contributed for 
their support was $172,442. Mrs. Mat- 
tie M. Bailey, for many years the ef- 
ficient secretary of this association, 
reported that 75 per cent of the Sun- 
day Schools of the state are contin- 
ued throughout the year; that at least 
one million copies of Sabbath School 
papers are distributed through them 
and that their libraries of religious 
books contain at least 100,000 volumes. 
These facts show that the people of 
Iowa are earnestly and generously en- 
gaged in the work of training the ris- 
ing generation in the principles of 
morality and religion. 

PATRIOTISM. 

When Iowa was opened for perma- 
nent settlement, after the Black Hawk 
Indian war of 1832, the contentions re- 
garding the limitation or extension of 
Negro slavery that culminated in the 
civil war, had begun to agitate the 
country. The Missouri Compromise, 
adopted in 1820, as a settlement of 
this troublesome question, was in its 
most vital force, when in 1833 the pi- 
oneers crossed the Mississippi to found 
permanent settlements in Iowa. By 
the provisions of this compromise the 
area forming this state was conse- 
crated to freedom. Although, ac- 
cording to the census of 1840, sixteen 
slaves were held within its borders, 
under its territorial government, ulti- 
mate freedom from slavery was fully 
assured to this region. "Immigrants 
from the New England states flocked 
to this new field, bringing with them 
as one of their chief possessions, an in- 
telligent patriotism— a legacy of pa- 
triotic sires, who stood bravely for 
freedom at Lexington, Bennington 
and Bunker Hill. Other settlers com- 
ing from the Central and Eastern 
states to this free western country to 
establish a new commonwealth, 
brought with them a hearty affinity 
with that spirit. Others coming from 
the slave-cursed South* came to enjo^ 



108 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



a deliverance from the scenes and as- 
sociations of that oppression. They 
believed that all men were endowed 
equally by the Creator, with the right 
to their own muscle, bone and natural 
powers, and with equal rights to free- 
dom of thought and action in the pur- 
suit of happiness. " * 

When there was a manifest tenden- 
cy to extend the baneful institution of 
slavery by the repeal of the famous 
Missouri Compromise of 1820, that 
from the time of its enactment had 
been regarded as a perpetual guaran- 
ty of freedom, to the great north- 
western portion of this country, the 
people of Iowa cast a decisive major- 
ity vote on the platform, declaring 
"We most unqualifiedly and emphat- 
ically disapprove of the efforts now 
made in congress to legislate slavery 
into the territory of Nebraska." 

They then believed that the broad- 
est possible freedom was essential to 
the true happiness of the people and 
real prosperity of the state. They 
claimed civic freedom for themselves 
and their posterity and patriotically 
gave voice and vote that others set- 
tling new territories throughout this 
broad West, should enjoy these same 
heaven-bequeathed advantages. In- 
spirations of the noblest patriotism 
determined the lines of development 
that have made Iowa, in her brief his- 
tory, not only one of the freest and 
most progressive but also one of the 
most orderly states of the Union. 

When in April, 1861, the stirring 
message that rebel hosts assailing 
Fort Sumpter had made necessary the 
proclamation of President Lincoln, 
summoning the states to send armed 
men to maintain the national author- 
ity, the citizens of no other of the 
twenty-four loyal states were more 
earnest in patriotic determination 
and deed than were the people of this 
state. The patriotism of the people 
of Iowa had its expression in the fact 

*Ha;n<i boCk of Iowtt; 355: 



that more men volunteered for serv- 
ice at their country's call than were 
required from this state. Her citizen 
soldiery toiled in almost every march, 
fought in almost every battle and 
bravely fell everywhere at the front. 
Her generals from hamlet and farm, 
made honorable history, earning re- 
nown, on many fields and no foul stain 
tarnished the honor of Iowa in that 
terrible hour. 

Forty-nine regiments of infantry 
(forty-eight of white troops and one of 
colored), nine regiments and two ex- 
tra companies of cavalry, and four bat- 
teries of artillery were enrolled in the 
patriotic force, making 56,364 men in 
duly organized and reported Iowa 
troops, while there were 19,155 enlist- 
ments of Iowa men in other states, 
that made the grand army of 75,519 
men enrolled, or one for each ten per- 
sons of her population at the close of 
the struggle. Of those' reported in 
Iowa organizations, 3,360 were killed 
or died of wounds received in battle 
and 8,810 died of disease or fell by ac- 
cident, making a total loss of 12,170 
men. 

"Sleep sacred dust of noble dead, 
Spring's brightest bloom shall deck 
your head. ' ' " 

Iowa's part in the conflict for per- 
petual, national unity in a redeemed 
country was costly in precious lives. 
Her homes were made sad by the sor- 
rows of war, but her people faltered 
not when called to patriotic duty. 

A beautiful monument, costing 
$150,000, was erected in 1895, by the 
State of Iowa, south of the Capitol in 
Des Moines, to commemorate the 
heroism of the Iowa soldiers and sail- 
ors of 1861 to 1865. It is an upright 
shaft surmounted with the statue of 
victory. 

' 'Situated in the central region of 
the grand constellation of states, 
Iowa favors their perpetual union. 
Her intelligent citizens regard each 
star with equal respect. In the na- 



EDUCATION, RELIGION AND PATEIOTISM. 



109 




IOWA SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT. 
Erected in 1895 at a cost of $150,000, south of the Capitol, Des Moines. 



110 PlONEEft HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tional parliamentary halls her citi- 
zens haye won fame and honor; in the 
highest judicial chambers her citizens 
have gained honored name; in the 
high duties of cabinet, councils and 
diplomatic offices her representatives 
have rendered distinguished service. 
Exalting the fatherhood of God and 
the brotherhood of man, she recog- 
nizes each of her citizens as having 
equal rights to life, liberty, the ad- 
vantages of her schools and the pro- 
tection of her government." 
"Land of the noble heart and brave! 
How leaped thy men in the thickest fray, 
When died our noblest sons, to save 
Our mighty realm to freedom's sway; 
Thy children know where honor lies, 
The deeds that greatness consecrates: 
And on their matchless virtues, rise 
The pillars of a peerless state." 

— Horatio N. Powers, 

SUCCESSION OF GOVERNORS. 

The following gentlemen have filled 

the executive chair of the state since 

the admission of Iowa into the Union: 

Date County 

Of Service. Represented. 

Ansel Briggs 1846-1850, Jackson. 

Stephen Hempstead. ..1850-1854, Dubuque. 

Jas. W. Grimes 1854-1858, Des Moines. 

Ralph P. Lowe 1858-1860. Lee. 

Samuel J. Kirkwood...l860-1864, Johnson. 

William M.Stone 1864-1868, Marion. 

Samuel Merrill 1868-1872, Clayton. 

Cyrus Carpenter 1872-1876, Webster. 

Samuel J. Kirkwood. ..1876-1877, Johnson. 

Joshua G. Newbold 1877-1878, Henry 

John H. Gear 1878-1882, Des Moines. 

BurenR. Sherman 1882 1886, Benton. 

William Larrabee 1886 1890, Fayette. 

Horace Boies 1890-1804, Black Hawk 

Frank D. Jackson 1894-1896, Polk. 

Francis M. Drake 1896-1898, Appanoose. 

Leslie M. Shaw 1898 to pres. Crawford 

Joshua G. Newbold was elected 
Lieutenant-Governor, but became 
Governor on the resignation of Sam- 



uel J. Kirkwood upon his election as 
United States senator. 

CABINET OFFICERS. 

Six citizens of Iowa have held posi- 
tions in the cabinet of the President 
of the United States, as follows: 

James Harlan was Secretary of 
the Interior in the second administra- 
tion of Abraham Lincoln. 

W. W. Belknap was Secretary of 
War in Gen. Grant's administration. 

Samuel J. Kirkwood was Secreta- 
ry of the Department of the Interior, 
under Presidents Garfield and Arthur. 

George W. McCrary was Secreta- 
ry of War under President Hayes. 

Frank Hatton was Postmaster- 
General during part of President Ar- 
thur's administration. 

James Wilson is now Secretary of 
the Department of Agriculture, under 
the administration of President Mc- 
Kinley. 

SUCCESSION OF UNITED STATES SENA- 
TORS. 

Iowa has been represented in the 
United States Senate by the follow- 
ing citizens: 

Geo. W. Jones, of Dubuque 1848 to 1859 

Augustus C. Dodge, of Burlington. ..1848 to 1855 

James Harlan, of Mt. Pleasant 1855 to 1865 

James W.Grimes, of Burlington 1858 to 1870 

Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa City ...1866 to 1867 

James Harlan, of Mt, Pleasant 1867 to 1873 

Jas. B. Howell, Keokuk, Jan. 20 to Mch. 4, 1871 
(To fill vacancy caused by death 
of James W. Grimes.) 

Geo. G. Wright, of Des Moines 1871 to 1877 

William B. Allison, of Dubuque,..1873 to the 

present time. 
Samuel J. Kirkwood. of IowaCity... 1877 to 1881 

James W. McDiil, of Afton 1881 to 1883 

(Appointed by the Governor, Mch. 
8, 1881, to fill vacancy by resigna- 
tion of Samuel J. Kirkwood.) 

James F. Wilson, of Fairfield 1883 to 1995 

John H. Gear, Burlington, 1895 to pres. time. 



THE MISTORY 



-OF- 



pocabontas County, Iowa, 

IN THREE PERIODS. 



PERIODS. 

1 — 1856-1869 — Period of Early Settlement by Pioneers. 
II — 1870-1882 — Period of Organization and Railway Construction. 
Ill— 1883-1898— Period of Growth and Development. 



-INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF- 



The Previous Establishment of the County, Its Survey, 



-AND THE STORY OF- 



P0GAM0NTA8. 

The Indian Princess of Virginia. 




5 ° 



a P 



HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, 

PIONEER PERI0D, 1856=69. 

"Behold the new Eden! At last man has found it. " 



I. 

THE (20UNTY ESTABLISHED »ND STORY ©F P©GaH0NTaS, 
HFTER WH0M IT W»S NAMED, 

"My native country, thee 
Land of the noble free, 
Thy name I love." 




HE county of Poca- 
hontas was estab- 
lished and received 
its present name by 
an act of the third 
General Assembly of 
the state of Iowa, that convened at 
Iowa City, December 3, 1850. This 
act was entitled, "An act to establish 
new counties and to define their boun- 
daries, ' ' and it was approved January 
15, 1851. 

Section 29 of this act reads as fol- 
lows: "That the following shall be 
the boundaries of a new county which 
shall be called Pocahontas, to wit: 
Beginning at the northwest corner of 
township 93 north, range 30 west; 
thence west on the line dividing town- 



ships 93 and 94, to the northwest cor- 
ner of township 93, range 34; thence 
south on the line between ranges 34 
and 35 to the southwest corner of 
township 90, north, range 34 west; 
thence east on the line between town- 
ships 89 and 90 to the southwest cor- 
ner of township 90, range 30; thence 
north to the place of beginning." 

This act established and defined 
the boundaries of fifty new counties 
in northern and western Iowa, as fol- 
lows: 

Union, Adair, Adams, Cass, Mont- 
gomery, Mills, Pottawattamie, Bre- 
mer, Butler, Grundy, Hardin, Frank- 
lin, Wright, Kisley (1853 united to 
Webster, 1857 became Hamilton), Yell 
(Jan. 22, 1853, Webster), Guthrie, Au- 
dubon, Carroll, Fox (Jan. 22, 1853, Cal- 
houn), Greene, Sac, Crawford, Shelby, 
Harrison. Monona, Ida, Wahkaw (1853 



114 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Woodbury), Humbolt (1853, extinct, 
1857, Humboldt), Pocabontas, Buena 
Vista, Cberokee, Plymouth, Chicka- 
saw, Floyd, Cerro Gordo, Hancock, 
Kossuth, Palo Alto, Clay, O'Brien, 
Sioux, Howard, Mitchell, Worth, Win- 
nebago, Bancroft, Emmet, Dickinson, 
Osceola, Buncombe (1862, Lyon). 

When the county of Dubuque was 
established by the territorial legisla- 
ture of Michigan, at Detroit, it in- 
cluded the territory contained in Po- 
cahontas county, as appears from the 
following act, approved September 6, 
1834: 

An act to lay off and organize coun- 
ties west of the Mississippi river. 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legis- 
lative Council of the Territory of 
Michigan, That all that district of 
country which was attached to the 
Territory of Michigan, by the act of 
congress, entitled "An Act to Attach 
the Territory of the United States 
West of the Mississippi River, and 
North of the State of Missouri to the 
Territory of Michigan," approved 
June 28, 1834, and to which the Indian 
title has been extinguished, which is 
situated to the north of a line to be 
drawn due west from the lower end of 
Rock Island to the Missouri river, 
shall constitute a county, and be 
called Dubuque. The said county 
shall constitute a township, which 
shall be called Julien. The seat of 
justice shall be established at the vil- 
lage of Dubuque until the same shall 
be changed by the Judges of the coun- 
ty court of said county.* 

The territory thus included in the 
boundaries of Dubuque county, con- 
tained all of the northern half of the 
present state of Iowa, all of the state 
of Minnesota west of the Mississippi 
river and all the territory of the 
states of Dakota, east of the Missouri 
river, being the largest territory ever 
included in the boundaries of one 
county. 

In 1837, the lower tier of townships, 
of what is now Pocahontas county, 
namely: Lizard, Bellville, Colfax and 
Cedar, formed a part of Buchanan 
county, and the remainder, a part of 
Fayette. 

*See page 58. 



When the county was established in 
1851, it was first temporarily attached 
to Polk county, for revenue, election 
and judicial purposes. On January 22, 
1853, it was similarly attached to 
Boone county and on July 1, 1855, to 
Webster county. 

Pocahontas county was organized by 
an order of the County Judge of Web- 
ster county, Who issued an order Feb- 
ruary 19, 1859, directing an election to 
be held on the 15th day of March fol- 
lowing, when a full Board of county 
officers was elected. 

It is of interest to note that Poca- 
hontas is one of those counties of 
Iowa that has a name of Indian ori- 
gin. The names of local tribes of In- 
dians have been preserved in the 
names of Iowa, Sac, Sioux, Winneba- 
bago and Pottawattamie counties; 
and of southern tribes in the names of 
Cherokee and Chickasaw counties. 

The names of the most noted chiefs 
of local tribes have been preserved in 
the names of the following counties 
of Iowa: Appanoose and Black Hawk, 
(both of whom were powerful chiefs 
of the Sac and Fox tribe), Keokuk, . (a 
Sac, sometimes called "The watchful 
fox," or "He who has been every- 
where"), Wapello, (a Fox, "The 
playing fox"), Mahaska, (a chief of 
the Iowas, "White Cloud"), Powe- 
sheik, (a Sac, "The roused bear" or 
"The shedding bear") and Winne- 
sheik, (a Winnebago, "Yellow Thun- 
der" or "Coming Thunder. ") 

It is also worthy of note that Poca- 
hontas is one of three counties in 
Iowa that have been named after 
noted women, the other two being 
Bremer and Louisa. Bremer county 
was named in honor of Frederika 
Bremer, the Swedish traveler and 
author. Louisa county was named in 
honor of Louisa Massey, a young lady 
of Dubuque, who, a few months be- 
fore the passage of the act of the ter- 
ritorial legislature of Michigan at 
Belmont, in 1836, creating the county, 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 



115 



had shot a ruffian named Smith, who 
had threatened the life of her brother 
and was believed to be making an op- 
portunity to execute the threat, he 
having previously participated in the 
murder of an other brother. She was 
a heroine, and among the early pio- 
neers, heroes and heroines werehighly 
respected and honored whenever an 
opportunity was presented. The pio- 



and who in the writings of John Smith 
and his contemporaries, was called 
"King" and "Emperor of Virginia." 
The name "Pocahontas" signifies "a 
rivulet between two hills," and she 
was so named because she was a peace- 
maker between two peoples. She 
was horn about 1595, and by -her 
friendly offices toward the colonists, 
saved them on several occasions from 




The Grave of Powhatan, "Emperor of Virginia, " 1608-19, 
on the Jamestown river.* 



neer law-makers of Iowa were not un- 
mindful of the claims of women for 
recognition. 
This county was named in honor of 



the consequences of her father's hos- 
tility. 

POCAHONTAS SAVES JOHN SMITH. 

The most noted instance of this 



Pocahontas, the Virginia Indian prin- kind is said to have occurred in 1607, 

cess. She was the daughter of Pow- at a place on York river, in what is 

hatan, the recognized leader of thirty now Gloucester county, Virginia, 

subordinate chiefs of the powerful John Smith, captain, knight and ex- 

Powhatans of the James river valley, plorer, in pushing his canoe through 

•This and the three following plates, illustrating this chapter, are inserted through the 

courtesy of G. P. Putnam's Sons, N. Y., from "Colonial Homesteads" by Marion Harland, 
per favor of the Interior, Chicago. 



116 PIONEEE HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the tortuous creeks of the Chicka- 
hominy swamp, fell into an ambush 
of three hundred Indians. After a 
desperate defense he was taken pris- 
oner by O-pe-can-chan-ough, the broth- 
er of Powhatan, whom he succeeded 
in 1618, and who carried out the great 
massacre of the colonists, on Good 
Friday, 1622. By him he was carried 
before Powhatan to be tried for kill- 
ing two of the Indians. At the time 
of the trial a long consultation was 
held and then two great stones were 
brought before Powhatan, when as 
many as could, laid hands on Smith, 
dragged him to the stones, placed his 
head thereon, and, being ready with 
their clubs to beat out his brains, Po- 
cahontas, "the King's dearest daugh- 
ter," her entreaties having failed, 
hastened to his rescue by embracing 
his head and laying her own head up- 
on his to save him from death. Her 
father was moved by this unusual act 
of intercession on the part of Poca- 
hontas, and permitted Smith to live, 
"to make him hatchets and her bells, 
beads and copper. " About six weeks 
later, he sent him under escort to 
Jamestown. 

"How could the stern old king deny, 
The angel pleading in her eye? 
How mock the sweet, imploring grace 
That breathed in beauty from her face, 
And to her kneeling action gave 
A power to soothe and still subdue. " 

— SIMMS. 

The circumstances that led to the 
capture of Smith were as follows: On 
December 10, 1607, Captain John 
Smith, of whom it was said, "The 
Spaniard never more greedily desired 
gold than he victual, "with nine other 
men in the barge, left Jamestown to 
obtain some maize from the Indians 
and to explore the upper waters of the 
Chickahominy. At Apocant, he and 
two of his companions, Jehu Kobin- 
son and Thomas Emery, in a canoe, 
passed twenty miles further up the 
river, where a brother of Powhatan 
with about 300 Indians happened to 



be on a hunting expedition. The In- 
dians killed his two companions while 
asleep in their tent, surprised and 
captured Smith while seeking food. 

It will be remembered that the 
English colony at Jamestown was es- 
tablished June 22, 1607, by the arrival 
of one hundred and five persons, of 
whom sixty-seven had died from sick- 
ness and starvation by the 8th of Jan- 
uary following. Never were English- 
men left in a foreign country in such 
misery as these first colonists of Vir- 
ginia. - Their food consisted of barley 
sodden with water, and their drink, 
the water from the James river, 
which at flood was very salt and at 
low tide, full of slime and filth that 
proved the destruction of many of 
them. 

The country they had settled in was 
sparsely populated by numerous tribes 
of Indians, who owned as their para- 
mount chief, Powhatan, who then 
lived at We-ro-woc-o-mo-co, a village 
on the Pamunky river, about twelve 
miles by land from Jamestown. 

Powhatan, who in 1608, by King 
James I, was crowned "Powhatan I, 
Emperor of Virginia," as a matter of 
courtesy, had twenty sons and ten 
daughters. Whether by beauty and 
sprightliness, or by force of her daunt- 
less spirit, Pocahontas had a hold up- 
on his savage nature that no other 
creature ever gained. During his 
captivity of some six weeks which af- 
forded many opportunities of familiar 
discourse with those who kept him, 
the knightly soldier, Captain Smith, 
made her his friend. The influence 
upon her character and career of 
this period and the subsequent intima- 
cy to which it led can hardly be exag- 
gerated. She had inherited with her 
father's imperiousness, the intellect 
that made him emperor, while his 
brothers were but kings. Captain 
Smith, who had been assigned the 
duty of pleasing the fancy of the sav- 
age maiden, was a soldier, traveler, 



THE STOKY OF POCAHONTAS. 



117 



dramatist, historian and diplomatist. 
Pocahontas drew from him the earli- 
est aspirations that led to her conver- 
sion to Christianity. Eeferring to 
the period he himself remarked, 
"What can a man with faith in relig- 



child, intelligent beyond her years, 
and meeting him at the most impres- 
sionable period of her life, fashioned 
her ideas of his people. Under her 
providential tutor her mind, heart 
and' ambitions assumed a new com- 




Pocahontas, the Indian Princess of Virginia, as she appear- 
ed in London in 1616. 



ion do more agreeable to God than to plexion. 

seek to convert these poor savages to When Powhatan offered him a prin- 

Christ and humanity." cipality if he would cast in his for- 

He was the model, without fear and tunes with the tribe, his unselfish re- 

without reproach, upon which the ply was made in the form of a request 



118 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



for a safe conduct to Jamestown. 
This favor he acknowledges was se- 
cured through the successful inter- 
cession of Pocahontas with her father. 

On September 10, 1608, soon after 
his return to Jamestown, the presi- 
dency of the colony was forced upon 
him. Under his administration James- 
town became a village of nearly five 
hundred inhabitants, and a church 
was erected for public worship. 

When starvation was staring the 
colonists in the face, Pocahontas, who 
was then "a well featured young girl, 
fleet of foot, black-eyed and brown- 
skinned," frequently visited James- 
town with her "wild train" following 
her in single file, each bearing gifts of 
corn and game. As a King's daughter, 
she wore a white heron's feather in her 
hair and bands of coral on her wrists 
and ankles. Her slender, graceful 
form was wrapped in a robe of doe 
skin, lined and edged with the down 
of pigeons. A queen in miniature, 
once in every four or five days she and 
her "wild train" laden with food, vis- 
ited the colony until the peril from 
famine had passed. 

In 1609, President Smith and eigh- 
teen companions, having visited Pow- 
hatan at his special request, Pocahon- 
tas, on a dark night and traveling 
alone through the woods to where they 
were encamped, gave them warning 
of an intended immediate attack by 
the Indians. She was not yet fourteen 
years of age, but showed herself a wom- 
an in depth of devotion to her 
friends, brave even to recklessness, 
and holding her own life as nothing by 
comparison with her loyalty. The at- 
tack was made as she had predicted 
and the catastrophe planned by the 
cunning chieftain was prevented only 
by the coolness and courage of Captain 
Smith. 

A few months after this visit to 
Powhatan, Captain Smith was serious- 
ly injured while on the river and on 
October 4, 1699 s was obliged to return 



to his home in England for surgical 
aid. 

As soon as the savages had learned 
that Captain Smith had left the 
colony they decided to make war upon 
it. 

POCAHONTAS A CAPTIVE. 

Though humbled as a slave, 

To more than queenly sway, she grew. 

In the meantime, the secret mission 
by night of Pocahontas had been dis- 
covered to her father, and he wreaked 
his wrath upon her until existence 
with him became unendurable and 
she sought an asylum of refuge in the 
wigwam of Japazaws, a chief of the 
Potomac tribe, an old acquaintance of 
Captain Smith and friendly to the 
English. 

Captain Samuel Argall, a privateers- 
man, being sent up the Potomac for 
corn and learning that a daughter of 
Powhatan was the guest of the In- 
dian's squaw, by the gift of a burnish- 
ed copper kettle succeeded in get- 
ting Pocahontas to visit his vessel. 
When she stepped aboard the vessel, 
the captain told her before her friends 
she must go with him and make peace 
between Powhatan and the colonists 
before she should see her father. Thus 
she became a prisoner and was held by 
the colonists for the purpose of exact- 
ing a ransom from her father and as a, 
means of maintaining peace with the 
Indians. 

She was now (1612) nearly eighteen 
years old, had soft, wistful eyes, deli- 
cately arched brows, a mouth at once 
proud and tender, and slender hands 
and feet. She was not tall, but erect, 
and carried herself, as a daughter of a 
king, with a sort of imperious grace 
that rebuked familiarity. 

When the message had been sent to 
Powhatan that his daughter, Pocahon- 
tas, whom he loved so dearly, must be 
ransomed by the return of all white 
prisoners and stolen property it troub- 
led him greatly, but three months 
Ipassed before he sent any reply or took 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 



119 



any notice of the humiliating intelli- 
gence. 

He then returned seven white pris- 
oners, each with . an unserviceable 
musket, and sent word that when his 
daughter was delivered he would make 
satisfaction for all injuries done, give 
500 bushels of corn and forever be 
a friend of the colonists. 



This reply displeased him and noth- 
ing more was heard from him for a 
long time afterward. With a pride 
equal to his own, Pocahontas brooded 
over this public insult offered her by 
his silence and seeming indifference. 
But if she was branded as an outcast 
from her father's heart and tribe the 
people of Jamestown received her 




Captain John Smith. 



To these advances the colonists 
made answer that his daughter would 
be well used, but that they could not 
believe that the rest of their arms 
that had been captured were either 
lost or stolen from him, and therefore 
until he sent them they would keep 
his daughter* 



with affectionate hospitality. "The 
long repressed craving for refinement 
and knowledge of the great, beautiful 
world — the echo from which had first 
thrilled her untaught soul during the 
golden month passed in her forest- 
home by the superb stranger with the 
kind p.ves wnd winning gmile^wae 



120 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



now to be gratified." * 

In a subsequent conference with 
her brothers she remarked: "If my 
father had loved me he would not 
value me less than old swords, guns 
and axes; wherefore, I will still 
dwell with the Englishmen who love 
me." 

POCAHONTAS WEDS JOHN ROLFE, AS 
"LADY REBECCA." 

The separation was now complete, 
and believing Captain Smith was 
dead, she fell in love with John Rolfe, 
"an honest gentleman of good behav- 
ior, fairly educated, a staunch church- 
man possessing a missionary spirit, a 
well-to-do widower and a protege of 
Sir Thomas Dale." Renouncing the 
idolatry of her own people and accept- 
ing the christian religion, she present- 
ed herself for baptism at the font in 
the church built at Jamestown, by 
Lord De la Ware, and was christened 
"Rebecca." Under this name Poca- 
hontas was wedded to John Rolfe, 
about April 1, 1613. The tower still 
stands in which hung the two bells 
that rang joyfully as bride and groom 
passed out through the narrow arch- 
way. 

This marriage cemented a lasting 
peace between the two nations. Pow- 
hatan, true to his purpose of holding 
no personal communication with the 
colonists, never visited his daughter 
after its occurrence, but he frequent- 
ly sent friendly messages to his ' 'daugh- 
ter and unknown sonne" and inquired 
"how they lived, loved and liked." 

Yarina, the home of Pocahontas 
after her marriage, on the plantation 
of her husband, was located on the 
bank of the James river, near Dutch 
Gap, a few miles below Richmond; but 
the particular site of the cabin in 
which she learned to keep house after 
the manner of the English, and where 
her only child, Thomas Rolfe, was 

♦ Some "Colonial Houses," by Marion Har- 
land.— Gi P. Putnam's Sons, N. Y< 



born is unknown. The banks of the 
beautiful river from Jamestown to 
Henricus-are l now '<- gratefully Conse- 
crated tO'her dear memory. 

June 12, 1616, in the fourth year 
after marriage, she, her husband and 
her little son," -crossing Qthe ■ Atlantic 
ocean, landed in Plymouth, England, 
and there she became the object of 
admiring interest in*" fashionable cir- 
cles. Before she* reached London, 
Captain Smith petitioned Queen Anne 
on her behalf, and it is in this peti- 
tion of June, 1616, that the account of 
his deliverance _by^ the Indian-, girl, 
first appears. 

After a pleasant- sojourn of about 
seven months ? in England, during 
which time she [was owell received 
both*by the court and|by the people, 
she became affected with that dread 
disease, rapid consumption, no doubt 
due to]the effect of a northern winter 
upon her semi-tropical constitution. 
Preparations were hastened for ■ her 
return to Virginia, but she died at 
G-ravesend the dayjbefore the one set 
for their departure, and, according to 
the popular tradition, "sitting in an 
easy chair, by an open window, her 
eyes fixed wistfully upon the western 
ocean." .She was,; ■■ only twenty-two 
years of age and was buried in the 
cemetery belonging to the church of 
St. George, London, according to tra- 
dition, or at Gravesencl, about thirty 
miles from London^ on the Thames, 
where she died, as is stated by her bi- 
ographer, John R. Musick. id The latter 
says, "She was buried in the chancel 
of the church at Gravesend, March 21, 
1617, but that afterwards the church 
was destroyed by fire, and today the 
exact spot of -her grave is unknown." 
The tradition that she was buried in 
the northwest corner of St. George's 
churchyard, London, has beenjreport- 
ed successively from age to age through 
Thomas Turner, the venerable sexton 
in 1881, and his predecessors, William 
Nottingham and his father j John Net- 



THE STOBY OF POCAHONTAS. 



121 



tingham. The former was sexton 
twenty years and the latter clerk of 
the parish fifty-two years. 

Come to the bridal chamber, Death, 

Come to the mother, when she feels 
For the first time, her first bom's breath; 

Come when the blessed seals 
That close the pestilence are broke. 

And crowded cities wail the stroke. 
Come in consumption's ghastly form, 

The earthquake's shock, the ocean's storm, 
Come when the heart beats high and warm, 

And thou art terrible. 

-Halleck. 

Other names by which she was 
known were "Amonate, " "Mattoax" 
and "The ISTonparella (having no equal) 
of Virginia." She was also called the 
"Bose of England" and the "Totem 
(emblem) of Virginia. " 

She was a landscape of mild earth, 
Where all was harmony calm and quiet, 
Luxuriant, budding. — Byron. 

The brief and pathetic career of Po- 
cahontas, (Bright Stream between two 
Hills) has appealed to the heart of 
every generation since her story be- 
came known. Her services to Vir- 
ginia had been as great as those to 
Captain John Smith. She had been 
the instrument under God to preserve 
the colony from destruction. Gener- 
ous, brave and gentle, she was doomed 
to disappointment and died of a bro- 
ken heart. 

Hon. William Wirt Henry, whose 
Life and Letters of Patrick Henry 
rank him as one of the foremost writ- 
ers of our country, has paid the fol- 
lowing beautiful tribute to "Our Lady 
of the James:" 

"Our Lady of the James," Pocahon- 
tas, born the daughter of a savage 
King, was endowed with all the graces 
which became an Indian princess; she 
was the first of her people to embrace 
Christianity and to unite in marriage 
with the English race; like a guardian 
angel she watched over and preserved 
the infant colony which has developed 
into a great people, among whom her 
own descendants have ever been con- 
spicuous ftir trud n&bilityi her narne 



will be honored while this great peo- 
ple occupy the land upon which she so 
signally aided in establishing them." 
"There is no story more dear to the 
heart of the American than that of 
Pocahontas. It has been narrated so 
frequently it has become a nursery 
legend, yet in all history none more 
dramatic and touching can be found. 
It has moved hearts since it was first 
told to civilized ears. Each suc- 
ceeding generation reads anew the 
tender tale, narrated, perhaps, by 
some new author, who in song or story 
makes of Smith and the twelve-year- 
old child who rescued him, the incar- 
nation of his own fancy. It has been 
told in romance, sung to the sweet 
notes of the harp, performed on the 
stage and gravely narrated by the his- 
torian, yet wherever heard, however 
told, it loses nothing; the story itself 
is the same, and never fails to move 
the heart of the listener."* 

"Best in peace thou who knew 
So little of peace on earth." 

THE DESCENDANTS OF POCAHONTAS. 

Pocahontas was a princess, whom it 
was a great presumption on the part 
of Bolfe, who had no royal blood in 
his veins, to marry. According to the 
theory of the time this alliance was 
one of unusual importance, especially 
for two reasons. First, their marriage 
formed a bond of peace and friendship 
between the two races, and second, if 
Virginia should descend to Pocahon- 
tas, as it might at the death of her 
father, Powhatan, the government of 
the kingdom would be vested in 
Bolfe 's posterity. 

Thomas Bolfe, the only son of Poca- 
hontas, after the death of his mother 
was left at Plymouth, England, in 
charge of Sir Lewis Stukley, at the 
latter 's request. Stukley was his 
uncle and he was brought up in Lon- 
don. When a young man he went to 
Virginia and as Lieutenant Bolfe, 

^Pocahontas, by John R, Music!*, lli5i**fSinlS 
& Wftguallei N; Y; 



122 PIONEER HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



commanded Fort James on the Chick- 
ahominy. He married a young lady 
of England and became a gentleman 
of note and fortune in Virginia, and 
some of the most respectable families 
in the state are descended from him. 

Among the conspicuous founders 
of the planter families that came 
over to Virginia during the second 
half of the seventeenth century, was 
one, a very liberal-minded and ener- 
getic man, who had married the grand- 
daughter of Pocahontas; his son, de- 
voting himself to planting and trad- 
ing on the James river, found the 
bulk of his income in an immense 
traffic with his relatives, the Indians, 
who flocked as one man to his support. 
From this marriage many existing 
families in Virginia are directly de- 
scended, and. they are proud of their 
Indian blood. 

John Rolfe, the husband of the 
Princess, was of Norman descent, 
with William the Conqueror, in Eng- 
land, and a graduate of Oxford. The 
fragments of his writings that have 
been preserved attest both his scholar- 
ship and benevolence. He was the 
first American historian and deserves 
mention as such, though his history 
was short, being confined to a brief 
description of the colony at James- 
town, and dedicated to the King 
of England. His fame rests on the 
fact that he was the first planter of 
tobacco in Virginia, and the first to 
demonstrate its value as a vast source 
of wealtb/to future planters. 

In one of his letters Rolfe declared 
that his main motive in marrying the 
Princess was to promote her religious 
instruction; whatever his motives may 
have been, his marriage was a success. 
His wife's descendants are either so 
numerous or are j held in such high 
honor as to haVe given rise to the say- 
ing outside the state, "Every family 
in Virginia is descended from Poca- 
hontas. " As a matter of fact the gen- 
uine descendants were few but the 



claimants were many. 

From this first alliance of the white 
and red races sprang the Randolphs, 
Blancls, Blairs and Boilings. The an- 
cestor of the Randolphs went to Eng- 
land with William the Conqueror. 
William Randolph, of Turkey Island, 
as he was familiarly called, emigrated 
to the colony in 1675 and from him all 
the Randolphs of Virginia descended. 
John Randolph was a direct descend- 
ant of Pocahontas, being the sixth in 
descent from her, through Jane Rolfe, 
her granddaughter, and was even 
boastful of his relationship with the 
imperial house of Powhatan, whose 
grave has been preserved on the bank 
of the James river, a few miles below 
Richmond. It is curious to note that 
the blood of Powhatan should thus 
mingle with that of his old enemies. 
Dead for many a day and asleep in 
his grave, the savage old emperor still 
spoke in the voice of his great descend- 
ant, the orator of the Roanoke, who 
died June 24, 1833. 

Peyton Randolph, the first presi- 
dent of congress, and Edmund Ran- 
dolph, Washington's attorney-general, 
were also direct descendants, while 
Thomas Jefferson and Chief Justice 
John Marshall were related by mar- 
riage. Rev. Hugh Blair, the head of 
the Blair's and sometimes called "the 
commissary," because he had been 
sent to Virginia in that capacity, by 
the bishop of London, was a direct 
descendant of Pocahontas. He estab- 
lished William and Mary college, the 
first in the colony, and his nephew, 
John Blair, signed the constitution of 
the United States with Washington 
and Madison. The Blands and Boi- 
lings were prominent as planters, co- 
lonial officers and patriots in the war 
of the revolution. 

Like the vase in which roses 
Have once been distilled, 

You may break, you may shatter 
The vase if you will, 

But the scent of the roses 
Yet hangs round it still. 

—Moore. 



THE STOBY OF POCAHONTAS. 



123 



WHO SUGGESTED "i'OCAHONTAS?" 

The circumstances that led to the 
use of the name of "Pocahontas" for 
this county, were as follows: 

Phineas M. Casady, member of the 
senate of Iowa, session of 1850-51, from 



to have the name of "Pocahontas," 
the Indian Princess of Virginia, re- 
membered. Mr. Casady stated in re- 
ply that his request would be com- 
plied with. 
Senator Howell was an old man at 




Tower of the Old Church at Jamestown, Virginia, in which 
Pocahontas was married in 1613. 



Polk county, being a member of the 
senate committee on New Counties, 
asked John Howell, the senator from 
Jefferson county, if he wished to sug- 
gest a name for one of the new coun- 
ties to be established at that session. 
He replied that he would be pleased 



that time and was called "Uncle John" 
by the other members of the senate. 
He had served as a member of the 
House of Burgesses in the legislature 
of Virginia and four years as a mem- 
ber of the House of Bepresentatives 
of Iowa in the second and third Gen- 



124 PIONEEB HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



eral Assemblies. He was elected sen- 
ator for the county of Jefferson, on 
the first Monday in August, 1848, and 
was then serving his second term in 
the senate. Wheminquiry was made 
of Senator Casady as to who suggested 
the name of Pocahontas, with the 
added remark that there seemed no 



reason for the use of that name in 
Iowa, and he stated that "Uncle John 
Howell" had requested it, no further 
objections were made. Senator Cas- 
ady is still a resident of Des Moines, 
and kindly furnished the information 
given above. 




BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK. 



125 



II. 



BATTLE ©F THE INDIANS AT PIL0T GREEK— THEIR 
GRAVES, M©UNDS AND RELICS. 

"Oh pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers." 




I HE territory included 
in Pocahontas coun- 
ty was once the hap- 
py hunting ground of 
the Indians. Large 
game such as the 
deer, elk and buffalo, found luxuriant 
pasturage upon the open prairie and a 
grateful shelter from the wintry blast 
in the groves of timber skirting the 
streams. The latter were alive with 
fish, and the country, twice each year 
— in the spring and again in the fall — 
swarmed with almost every kind of 
bird and water-fowl that is good for 
food. 

In 1673, when Marquette and Joliet 
explored the country along the Missis- 
sippi river, this section was supposed 
to be under the undisputed possession 
of the confederated Sac and Fox 
tribes. Later, other tribes of Indians 
from the north and west came to this 
favored land and found a home, so that 
at the time the white man came, at 
the beginning of this century, he found 
in the northwest part of this state a 
branch of the noted and cruel Sioux, 
whose hunting grounds consisted 
nominally-of all that portion of the 
state that lies west of the Little 
Sioux river, traversing Dickinson, 
Clay, Buena Vista, Ida and Monona 
counties. 



THE SIOUX AND WINNEBAGOES.* 

The Sioux were powerful, warlike 
and aggressive; and their frequent en- 
croachments upon the territories of 
other tribes, became the occasion of 
complaints to the United States gov- 
ernment that led to the treaty of 
August 19, 1825, (see page 50) when a 
boundary line between the Sioux, on 
the north and various other tribes, on 
the south, was established, extending 
from the mouth of the Upper Iowa 
river, in the northeast part of the 
state, to the second fork of the Des 
Moines river, now in Humboldt county, 
(south of Dakota City) and thence to 
the lower fork of the Big Sioux river, 
near Sioux City. By a reference to 
the map it will be perceived that this 
line, traced by Clarke and Cass, crossed 
the south central part of Pocahontas 
county. 

The meeting at Prairie du Chien, 
Wisconsin, at which this conciliatory 
measure was adopted, was a magnifi- 
cent gathering, there being present 
about 30,000 braves representing Iowas, 
Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes, Me- 
nominees and the Sioux. It is said 
that before the convention adjourned, 

*The most part under this head is a con- 
tribution from the pen of W. C. Ralston, Esq., 
Pocahontas, to the Rolfe Reveille, March 5, 
1896; Bruce & Thornton, proprietors. 



123 PlONEEfe HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



"Old Keokuk," who was at the head 
of the confederated tribes as against 
the Sioux, was very much opposed to 
the signing of the agreement. 

July 12, 1830, the above line not be- 
ing always easily recognized, the 
Sioux on the north and the Sacs, 
and Foxes on the south of it ceded to 
the United States a strip of land 
twenty miles in width, on each side of 



tion in Wisconsin, were given the ter- 
ritory included in this strip of "Neu- 
tral Ground." Against the appeals 
and remonstrances of the squaws and 
old men of their tribe, the Winneba- 
goes moved to their new possessions 
and continued to occupy them until 
the year 1846, when they moved 
north of St. Peter's river, Minnesota, 
where they were given more territory 




INDIAN BATTLE FIELD AT PILOT CREEK, 

Showing the camp of the Winnebagoes, Pilot Creek, down which the Sioux 
came; the walnut tree in which a Sioux scout shot a Winnebago; the home of 
A. H. Malcolm and the Indian mound at the right. 



this line, making a tract forty miles 
in width from the Mississippi to the 
Des Moines, and this was called "Neu- 
tral Ground," on which all the tribes 
interested were to be allowed to hunt 
and fish unmolested. 

Two years later, September 15, 1832, 
which jtvas just after the conclusion of 
the Black Hawk war, the Winnebago 
Indians, in exchange for their reserva- 



and- greater privileges. 

By this arrangement there was left 
a large tract of country extending 
westward from the east fork of the 
Des Moines to the Little Sioux river, 
that was unoccupied by any tribe of 
Indians, and, by an unwritten law 
that was in force between the two 
tribes, it meant a trial of strength if 
any of the Sioux found any of the 



Battle of the Indians at pilot creek. 



127 



Winnebagoes upon this territory. 
The Sioux were constantly at war 
with the Winnebagoes over troubles 
growing out of this arrangement and 
because, the latter originally belong- 
ing to the confederacy of the Sioux, 
had now become allied to their rivals 
the Sacs and Foxes, and were also 
friendly to the whites. Many trials 
of strength did old trappers witness 
in this section, especially during the 
winter season, the victory being usu- 
ally won by the party having the most 
warriors. 

After the government established 
the military ,post at Port Dodge, (1850- 
1853) and the removal of the Winne- 
bagoes to Minnesota, hostilities prac- 
tically ceased upon this neutral ground 
except in the spring of the year, when 
the Winnebagoes were accustomed to 
go down the west branch of the Des 
Moines river, (as the United States 
Supreme Court has noted in a case re- 
cently brought before it) for the pur- 
pose of hunting and trapping, and 
then the Sioux again met them and 
renewed their old feuds with all the 
vigor for which they were noted. The 
usual result of these contests was 
that the weaker party would be se- 
verely defeated, robbed of furs and 
game, and sustain the loss of many a 
warrior, whose remains would be 
found by the soldiers or trappers, who 
passed the place where the conflict 
occurred. 

The plan of the government in set- 
ting apart the strip, forty miles in 
width, as neutral ground, on which no 
tribe of Indians should make a per- 
manent residence, but all had the 
privilege of hunting and fishing, in- 
stead of proving a happy means of 
preventing the disputes and hostili- 
ties that were ever occurring, seems 
to have had the contrary effect. 
Early writers note, that nearly all of 
the conflicts arising among the Indians 
on the soil of Iowa, either occurred on 
this territory or grew out of some act 



committed by the Indians while hunt- 
ing, trapping or fishing upon it. For 
hunting and fishing, this strip of neu- 
tral ground was, perhaps, unequaled 
in any other part of the United States. 
All the wild game, then known to 
sportsmen or Indians, was found with- 
in its borders. Deer, elk and buffalo 
roamed over the prairies, while pig- 
eons, quail and chickens found a home 
in the luxuriant grass. The streams 
were alive with fish of all kinds, while 
on the banks and in the many beauti- 
ful lakes that lay within this strip 
were found beaver, mink, muskrat 
and otter in great numbers, as well as 
geese, brants, cranes, ducks, etc. No 
other territory of the same size was 
equal to this strip of neutral ground 
as the native home of game; and in no 
particular part of it was the game so 
abundant as in the vicinity of the 
east and west branches of the Des 
Moines river. 

THE BATTLE AT PILOT CREEK.* 

"Hark! hear the sound of battle near! 
The shout, the groan, the charging cheer, 
The mutual volley, sharp and clear. 
The shock of steel, the shriek of fear, 
In one mad chorus blend!" 

Nearly a quarter of a century ago, 
(1853 or 1854) when Fort Dodge was a 
military post occupied by government 
troops, and before any white man had 
settled in the territory included in 
Pocahontas county, a battle was 

*The account, under this" head, of 
the last Indian fight in Pocahontas 
county, was written by William D. 
McEwen, Esq., and appeared first in 
the Pocahontas Times.of date, (Old) 
Eolf e, May 18, 1876. Mr. McEwen was 
then editor and proprietor of this 'pa- 
per, and obtained his knowledge of 
the facts stated, during the years 
of 1858 and 1859, from the late Major 
William W. Williams, sutler of the 
fort at Fort Dodge, when the U. S. 
troops were there and the fight oc- 
curred. The latter visited the scene 
of the conflict a few days after its oc- 
currence, and described the location 
so minutely that the former was en- 
abled to locate it without any difficulty. 



128 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



fought between a band of Winneba- 
go and Sioux Indians that, for blood- 
thirsty determination, has seldom 
been surpassed in the unwritten le- 
gends of these savage tribes. It was 
in the spring of the year, and the 
place where this sanguinary conflict 
occurred was on the south side of Pi- 
lot creek, on section one, Clinton 
township; near the bridge on the old 
Port Dodge road and on the farm of 
A. H. Malcolm. Directly west of the 
bridge and a little distance up the 
stream, lies a plateau or piece of table- 
land with bluffs on the south. At 
that time a strip of timber skirted 
the stream, that increased in density 
until it reached the foot of the bluff 
and then terminated abruptly. 

Here there had encamped a band 
of about' thirty Winnebago Indians, 
from the vicinity of Mankato, Minn. , 
who had been engaged in a hunting 
and trapping expedition along the 
Des Moines river. They had been 
successful in their expedition, and en- 
camped at this place to feast and pre- 
pare their furs for market. They 
were within one day's journey of the 
trading post at Fort Dodge, were on 
friendly terms with the whites, from 
whom they apprehended no danger, 
and believing that their enemies, the 
Sioux, were not in the vicinity, they 
relaxed their usual vigilance. 
. Eighteen Sioux warriors, under their 
chief, Cou-sta-wa, or Big Tree, had 
been hunting on the Little Sioux riv- 
er, in the neighborhood of where now 
stands the nourishing town of Sioux 
Rapids, and learning that a band of 
Winnebagoes were on the Des Moines 
river, determined to cross the coun- 
try, take them by surprise and adorn 
their belts with the scalps of their 
foes. The chief of the band, as his 
name indicates, was a large, powerful , 
warrior, and had been the leader in 
many a bloody fight. Having been 
once wounded by the bullet of a white 
man, he ever afterwards cherished for 



him the most intense hatred, and 
never allowed an'opportunity to pass 
without wreaking vengeance on him 
and his friends, the Winnebagoes. 
Ink-pa-du-ta, the bloodthirsty savage, 
who with his band massacred the 
white settlers at Spirit Lake, in 1857, 
was one of Cou-sta-wa 's warriors and 
acquired his intense hatred of the 
whites from him. He, too, was act- 
ive in urging the attack upon the 
Winnebagoes. 

They crossed the country from the 
Sioux river by way of Swan Lake, un- 
til they struck the head waters of 
Pilot creek; then, following the course 
of the stream unobserved, they discov- 
ered the location of their foes. 
Guided, doubtless, by the smoke of the 
campflres, they stealthily approached 
within two miles. Here they con- 
cealed themselves in what is known 
as "Harvey's Grove," and sent out 
two of their warriors to ascertain 
the number and exact position of the 
Winnebagoes. The night was well 
advanced before their scouts returned. 
Their report must have been favorable 
as a satisfactory grunt from Cou-sta- 
wa announced that the attack would 
be made that very night. ' 

The water in the creek was high, 
and Cou-sta-wa, with savage sagacity, 
divided his warriors; six of them led 
by Ink-pa-du-ta, crossed Pilot creek 
and approached the foe from the 
north, while he with the other war- 
riors, descended on the south side to 
cut off their retreat. He evidently 
thought that the Winnebagoes, taken 
by surprise, would flee at the ( first at- 
tack and make for the trading post. 
In this he was correct, but the result 
was not as he had anticipated. The 
ground had been well examined and 
the attack well planned. The moon, 
though far in the wane, shone bright- 
ly, pointing out to the wary Sioux the 
exact position of the sleeping Winne- 
bagoes. The night was far advanced 
when the Sioux crept up to within 



BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK. 



129 



thirty yards of their sleeping foes. 
Here they paused, awaiting the signal 
of their chief. Just at this moment 
one of the Winnebago warriors arose 
and quickly gave the alarm to his 
tribe. The Sioux, finding themselves 
discovered, commenced firing. The 
Winnebagoes, taken by surprise, and 
not knowing the number of their foes, 
thought only of safety, and com- 
menced retreating along the edge of 
the bluff. Here they were met by 
Cou-sta-wa and his warriors. Finding 
their retreat cut off, they commenced 
fighting with the desperation of de- 
spair." Cou-sta-wa, seeing the confu- 
sion, and knowing full well that one- 
half of the Winnebagoes must have 
fallen at the first fire, rushed with his 
warriors upon those that remained. 
It now became a hand to hand fight. 

"Long, keen and dubious was the strife, 
While all the warriors bled." 

At length one, two, three of the 
bravest of the Winnebago warriors 
met their death at the hands of Cou- 
sta-wa, when a shot from one of the 
wounded Winnebagoes laid him low. 
With a terrific and hideous yell the 
Sioux warrior fell to rise no more. 
The Sioux seeing their chief fall, now 
commenced falling back, carrying 
their dead, for the Sioux will die 
sooner than leave any of their dead in 
the hands of their foes. Ten of the 
Winnebagoes were killed or died of 
their wounds, while only four of them 
escaped without being wounded. 

How many of the Sioux were killed 
was never known. But four Indian 
graves were found by some of the 
early settlers in 1857, on the bank of 
Pilot creek, covered with bark and in 
a good state of preservation; these 
were no doubt the resting places of 
the warriors killed in this fight. The 
skeletons of three more were discov- 
ered by W. S. Fegles, when trapping 
at Swan Lake in the winter of 1858. 
He informed the writer that the skull 
bone of one was very large and nearly 



an inch in thickness; that the shank 
bones were three inches longer than 
his and all that remained of the skel- 
eton showed that it had belonged to 
an Indian of colossal stature. May 
we not, therefore, justly conclude that 
it was none other than the skeleton 
of the Sioux chief, Cou-sta-wa? 

INDIANS ALONG THE DES MOINES RIVER. 

"Among red men, the surest way 
To honor, is the foe to slay; 

Him they call supremely great, 
Who can most martial deeds relate. " 

After the battle on Pilot creek the 
Indians who were engaged in it again 
returned to their reservations, the 
Sioux going to Dakota and the Win- 
nebagoes to Minnesota. In the years 
that followed, until April, 1880, bands 
of the Winnebagoes would occasional- 
ly return along the west branch of the 
Des Moines river as far south as the 
mouth of Pilot creek. 

"In the month of November, 1879,* 
about forty Pottawattamie Indians 
camped" along the Des Moines river, 
near the northeast part of the county, 
and while engaged in hunting and 
trapping, investigated many of the 
larders in that neighborhood. 'Lo, 
the poor Indian' is a good investigator 
of the pantry of the white man." 

Again in April, 1880, about fifty Win- 
nebagoes and Pottawattamies tempo- 
rarily encamped near the bridge over 
the Des Moines river, a short distance 
above the mouth of Pilot creek and 
near Old Rolfe, that until four years 
previous had been the county seat. 
J. J. Bruce, the correspondent of the 
Pocahontas Times, t wrote as follows 
in regard to them: 

"Our Winnebago and Pottawatta- 
mie Indians have moved down the 
river. Henry M. Bice, the chief of 
the band, is a very intelligent fellow. 
Several of the men are intelligent, use 
good language and dress in civilized 
* J. J. Bruce in Pocahontas Times, Dec. 11, 
1879. 
fTirnes, of April 15 and 22, 1880. 



130 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



style. We should judge that a num- 
ber of them have white man's blood 
in their veins. 

They have in their number a Win- 
nebago warrior who was over this 
ground in 1854, and points out the 
battlefield between the Sioux and 
Winnebagoes on Pilot creek, in 1854, 
and gives the scenes enacted under 
some of the trees in those early days, 
pointing out the tree where some 
warrior lost his scalp. 

The battle referred to above, was 
described by W. D. McEwen in 1876, 
in an article that appeared in The 
Pocahontas Times and it was consid- 
ered by some as a canard; but in this 
case it seems that 'truth is stranger 
than fiction. ' " 

On this occasion the Winnebago 
warrior and some of his friends visited 
at the Des Moines river bridge, met W. 
D. McEwen, Robert Struthers and oth- 
ers to whom he related many incidents 
of the battle. Mr. McEwen was at 
this time treasurer of the county, 
and, though he appointed a day for 
him to go with the old Indian to view 
the battlefield and get his description 
of the conflict as he remembered it, 
unexpected business matters prevent- 
ed him from keeping the engagement. 
Among other things the old Indian 
related on this occasion, was that he 
believed he could yet point out the 
spot along the river a short distance 
from the outlet of Pilot creek, where 
the Winnebagoes had buried three of 
their fallen braves. 

At this time, Ora P. Malcolm, 
then in his teens, but now deputy 
treasurer of the county, accompanied 
by his younger brother Fred Malcolm 
and his cousin Ralph Horton, went to 
their camp along the west branch of 
the Des Moines river. They met 
about fifty Indians, old and young, 
and found they had been there about 
a week. They met the old Winneba- 
go warrior, who told them that many 
years before he had participated in 



the battle of the Sioux and Winneba- 
goes, on the south side of Pilot creek. 

A few days later this old warrior, 
accompanied by several other Indians, 
came down the driver and passed up 
Pilot creek. As they passed the 
home of his father, A. H. Malcolm, 
Ora and the two"other boys being to- 
gether again, followed the Indians to 
see them hunting and trapping. 
When they had proceeded a short dis- 
tance, the old warrior took them to a 
place om the south' side of the creek 
and about thirty rods west of his 
father's residence, where he showed 
them the stump of a large black 
walnut tree. "Into the top of 
this tree," he said, "a Winnebago had 
climbed to take a survey of the coun- 
try and' 'learn if any enemies were 
near. While he was up in the tree a 
Sioux scout, under cover of the smaller 
timber, stealthily drew near and shot 
him." 

This old warrior had a desire to 
take a last look at the place where his 
father and one brother were killed, be- 
fore he should be numbered with the 
silent dead, and to show to those who 
came after him the place where the 
last trial of strength occurred between 
his people and their ancient enemies, 
the Sioux. 

At the time of this visit in 1880, 
which was more'than twenty-five years 
after the battle, the large stump of 
the old walnut tree was easily recog- 
nized, and around it there had grown 
several shoots that were already large 
enough to bear nuts. When the at- 
tention of the old settlers was direct- 
ed to it, it was found that this partic- 
ular tree had been felled by Orlando, 
son of David Slosson, in the winter of 
1858-9, that it had been drawn to the 
sawmill erected near Old Rolfe by 
John M. Stockdale and had there been 
sawed into building material, by W. 
H. Hait. 

In 1880, the Chicago and Northwest- 
ern railway had not yet passed through 



BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK. 



131 



this section and when it came, a couple 
of years later, it crossed the place 
where this black walnut stood and al- 
so the original site of Mr. Malcolm's 
residence. 

The battle between the Sioux and 
Winnebagoes at Pilot creek, was the 
last contest that occurred between 
the Indians on the soil of Iowa. It 
has been suggested that at some time 
in the near future the romantic spot 
where this battle was fought should 
be marked with some appropriate 
monument, that future generations 
might know the exact place 
where the Winnebagoes, friends of the 
whites, resisted the last cruel onset of 
the Sioux, under their chiefs Cou-sta- 
wa (Big Tree) and Ink-pa-du-ta. 

INDIAN GRAVES AND RELICS. 

Two of the Indian graves of which 
mention has already been made, were 
found by Orlando, son of David Slos- 
. son, in 1857, on the bank of Pilot 
creek, near the present site of Rolfe. 
Other graves were found about the 
same time on the plateau of the 
southwest quarter of section one, 
Clinton township, now included in 
the farm of John E. Schnug. In 1858, 
W. S. Fegles found three skele- 
tons at Swan Lake, the largest of 
which was believed to be that of the 
Sioux chief, Cou-sta-wa, or Big Tree. 
In 1860, when the workmen were 
making the excavation for the court 
house at Old Rolfe, on the southwest 
quarter of section 26, Des Moines 
township, they uncovered the remains 
of ten bodies, ranging in size from a 
child to a giant. Their bones were 
placed in a box and reinterred in the 
southwest corner of the foundation. 
The first court house of Pocahontas 
county was thus erected over the last 
resting place of several of the primi- 
tive red men of the forests and plains, 
and it was the general belief at the 
time that those who were buried at 
this place were Winnebago warriors. 



Very few resting places of the dead 
among the Sioux, who came from the 
northwest and at least for two cen- 
turies occupied this section of coun- 
try, have been found by the white 
man; a circumstance, no doubt due to 
the peculiar method practiced by 
them in disposing of their dead. The 
Sioux, instead of burying the bodies 
of the dead in the ground, often 
placed them upon elevated scaffolds 
or rude platforms made of timber. 
The dead were thus elevated to pre- 
vent their bodies from being devoured 
by wolves and other rapacious ani- 
mals. They were not so scrupulous 
in regard to depredations that might 
be committed upon them by birds of 
prey. 

The mode of burial in vogue among 
the tribes of the Algonquin family, to 
which the Pottawattamies and Mus- 
quakies (Sac and Fox) belonged, was 
quite different. They buried their 
dead under the ground. Stones and 
even logs were often placed in heaps 
over the graves of their dead to give 
them better protection. 

The Winnebagoes, parent stock of 
the Iowas, were the van-guard of the 
Sioux, when they began to occupy the 
valley of the Mississippi. The Win- 
nebagoes originally made use of the 
scaffold, but later adopted interment, 
except when the ground was frozen. 
The place selected for interment was 
usually the summit of a knoll, and the 
grave was arranged so that the head 
and feet of the body would extend 
east and west respectively. Some- 
times they buried the dead in a sit- 
ting posture, and in this case, the 
body faced the west, while the head 
and chest would extend above the 
natural surface of the ground. If the 
one buried was a male, some tobacco 
and a pipe were usually deposited in 
the grave; and if he was a warrior a 
war-club or some other weapon was 
added. 

John B. Jolliffe, a resident of section 



132 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



two, Powhatan township, about the 
year 1866, among some rocks on a 
little knoll a short distance west of 
his home, found a pair of very beauti- 
ful Indian bracelets. They were 
made of a material that was of a slate 
color and as tiard as flint. They were 
very artistically carved on the outside 
and both were exactly alike. The 
carved work represented, in raised 
form, many of the animals with which 
the Indians were familiar, such as the 
fox, coyote, beaver and utter. These 
interesting relics were lost at the 
time of the prairie fire that consumed 
his buildings, iD the latter part of Sep- 
tember, 1873. 

About the year 1876, A. H. Malcolm, 
while removing some boulders from 
the knoll south of his residence on 
section one, Clinton township, found 
underneath a large rock, nearly a peck 
of flinty specimens that were supposed 
to be Indian arrow heads in an un- 
finished condition. They were oblong 
pieces of flint rock, roughly chipped to 
a blunt point at one end while the 
other was rounded. They were three 
to four inches long, half an inch thick 
and about one' and one-half inches 
wide. Some, who examined these 
relics, expressed the opinion they were 
not arrow heads, but some blades 
made by those who lived in the "stone 
age" and knew nothing of the work- 
ing of metals. Since no tools or im- 
plements, except those of stone, have 
been found among their relics, the 
mound-builders are supposed to have 
lived in that age. 

INDIAN MOUNDS. 

"The Indian passed away, and lo! 
What is left behind to show 
That he drew Ulysses' bow? ' 
He often earned immortal fame; 
But what perpetuates his name? 
On the knolls of prairies green 
Only the Indian mound is seen." 

On the right hand of the cut illus- 
trating the battle field at Pilot creek, 
page 126, there will be seen an Indian 
mound. This mound is situated on 



the summit of a high bluff on the 
west bank of the west branch of the 
Des Moines river that is skirted on 
the east with a body of tall, heavy 
timber. It is located on the farm of 
O. F. Avery, one-half mile east of the 
homes of A. H. Malcolm and Senator 
Geo. W. Henderson. It is in -Hum- 
boldt county, a few steps from the 
county line. 

This mound was circular in form, 
about twenty feet in diameter at the 
base and five feet high. It rests on a 
natural elevation sloping gradually 
to a summit, that overlooks the valley 
of the Des Moines river northward for 
many miles. 

In 1883, Ora P. Malcolm, his brother 
Fred and their cousin G-eo. W. Hor- 
ton, having a desire to know what was 
in the mound, made an excavation by 
digging clown through the center of 
the top of it. They found the skele- 
tons of three human bodies which 
they supposed to be the remains of In- 
dians. They expected to find some 
relics of value, but in this they were 
disappointed. When their curiosity 
had been sufficiently satisfied they re- 
turned the bones that had been ex- 
humed, and, covering them, left them 
as they had found them. 

The old court house site, where ten 
bodies were found, is one of the high- 
est knolls in Des Moines township; 
and it was the removal of three mounds 
upon its summit that revealed the 
bodies buried there. 

For the account of other mounds 
and their story the reader is referred 
to page 16. 

INDIANS ALONG THE LIZARD. 

In the latter part of December, 
1855, when M. T. Collins, of Lizard 
township, his mother and sister were 
living in their log cabin on section 
18, Jackson township, which was just 
across the line in Webster county, 
three Indians armed with guns, sur- 
prised and frightened them by com- 
ing to their door and begging for 



BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK. 



133 



food. They came to their home about 
four o'clock in the afternoon and were 
the first Indians they had ever seen. 
When Mrs. Collins gave them some 
food they seemed to be very content- 
ed and happy. They sat down by the 
fire, smoked^their pipes and after a 
little while returned to their camp, 
which they had pitched in the grove 
alongjLizard creek, south of the Liz- 
ard Catholic church, There were 
about thirteen'men who were accom- 
panied by "their wives '■ and children, 
in this- band, and^they <had several 
tents. They remained at this place, 
hunting and trapping, until about the 
first of April following, when they 
moved northward to Mulholland's 
grove. ^ About the first of .May,! (1856) 
they'disappeared as] quietly as L they 
had come. 

These were a band of Sioux Indians 
that had come from the southwest, 
the vicinity." of L T win > ! Lakes. _ Ti-ton- 
kaj<JTo-ma-to, a large ■[ old^man, < was 
their-chief and he'had a son who [was 
also very tall and active. They had a 
number of ponies and said that their 
favorite > hunting; ground was 'along 
the^Lizard and especially at Lizard 
lake. 

c During the period of their encamp- 
ment^at this place one or more of the 
squaws would come every day to the 
home -of .Mr. Collins and -beg for some- 
thing'to eat. c On~one occasion when 
Mr.' Collins was cutting wood, a young 
Indian|girl came to his 'home and, 
beckoning for the axe by motions] of 
her hands, he handed it to her -and 
she showed him how she could cut 
wood, fusing the axe in a left-handed 
way. 

THE SIOUX. 

The tribes of the Sioux nation, 
that occupied-. Pocahontas county 
just previous to the time of its settle- 
ment, consisted of bands] of 
the Sissetons, whose acknowledged 
chiefj was. Bed Thunder, Yanktons 
and half-breeds from Missouri. Pre- 



vious to the establishment of the fort 
at Port Dodge, they had several vil- 
lages and encampments along the Des 
Moines river in the vicinity of Fort 
Dodge and along Lizard creek. They 
were great thieves, constantly roving 
about in squads, watching trappers 
who ventured along the Des Moines 
river and emigrants who attempted 
to settle in that district. 

In 1818, when Mr. Marsh, a govern- 
ment surveyor of Dubuque, was run- 
ning the correction line from the 
Mississippi to the Missouri rivers, he 
progressed in his work without mo- 
lestation, until he and his company 
crossed the Des Moines in what is 
now Webster county. On the west 
bank of the river he was met by a 
party of Sioux, under the lead of a 
chief named Si-dom-i-na-do-ta, who 
told him that this section of country 
still belonged to them, that he should 
proceed no further, and ordered him 
to "puc-a-chee" that is "be off" or 
"clear out." After they left him, 
Mr. Marsh and his party concluded to 
proceed with their work. But before 
they had advanced a mile from the 
river, they were surrounded at a point 
near the head of a large ravine (south 
of the south' line of section 30, town- 
ship 89, range 28), about 3 miles south- 
west of Ft. Dodge, by a large force of 
Indians, who robbed them of every- 
thing. They took their horses, de- 
stroyed their wagons and surveying 
instruments, pulled up their stakes, 
leveled their mounds and forced them 
to return to the east side of the river 
to find their way home as best they 
could. It was this outrage and simi- 
lar ones, committed by the Sioux In- 
dians on families who had ventured 
up the Des Moines and located claims 
north of the Baccoon fork, in the fall 
of 1849, that induced the government 
to establish the military post and sta- 
tion troops at Fort Dodge. 

When the government troops ar- 
rived j August 23, 1850, the Sioux re* 



134 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



treated westward from the vicinity of 
the Des Moines river, and committed 
no further outrages on the whites in 
its vicinity, while they remained there. 
When, in July, 1853, the troops at 
Fort Dodge were transferred to Fort 
Ridgely, Minnesota, they again be- 
came impudent and annoying, and 
Major William Williams, who re- 
mained at the fort, was empowered to 
keep them in check. It will be re- 
membered that the terrible tragedies 
enacted at Spirit Lake in 1857, and at 
New Ulm and Mankato in 1862, were 
perpetrated by bands of the Sioux. 

INDIANS IN LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 

About the month of August, 1873, a 
band of about sixty Indians crossed 
this county, traveling eastward along 
the line that runs one mile north of 
the south line of Dover, Grant and 
Lincoln townships; of whom the fol- 
lowing account has been furnished by 
C. M. Saylor, of the last named town- 
ship: 

"They made this journey in true In- 
dian style, which was a single file that 
extended nearly a mile in length, sev- 
eral rods usually intervening between 
each member of the procession. About 
a dozen members of the band were 
mounted on ponies that were heavily 
loaded with luggage. Their tepee or 
tent poles, tied loosely together at one 
end with a thong, were hung over the 
backs of the ponies in front of the 
riders, while their loose ends were 
left to drag on the ground. On these 
poles, at a short distance from the 
rear of the pony, cross-pieces were 
fastened that served as a framework 
for carrying their tenting, cooking 
utensils, trapping outfit and other 
necessary equipage. Some of their 
papooses or babies, had been put in 
baskets and strapped on these poles 
that extended from the ponies to the 
ground. One or two of the squaws, 
sitting on the bundles that rested on 
the poles, were also enjoying the same 
kind of transportation; They were 



supposed to be journeying either to a 
reservation or to one of their favorite 
camping grounds along the Des Moines 
river. While passing through Lin- 
coln township they called for provis- 
ions at the homes of Mr. Saylor and 
John Dooley. " 

INDIANS IN BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 

Mrs. Win. Brownlee, of Pomeroy, 
thinks she never, in all her life. re : 
ceived any compliment that gave her 
more real pleasure than one bestowed 
by a band of Indians that camped on 
their farm, on section 18, Bellville 
township, in the spring of the year 
during the seventies, to hunt and trap 
among the ponds in that vicinity. 
Knowing that the Indians were treach- 
erous and .blood-thirsty when on the 
war-path, she did not appreciate the 
idea of having them for her nearest 
neighbors. When, however, they 
pitched their tents so near them, in 
the interest of peace and good-will, 
she and her husband decided to give 
them about all they might call for. 
When the squaws, true to their cus- 
tom, called, day after day, for "more 
food," she gave them all the available 
bread and butter in the home, and fre- 
quently, by special request, some roos- 
ters, indulging the hope it would be 
their last call. The Indians must 
have enjoyed her hospitality more 
than ordinary, for when the two 
weeks' hunt was ended, the chief of 
the band came with the squaws when 
they made their last call, for the pur- 
pose of expressing their appreciation 
of the favors received and bid farewell 
to their benefactors. On this occa-. 
sion, when they were ready to depart, 
Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee standing near 
each other in the front yard of their 
home, the Indians thanked them 
heartily and bowed graciously, after 
which the chief, addressing Mr. 
Brownlee but pointing to his wife, 
with all his native earnestness 
and gesticulation, exclaimed: "Good 
s-q-u-a-w! Good s-q-u-a^w!" 



BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK. 



135 



THE POTTAWATTAMIES. 

A band of Pottawattamies, under 
their old chief, Johnnie Green, used 
to frequent the Lizard in the hunt- 
ing and trapping season for many 
years. They were known as the 
"Johnnie Green tribe," or "Prairie 
band of Pottawattamies." Their res- 
ervation was in eastern Kansas, but 
during the sixties they became ulti- 
mately associated with the Mus- 
quakies (Sacs and Foxes), and locat- 
ed near them in the country along 
the Iowa river. They were peace- 
able in disposition and always carried 
with them a written passport. A few 
of their number, usually the squaws, 
would make it a practice to go from 
house to house in the settlement beg- 
ging clothing and provisions. They 
usually numbered from twenty-five to 
fifty persons, including men, women 
and children, and they roamed consid- 
erably throughout the north part of 
the state, traveling some on foot, oth- 
ers on horseback, and camping at dif- 
ferent places as they proceeded. 

The Collins' grove, on section 13, 
Lizard township, was one of their fa- 
vorite places of encampment, and they 
occupied it every one or two years dur- 
ing the sixties and seventies and for 
the last time, about the year 1883. 
The old chief, Johnnie Green, was 
about seventy years of age when he 
made his last visits, about the years 
1873 and 1874. The name of the young 
chief who succeeded him, is not re- 
membered. 

Two other favorite stopping places 
for the Indians in those days were the 
large grove on the east side of Lizard 
lake, in Lake township, and a grove 
south of Dakota City, near the forks 
of the Des Moines river, where for 
many years there lived an early settler 
by the name of Miller. The groves of 
timber at Sac City, at this early peri- 
od were also visited by bands of In- 
dians who came from southern Ne- 
braska. 



The Winnebagoes and Pottawatta- 
mies were originally from the districts 
west andfcsouth 'Of Lake Michigan. In 
1836, the latter were settled by the 
government in southwestern Iowa in- 
cluding what is now- Pottawattamie 
county. By the treaty of June 5, 
1846, they sold all their lands in Iowa, 
and in 1847 and '48 were removed to 
Kansas Territory, where most of them 
remained, but some returned to Iowa, 
and during the sixties occupied the 
country in the vicinity of Iowa and 
Tama counties, together with the Mus- 
quakie (Sac and Fox) tribe. At the 
present time there are 390 Musquakies 
and about forty Pottawattamies, 
Winnebagoes and others occupying 
their own lands in Tama county. 

The Pottawattamies and Winneba- 
goes never molested the early settlers; 
but when some venturesome trader, 
in exchange for their furs, gave them 
whiskey, under its influence they, as 
well as pale faces in a similar condi- 
tion, sometimes became quarrelsome. 

"On his head his eagle feathers, 
Round his waist his belt of wampum, 
In his hand his bow of ash-wood, 
Strung with sinews of the reindeer." 

The roving bands of Indians who 
visited these sections for many years 
during the period of early settlement, 
usually spent about three months of 
the fall or spring of the year catch- 
ing mink and muskrats for their flesh 
and fur. They could trap and spear 
muskrats to better advantage than 
the whites because, while the latter 
utilized only the fur, the Indians ate 
the flesh of the rat and mink with 
great zest, and furs cured by them 
brought a better price in the market. 

The Indian, upon his small footed 
pony, was an interesting object to the 
stranger. The ponies were gentle 
creatures, docile as dogs and had 
beautiful feet. The Indians made 
their own saddles and always of raw- 
hide. They dressed comfortably, 
many showing a decided preference 



136 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



for the red blanket for underwear. 
Mothers, while on the journey, would 
strap their babies to a board, and 
then carry them in whatever way was 
most convenient, sometimes by 
swinging them over their shoulder. 
The men, when trading, endeavored 
to make "shrewd bargains;" before 
leaving town, they usually spent all 
they received for furs, and the to- 
bacco and whiskey dealer was pretty 
sure to get his share. The men and 



women composingfthese bands of In- 
dian trappers, whilst they were oddly 
dressed, were ordinarily a lot of 
hearty, healthy and fine looking people. 
They were remnants of the once 
powerful tribes that were in posses- 
sion of all the country from the Lakes 
to the Missouri, atjthe end of the war 
of independence. They presented, 
however, but a faint resemblance of 
their former greatness and renown, or 
of their warlike and noble bearing. 




THE SUEVEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY. 



137 



III. 

TH S SURVEY ©F P©eflH0NTflS COUNTY. 

"What lovely prospect meets the view: 

The rolling prairies, like a sea, 

In vast and wild sublimity, 

There lie* with an unbroken sod, 

Untilled but by the hand of God: 

He sows the seeds of grass and flowers, 

He moistens them with vernal showers!" 

—Leonard Brown. 

the government survey. 




HE government sur- 
vey of Pocahontas 
county was made dur- 
ing the years of 1853, 
1854 and 1855^ by two 
parties of surveyors 
who followed each other in their work. 
The first party located the boundary 
lines of the several townships, which 
are six miles square, by driving into 
the ground an oak stake and raising a 
mound of earth around it, at the cor- 
ners of each township and of each sec- 
tion on these boundary lines. The 
earth for the mound around the stake 
would usually be taken at a distance 
of eight links east or south from the 
corner stake, and the exact location of 
the pit thus formed would be noted in 
the field notes of the surveyor. The 
second party surveyed the townships 
severally, dividing them into sections, 
each one mile square, and driving a 
stake at the distance of every half 
mile as well as at the corners of each 
section. 

Comparatively few, if any of the 
original stakes are now found at the 
dorners of the sections. Prairie fires 



destroyed many of them, while others 
have decayed with the lapse of time 
or have been covered by the grades on 
the highways. The county surveyor 
of Pocahontas county, (H. W Bissell) 
about the year 1890, began to mark 
the corners of the sections where the 
stakes used to stand, with a rock 
nearly buried. These markers are 
more durable and many of them may 
now be seen, even upon the grades, in 
in the center of highways where the 
roads cross each other. 

The first survey, or that of the town- 
ship lines, was made by John W. Ellis, 
deputy surveyor, who was assisted in 
the survey of the three south tiers of 
townships, numbers 90, 91 and. 92, by 
John Corrick and James A. Holstein, 
chainmen; Charles Bell, axeman or 
marker, and W. M. Helms, flagman; 
and in the north tier of townships, 
number 93 by Charles Bell and Charles 
Moran, chainmen; Barnet Dodd, axe- 
man, and William Dodd, flagman. 
These men surveyed the boundaries of 
the several townships of Pocahontas 
county, under a contract of date June, 
14, 1853. 



138 PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



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THE SUEVEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY. 



139 



The variation of the compass, in Po- 
cahontas county at the time of this 
government survey, was noted as rang- 
ing from 11° 15' to 11° 35 / east on the 
north and south lines, and 10° 20' to 
11° 15 / east on the south and west 
lines. 

These government surveys were 
made by deputy surveyors, under the 
appointment and direction of Warner 
Lewis, surveyor general of Iowa and 
Wisconsin, whose office at that time 
was at Dubuque, Iowa. 

The following general notes made 
by the surveyors at the conclusion of 
their work, on the main features or 
characteristics of the townships sur- 
veyed, are already of historic interest 
and no doubt throw some light on the 
early impressions that affected, to 
some extent, the settlement of this 
section of the country. 

They classed a great part of the 
land as "second rate, full of irreclaim- 
able marshes, although producing 
grass, canes, rushes, flags, brakes and 
pea vines, abundantly." They were 
careful to note the fact there was no 
timber in many of the townships, and 
the presence of timber must have 
been regarded as an absolute necessity 
in order to render these lands inhab- 
itable; for the surveyor of Des Moines 
township, which had more timber 
than perhaps any other township in 
the county, writes: "There is suffi- 
cient timber in this township to war- 
rant but a few settlers, at least for 
some time to come. " 

PLAN OF THE GOVERNMENT SURVEY. 

The method of the United States 
government in the survey of these 
western lands is an admirable one and 
has for its basis the invariable direc- 
tion of the true meridians of longi- 
tude. All bearings taken from these 
meridians are called true, to distin- 
guish them from magnetic bearings; 
and in their direction they are as in- 
variable as is the meridian from which 
they are measured. 



The same is true of the parallels of 
latitude, from which distances are 
measured north and south. Since all 
distances and bearings are measured 
from two lines that are at right angles 
to each other, the one a true meridian 
of longitude and the other a true par- 
allel of latitude, the system is rectan- 
gular. 

All lands in Iowa by townships are 
numbered eastward and westward 
from the 5th principal meridian which, 
extending due north from the mouth 
of the Arkansas river, passes through 
the eastern part of Iowa twelve miles 
west of Dubuque. This meridian, 
which is the 14th west from Wash- 
ington, gives the range of the town- 
ships east and west; and from it the 
east tier of townships of Pocahontas 
county is numbered 31, the second 32, 
the third 33 and the west tier 34. 

All the townships in Iowa are num- 
bered northward from a base line, a 
true parallel that, extending due east 
and west, crosses the 5th principal 
meridian forty-eight miles north of 
the mouth of the Arkansas river. 
This is the 35th parallel of north lati- 
tude and forms the north boundary line 
of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. 
Counting from this base line, the 
south tier of townships of Pocahontas 
county is numbered 90, the second 91, 
the third 92 and the north tier 93. 

The boundary lines on the north and 
south sides of a township are called 
township lines, and the rows or tiers 
of townships running east and west on 
these lines, which are parallel to the 
base line, are called townships. The 
boundary lines on the east and west 
sides of a township are called range 
lines, and the tiers of townships run- 
ning north and south along these lines, 
which are parallel to the principal me- 
ridian, are called ranges. The bound- 
ary lines of a section are called section 
lines, and all interior corners, neces- 
sary for the division of a section, were 
left by the government surveyors to : 



140 PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



be located by local or county survey- 
ors. 

Since the meridians of longitude 
converge toward each other as we pass 
northward from the equator, it fol- 
lows that the north line of a town- 
ship would naturally be a little short- 
er than the south line. Pocahontas 
county is located between the 42d and 
43d parallels and in this latitude the 
convergence is about forty-three feet 
to each township. This convergence 
is remedied by an occasional correc- 
tion line, one of which may be seen 
upon the map of Iowa extending east 
and west six miles south of Pocahon- 
tas county. The correction is made 
in the tier of townships south of this 
line. While the distances on the 
north side of this line are all six miles, 
those on the south side of it are all 
less than six miles by the amount of 
the convergence for the distance the 
township lines have been run. All 
the other townships are intended to 
be six miles square. 



Each township is divided by paral- 
lel lines into thirty-six equal parts, 
called sections. Each section is one 
mile square and contains 640 acres. 
The section is divided into quarter- 
sections of 160 acres each and the lat- 
ter into quarters of forty acres each. 
The sections are always numbered 
from 1 to 36 in regular order, com- 
mencing with the one at the north- 
east corner of the township and pro- 
ceeding west, then east and so on, un- 
til the southeast corner is reached, as 
may be seen in the accompanying plat. 

It is of interest to note that the 
government survey of public lands in 
Iowa was begun in the autumn of 1836, 
by A. Bent & Son, from Michigan, 
who received their commission as U. 
S. deputies, from the office of the Sur- 
veyor General at Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Their first contract was for the sur- 
vey of Scott county, of which Daven- 
port is the county, seat, and it was 
completed in the spring of 183*7. 

The survey of lands in northwest 



NORTH 



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SOUTH 

PLAT OF A TOWNSHIP— T. 90, R. 34. 
The numbers "T. 90, R. 34" are those of Cedar 
township and show that it is township number .90 
andtlnjgfc 34 w"08| from the 5th principal meridian. 



The different divisions of a Section 
are described as follows: 



c 


a 


d 




b 



a— N. E. 34— Northeast Quarter. 

b-S. %— South Half. 

c-N. % N. W. %- North Half of the 
North -West Quarter. 

d-S. W. % N. W. J^-South -west Quar- 
ter of the North- West Quarter. 



Sectiqn hj of every township In Iowa was set apart by the government for the support of 
f^&p^bUci p^ftptjlsj and they are palled "school laufls.'' 



TOPOGEAPHY OF THE COUNTY. 



141 



Iowa, including all the territory north the Sioux, when they crossed the Des 



of Des Moines, was not commenced 
until the fall of 1848, when Marsh and 
his company undertook to run the 
correction line from the Mississippi, 
near Dubuque, to the Missouri, near 
Sioux City, and were driven back by 



Moines river in Webster county. This 
work was resumed at a later date and 
when, in the settlement of Woodbury 
county, a town was located on this 
line, it was very significantly named 
Correctionville. 



IV. 

T0P©GRaPHY ©F THE e©LJNTY. 

'Cease all this parlance about hills and dales."— Duo. 

LOCATION AND SURFACE FEATURES. * 




5« ~ ' ~ -^ ic n A TTr>ATrr ,v q c ° un - 

" ty lies just east of 
the summit of the 
ridge or watershed — 
extending from Dick- 
inson to Audubon 
counties — that divides the waters of 
the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. 
This summit is near Marathon, Bue- 
na Yista county, and some of the 
streams of Buena Yista find their way 
to the Missouri, while others empty 
into the Father of Waters. The drain- 
age of Pocahontas county is wholly 
into the Mississippi and is effected, to 
a greater extent, by Lizard creek and 
its branches than by any other stream. 
The remaining surface is drained by 
Cedar creek, an upper branch of the 
Baccoon river, that has its source in 
Bush lake, a few miles northwest of 
Laurens, and by the West Branch of 
the Des Moines river and its tribu- 
taries, Beaver and Pilot creeks. 

Pocahontas, like a large proportion 
of the counties in Iowa, is perfectly 
square in outline and contains sixteen 
congressional townships, making it 
twenty-four miles across from north 
to south and from east to west. It 
contains an area of 576 square miles, 
or 368,640 acres. Technically described 
it embraces townships 90, 91, 92 and 93 
north, of ranges 31, 32, 33 and 34, west 
of the 5th principal meridian. 



Pocahontas county is situated in 
the northwest part of the state, being 
two tiers of counties south of its 
northern and three tiers east of its 
western boundary. It is bounded on 
the north by Palo Alto county, on the 
west by Buena Yista, on the south by 
Calhoun and on the east by Webster 
and Humboldt counties. Its eleva- 
tion is about 1400 feet above the level 
of the sea and its surface has a grad- 
ual slope to the south and east. The 
average slope of the county is a trifle 
less than four feet to the mile, which 
is about the same as that of the state 
from Spirit Lake to Keokuk. 

The only bodies of natural timber 
in the county are, a strip ranging from 
a quarter to a half mile in width along 
the Des Moines river in the north- 
east, a similar skirting, though less in 
size, on the east side of Lizard lake 
and along Lizard creek in the south- 
east, at Swan Lake in the northwest, 
a little along Cedar creek where it 
crosses the line into Calhoun, and at 
Sunk Grove, an island of some eighty 
acres in a slough in the northwest 
part of Cedar township. During the 
sixties, this island was covered with a 
heavy ^growth of fine, 'large timber 
consisting of maple, elm, basswood, 

*The greater part under this head was 
written by L. C. Thornton, county surveyor, 
1884-5 and 1888 9, for the Reveille, Jan. 30, 1896. 



142 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Cottonwood, oak, hackberry, box-elder 
and other woods. The early settlers 
traveled many miles to levy tribute on 
this unusual supply of good timber, 
and it was not long before unsightly 
stumps were all that were left to tell 
of the beautiful grove that existed 
here previous to the year 18*70. At 
the present time there is a fine body 
of young timber, or second growth, at 
this place. These bodies of natural 
timber, affording material for fuel 
and the construction of buildings, as 
well as a> grateful protection to stock 
both in summer and winter, became 
the most attractive places to the 
early pioneer. 

Pocahontas county is almost an un- 
interrupted prairie that extends also 
into all the adjoining counties. Its 
beautiful prairie surface is gently un- 
dulating and is slightly broken only in 
the northeast by the Des Moines river, 
in the southeast by Lizard and in the 
southwest by Cedar creek. All of 
Northwestern Iowa is noted for its 
beauty,and fertility, and in these re- 
spects Pocahontas is unsurpassed by 
any of the neighboring.counties. Oth- 
er parts of this northwestern section 
are more rolling and their elevated 
portions, in the earlier days, were 
prized because they were tillable, but 
these elevated and valuable portions 
were interspersed with unappreciated 
and impassable sloughs and other 
waste places. In Pocahontas county 
these extremes are not found. The 
entire surface of the county is that of 
an elevated plain with a gentle slope 
to the southeast and having no waste 
land except the channels of the river 
and creeks— and these are essential to 
its occupancy and fertility. 

As its elevation is so high it is alto- 
gether probable the surface of Poca- 
hontas county has not changed mate- 
rially since its transition from the 
bottom of a lake-bed to the elevation 
of a blooming prairie. Since that 
time no floods have swept over it and 



no convulsions have marred the con- 
tour of its surface. In washing out 
their channels the streams have some- 
what cut the crust, but on the whole 
it is safe to say the general lay of the 
land is the same as when it rose above 
the waters. 

In the northwest part of the county 
are Swan and Muskrat lakes, shallow 
bodies of water with mud bottoms. 
The main body of the former, extend- 
ing north and south, is about a mile 
long and a half-mile wide. It has a 
small, curved arm on the west, re- 
sembling the neck and bill of a swan 
and from this circumstance received 
its name. Muskrat lake which is 
about the same size, but extending 
east and west is but a few rods east of 
the former and is connected with it 
by a creek, a link of the Cedar. Clear 
lake, in the west central part of the 
county, lying partly in Dover and 
partly in Marshall townships, is shaped 
like the letter L, the stem pointing 
west and the arm north. It is prob- 
ably two miles long by half a mile 
wide and is drained by the little or 
west branch of the Cedar. During 
the long continued drought of 1894, 
these lakes, except a part of the last, 
became dry and, during the season of 
1895, good crops of grain were pro- 
duced in the beds of all of them. Liz- 
ard lake in Lake township, extending 
northeast and southwest, is about 
one mile long by half a mile wide and 
has an outlet through which it emp- 
ties into the north branch of Lizard 
creek. 

*In the days of early settlement 
there were in this county sloughs 
without number and some of the 
principal ones were named Devil's 
Island, Purgatory, Muskrat and Six- 
teen-Mile Slough. These were great 
places for muskrats and ducks, and 
gave rise to the familiar proverbs that 
"a flat-boat should be included in a 
farmer's list of apparatus necessary 
for cropping here" and that "a man 



TOPOGKAPHY OF THE COUNTY, 



143 



became web-footed after living in Po- 
cahontas county a year. " 

But a great change has taken place. 
Where once there was nothing but 
muskrat houses and duck ponds, there 
are now finely cultivated fields. Great 
expanses that once seemed to be 
worthless swamps, save that they 
yielded a thousand muskrats each 
year, are now the most productive 
portions and yield annually many 
thousands of bushels of corn. A few 
years ago the high and dry lands 
brought two and three times as much 
as the low, flat pieces, but now this al- 
so is changed. There is now little or 
no waste land in the county. 

There has been no upheaval, the 
land has not "risen above the waters," 
but the ditching machine, that great 
enemy of the duck and muskrat, has 
been abroad in the land, considerable 
tiling has been done and the tangle of 
the grasses has been broken by the 
plow. Through these means the sur- 
face water has been removed and 
the surplus moisture allowed to evap- 
orate. These instrumentalities have 
contributed greatly to make Pocahon- 
tas county what it is today— one of 
the healthiest, most beautiful and 
productive in the state. 

THE SOIL. 

"Other skies may be fair, 

Other lands be brilliant with beauty, 
Or rich with their treasures 

Of rock-hidden gold. 
But hearts that are true 

To affection and duty, 
Best ever and dearest 

Will 'Pocahontas County' hold." 
—A. L. F. 

The soil of this county is a rich, 
dark loam, that varies in thickness 
from two to eight feet. It is an un- 
disturbed drift soil underlaid with a 
deep subsoil of porous clay mixed 
slightly with gravel, and possesses a 
uniform richness and fertility through- 
out the county. It differs somewhat 
from similar soils in other parts of 
the state, in that it contains a slightly 



greater proportion of sand and less 
clay, a circumstance that imparts 
physical properties to it that are very 
beneficial in agriculture, giving it a 
warmth and mellowness that is favor- 
able not only to the growth of crops 
but their maturity in this locality, 
as early as upon the more clayey soils, 
two hundred miles further south. It 
has also the additional advantage of 
becoming sufficiently dry for cultiva- 
tion sooner after the frosts of early 
spring have ceased, or the showers of 
summer have ended, than those that 
contain a greater proportion of clay. 
It is a soil that is easily subdued, may 
be cultivated in the most convenient 
manner with the latest improved ma- 
chinery and is well calculated to with- 
stand the extremes of drought or ex- 
cessive rainfall. 

In these characteristics of the soil 
is found the secret of the uniform pro- 
ductiveness of this locality under all 
conditions of the weather, and of the 
superiority of Northwest Iowa over 
some other parts of the state. The 
wonderful power of this soil to with- 
stand the injury arising from either 
excessive drought or moisture, has 
been demonstrated year by year, ever 
since the first settlers turned the first 
furrows in this section. 

During a series of seasons in the 
eighties, when the crops in many 
other localities were seriously dam- 
aged by unusual rainfall, the farmers 
of Northwestern Iowa moved steadily 
forward, gathering abundant harvests. 
This ability to withstand excessive 
moisture is no doubt due to the fact 
that the subsoil of this region is rare- 
ly an impenetrable clayey hardpan 
near the surface, acting as a bowl to 
hold the water in great quantities, 
but is sufficiently porous to allow an 
excessive rainfall to percolate to an 
indefinite depth and leave the surface 
available for cultivation. 

In 1886 and during the period from 
1894 to 1895, there was afforded a strik- 



144 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ing illustration of the remarkable ca- 
pacity of this section to resist the 
general blighting effects of drought. 
In February, 1895, when the famine 
'prevailed in Central Nebraska and 
the unusual drought was more or less 
severely felt in all parts of this and 
the neighboring states, two carloads 
of grain and provisions were freely do- 
nated by the citizens of Pocahontas 
county and sent to the sufferers of 
Custer county, Nebraska. This inci- 
dent will always be a reminder not 
only of the generosity of the people 
but of the bountiful harvests gath- 
ered here at a time of general scarcity 
elsewhere. In this particular instance 
the local showers that visited this 
section in the summer of 1894, con- 
tributed greatly to insure the crops of 
that year. It remains however, to ob- 
serve there never has been a failure of 
crops, on account of drought, in Poca- 
hontas county. The secret of this 
ability to endure long droughts is also 
found to a great extent in the subsoil 
of this locality, the porous nature of 
which enables it to receive and retain 
moisture to a great depth, so that 
while the surface cultivation acts as a 
sort of mulch, the roots of growing 
crops strike deeper in search of need- 
ed moisture. 

It is to these singularly propitious 
qualities of the soil, together with a 
healthful and invigorating climate 
and an abundant supply of good water, 
that the unrivaled prosperity and en- 
richment of the people of Pocahontas 
county are due. 

The country west of the Mississippi 
can afford no parallel to the prosperity 
of Northwestern Iowa. The surplus 
of one year has not been consumed in 
making good the losses of the preced- 
ing one, but a surplus has been pro- 
duced every year. It is for this rea- 
son that farmers and stockraisers of 
this section have been growing rich 
and that that they should do so is not 
strange. It is the natural result of 



putting these beautiful prairies under 
that judicious care and cultivation 
they merit. Such' a teeming, trusty 
soil rapidly develops beautiful rural 
homes, builds cities, towns and rail- 
roads, and flings wealth into every 
willing hand that touches it. 

LIMESTONE BEDS, CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 

An interesting exposure of strati- 
fied rocks is found in the limestone 
beds of Clinton township, near the 
eastern border of the county. In 
Northwestern Iowa there are but two 
other similar exposures of stratified 
rocks and they are found, one in the 
southwest corner of Plymouth county, 
consisting of Woodbury sandstones 
and shales, and belonging to the cre- 
taceous (chalk or reptilian) age; and 
the other is in Lyon county, in the 
extreme northwest corner of the 
state, consisting of Sioux Quartzite, a 
brownish red granite, and belonging 
to the azoic* age. 

The stratified rocks in the southeast 
part of Clinton township, have been 
referred by State Geologist Charles 
A White, to the Kinderhook beds, 
constituting the lowest formation of 
the sub-carboniferous group that is 
found immediately underneath the 
coal-bearing strata. These Kinder- 
hook beds in Iowa are about 175 feet 
in thickness and consist of alternate 
layers of sandstone and limestone, the 
latter partly magnesian. The ex- 
posures in Clinton township are con- 
fined to a small space upon the gentle 
slope of the prairie valley, yet consid- 
erable quantities of rock have been 
quarried here for lime and building 
purposes. 

The rock at this place has a slight 
westward dip and consists of thin 
layers of limestone that is slightly 
oolitic (granular) but chiefly sub-crys- 
talline in texture and contains numer- 

*The age preceding organic life, and there- 
fore containing no fossils or organic remains. 
All granite formations, including the boul- 
ders of the prairies, belong to this age. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTY. 



145 



ous small fossil remains. The fossils 
are those of marine animals and be- 
long chiefly to the orthis (straight, 
rather thin) and spirifer (spiral) fami- 
lies of brachiop'oda (arm and foot), 
species of mollusks (soft) or bivalves, 
of which the clanfand oyster^are fa- 
miliar illustrations. 

The first exposure Tof stratified 
rocks due north of Pocahontas county, 
is found at New Ulm, in the valley of 
the Minnesota river, Minn., and it 
consists of a single exposure of the azoic 
age, having the same formation as the 
Sioux Quartzite found in the extreme 
northwestern corner of Iowa. 

If a square that shall represent one 
hundred miles east and west, and the 
same distance north and south be 
placed on the north line of Iowa, so 
that it shall extend southward be- 
tween the 29th and 30th ranges of 
townships from Kossuth to Greene 
counties, thence westward from 
Grand Junction to Onawa and thence 
to the north line of the state so as to 
include the east ranges of townships 
in Plymouth, Sioux and Lyon 
counties, it will represent 10,000 square 
miles, embracing more than 12 coun- 
ties, in the most elevated portion of 
Iowa on which there are no exposures 
of stratified rocks to be found except 
the quarry, on section 25, Clinton 
township, Pocahontas county.* 

This locality is interesting because 
it is the most northern and western 
point in Iowa at which the strata of 
this or any other sub-carboniferous 
formation is found. It is also the 
most western point at which any 
pa'leozo'ic (ancient life) strata has 
been observed within the limits of 
the state. In the section of country 
south of Pocahontas county, all the 
rock strata exposed within the limits 
of this state belong to the Lower, 
Middle and Upper coal measures, all 
of which have a slight southwesterly 
dip. This dip carries the Upper coal 

*Geology of Iowa, 1870— page 208. 



measure formation of Iowa beneath 
the cretaceous (chalk) strata of Ne- 
braska and they are not seen in that 
direction until they come to the sur- 
face again near Salt Lake, a thousand 
miles distant. The most northern ex- 
posures of these rocks, extending from 
Harrison through Guthrie and Greene 
to Webster county, indicate that the 
coal-bearing formations of Missouri 
and Southern Iowa have ended by 
thinning out somewhere beneath the 
drift of this broad, stoneless area. 

OTHER ROCK-BEDS IN IOWA. 

It will be of interest to note that 
the oldest stratified rocks in Iowa are 
the Sioux Quartzite or brownish red 
granite, found in the extreme north- 
west corner of the state. These be- 
long to the Azoic or Algonkian age, 
the age preceding the existence of 
either plant or animal life. 

The next oldest rocks are found in 
the northeast part of the state, in the 
territory extending from Dubuque 
county to the north line of the state 
and westward to Winneshiek county. 
These belong to the Lower Silurian 
age, so called after the Silures, the an- 
cient Celtic inhabitants of that part 
of Wales where they were first found. 
It is also called the age of inverte- 
brates (destitute of a backbone) be- 
cause during this period animal life 
began to exist in the seas under the 
forms known as articulates, (with a 
segmented body like a worm,) radiates 
(having a radiate structure like a 
flower) and mollusks. The Pots- 
dam sandstone, a soft, friable forma- 
tion found in the channel of the Upper 
Iowa river for a distance of twenty 
miles from its mouth, in Allamakee 
county, is the oldest rock in this sec- 
tion, and it is supposed to rest on the 
Sioux Quartzite. Overlying this for- 
mation are the lower magnesian lime- 
stones, buff colored dolomites, in the 
bluffs that border the valley of the 
Upper Iowa, and the St. Peter's sand- 
stone, a gritty, light colored rock, gen- 



146 PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



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TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTY. 



147 



erally, but having shades of reel and 
yellow at McGregor that give rise to 
the local name of "Pictured Rocks. " 
The Galena limestone in which the 
lead is found and that forms the 
high bluffs along the river at Du- 
buque and northward, also repre- 
sent this age. The Upper or later 
Silurian period includes the ex- 
posures in the area extending from 
Scott county northwestward through 
Fayette. The Niagara limestone 
found at Farley and other places in 
Dubuque county, at Le Claire, Scott 
county, and as far west as Anamosa, 
belong to this period. This forma- 
tion affords the best and greatest 
amount of building rock in the state 
and the quarries at Anamosa are re- 
markable for the uniformity and pre- 
cision of the strata. 

Southwest of this area there is a 
belt 50 miles in width and 200 miles in 
length, extending from Davenport to 
Muscatine on the Mississippi in a 
northwesterly direction to Mitchell 
and Worth counties on the north line 
of the state, where the rocks that are 
exposed belong to the next age, that 
of fishes, called Devonian. During 
this age the waters of the sea began 
to be inhabited by the reef-building 
corals, turtles, sharks and scale fishes, 
and in the marshes and upon the 
islands there appeared seaweeds, ferns, 
ground pines and conifers. The lime- 
stone found at Rockford, Waverly, 
the Old Capitol quarry near Iowa City 
and at other places in the district just 
named, are referred to the Hamilton 
period of this era. The oil wells of 
Western Canada are traced to the 
limestone beds formed during this 
era in that section. During this De- 
vonian age when the strata of the 
rocks last named formed the surface 
of the earth's crust in this section, 
the continent of North America was 
to a great extent a vast sea with a 
very limited amount of dry land. In 
place of the Rocky and Allegheny 



mountains, there were only islands, 
reefs and shallow waters marking 
their future site, for none of the coal- 
bearing strata and other rocks now 
found upon their slopes 13,000 feet 
above the sea had yet been formed. 

The age of Fishes was followed by 
that of the coal plants, called Carbon- 
iferous. This age has been divided 
into three periods of time, each rep- 
resenting a distinct formation of 
rocks known as those of the lower, 
middle and upper coal measures. It 
was commenced with a preparatory 
marine period called the sub-carbonif- 
erous or lower coal measure that had 
its consummation in a long era of ex- 
tensive continents, covered with for- 
ests and marsh vegetation, and sub- 
ject at long intervals to inundations 
of fresh or marine waters. This sub- 
carboniferous period in Iowa extends 
from Lee and Louisa counties in the 
southeast part of the state, through 
Washington to Franklin and thence 
west to the eastern part of Pocahon- 
tas county. The rocks that occur in 
this belt at Burlington, where the 
beds are 147 feet in thickness, along 
the Iowa river in Tama, Marshall, 
Hardin and Franklin counties and 
along the Des Moines in. Humboldt 
and Pocahontas counties, have been 
referred to the Kinderhook beds of 
that period. The rock is a light 
brown or buff-colored limestone, and 
usually contains small fossil remains. 

The carboniferous or coal measures 
proper are found in the country south 
of the region just named, along the 
Des Moines and Raccoon rivers; while 
the upper coal measures are found in 
the southwestern part of the state, 
from Wayne to Madison and thence to 
Harrison county. It will thus be per- 
ceived that the rocks formed during 
the carboniferous age, occupying the 
central and southern part of the state, 
are the surface rocks of the greater 
part of Iowa, and indicate the geo- 
logical age of this section of country. 



148 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



It is by their organic remains or an- 
imal and vegetable fossils that the 
stratified rock-beds are distinguished 
and the strata of the different dis- 
tricts are classified. 

Iowa is near the center of the great 
interior region between the Allegheny 
and Rocky mountains. This vast ex- 
panse of country unbroken by mount- 
ains and untouched by the sea, has 
been termed a great basin. Every- 
where are evidences of the compara- 
tively recent elevation of the surface 
that has lain for ages near the level of 
the sea. The deposition of each later 
formation carried the old shore line 
farther and farther southward until 
at the close of the carboniferous the 
the land surface had been extended to 
the central portion of what is now the 
state of Arkansas. The Gulf of Mex- 
ico and the five great lakes of the lake 
region are now the diminutive rem- 
nants of that vast body of water that 
once covered the central part of North 
America. 

At the commencement of the car- 
boniferous era, a vast sea of shallow 
water spread out over what was soon 
to be the heart of a great continent. 
A long period of quiet existed while 
the great beds of limestone, formed 
for the most part from organic re- 
mains, were laid in sheets. Subse- 
quently, over the marshes and dry 
slopes there grew rank forests of lepi- 
dodendrons— trees of great size, hav- 
ing scaly or sectional bark with leaf 
scars — conifers and other varieties, 
and their luxuriant growth continued 
until the creeping centuries had ac- 
cumulated vegetable debris (rubbish) 
sufficient for beds of coal. Trees and 
shrubs grew rapidly, shed their leaves 
and fruit and then dying formed the 
accumulations of vegetable remains. 
While great stumps stood in the 
swamps the debris of the growing 
vegetation and also the drift borne by 
the waters accumulated around them, 
and occasional logs floated over the 



lakes to sink and become buried in 
the accumulating vegetable deposits. 
This luxuriant vegetation grew under 
the influence of fresh or lake water 
and formed coal only where there were 
marshes and the deposits of vegetable 
debris afterward became covered by 
deposits of sand, clay or other rock 
material, the result of a submergence 
that let in the saline, or seawater 
with its period of abundance of aquat- 
ic, (water), or marine life. It was 
during this more recent period that 
the gypsum beds upon the tops of the 
bluffs and hills in the vicinity of Fort 
Dodge, and other stratified rocks over- 
lying the coal-beds, were formed. It 
will be perceived that the luxuriant 
forests and vegetation that once ex- 
isted throughout this section of coun- 
try and furnished the material for 
the coalbeds, were all destroyed, for 
all existing forests are found above 
the drift deposit, a material of still 
later formation than the gypsum beds 
and many feet in depth. 

THE DRIFT AND BOULDERS. 

The term Drift, includes the clay, 
sand, gravel and boulders that con- 
stitute the covering, in unstratified 
form, of the rock formations through- 
out Iowa. Its depth or thickness 
ranges from a few to several hundred 
feet and its greatest depth is found 
along the watershed or divide, near 
the summit of which Pocahontas 
county is located. Whilst it is found 
to be from 50 to 100 feet in other parts 
of the state, along this ridge its depth 
ranges from 150 to 250 feet, so that 
wells rarely reach the stratified rocks 
underneath it. 

The drift is composed of more or less 
finely pulverized formations that ex- 
isted in other forms prior to its pres- 
ent location and arrangement. A 
large part of it was doubtless derived 
from the rock formations that under- 
lie it, many of which in Iowa are soft 
and easily pulverized, but a consid- 
erable part, including all the boul- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTY, 



149 



ders, came from some northern local- 
ity. 

The clay of the drift has a brown 
or buff tint and is commonly called 
joint clay, because it breaks into 
angular lumps when dry or ex- 
posed to the air. It is always more 
or less impure and its yellowish color 
is due to the presence of peroxide of 
iron, which becomes red when burned, 
as in brick or tile. The proportion of 
lime in it is so great that the water of 
all our wells and springs, though 
healthful, cool and excellent for man 
and beast, yet holds so much carbon- 
ate of lime in solution that it is too 
hard for washing purposes until the 
carbonate has been precipitated with 
borax, potash or sal-soda. 

Sand and gravel constitute a very 
small proportion of the drift in Iowa, 
and the former as regards its fineness 
is very variable. The gravel however, 
wherever it is found, is a character- 
istic constituent and was derived 
from rocks that are either silicious 
(flint-like) or granitic (composed of 
quartz, feldspar and mica), and no 
doubt a large part of it existed as 
gravel, before the glacial epoch. 

The drift in Iowa was evidently 
formed at two different periods. The 
earlier drift mantles all the surface of 
the state except the extreme north- 
eastern corner of it, while the later 
drift is represented by a lobe that ex- 
tends one-third the way across the 
state, where it enters from the north, 
and as far south as Des Moines. 

Upon the surface of the drift, in 
many localities in Pocahontas county, 
there were originally numerous boul- 
ders or rounded stones and they 
ranged in weight from fifty pounds to 
one or more tons. Nearly all of these 
surface rocks, commonly called "nig- 
ger heads," have now been removed 
from their home on the prairies and 
utilized in the erection of the first and 
some of the most substantial walls in 
thifc section; In a iey years they will 



be seen only in this humble position 
of usefulness in the walls of buildings, 
but there they will remain to attract 
the attention of future generations to 
their wonderful and interesting story. 

Two very large boulders may still 
be seen in Pocahontas county; one on 
the east side of section 9, Dover town- 
ship, known as "Hunters' Rock," and 
the other on the northwest corner of 
section 33, Bellville township, called 
"Lone Rock. " The former is about 
seven feet in height above the ground 
and twelve feet in diameter. It is lo- 
cated on the edge of a slough, about 
twenty rods west from the road run- 
ning along the east line of the section, 
and many a wild duck has been brought 
to the ground by the hunter stationed 
upon or behind this rock. Lone Rock, 
in Bellville township, is located but a 
few rods south of the highway and it 
was originally egg-shaped, resting on 
its larger end. It was' about forty 
feet in diameter at the surface of the 
ground, and the exposed portion 
though now reduced to fifteen was 
about twenty-five feet in height. 
This rock, in the early days, in the ab- 
sence of groves and buildings, was an 
attractive object to the passing emi- 
grant, and when the first settlers 
came to this county, about ten years 
later, they found the inscription, 
"1848," painted on the south side of 
it, or, more correctly, cut with a red 
stone chisel or hammer. By its tow- 
ering height, it became a conspicu- 
ous landmark, guiding the lonely 
traveler on his way, and in its grate- 
ful shade the weary pilgrim sat clown 
and refreshed himself. 

Another large boulder, 20 feet high 
and 30 feet in diameter at the surface 
of the ground, might have been seen 
in the early days on the west side of 
the SW. i of Sec. 33, (Harrold farm) 
Lincoln township, six miles north of 
Lone Rock; but only the base of it 
now remains. The fact was noticed 
by the early settlers that the gro'itnd 



150 PIONEEE HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 







ME^f 



SKETCH MAP OP THE INTERIOK COAL REGION OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

Throughout the shaded portion , the surface rock formations belong to the Carboniferous 
or coal-bearing strata. —From the Iowa Geological Survey, through the courtesy of Samuel 
Calvin, State Geologist. 



TOPOGEAPHY OP THE COUNTY. 



151 



around these large boulders was re- 
moved to the depth of about two feet 
on the south and east sides. The 
cause of these depressions was not 
very clear, but most persons attrib- 
uting them to the standing or bur- 
rowing of the wild animals that fre- 
quented them as places of shelter, 
called them "buffalo wallows." 

The boulders, found chiefly in the 
later drift, constitute a very conspic- 
uous and characteristic feature of it 
although they form but a very small 
proportion of its bulk. In North- 
western Iowa there are two varieties 
of them, some being composed of 
granite (quartz, feldspar and mica) 
and others of quartzite. Those of 
granite formation are by far the most 
numerous and some of them are pro- 
digious in size. 

Pilot Eock, a huge granite boulder 
along the 'Little Sioux river in Chero- 
kee county, was so high and afforded 
the Indians a survey of the surround- 
ing country so extensive that they 
called it the "Big Stone" and the 
river near it Stone river. They left 
upon it the only inscriptions that tell 
of their occupancy of this territory. 
A similar boulder, 2i miles distant 
from Waterloo, 28 feet high, 30 feet 
long and 20 feet wide, after the re- 
moval of the earth around it, but 
originally projecting only eight feet 
above the ground, has become famous 
because in 1890, this giant monolith 
after resting undisturbed for count- 
less years and buried by the deposits 
of ages, was converted into building 
stone and then transformed into a 
large and beautiful stone church in 
the city of Waterloo — the First Pres- 
byterian. In its rough state it was 
estimated to have weighed more than 
2500 tons. 

These boulders generally have a 
somewhat rounded form but seldom 
present any appearance of having 
been waterworn, as the pebbles do. 
Their rounded forms seem to be due 



to the concretionary character of the 
mass of which it was originally a part. 
Eocks have been formed chiefly in 
two distinct ways; first, by being so- 
lidified from the molten state by 
cooling, and second, by being spread 
out in layers or strata, through the 
agency of water. The primary rocks, 
or those of the Azoic age, were formed 
in the way first mentioned, if we ac- 
cept the supposition that the entire 
mass of our earth was, in the first 
period of its life, in a molten state. 
This primary formation is called gran- 
ite and it is generally believed to be 
the oldest variety or type of rock 
open to our observation. In all parts 
of the earth wherever the base of the 
aqueous (formed by water) or strati- 
fied rocks has been upheaved to the 
surface, that base has been found to 
rest upon granite. This igneous 
(formed by fire) type of rock forms 
the base of the stratified rocks every- 
where, and at one period the surface 
of the earth was entirely composed of 
it. Granite is the oldest and most 
durable of all rock formations; it is a 
close, compact body composed of 
fragments of other stony matter so 
firmly cemented together by heat 
that the whole forms one solid mass 
without any indication of pores, 
fissures or layers. 

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 

It is the general belief that the 
boulders and all the later surface drift, 
in which they are chiefly found in 
Iowa, were accumulated and trans- 
ported here through the agency of ice, 
during the glacial period that occurred 
subsequent to the carboniferous age; 
and that the earlier and later sheets 
of drift indicate two distinct eras of 
the glacial period. Glaciers are accu- 
mulations or streams of ice 200 to 5,000 
or more feet deep, fed by the snows 
and frozen mist of regions above the 
limits of perpetual snow, and they de- 
scend 4,500 to 7,500 feet below the 
snow line before the heat of summer 



152 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



melts them, their movement being 
somewhat similar to that of cold pitch. 
It is believed that during the earlier 
era, as indicated by the earlier sheet 
of drift, the glacier covered the great- 
er part of North America, extend- 
ing approximately as far south- 
ward in the Mississippi Valley as the 
line of the Ohio and Missouri rivers; 
that the later glacier, as indicated by 
the later sheet of drift, extended as far 
south in Central Iowa as Des Moines 
arid that both glaciers gradually re- 
ceded northward, the later one 
within the limits of the frigid 
zone, where it is now producing phe- 
nomena similar to those seen in the 
drift of Iowa.* 

Each era of the glacial period must 
have been one of elevation of the 
northern part of this continent, ac- 
companied with a very low tempera- 
ture, and the period was followed by 
one of unquestioned depression, re- 
sulting in a higher temperature that 
caused the disappeararice of the ice in 
immense floods along the valleys. 
The former was the period of the 
gathering and transportation of the 
earth and boulders, and the latter the 
period of their deposition and distrib- 
ution by the inland waters. 

The rocks, large and small, in the 
bottom and sides of a glacier, make it 
a tool of vast power, as well as mag- 
nitude, for scratching, plowing and 
planing the earth and rocks over 
which it moves. The grinding of the 
rocks against one another and those of 
the bottom against those underneath 
it produces very fine powder which 
forms the deposit called boulder clay 
or drift. 

The most convincing proof of the 
northern origin of the boulders is 
found in the fact they can be traced 
northward to their original ledges. 
The brownish red quartzite boulders, 
occasionally found throughout North- 
western Iowa, have been traced to 



their native ledges, the quartzite ex- 
posures in the extreme northwestern 
corner of Iowa and. the southwestern 
part of Minnesota. This quartzite 
boulder is not found north of these 
exposures of the Sioux quartzite ledges 
mentioned, nor further east, even in 
Iowa, than a line nearly due south 
from New Ulm, Minnesota, their 
most eastern exposure. The buff- 
colored magnesian boulders of the 
southeastern part of the state have 
been traced northward to' their origi- 
nal ledges in Northeastern Iowa and 
Southeastern Minnesota. And the 
granite boulders, found throughout 
all parts of the state but most plenti- 
fully in its northern half, have been 
traced to the granite cliffs in the re- 
gion of country north and west of 
Lake Superior. 

The drift in which the boulders are 
found, contains other materials which 
indicate that a great part of it has 
also come from another section. The 
earlier or lower part of the drift is a 
bed of clay that usually contains no 
marine fossils but only drifted logs 
and other accumulations of vegetable 
material. In the later drift fossils 
are occasionally found, but, 'like the 
boulders, instead of representing the 
period when the drift was formed, 
they invariably belong to the eras of 
the older rock formations. 

Rare substances, such as lumps of 
copper, impure coal, pieces of wood 
and other traces of vegetation found 
near the surface of the earlier drift 
have either been transported to this 
section and therefore are strangers in 
it as certainly as the granite boulders; 
or, as is stated by McGee in regard to 
the latter, "The remains of ancient 
trees, logs and stems of coniferous 
woods are so widely distributed as to 
prove that the older drift sheet was 
covered with soil and clothed with 
forests before the later ice invasion 
commenced."* 

*Io^$ Qeojogjcal Survey, 1892, p. \4\. 



TOPOGKAPHY OF THE COUNTY. 



153 



A mass of copper found in Lucas 
county, south of Des Moines, must 
have traveled 460 miles southward, if 
it came, as is most probable, from Ke- 
weenaw Point, south of Lake Superior, 
the nearest known district of native 
copper. 

WOOD IN WELLS. 

In sinking a well a few years ago on 
the SE i of Sec. 22, Lincoln town- 
ship, then occupied by Charles Kezer, 
at a depth of 96 feet, the workmen, 
who were using a 24-inch auger, struck 
the decayed trunk of a very large 
tree, pieces of which, six inches in 
length, were brought to the surface. 
The large size of the tree was indi- 
cated by the fact the auger was em- 
bedded its full width in the tree. 
The workmen were able to distinguish 
the bark from the body of the tree 
and the latter resembled cedar wood. 
A few pebbles were found underneath 
the log. The clay in which it was em- 
bedded began within six feet of the 
surface and extended as far as they 
continued to bore, 110 feet. 

Similar logs have been struck by the 
well-diggers in Sherman, Cedar and 
other townships of this county. Some 
pieces of wood found at a depth of 60 
feet in a well on the farm of John 
Bartosh, Center township, are before 
us as we write; they are very light and 
most of them look like cedar. The 
wood thus found in the drift is not 
petrified nor converted into coal, but 
is merely mineralized so that it is but 
slightly combustible. We cannot sup- 
pose that these trees grew in this sec- 
tion while the drift was accumulating 
any more than they now grow in the gla- 
cial region of Greenland unless it were 
during the period between the earlier 
and later drift. The forests whence 
this wood came were no doubt north- 
ward, but their exact location prob- 
ably can never be known. 

Geologists unite in calling the era 
when the drift of Pocahontas county 
and throughout Iowa was formed the 



Glacial period, under the idea that ice 
either in the form of icebergs or gla- 
ciers, which is more probable, trans- 
ported the earth, pebbles and boul- 
ders of the drift. Glaciers, like those 
of the Alps, are known to have trans- 
ported these materials long as well as 
short distances and to make scratches 
upon the rocks beneath them precise- 
ly like those found at Burlington, 
Council Bluffs and other places in 
Iowa. 

The trees over a continent of great 
forests were rooted up or broken off 
with the first movement of the ice 
and either partly ground up or carried 
and deposited with the drift, some- 
times in beds of vegetable material, 
at other times as scattered logs, limbs 
and roots. 

The subsequent melting of the gla- 
ciers resulted in a long period of im- 
mense floods while the waters were 
subsiding, and their boundaries finally 
became limited to the great lakes in 
the north and the Gulf of Mexico in 
the south. After the subsidence of 
the flood many lakes along the rivers 
disappeared and the rivers dwindled 
to about one-tenth their former size. 

"The valley in Clinton township, 
that commences near the place where 
Pilot creek enters the Des Moines riv- 
er and, extending southward, first as 
a deep ravine, to the VanAlstine 
farm on sections 24 and 25, then 
broadens out into the stone quarry 
flat, has been a section of considerable 
interest to those whose attention has 
been attracted to it. Here the ledges 
of limestone seem to have been up- 
heaved by some mighty force that has 
broken and seamed the original layers 
in all directions, as if by an explosion 
while the rock was heated; and the 
stones when struck with a hammer, 
give that sonorous sound peculiar to 
rocks and bricks that have been sub- 
jected to a great heat. It is worthy 
of notice that the Des, Moines river 
makes a sharp bend eastward, north 



154 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of this locality, after meandering 
southward about seven miles, and 
Lizard creek, at a point nine miles 
further south, makes a similar sudden 
turn southward. Throughout this 
intervening elevated or apparently up- 
heaved district, which includes a por- 
tion of the western part of Humboldt 
county, good drainage can be had by 
drilling into the rock until a fissure 
has been- found. The largest slough 
in the eastern part of Pocahontas 
county on sections 28 and 29, Clinton 
township, has thus been drained sub- 
terraneously. "* 

Whilst the condition of the surface 
of Pocahontas county before the Gla- 
cial epoch cannot be fully known, yet 
at the close of that period, both it 
and the state of Iowa consisted com- 
paratively of a uniformly level plain, 
unmarked by any strong features and 
without any completed system of sur- 
face drainage. After the recedence of 
the glaciers and the subsidence of the 
floods incident thereto, numerous 
shallow depressions were left upon the 
surface filled with water, thus form- 
ing lakes, ponds, swamps and sloughs. 
The slough, found midway between 
the swamp and the upland prairie, 
was a characteristic feature of this re- 
gion. Most of the lakes and sloughs 
are found in the localities in which 
the streams have their sources, par- 
ticularly the elevated slopes along the 
watershed, where they have remained 
because no accumulation of water be- 
yond has sent currents across them to 
cut channels for their outlet. 

FLOWING WELLS AND FOUNTAINS. 

Flowing fountains in the channels 
of the streams are not unusual, but 
upon the prairies they are rarely 
found. In Pocahontas county the 
following ones have been noted: 

In a body of native timber north of 
the home of the late Philip Kussell, 
on Sec. 2, Lizard township, near the 

*J. J. Bruce. 



west branch of Lizard, creek, there is 
a flowing fountain at which the water 
rises four feet above the ground and 
flows continually with a constant 
stream. This fountain was discovered 
in 1886 by John M. Kussell, while pros- 
pecting for coal and he supplied it 
with a metallic tube with the result 
just stated. 

The strongest spring reported in 
the county is located along Pilot creek, 
two miles east of Eolfe, where Geo. 
Heald in 1882 erected his cheese fac- 
tory. There are in fact two constant- 
ly flowing springs only eight feet 
apart at this place; one is a strong 
spring of clear, pure, cool water and 
the other comes from a mineral bed, 
the sediment from which gives the 
ground a yellowish red color as it flows. 

On the farm of Charles A. Hawley, 
1STW i Sec. 14, Marshall township, 
there is a flowing well located in the 
pasture about forty rods due south of 
the house. Sinking a well to the 
depth of fifty-five feet at this place, 
the water immediately rose to the 
surface and flowed from the mouth of 
the well. It was supplied with a 
windmill to elevate the water into a 
tank, but the overflow has continued, 
when the pump is not working, during 
the longest droughts. 

On the Stafford farm, on the SW i 
Sec. 33, Cedar township, two miles 
southwest of Fonda, there is a flowing 
well that was sunk a few rods from 
the west bank of Cedar creek, in 1886, 
by David B. McKillipps, the former 
owner of the property. This well was 
sunk with a large auger to the depth 
of sixteen feet and then with a three- 
inch auger to the depth of thirty-eight 
feet, when water rose to the surface. 
A small tube was inserted in the lower 
part of it, and for a number of years 
the water was made to flow into a 
trough by means of this tube. In 
1895, a six-inch iron tube was forced 
to the bottom of the well, and the 
upper part of the well being filled 



FIKST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



155 



around it, the water now rises and 
flows constantly into a tank two feet 
above the ground. 

Since the removal of the surface 
water by the drainage of the sloughs, 
especially since the long continued 
drought of 1894, when the lakes of 
this county for the first time in their 
history became dry, most of the 
springs on the prairies together with 
the streams fed by them, have disap- 
peared and many shallow surface 
wells that rendered efficient service 
for many years, have been rendered 
useless. To supply the increased de- 
mand for good drinking water for man 
and beast, those engaged in the sink- 
ing of wells have found it necessary 
during recent years to change from 
the bored to the drilled well, ranging 
from 75 to 200 feet deep, in order to 
obtain a greater and more permanent 
supply of water. 

LOAM OR SURFACE SOIL. 

The fine, dark-colored loam or sur- 



face soil of the drift in Pocahontas 
county, is a vegetable mold formed 
principally from organic matter that 
has decayed without submergence in 
water. It contains unoxidized car- 
bonate of lime and peroxide of iron; 
and its materials are so thoroughly 
pulverized and commingled that it 
absorbs the water of a freshet like a 
sponge and holds it for a midsummer 
drought. It is soft, warm, rich in or- 
ganic matter and easily cultivated. 
It yields to the plow like "cheese to 
the knife" and is capable of producing 
crops of cereals for many successive 
years without showing signs of ex- 
haustion. It yields agricultural and 
horticultural products in a region 
in which the pioneer hesitated to 
settle because of the absence of tim- 
ber, but which is now marked by , its 
large herds of cattle, fruitful vine- 
yards, abundant crops, capacious barns 
and commodious farm-houses. 



V. 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 

"Westward, the Star of Empire takes its way," 
Thus sang a poet once in early day, 
But had he had the happiness to lodge 
At the Wahkonsa tavern, in Port Dodge, 
As kept in fifty-five, by William Hodge, 
His visions of the west would then expand 
To vast proportions.— John Haibe. 

THE LIZARD SETTLEMENT. 




J\ HE first settlements this section to the regions beyond, 



in Pocahontas county 
were made in the 
southeast part of it 
and in the year 1855. 
Previous to that date 



and numbers of roving trappers and 
hunters had here very profitably pur- 
sued their vocation, but no one had 
made an actual or permanent settle- 
ment. The establishment of the mil- 



many had passed westward through ] tary post in 1850, and of the United 



156 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



States land office, November 5, 1855, 
together with its location due west of 
Dubuque and north of Des Moines, 
made Fort Dodge a place of unusual 
prominence and importance at that 
time, and new settlements radiated 
from this place, as a common center, 
in all directions. 

In February, 1855, James Hickey, ac- 
companied by Hugh Collins, passed up 
Lizard creek from Fort Dodge and se- 
lected claims, the former on the NWi 
Sec. 12, Lizard township, Pocahontas 
county, and the latter a claim on 
the section adjoining this one 
on the east, which was across 
the line in Jackson township, then 
Humboldt but now Webster county. 
The latter also at this time selected a 
claim for his brother Michael Collins, 
on SE1 Sec. 13, a half mile southeast 
of Hickey 's in Pocahontas county. Mi- 
chael Collins, accompanied by his wife 
and three children, arrived August 9, 
1854, and located on the claim his 
brother had selected for him. 

James Hickey built a little cabin 
on his claim but did not put a roof up- 
on it, nor occupy it to any extent, but 
lived with the other settlers for 
whom he worked. After a few 
months, or when his corn had been 
husked, he returned to Fort Dodge 
and worked for a man by the name of 
Mahoney until the spring of 1856, 
when he met Charles Kelley and sold 
to him his interest in his claim and 
cabin which were estimated to be 
worth $300. He had about ten acres 
of ground broken and planted in corn. 
This piece of breaking, the first in 
the county, was commenced by Hugh 
Collins, his neighbor and friend in 
Jackson township, with whom he 
lodged most of the time. His little 
crop of sod corn, also the first raised 
in the county, was thrown into his 
vacant, unfinished cabin and the 
wolves ate or destroyed a great part 
of it. He was about twenty-five years 
of age and W the month of July* re- 



turning to Pennsylvania where his 
wife remained, he came back to his 
claim with the family of Michael Col- 
lins, in the following month. When 
he sold his claim he located in the vi- 
cinity of St. Paul, Minnesota. 

On the arrival of Michael Collins 
and family, his brother Hugh assisted 
him to build a log cabin. Moving into 
it as soon as it was completed, the 
family of Michael Collins became the 
first resident family of Pocahontas 
county. He continued to reside in the 
county for many years, and when in 
1860, the office of county supervisor 
was established in Iowa, he had the 
honor of being chosen, at the ensuing 
election, a member of the first Board 
in this county for the year 1861, and 
Treasurer of the county for two terms 
following that date, 1862-65. 

Michael Collins was a native of Clare 
county, Ireland, where he married 
Bridget Spellacy, who still ' survives 
him, he having died at Clare, Webster 
county, September 3, 1898, at the age 
of 77 years. His family consisted of 
three sons, Patrick and James, both 
of whom died young in Ireland, Bridg- 
et, who cared for him after his retire- 
ment from business, and M. T., who 
resides on the SEi Sec. 12, Lizard 
township. The latter at the age of 
twelve years, coming with his father 
to the Lizard settlement in 1855, is one 
of the first settlers in the county and 
he was a member of the Board of 
County Supervisors six years, 1887- 
1892. His wife, Miss Fannie Haire, of 
Fort Dodge, was one of the first teach- 
ers in the settlement, teaching the 
school in the Calligan district from 
January to May, 1865, in the log build- 
ing built by Dennis Connors in 1857 on 
the SWi Sec. 1. She had twelve 
pupils and they are all living at pres- 
ent, namely — Henry, Charles and Anna 
Kelley; Edward, Thomas, Mary, Ellen 
and Maggie Calligan; Patrick and Ed- 
ward Forey; John and James Mulhol- 
l&nd, Theij son* W« J* Collins, whos« 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



157 



portrait appears in the Lizard group, 
is now practicing law at Clare and edi- 
tor of the Clare Examiner. 

Michael Broderick, a young man of 
nineteen years and brother-in-law of 
John Calligan, it is affirmed, was also 
a resident of this county in 1855. He 
laid claim to the NEi Sec. 2, Lizard 
township, and held it until 1858, when 
he sold it to Patrick Calligan, and a 
year later went to Linn county where 
he married and followed railroading 
for several years. He is now a pros- 
perous farmer in Harrison county. 
He served as clerk in the Lizard pre- 
cinct at the time the first election 
was held, March 15, 1859, and carried 
the returns and first poll books of Liz- 
ard precinct to the cabin of David 
Slosson, then elected as the first coun- 
ty Judge, (at Old Rolfe) in Des Moines 
settlement. 

The pre-emption claims of James 
Hickey, of Michael Collins and of his 
younger brother, Hugh Collins, were 
all located by them before the U. S. 
land office was opened at Fort Dodge, 
and hence no fees or price was yet 
paid for the land. They and Michael 
Broderick were the only settlers in 
that locality during the year 1855, and 
all of them had come from the same 
place in Pennsylvania. To Hugh Col- 
lins belongs the distinction of having 
been the first settler in Jackson town- 
ship, Webster county, and of turning 
the first furrow in Pocahontas county. 

We see the cabin of tha lonely pioneer, 
Upon the prairie as the sun is sinking; 

The clapboard roof leaking at the rear, 
The walls scarce holding their rough 
chinking. 

During the year 1856, a considerable 
number of families located in the 
southeast part of the county, among 
whom were the following: Charles 
Kelley, John Calligan and his brother 
Patrick, Roger Collins, John Hugh, 
Walter Ford, Philip and John Russell, 
Dennis Connors, Henry (Frederic and 
William, 1857,) Brockschink, who ar- 
rived in the spring; James Donahoe, 



Michael Walsh, Patrick and his 
brother Owen McCabe, who came in 
the fall of the year. 

Charles Kelley had spent the previ- 
ous winter south of Fort Dodge. He 
bought the claim of James Hickey on 
Sec. 12, Lizard township, completed 
his unfinished cabin and moving into 
it occupied it until 1865, when he 
built a log house that he continued to 
occupy as long as he lived, (1890) and 
which his wife and several members 
of the family still occupy. 

The cabin of Hickey, occupied by 
Charles Kelley, commencing with the 
first election, held March 15, 1859, be- 
came the polling place for the Lizard 
precinct for several years, and the 
proposed site on his farm lacked but 
one vote of becoming the county seat 
at the time it was decided to erect the 
first court house at Old Rolfe. 

Mr. Kelley was a native of Ireland, 
and coming to America in 1842, locat- 
ed first in Canada, then in Ohio, where 
on March 30, 1855, he married Rhoda 
Gall, who survives him and has lived 
on their pre-emption claim nearly for- 
ty-three years. They began to occupy 
their claim on the NWi Sec. 12, 
May 26, 1856, and on September 17th 
following it was entered for record at 
the U. S. land office in Fort Dodge, 
when they paid $1.25 an acre for it. 
They raised a family of nine children, 
and at the time of his decease, at the 
age of 73 years, they were the owners 
of 800 acres of land, all of which, ex- 
cept 80 acres, is in the possession of 
the family at present. Charles Joseph 
Kelley, their second son, born May 6, 
1858, was the first boy born in Lizard 
township and his portrait appears in 
the township group. He graduated at 
the Rush Medical Institute, Chicago, 
in 1892, and since that date has been 
engaged in the practice of medicine at 
Burlington, Iowa. 

John Calligan and family, consisting 
of wife and three children, arrived at 
Fort Dodge May 13, 1856, and located 



158 PIONEEK HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



on the SEi Sec. 2, Lizard township, 
adjoining on the south the claim on 
which Michael Broderick, his broth- 
er-in-law, had squatted the previous 
year. Both of these claims, which 
were on Sec. 2, were entered and paid 
for in cash at $1.25 an acre on July 3, 
1856, which is the earliest date on 
which any lands in Pocahontas county 
were entered or sold. There is .one 
other entry on this same date and it is 
that of Michael Collins for the SEi 
Sec. 13. The only other entries in 1856 
were by Dennis Connors, July 16th, for 
the SWi Sec. 1; Koger Collins, Sept. 
15th, for the NEi Sec. 23 and Chas. 
Kelley, Sept. 17th, for the NWi 
Sec. 12. 

The cabin of John Calligan, built 
in July, was the first one erected in 
1856. It was built of unhewn logs tak- 
en from the native timber on the 
premises and the roof was constructed 
of split clapboards covered with dirt 
and prairie sod. It had a large fire- 
place in the east end of . it and on 
"Christmas Eve" some logs were roll- 
ed, in and the fire kept burning all 
night. The burning of the Yule log 
on Christmas Eve was an event of con- 
siderable interest in those days since 
there was little or nothing in the way 
of variety to attract attention. He 
occupied this log cabin about seven 
years and in 1863 built a larger house 
of hewn logs and sawed lumber, haul- 
ing the latter from ' Boonsboro, the 
first county seat of Boone county. 

During his first year Mr. Calligan 
raised a good crop of potatoes and sold 
some of them the following spring at 
$2.00 a bushel. He had seventeen 
acres of fine looking corn that had 
been planted and cultivated with a 
hand hoe after the sod had been turn- 
ed, but a severe frost on the 16th day 
of September completely destroyed it. 
He was a good hand with the flail 
and many a crop of wheat did he 
pound in the cooler weather with this 
rude implement for the man of mus- 



cle, using a bare spot of ground for a 
threshing floor, before the arrival of 
the threshing machine. The first sack 
of flour bought at Fort Dodge, weigh- 
ing 100 pounds, cost him $10 and bacon 
17 cents a pound. Salt was 7 cents a 
pound and butter was also 7 cents a 
pound, but the farmer could not get 
a pound of salt for a pound of butter, 
because the former had to be paid in 
cash while the latter was payable in 
trade. To appreciate this apparently 
anomalous statement it must be re- 
membered that all groceries and store 
goods had to be hauled on wagons from 
the Mississippi river, a distance of 
nearly 200 miles, and there were but 
two stores in Fort Dodge, the one kept 
by Major Williams and the other by 
John Haire. There was a great de- 
mand for salt and it was a cash article 
while butter was neither in demand 
nor its price payable in cash. 

There were about twenty acres of 
timber on the claim of Mr. Calligan 
and forty acres on the adjoining claim 
of his brother-in-law, Michael Broder- 
ick. This timber, which was along 
the banks of Lizard creek, was full of 
game, such as beaver, mink and musk- 
rat. Mr. Calligan had never engaged 
in trapping, but when he found the 
Indians and others came long distances 
for that special purpose and were often 
very successful, he began to do so, too, 
and realized an annual income from 
this source ranging from $100 to $130 
for several years. Many a time did 
Mrs. Calligan carry a sack of furs all 
the way to Fort Dodge, twenty miles 
distant, and return the same day lug- 
ging her purchases. 

On one occasion in the winter of 
1857, Mr. Calligan saw an otter at a 
distance moving in the direction of a 
spring. He managed to get near the 
spring without being observed, and 
when the otter arrived it showed signs 
of battle, until he laid it low with a 
whack from a club he had provided for 
that purpose. This otter weighed 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



159 



about thirty pounds and he received 
$6.00 for its fur in Fort Dodge. 

Mr. and Mrs. John Calligan are still 
living, and reside at Gilmore City. 
Their daughter Maggie married first 
to Morris O 'Conner, who died in 1885; 
and later to James Whelan, residing 
at Emmetsburg, was one of the first 
children born in the county, and her 
portrait may be seen in the Lizard 
group. Their son, Edward M. Cal- 
ligan, taught the first public school at 
Fonda in the winter of 1870-71, when 
Cedar formed a part of Lizard town- 
ship; and T. J. Calligan, another son, 
resident of Gilmore City, was a mem- 
ber of the Board of County Supervis- 
ors for three years, 1881-86. 

Patrick Calligan, John's brother, 
was killed through an accident in the 
fall of 1856, and his death was the first 
one that occurred in the county. 

Roger Collins located on the NEi 
Sec. 23, and entering it as a pre-emp- 
tion claim Sept. 15, 1856, made his last 
payment and received the official cer- 
tificate of ownership from the govern- 
ment, called a patent, on Nov. 9, 1859. 
He improved and occupied this claim 
until 1871 when he sold it to Jacob Car- 
stens, who held it until about 1890 
and sold it to Henry Stickelburg, who 
still lives on the adjoining section, 
number 14. 

In February, 1865, Roger Collins en- 
tered the Ni of the NWi Sec. 24 
as a homestead, and the claim lapsing 
he re-entered it March 1, 1870, and ob- 
tained the patent for it in September 
following. A short time thereafter 
he sold it to his cousin, Hugh Collins, 
who died about the year 1888, and it is 
now owned by his son, Michael J. Col- 
lins, of Clare. The "Collins Grove, " 
embracing about 200 acres of natural 
timber in Pocahontas and Webster 
counties, but chiefly in the former, is 
still in possession of the Collins' fami- 
lies. At the time of his decease, 
Hugh Collins was the owner of 240 
acres in the Nl of Sec. 24, Lizard 



township. He was regarded as one of 
the most hospitable men in the Lizard 
settlement and became also one of the 
wealthiest. 

Patrick Collins was a member of the 
first school board in 1860, when the 
Lizard district was organized. About 
the year 1865 he moved to Webster 
county and died there in September, 
1897. 

Walter Ford, now a resident of 
Clare, was one of the first to locate in 
Pocahontas county. He took an act- 
ive part in all matters relating to the 
organization of the county and was 
honored by a seat with the Board of 
County Supervisors, 1874-1876. He is 
a native of Ireland, and in April, 1856, 
at the age of twenty-three years, came 
to this county and laid claim to the 
NEi Sec. 13, Lizard township, and 
for two years his home was in this 
county, while he spent a considerable 
part of the time at work in Fort 
Dodge. During the first year his pre- 
emption was occupied with him by 
Thomas Crole, a brother-in-law, who 
was holding and improving an adjoin- 
ing claim on the SW i of the same 
section. During the second year it 
was occupied with him by Patrick 
McLarney, who the previous year had 
married Ellen, the sister of Mr. Ford. 
His claim was entered May 19, 1858, 
and the patent was issued Nov. 1, 
1859. His marriage occurred in the 
spring of 1860, and from 1861 to 1870 
he resided at Fort Dodge and was en- 
gaged first in teaming and afterward 
as a contractor for the building of 
cellars. 

In 1870, he returned to the farm 
which, in the meantime, had been oc- 
cupied by Michael O'Shea, now at 
Manson, and William Price, the fath- 
er-in-law of James J. Bruce. He con- 
tinued to reside on the farm a period 
of twenty-four years, or until 1894, 
when he removed to Clare. His wife 
died in 1892. Their family consisted 
of nine children. They still own and 



160 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



occupy the original pre-emption claim 
and altogether nearly one thousand 
acres of land in Pocahontas and Hum- 
boldt counties. For eleven successive 
years 1883-1893, just previous to his 
removal from it, Mr. Ford was a jus- 
tice of the peace of Lizard township. 
The old home is now occupied by 
Walter P. Ford, his eldest son, who in 
1894 married Elizabeth O'Niel, of 
Lizard township and for a couple of 
years thereafter engaged in the grain 
and general merchandise business in 
Clare. 

Dennis Connors entered as a pre- 
emption claim the SW i of Sec. 1, 
Lizard township, July 16, 1856. The 
following year he built a log house 
upon it and it was occupied by him- 
self, wife and child, until the spring 
of 1860, when they moved to Inde- 
pendence. His father-in-law, Dermi- 
dy, came with him, but the latter 
did not become an actual settler. 

This log house of Dennis Connors' 
was located near the highway, a few 
rods south of the creek, and for two 
successive seasons it was used as a 
school house. The first teacher who 
taught school in this building was 
Philip Russell, a resident of the 
Lizard settlement and then Clerk of 
of the District Court, and the second 
was Miss Fannie Haire, now Mrs. 
M. T. Collins, whose term extended 
from January to May, 1865. These 
were the first teachers in the Calli- 
gan district. The antique building 
they occupied was taken down and 
used for fuel a few years after the 
erection of the frame school house in 
this district in 1865. 

Dennis Connors and family in 1860, 
moved to Independence where he 
died, he having sold his claim to 
Michael O'Connors, (no relative) who 
died in 1862. Mrs. O'Connors, wife of 
the latter, held it until the time of 
her decease, in 1884, since which date 
their son Michael O'Connors has con- 
tinued to own and occupy it. 



The first deed recorded in Pocahon- 
tas county is that of the bargain and 
sale of this property, (SW i Sec. 1) 
made and executed May 7, 1859, by 
and between Mary Connors and Den- 
nis Connors her husband, party of 
the first part, and Michael O'Connors, 
party of the second part, for $400. 
This deed was acknowledged before 
Erastus G. Morgan, notary public, 
and witnessed by E. D. G. Morgan. 

Whilst this deed was the first one 
recorded, the second and third ones 
on record both bear an earlier date. 
The second one was executed April 19, 
1859, before John C. Bills, a notary 
public of Scott county, (who not long 
since was a prominent member of the 
democratic side of the lower house 
of the legislature of Iowa,) and was 
the transfer of 320 acres of Sec. 12, 
now Washington township, by Adelia 
B. Smith, of Scott county, to Edwin 
H. Lansing, of Wyoming county, N. 
Y., for $1000. The third deed record- 
ed is of still earlier date, namely, Feb. 
4, 1859. It is the deed of Isaac P. 
Coats and Laura S. Coats, his wife, of 
Scott county, to Adelia B. Smith, of 
the same place, for eighty acres on 
Sec. 12, also in Washington township. 
It will be perceived that the last two 
were between investors or speculators, 
and only the first one was between 
actual settlers; it may have been for 
this reason it was placed first on the 
records. 

Philip Russell was a native of Ire- 
land, came to America in 1850 and to 
Webster county in 1854, where he lo- 
cated near Fort Dodge for two years. 
The Russell family consisted of him- 
self, his mother, two sisters Catherine 
and Mary, and one brother, John. 
While residing at this place Philip 
came to Pocahontas county and lo- 
cated as his claim the Wi NW1 and 
Wi SWi Sec. 2, (T. 90, R. 31,) Lizard 
township, embracing 160 acres. In 
1856, the family moved upon it and 
the work of improvement was begun. 



FIKST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



161 



His claim was entered for record May 
29, 1858, and the patent for it was is- 
sued Sept. 5, 1861. In August, 1860, 
he married Ellen, a sister of Michael 
Broderick and of Mrs. John Calligan, 
then residing at Fort Dodge. 

On April 22, 1866, he entered an- 
other claim, namely, for the Ei NEi 
Sec. 10, (90-31) eighty acres, and on 
April 27, 1871, this entry was renewed 
for the NEi NEi, 40 acres, of the 
same section, and the patent for this 
last tract was issued Sept. 25, 1872. 
At the time of his decease, at the old 
pioneer home in 1893, at the age of 
seventy, he was the owner of 360 acres 
of land on sections 2, 3 and 10, Lizard 
township, all of which, except 80 acres, 
are still in the possession of the fam- 
ily. 

Mr. Eussell was a man of unblem- 
ished integrity and was held in high 
esteem by all who knew him. He re- 
ceived a good common education and 
was the first one in the Lizard settle- 
ment to engage in teaching school, he 
teaching the first term in the log 
cabin erected by Dennis Connors, in 
the winter of 1863-4. He also taught 
several terms in other districts. He 
was a good penman and accountant, 
and wherever there was need for a 
scribe his services were in demand. 

He was one of the first justices of 
the peace in Lizard township, and 
served as clerk for the township six- 
teen years, while his two sons, John 
M. and Michael J., served six years 
afterward, making twenty-two years 
that that office has been held in his 
family. 

During the four years from 1862 to 
1865, he had the honor to serve as Clerk 
of the District Court of Pocahontas 
county, the county seat at that time 
being in Des Moines township. The 
last year of service thus rendered was 
by appointment, first on the part of 
W. H. Hait, who had been elected to 
the office and appointed Mr. Russell a 
deputy to take charge of it, and later 



by the Board of Supervisors when in 
March (1865) Mr. Hait resigned the 
office in his favor. During the next 
two years 1866-67, he was a member of 
the Board of County Supervisors. 

His wife at the age of sixty-two 
years survives him and occupies the 
old home on Sec. 2. Their family con- 
sisted of eight children, seven of 
whom are living, and several of them 
have earned well merited eminence as 
teachers in the public schools of the 
county. The family is represented in 
the Lizard township group by the 
portrait of Michael J. Russell, the 
sixth in the order of birth. 

John W. Russell, Philip's brother, 
also located in Pocahontas county. 
He selected as a pre-emption the SEi 
Sec. 34 (91-31), Lake township, 160 
acres, making the entry June 7, 1858, 
and receiving the patent for it Sept. 
5, 1861. He enlisted in the war of the 
rebellion, August 14, 1862, as a mem- 
ber of Co. I, 32d Iowa infantry. Aft- 
er his return from the war he died 
unmarried. 

Henry Caspar Brockschink and wife, 
coming to Pocahontas county in the 
spring of 1856, laid claim to the SWi 
Sec. 36, 91-31, 160 acres, which he en- 
tered for record July 8, 1856. This 
was the first entry of lands in Lake 
township, and it was made nearly two 
years before any other entry was 
made. The house of Mr. Brockschink 
was of course the first one in the 
township. It was built of logs from 
the native timber along the north 
branch of Lizard creek. It was 20x24 
feet and about 18 feet in height. Eor 
several years this was the most north- 
ern home in the Lizard settlement. 

In the fall of 1857, his two brothers 
Frederick and William Brockschink 
came and made their home with Hen- 
ry and his family. In the following 
spring a band of Sioux Indians camped 
along Lizard lake about three miles 
northwest of this grove, and three of 
them visited the Brockschink home. 



162 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




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FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



163 



Mr. Brockschink was absent at the 
time, but his brother Fred and George 
Rifenstahl, who had been hunting, 
returned in time to meet them on the 
premises. After some parleying be- 
tween the two young men and the In- 
dians, one of the latter grabbed the 
unloaded gun in the hand of Fred 
Brockschink, wrested it from him 
and then ran away with it. 

The Brockschinks remained on this 
farm until the fall of 1858, when 
they leased it to Patrick Forey, who 
became famous for casting the 
next year the decisive vote that re- 
sulted in the erection of the first 
county court house in the Des Moines, 
instead of the Lizard, settlement. 
Forey and family occupied it six 
years, and in 1865, Dennis Mulholland 
bought it from Henry Brockschink 
for $1500, and moving upon it that 
year this property has been owned and 
occupied by the Mulholland family 
since that date. The Brockschinks 
went first to Clay county and after- 
ward to Webster City, where they 
now reside. 

In the fall of 1856, Patrick McCabe 
arrived, accompanied by his brother 
Owen McCabe and James Donahoe 
and family. Patrick McCabe located 
on Sec. 24, 90-31, (Lizard township,) 
but did not enter his claim for record 
for a number of years. On Sept. 23, 
1864, he entered the NEi SEi, 40 acres 
of this section and renewing this ap- 
plication May 10, 1870, received the 
patent for it Sept. 10th following. 
Later he obtained 120 acres addition- 
al in the south half of this section, 
and on this farm he continued to re- 
side as long as he lived. It is now 
owned and occupied by his two sons, 
Peter and James J. McCabe, between 
whom it has been divided, and his 
wife who still survives him, makes 
her home with them. His brother, 
Owen McCabe, remained but a short 
time in this county. 

In the fall of 1861, when Michael 



Collins, the first county supervisor 
from the Lizard district, was chosen 
county treasurer, Patrick McCabe was 
elected his successor on the Board of 
County Supervisors and was continued 
a member of that Board for four years, 
1862 to 1865. After the county canvass 
of the votes cast at the general elec- 
tion of 1863, he was appointed to rep- 
resent the Board of this county in the 
canvass of the vote for senator in this, 
the 43d district, at Sac City, and for 
this service received $50.00. To ap- 
preciate this fee it must be remem- 
bered that it represented the salary 
of the County Judge for an entire 
year, at that period in the history of 
this county. 

James Donahoe arrived in 1856 and 
located with a family consisting of 
himself and wife — Ann Garrahan — 
and five children, on the SEi Sec. 23, 
90-31, (Lizard township,) with the in- 
tention of pre-empting it, but when, 
after the lapse of two years, he went 
to the U. S. land office at Fort Dodge 
to enter his claim for record, he was 
surprised to find that the entire sec- 
tion on which he was living belonged 
to the grant made by the State of 
Iowa to the Dubuque and Sioux City, 
(now Illinois Central) Railway Com- 
pany. Having erected improvements 
upon this land he continued to occu- 
py and enjoy them five years longer, 
and in 1863 moved to Johnson town- 
ship, Webster county, where he still 
resides, at the age of 85 years. 

While living on this supposed pre- 
emption claim, a daughter, Rose Ann 
Donahoe, was born, Feb. 23, 1857, and 
she was the first white child born in 
Pocahontas county. Her portrait 
may be seen in the Lizard township 
group. In the year 1892, she became 
the wife of Patrick J. Crilly. They 
reside at Clare and have a family of 
five bright children — three boys and 
two girls. 

Thomas Donahoe, James' eldest son, 
is cashier of the State Bank of Clare, 



164 PIONEEB HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and Peter M. Donahoe his brother, is 
a resident of Sec. 36, Lizard township, 
where he owns a half-section of land. 
The latter married first Miss Ellen 
Condon, who, in the fall of 1860, 
taught the first public school in the 
Lizard settlement, in a log house built 
by Patrick Collins at the southwest 
corner of the SEi of Sec. 13 and 
commonly called the "Pioneer School 
House." Mr. Donahoe (Peter M.) was 
one of the pupils that attended this 
first term of school in the south part of 
the county taught by Miss Con- 
don, who later became his wife. 
After her decease in May, 1879, he 
was married to Annie Carey. Two 
of the elder children who came with 
James Donahoe to Pocahontas county 
in 1856, namely, Charles and Mary, 
died during the seven years' residence 
of the family on section 25, and his 
wife died in 1895. 

With James Donahoe and family 
there came also his wife's parents, 
namely, Peter Garrahan and his wife 
Eose Keilly, both born and married in 
Ireland, who, coming to this country 
in 1846, resided ten years in Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr. Garrahan died in Poca- 
hontas county about the year 1859, at 
the age of 56 years, and his wife in 
Webster county in 18*77, at the age of 
73 years. 

Michael Walsh came to this county 
in September, 1856, and located a pre- 
emption claim on Sec. 14, 90-31, (Liz- 
ard township,) that he has continued 
to own and occupy until the present 
time, a period of nearly forty-three 
years. On June 8, 1858, he filed his 
claim for the NEi SEi of Sec. 14, 40 
acres, and received the patent for it 
July 10, 1861; and on April 24, i865, he 
filed a homestead claim to the SEi, 
SEi of the same section, 40 acres, and 
renewing this claim May 3, 1870, re- 
ceived the patent for it September . 
10th following. 

His family began to live upon his 
pre-emption claim in the spring of 



1857, and his daughter Mary, born 
April 10, 1858, was the fourth child 
born in this county. For a number of 
years she has been one of the leading 
teachers of Lizard township. 

Mr. Walsh has not been ambitious 
for political honors either in the 
county or his own township, but has 
endeavored to prove himself an ag- 
gressive farmer and afford to his fam- 
ily, not merely their share of the com- 
forts of life, but also the best facili- 
ties for their moral and intellectual 
improvement. When the first fields 
were enclosed in the Lizard settle- 
ment in the year 1867, Michael Walsh 
was among the number of those who 
had one enclosed, the others being 
Michael Collins, Charles Kelley, John 
Calligan and Michael Broderick. And 
when in ] 870, two quarter sections 
were enclosed, Michael Walsh had 
the first one and Hugh Collins the 
other. The cost of the wire at that 
time was $8.00 a hundred. Among 
the old settlers of the Lizard settle- 
ment he has been considered the most 
careful and economical as a farmer 
and has acquired considerable wealth 
by the honest toil of himself and fam- 
ily. He is now the owner of 160 acres 
and bis son William J. Walsh is the 
owner of 240 acres, making 400 acres 
in possession of the family at present 
and all of It is located on sections 11 
and 14. Lizard township. 

His home was along the trail from 
Fort Dodge through Lizard, Lincoln 
and Swan Lake townships to Spencer, 
and for a number of years he kept an 
inn for the entertainment of travelers 
and hunters. He and his estimable 
wife were hospitable entertainers, 
and many a weary traveler "bid to 
stay, " whiled the long evening away 
at this ancient hostelry, either listen- 
ing to or relating some interesting in- 
cident that occurred in the early days. 

1857. 
During tbe year 1857, there arrived 



FIKST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



165 



the families of John Quinlan, Michael 
Donovan, Patrick Forey, Thomas El- 
lis, James Gorman, Patrick McLarney, 
Thomas Crole, Patrick Collins and 
others. 

John Quinlan located his family on 
the Si NWi Sec. 24, 90-31, (Lizard 
township,) 80 acres, and on April 29, 
1865, entered it as a homestead claim. 
This claim was renewed May 3, 1870, 
and he received the patent for it Sept. 
10th following. In 1871, after four- 
teen years' residence on this home- 
stead, he sold it, moved to Webster 
county and now resides at Clare. His 
homestead was owned for a while by 
William Condon and after his decease 
by his wife Margaret, and at present 
by their daughter, Mary Condon. 

Mr. Quinlan, after the organization 
of the county in 1859, was the first 
one of the Lizard settlers to make the 
assessment of Lizard township. Pre- 
vious to the organization of the coun- 
ty, all residents of the Lizard settle- 
ment were assessed and voted as a 
part of Webster county, to which 
they were temporarily attached for 
revenue and judicial purposes. The 
assessment of the Lizard settlement 
in 1859 was made by W. H. Hait and 
in 1860 by Oscar Slosson, both of whom 
were residents of the settlement in 
the northeast part of the county, the 
county at this date being included in 
one township. Later that same year, 
Lizard township was constituted and 
in 1861, John Quinlan became its first 
assessor and for five successive years, 
1861 to 1865, he performed the func- 
tions of that office. 

Patrick Forey, who in 1857 located 
with his family on the Ei SEi Sec. 36, 
91-31 (Lake township), was a native 
of Galway county, Ireland, and came 
to the United States in 1835. In 1846 
he in company with his nephew, 
Thomas Burke, established and dur- 
ing the next ten years managed a 
wholesale feed and provision store in 
St). Louis; Mo, In 1856 he came to 



Webster, and the year following to 
Pocahontas county. His homestead 
contained 100 acres, and entering 
his claim for record June 12, 
1858, he received the patent for 
it March 15, 1860. During the six 
years 1858 to 1864, he rented and lived 
on the SWi of the same section, 
known as the Brockschink or Mulhol- 
land farm. He then bought and moved 
upon the NEi Sec. 2, Lizard town- 
ship, (the Michael Broderick farm) 
where the family remained for twenty 
years. On the frontier in those days 
there was an apparent necessity that 
every home should be open for the 
entertainment of the wayfarer, and 
Mr. Forey endeavored to combine the 
public entertainment of travelers 
with farming while he lived upon 
the Brockschink farm. In 1885 he 
moved to Pocahontas and for two 
years kept hotel in what is now known 
as the "Ozark Flats." In 1887 he 
moved to Lake township and in 1891 
died there in his 81st year. His wife 
Eliza Quinn, daughter of James Quinn, 
Esq., of Kildare county, Ireland, sur- 
vives him and resides in her own home 
at Pocahontas, at the age of 77 years. 
Mr. Forey was a brilliant conversa- 
tionalist and possessed that warm 
heart and ready wit for which the 
people of his native country have been 
noted. He was the first republican 
who located in the Lizard settlement 
and for several years was the only one 
in it. He was very enthusiastic in 
defending and advocating his political 
views, and at the special election held 
November 15, 1859, to determine 
whether or not the voters of Pocahon- 
tas county would approve the pro- 
posed contract of the County Judge 
for the erection of a court house in 
Des Moines township and a bridge 
over the Des Moines river near it, 
both payable in the swamp and over- 
flowed lands of the county, he is said 
to have cast the decisive vote and 
thus became Lizard's "famous poli- 



166 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tician. " 

The tradition concerning this in- 
teresting incident is as follows. It 
was perceived by those interested, 
that there were just twenty-one votes 
in the county at that time, of which 
ten were in the Des Moines and eleven 
in the Lizard settlement. All in the 
Des Moines settlement were united 
and very earnest in their desire to 
have the public building and bridge 
provided for in the contract. But as 
the time of the election drew near, 
those in the Lizard settlement per- 
ceiving the great advantage these 
public improvements would be to 
their friends in the north part of the 
county and remembering that their 
own settlement was the oldest and 
therefore justly entitled to them, con- 
cluded not to approve the proposed 
contract, indulging the hope that by 
some subsequent arrangement the 
public building might be erected on 
the farm of Charles Kelley, on Sec. 12, 
Lizard township. Inasmuch as Mr. 
Forey 's home was the furthest north 
in the Lizard settlement and also be- 
cause of the fact he held different po- 
litical views from the rest of them in 
that settlement, his vote became the 
subject of special interest to both 
parties. The Des Moines people felt 
their need of it and expressed their 
desire he would vote with them, while 
those in the Lizard settlement find- 
ing he was not likely to vote with 
them, delegated one of their number 
to challenge his vote and, if possible, 
prevent him from casting it against 
them. 

This election was held in the home 
of William Jarvis, in the Des Moines 
precinct, and it is said that, having 
been thwarted in . several direct at- 
tempts to vote, during the latter part 
of the day, moving backward inad- 
vertently, he got close enough to the 
ballot-box to hand in his ballot with- 
out observation on the part of his po- 
litical opponents, and thus gave the 



measure voted for a majority of one 
vote. 

In 1856, when Patrick Forey arrived 
in Webster county, he selected as a 
pre-emption claim the NWi Sec. 20, 
Jackson township, 160 acres, and 
erected upon it a frame house, for 
which he drew the lumber from Bor- ' 
der Plains, about twelve miles south- 
east of Fort Dodge. This house was 
located in the Lizard settlement, 
about one mile east of the Pocahontas 
county line, and while Mr. Forey oc- 
cupied it, Father McCulloch, of Fort 
Dodge, began to celebrate mass': in 
it once a month. This home thus be- 
came the place where the first relig- 
ious services were held in the Lizard 
settlement. 

As his title to this land was dis- 
puted, Mr. Forey abandoned it the 
next year and located on another 
claim on section 36, Lake township. 
After securing the patent for this 
claim he sold it to Charles Kelley. 
While he lived on the adjoining or 
Brockschink farm, where he kept 
hotel, his nearest neighbors on the 
north were distant twelve miles, on 
the east thirteen miles and on the 
west, at Sioux Rapids, forty miles. 

At the time of the massacre of the 
settlers at New Ulm, Minnesota, by 
the Indians in 1862,* the county seat 
of Buena Vista county was at Sioux 
Rapids. When all the settlers fled 
from that vicinity, Messrs. Moore and 
Jameson, two of the public officers of 
Buena Vista county, carried with 
them the records and seals of that 
county until they reached the home of 
Patrick Forey, on the Brockschink 
farm. Presenting Mr. Forey with a 
carbine they requested him to keep 
these public records until they should 
be called for, and then passed on 
farther east. They did not call for 
them until the lapse of three weeks, 
when they returned and carried them 
back to Sioux Rapids. About the 

"l'age 42, 



FIEST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



167 



year 1860, Mr. Forey had traded for 
an 80 acre farm near Sioux Rapids, in- 
tending to make it his home, but aft- 
erward sold it to Wm. S. Lee, one of 
the Buena Yista county officers at 
this time. The fact that the public 
records were entrusted to his personal 
care at this time of danger, was no 
no doubt due to the acquaintance 
formed through these transactions. 

In 1860, Patrick Forey was drawn 
as one of the first jurors in the county, 
the others from the Lizard settlement 
being James Donahoe and Roger Col- 
lins. 

At the first election held in Clinton 
township, in the fall of 1860, he was 
one of the judges of the election board 
and, being chosen at that time one of 
the first trustees of that township, 
held that office for four years. After 
he moved with his family to Lizard 
township, his son, Patrick J. Forey, 
served as a justice of the peace eight 
successive years, 1875 to 1882. 

Patrick McLarney, who in 1857 mar- 
ried Ellen, a sister of Walter Ford, 
occupied the latter's claim in Lizard 
township in 1858. He continued in 
the county until about the year 1865. 
He was chosen secretary of the school 
Board of Lizard township when it 
was first organized in 1860, and served 
as clerk for the township nearly three 
years during the period of 1862 to 1864. 

James Gorman pre-empted the 
Si SEi and Si SWi of Sec. 12, 90-31, 
(Lizard township) 160 acres, making 
the entry June 11, 1858, and receiving 
the patent for it April 10, 1860. 

Patrick Collins, an elder brother of 
Michael, in the fall of 1857, with a 
family consisting of wife and three 
children — one son and two daughters — 
located on the NEi SEi and NEi SWi 
Sec. 12, 90-31 (Lizard township) eighty 
acres. The patent for this homestead 
was issued to Patrick Collins, Jr., 
Sept. 1, 1869, the claim having been 
tiled June 6, 1863 and renewed July 1>. 



1868. 



1858. 



During the year 1858, a few more 
settlers came to the Lizard settlement 
among whom were Thomas Crowell, 
Mrs. Bridget Yahey (Sec. 13), Thom- 
as Quinlan (Sec. 2), Thomas Prender- 
gast(Sec. 4), and possibly a few others; 
but they remained only for a short 
time in the settlement. After this 
there were but very few, if any addi- 
tional settlements made in the south 
part of the county, until after the 
close of the war. 

EMBARRASSING EVENTS. 

Two events had occurred that for a 
few years made the situation and cir- 
cumstances of those who were on the 
frontier in this section embarrassing 
and tended to check further immigra- 
tion. The first was the grant of a 
title to every alternate or odd num- 
bered section of the vacant and unap- 
propriated lands, for six sections in 
width on each side of certain lines of 
railway that proposed to cross the 
state of Iowa at that time. The act 
of congress making these grants to 
the state of Iowa, was approved May 
15, 1856, and the General Assembly of 
Iowa accepted and appropriated these 
lands to the several railroads to be 
built across the state m an act that 
was approved July 14, 1856. Their 
title to these lands on the part of the 
Dubuque and Pacific (now 111. Central) 
railway having been certified by the 
U.S. land office at Fort Dodge for the 
east three tiers of townships of Poca- 
hontas county, and by the land office 
at Sioux City for the west tier of 
townships, was approved by the De- 
partment of the Interior, Dec. 27, 
1858. The early settlers were natu- 
rally attracted to the vicinity of the 
proposed routes of these railways, but 
these grants of the alternate sections 
within six miles of the proposed road, 
affected many of them quite seriously. 
Those who had located claims on these 



168 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



sections under the U. S. pre-emption 
law of Sept. 4, 1841, at $1.25 an acre, 
and had not previously filed their 
claims for record, now found they had 
no claim to their frontier home, and 
many in consequence abandoned them. 
Another result within the six-mile 
limit was, that from that date all the 
pre-emptions on the even numbered 
sections were limited to 80 instead of 
160 acres, and the government . price 
was increased from $1.25 to $2.50 an 
acre. The news of these changes did 
not circulate in the public press as 
they do now, and when they occurred 
many a settler was taken by surprise. 
Another cause of embarrassment 
that checked immigration was the 
financial panic of 1857, when a great 
part of the money of the country, is- 



sued by private banking institutions, 
became worthless. So serious was 
the stagnation in business throughout 
the country that the railway compa- 
nies, notwithstanding the magnificent 
grants of land received from the state 
of Iowa, were unable to make any 
progress in the construction of their 
lines across the state until after the 
close of the war. 

During the year 1858, nearly all of 
the lands in Clinton and Lake town- 
ships were disposed of by the U. S. 
land office at Fort Dodge, but the 
records show that they were purchased, 
not by actual settlers but by non- 
resident investors or speculators. 
These lands were beyond the six-mile 
limit and were available for purchase 
at the nominal price of $1.25 an acre, 




Center Building of Industry School for the Deaf, Council Bluffs, 




WM. H. HAIT, 
Treasurer and Recorder, 1859-61 
Treasurer, 1866-69. 




MRS. W. H. HAIT, 
First Teacher, 1860. 




MRS. ROBERT STRUTHERS. MRS. OSCAR F. AVERY. 

DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 








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FIEST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



169 



VI. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE N0RTHERST PART ©F THE 

COUNTY. 

'Tis well to sing the merited word of praise, 

Of heroes in tierce martial strife; 

But heroes, too, are they who raise 

The standard of a nobler life, 

Therefore we hail the pioneer, 

"Whose strong arm helped to found a state, 

As one whose name we may revere, 

And hold in common with the great. 

—A. E. Fulton. 

THE DES MOINES SETTLEMENT. 




|HE first settlements 
in the north part of 
the county were 
made in what is now 
Des Moines township 
and in the year 1857. 
In May of that year a party of pio- 
neers, consisting of Eobert Struthers, 
W. H. Hait, A. H. Malcolm and 
Guernsey Smith, came from Fort 
Dodge with an ox team and selected 
homes. 

At this date there were no settlers 
in this county, except the few already 
named who during the previous 
year, had located in the Lizard settle- 
ment. Daniel W. Hunt and James 
Smith had each selected a pre-emption 
claim on section 36, in what is now 
Des Moines township, and had built a 
shanty on the line between them; and 
J. E. Craig had built a little cabin on 
another claim located on section 26. 
But none of these persons were occu- 
pying their claims at this time. Ben- 
jamin Evans and a trapper by the 
name of Weeks, both living in Hum- 
boldt county, were the nearest actual 



settlers. 

Concerning the three men named 
above who built the first two shanties 
in the Des Moines settlement, it may 
be observed that Craig did not enter 
his claim for record, but James Smith, 
who on June 11, 1858, entered for rec- 
ord his claim for lots 3 and 4, Contain- 
ing 11 acres on section 36, received the 
first patent issued to anyone in Des 
Moines township, and D. W. Hunt, 
who seems to have made his entry 
January 2, 1858, and renewed it July 
2, following, for lots 5 and 6 and the 
Ni NEi Sec. 36, 93-31, 141 acres, re- 
ceived the second patent, issued Aug. 
15, 1860. These men, Messrs. James 
Smith and D. W. Hunt, were residents 
of the county only for a short time. 

In selecting claims, Mr. Hait chose 
the southeast quarter of section 2, A. 
H. Malcolm the NWi, Guernsey 
Smith the NEi of the same section 
and Eobert Struthers the NEi Sec. 12. 
Mr. Struthers during the summer 
secured the breaking of considerable 
prairie and the next year the erection 
of a shanty, into which he moved with 



170 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



his family in December, 1858. Messrs. 
A. H. Malcolm and Guernsey Smith 
erecting their shanties, began to oc- 
cupy them at once. They were some- 
what familiar with this section of 
country, having passed through it 
during the months of March and 
April of that year, while on the way 
to and from Spirit Lake, where they 
went as members of the Eelief Expe- 
dition from Fort Dodge at the time 
of the Indian massacre that occurred 
March 8-11, 1857.* 

During the summer of that same 
year (1857) a man named Bates, located 
with his family on section 36. About 
the same time Samuel N. Harris and 
Edward Hammond arrived with their 
families, but both located for a year 
or two just across the line in Hum- 
boldt county. 

Only two of those who located in 
the Des Moines settlement in May, 
1857, are still residents of the county, 
namely, W. H. Hait and A. H. Mal- 
colm. 

"Only wild beasts, and men as wild, 
Were known to this fair valley then, 
But Nature in her beauty smiled, 
To greet another race of men." 

William H. Hait is at present the 
owner and occupant of 280 acres on 
the Si Sec. 26, Des Moines township. 
He has been the owner of his present 
farm for forty years and a resident of 
the township and county for forty- 
two years. Only Mr. and Mrs. Michael 
Walsh, Mrs. Charles Kelley, Mrs. 
Philip Russell, Mrs. Patrick Forey 
and M. T. Collins, of the Lizard set- 
tlement, and A. H. Malcolm, can tell 
of a residence in the county so long. 
The first house Mr. Hait erected on 
this farm in 1859, was of logs from 
the native timber and is still in ex- 
istence as a relic of the past. The 
large and comfortable house he now ' 
occupies was built in 1867, and the 

♦Through the courtesy of the editors of the 
Reveille, Mr. Malcolm's own account of their 
thrilling experiences on this occasion, may 
be found on page 35. 



lumber for it was hauled by teams 
from Nevada, Story county, at which 
place the price paid was, for shingles, 
$7.00 a thousand; flooring, $70.00 and 
finishing material $90.00 a thousand 
feet. 

Mr. Hait is a native of Ulster county, 
N. Y., where he remained in the home 
of his parents until he had attained 
the age of twenty-two years and, aft- 
er one year spent in Wisconsin, he 
came to Pocahontas county. In 1868, 
he married Helen M. Harvey, daugh- 
ter of Ora and Eliza Harvey, of Clin- 
ton township. 

Miss Harvey, who at this date be- 
came his wife, had the honor to be 
the first school teacher in Pocahontas 
county and was also the first one to 
teach school in the first schoolhouse 
erected in the county. Her first term 
was taught in the log house of Mr. 
Hait, in the fall of 1860, and when 
the brick schoolhouse at Old Bolfe 
was built the year following, she 
taught the first term in it. Miss Har- 
vey had inherited a high degree of 
culture and refinement and had re- 
ceived a thorough academic education 
before coming to the frontier. It was 
but a natural sequence of these special 
qualifications that her work was very 
highly appreciated both by her pupils 
and patrons. She died December 27, 
1887, and her remains were interred at 
Humboldt, where they lie beside 
those of her parents and of her only 
sister, Jennie S., who became the 
wife of Oscar F. Avery. 

In the early history of this county, 
Mr. Hait was a leader in thought and 
action, and throughout his official 
career proved himself strictly honest 
and upright, or as another has ex- 
pressed it, "one of the best men who 
ever held public office in Pocahontas 
county." 

At the first election, held March 15, 
1859, for the organization of the 
county, he was elected Treasurer and 
Recorder of the county and performed 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



171 



the duties of these two public offices 
during the first three years of the 
county's history, 1859 to 1861. During 
the early part of this period there liv- 
ed in his home Oscar F. Avery, who 
on March 20, 1860, was appointed 
Superintendent of Public Schools, and 
thus became the first one to serve in 
that capacity in this county. On May 
6, 1861, Mr. Avery having moved to 
his own farm just across the line 
in Humboldt county, Mr. Hait was 
appointed his successor and, as the 
second incumbent in the county, held 
the office of county superintendent un- 
til April 22, 1862, when he resigned, 
and Ora Harvey (father of Helen M. ) 
was appointed his successor. 

In the fall of 1864, Mr. Hait was 
elected Clerk of the District Court, 
but after appointing Philip Rus- 
sell, the previous incumbent, his dep- 
uty, a few months later he resigned 
the office in his favor. The next fall 
he was again elected County Treasurer 
and served in that capacity during 
the four years, 1866 to 1869, making a 
period of seven years that he filled 
that office. At the first election, held 
March 15, 1859, Mr. Hait was elected 
township clerk, and on April 19th fol- 
lowing, he was appointed Assessor for 
the township which, during that year 
for both of these offices, embraced 
the entire county. On October 12th, 
the same year, he qualified as a Jus- 
tice of the Peace. In Des Moines 
township he has rendered faithful 
service in all of the various offices, 
except those of constable and road su- 
pervisor. During the period of the 
war, 1862 to 1861, he served as deputy 
provost marshal of the 6th congression- 
al district which, extending from 
Black Hawk on the east and Carroll 
on the south, embraced thirty-three 
counties of Northwestern Iowa. 

Mr. Hait has been one of those who 
believe 

"We live in deeds, not years; 
In thoughts, not breaths; 



And he lives most who thinks most, 
Feels the noblest and acts the best." 

Augustus H. Malcolm, who came to 
this county in 1857 with Mr. Hait and 
others, is now the owner and occu- 
,pant of the SEi Sec. 1, Clinton town- 
ship. On Sept. 9, 1859, he entered his 
pre-emption claim for lots 8 and 9, 
and SWi NWi Sec. 2, 93-31, (Des 
Moines township) 149 acres, receiving 
the patent for it Nov. 1, 1860. On 
these same dates his neighbor and 
friend, Guernsey Smith, entered and 
received the patent for lots 5 and 7, 
and SWi NEi, 149 acres, of the same 
section. 

On September 14, 1861, Mr. Malcolm 
married Mary A. Townsencl, whose 
mother lived south of Fort Dodge. 
On August 23d, previous, he had en- 
listed at Old Rolfe, and a few days 
after his marriage he went to the 
army. At the time he was mustered 
in atDubuque, Sept. 20, (1861) he was 
appointed Corporal, and later, Ser- 
geant of Co. A, 11th Reg. of Penn. 
Vplunteer Cavalry, under command 
of Col. Samuel P. Spear, which formed 
a part of the 18th Corps of the Army 
of the Potomac, under G-en. McClellan. 
He continued in the military service 
of his country three years, or until 
Sept. 20, 1864, and participated in 
more than a dozen battles. 

Mr. Malcolm took an active part in 
the organization of this county in 1859, 
and at the first election was chosen 
Clerk of the District Court, but did 
not qualify. On May 6, 1861, at the 
third session of the Board of County 
Supervisors, he was appointed Clerk 
of the Board and served in that ca- 
pacity until September 2d, following, 
when he went to the army. After 
his return he was elected and served 
as Clerk of the District Court of Poca- 
hontas county during the year 1866. 
He served five years as Clerk of Clinton 
township, and during 1869 and 1870 
was a member of the Board of County 
Supervisors. Ora P. Malcolm, his 



172 PIONEEE HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



eldest son, is at present and for several 
years has been deputy Treasurer, and 
Fred A. Malcolm, the second, was 
County Surveyor during the four 
years, 1894 to 1897. 

During his absence in the army his 
wife went to his friends in New York 
state, and after his discharge they 
spent one year in Ohio. Making the 
journey from Ohio to Old Rolfe by 
team in the fall of 1865, they located 
on their present farm, on section 1, 
Clinton township. They have raised 
a family of seven children, all of 
whom but two, have gone forth from 
the parental roof to found comfortable 
homes of their own. Mr. Malcolm has 
rendered honorable and faithful serv- 
ice to his country, both in the time of 
war and peace; and he has lived to see 
the desolate wilderness traversed by 
him and others with unspeakable 
hardships in the spring of 1857, trans- 
formed into a beautiful Eden, with 
fruitful fields conveniently connected 
with a network of magnificent rail- 
ways and dotted with numerous rap- 
idly growing towns and cities, and 
thousands of comfortable homes. 

"What hath he seen of change— this 

aged one — 
As days unfolded and the years swept 

on? 
First the prairie schooners 
On emigration's trail, 
Then rough-hewn huts of settlers 
Besprinkling hill and dale; 
The felling and the clearing, 
The stretch of smiling farms; 
The tilling and the sowing, 
The gathering into barns; 
The schooling of the children, 
The rising of church spires, 
And the smoke of many fires." 

Eobert Struthers, who in May, 1857, 
selected a pre-emption claim on Sec. 
12, 93-31, (Des Moines township) was a 
native of Glasgow, Scotland, where he 
was born , Dec. 26, 1829. In April, 1831, 
he came with his parents to Chat 
eaugay / (Shat-o-gay N ) county, in the 
Province of Quebec, Canada, where 
on March 19, 1853, he married Susan 



McEwen, a sister of Wm. D. McEwen, 
Esq. Their home at this time was in 
a timber country, fifty miles south- 
west of Montreal. Here his mother, 
Ellen Watson, died when he was seven 
years of age, and his father, Andrew 
Struthers, in June, 1858; their family 
having consisted of four sons— Eobert, 
who was the eldest; James, who lo- 
cated near West Bend, after seven 
years spent in Australia; Andrew, who 
went to Nebraska, and William, who 
also became a resident of Des Moines 
township, this county. 

Eobert Struthers, during the first 
three years after his marriage was en- 
gaged in building railroad bridges in 
the Province of Ontario. At this pe- 
riod, which was but a few years be- 
fore the outbreak of the war of the 
rebellion, and about as many subse- 
quent to the transition from a terri- 
torial to a state government in Iowa, 
the attention of those seeking new 
homes was directed to the rich and 
fertile but unoccupied prairies of this 
newly organized state. When the 
tide of emigration had reached the 
north central part of the state, Mr. 
and Mrs. Struthers decided to leave 
the associations of home and kindred 
and seek their fortunes as pioneers of 
this new and as they verily believed 
"better country." Accordingly, in 
January, 1857, they came to the Unit- 
ed States and began the journey to 
their frontier home in the West, in- 
tending to proceed direct to Fort 
Dodge; but owing to the severity of 
the winter and unusual drifts of snow, 
they stopped at Aurora, 111., until the 
month of April, and then leaving 
there his wife and one child — William 
E.— Mr. Struthers passed to Dubuque 
(the terminus of the Illinois Central) 
by rail, and from thence to Fort Dodge 
by stage, paying for the latter form of 
transportation at the rate of seven 
cents a mile for the first 100 miles and 
nine cents for the second 100 miles. 
The amount of baggage carried' free 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



173 



of charge was limited to forty pounds 
and all excess of that amount was 
charged at the regular passenger rate 
on an estimate of 150 pounds to the 
passenger. On this occasion there 
were nine passengers in the stage and 
they arrived at Fort Dodge on the 4th 
day of May. The day of their arrival 
was one of public sale of government 
lands in Hancock and Winnebago 
counties. There were only a few 
buildings on the site of the present 
city of Port Dodge and they were al- 
ready filled to their utmost capacity, 
so that Mr. Struthers had to go a 
half-mile oift of town to find a lodg- 
ing place. On that day he bought a 
quarter-section of land in Bingham 
township, Hancock county, that he 
continued to own as long as he lived. 
The sale on that day was called from 
an open window and the street was 
filled with a dense crowd of people for 
a considerable distance around it. 

When he arrived at Cedar Falls he 
received his first intelligence of the 
Spirit Lake massacre that had oc- 
curred two months before. At this 
place he encountered a number of 
covered wagons moving east, that 
were filled with frightened people 
who expected the Indians would soon 
raid the entire northwest part of the 
state. 

After locating his claim in Des 
Moines township and doing some work 
of improvement upon it, Mr. Struth- 
ers bought a lot in Fort Dodge" and 
erected a small house on it. Then, 
about the latter part of June, with a 
mule team he returned to Dubuque 
where he awaited the arrival of his 
family and household effects and load- 
ing them in his wagon brought them 
thus to Fort Dodge. About two 
weeks were occupied in this trip 
across the country and they were for- 
tunate in having beautiful weather 
and good roads. After a residence of 
one year in Fort Dodge, in the fall of 
1858, they moved to the log shanty 



built that year on their claim in Des 
Moines township. This shanty, 16x16 
feet, which was one of the first half- 
dozen m the settlement, and served as 
the family residence for fifteen years, 
in 1873 was replaced by a fine, large 
dwelling house that now stands, not 
upon the wild, open prairie, but upon 
one of the most beautiful, highly im- 
proved and best cultivated farms in 
the country. Here a sturdy family of 
three sons and four daughters grew 
up around them, or went forth from 
the parental roof to found new homes 
of their own. They continued to re- 
side here until 1893, when the vener- 
able patriarch, accompanied by his 
wife and two members of the family, 
moved to Eolfe to spend the remain- 
der of his days. The decease of his 
faithful wife occurred in her 70th 
year, June 9, 1897, and his own noble 
career was ended in his 69th year, 
Sabbath evening, September 18, 1898. 

Mr. Struthers bought more land as 
he was able but did not sell an acre, 
and at the time of his decease in ad- 
dition to the home in Rolfe, was the 
owner of 1240 acres of land most of 
which was located in Des Moines 
township, where two of his sons still 
reside; William E. married to Alice 
Price, on section 3, and Andrew J. 
married to Etta Parkins, at the old 
home on section 12. The entry for 
the 120 acres on the NEi of this sec- 
tion which he claimed as a home by 
right of pre-emption in May, 1857, 
seems not to have been made until 
Nov. 16, 1866, and the patent for it 
was issued Nov. 20, 1883. His daugh- 
ter Ellen, wife of Richard S. Mathers, 
who lives one mile east of Rolfe, was 
the first white child born (January 1, 
1859) in the north part of the county. 
Susan, married to Col. J. B. Kent; 
Grace, married to James McClure; 
Maggie J. and Robert A. all reside at 
Rolfe. 

During the first forty years of this 
county's history this noble-minded 



174 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



man was a conspicuous and influential 
factor. He was a man whom neither 
Indians, blizzards, grasshoppers nor 
even hard- times could frighten from 
his purpose "to found a home in the 
west and grow up with the coun- 
try." He was a man of public spirit 
and rendered service in his own town- 
ship and county in an official capacity, 
for a longer period of years than any 
other man in the county except pos- 
sibly W. H. Hait. In 1859, at the 
time of the county's organization, he 
was chosen one of the justices of the 
peace for the township which then 
embraced the county, and at the time 
of his decease in 1898, he was mayor of 
the city of Eolfe and a justice of the 
peace for Clinton township; and there 
was not an intervening year he did not 
have some official duties to perform. 

In the fall of 1859 he was elected 
county surveyor; for this office he was 
the first one to qualify and was the 
only incumbent of it during the next 
ten years. In 1865 and '66 he served 
two years as County Eecorder. 

In 1812-3 he had the honor to serve 
as the first representative from this 
county in the legislature of Iowa. 
The district then embraced Kossuth, 
Palo Alto, Pocahontas and Calhoun 
counties, and his election was secured 
without any opposition from an op- 
posing candidate. This legislature 
was distinguished by the fact it held 
two sessions. At the first session in 

1872, there was adopted the present 
mode in Iowa of assessing and taxing 
the property of the railroads and Wm. 
B. Allison was elected to the U. S. 
senate. At the special session held in 

1873, the Code of Iowa was arranged 
and prepared for publication later 
that same year. 

For fifteen years in succession, 
1878-1892, he was Assessor of Des 
Moines township; and from its organ- 
ization in 1859 to 1893, the year of his 
removal to Rolf e, he held the office of 
Justice of the Peace almost continu- 



ously. While serving in this capacity 
he performed the first marriage cere- 
mony in the north part of the county. 
This wedding occurred July 18, 1861, 
at the home of Samuel 1ST. Harris, and 
the contracting parties were his daugh- 
ter Elizabeth Harris and W. S. Fea- 
gels, a trapper, who later homesteaded 
the SEi SEi Sec. 13, Des Moines 
township. 

Robert Struthers was the first per- 
son to receive a certificate of natural- 
ization in this county and it was is- 
sued to him Jan. 3, 1860, at Highland 
City, (later Old Rolfe) by Samuel N. 
Harris, Clerk of the District Court. 
This" certificate was recorded and 
reads as follows: 

"Robert Struthers, a native of Scot- 
land, having resided five full years in 
the United States and one full year 
in the state of Iowa, immediately pre- 
ceding this date, and having made 
proof of being a man of good moral 
character and well disposed towards 
the institutions of this country, and 
having declared on oath that he has 
absolutely and entirely sundered and 
abjured all allegiance to any foreign 
king, prince, potentate, state or sov- 
ereignty whatsoever, and particularly 
to the Queen of Great Britain, of 
whom he was late a subject, and on 
oath declares that he will support the 
constitution and laws of the United 
States and the constitution of the 
State of Iowa, it was ordered that 
the said Robert Struthers be admit- 
ted a citizen of the United States of 
America." 

In the spring of 1860, when the first 
school election was held, Mr. Struth- 
ers was chosen one of the three mem- 
bers of the first board of directors of 
the Des Moines district, which then 
embraced all of the county except 
what was included in the Lizard dis- 
trict. His intelligence and energy as 
a member of this board, enabled him 
to exert such an influence that there 
has been accorded to him the honor 
of being "The father of Pocahontas 
county's school system, and that it 
has become a worthy monument to 
the memory of its founder." 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



17 5 



He had the honor to serve as chair- 
man of the first republican conven- 
tion held in this county; was chair- 
man of the county central committee 
many years in succession in the early 
days and, with a single exception, at- 
tended every republican county con- 
vention held previous to 1881. 

When the Pocahontas County Bible 
Society was organized at Old Rolfe 
in 1867, he became a loyal supporter of 
it and served as president of that or- 
ganization from that year until the 
time of his decease, a period of thirty- 
one years. 

Hon. James P. Wilson, late U. S. 
senator from Iowa, addressing a pub- 
lic meeting held in this county, at 
which he was presiding, paid him the 
compliment that like others of his 
countrymen, "Eobert Struthers was a 
hardy son of toil, raised on oatmeal 
. and the Shorter Catechism. " 

Dr. Johnson, the well-known Eng- 
lish writer, referring to this plain diet 
of his neighbors once rather wittily 
described oats as, "In Scotland food 
for Scotchmen, but in England food 
for horses." He was well answered 
however, by the indignant Scotchman 
who replied, "Yes, and where can 
you find such men as in Scotland or 
such horses as in England." 

Mr. Struthers was a man of very 
positive convictions in matters relat- 
ing to religion, morality and politics. 
He was a firm believer in the inspira- 
tion and authority of the Bible as the 
Word of God, and both in business 
and politics, forced the question, "Is 
this right or is it wrong?" He was a 
total abstainer from the use of all in- 
toxicating liquors, (the first it has 
been said, in the county) -and believ- 
ing it to be the duty of the state to 
prohibit the traffic in them wherever 
it was possible, he was always ready 
both to defend and advocate the cause 
of legal suasion. He was a man of 
practical ideas and methods. Accord- 
ing to his own statement he became a 



republican in politics while he resided 
in Ontario in 1855, when that party 
was organized in Philadelphia and 
framed a platform in regard to slavery 
and the protection of American in- 
dustries that received his hearty en- 
dorsement. His political principles 
were subordinated to and made to 
harmonize as nearly as possible with 
the teachings of divine revelation, 
and when he cast his ballot it was for 
the support of the principles of truth, 
justice, honor and righteousness. 
Such a man resents with scorn the 
idea that he can be swayed like un- 
stable reeds by the political winds 
that blow from one direction today 
and from another tomorrow. 

Few such men are to be found in 
any country. He was an uncut dia- 
mond without the polish of a finished 
education or skill in the convention- 
alities of this life, yet he was a man 
of marked intelligence, affable, hos- 
pitable, had a good memory that re- 
tained with distinctness the incidents 
of early days and no one stood as his 
superior in honesty of purpose and in- 
tegrity of character. When called 
upon to decide matters between 
neighbors, a circumstance of frequent 
occurrence, his decisions were always 
tempered with justice. And as a 
friend to the young he has left his 
memory indelibly stamped on all who 
came in contact with him in their 
struggle for a start in life. 

His estimable wife, who shared 
with him the privations and trials of 
frontier life, shared also with him 
the noble sentiments that animated 
his life and to which he gave the 
more public utterance, "She was a 
true wife to true husband, clothing 
herself afresh to his heart as her 
beauty faded, with a new beauty that 
was to be appreciated rather than 
seen." 

Fearless they lived, fearless they died, 
Battling always for truth and right- 
eousness; 



176 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Building monuments of worthy deeds, 
Fortune upon them graciously smiled, 
And domestic bliss was also vouch- 
safed. 

1858 and 1859. 

During the two yearns 1858 and 1859, 
a number of new families located in 
the Des Moines settlement, among 
whom were David Slosson, John A. 
James, Perry Nowlen, Henry and 
William Jarvis, Ora Harvey, O. F. 
Avery, James Edelman, Hank Brown 
and John Straight. 

David Slosson, in May, 1858, came to 
Pocahontas county, with a family con- 
sisting of his wife, Esther Yaughan, 
who died in 1875, three sons — Oscar, 
Orlando and Edmond — all of whom 
were young men, and one daughter, 
Ann, who became the wife of Romeyn 
B. Fish and is still a resident of the 
county. On his arrival, David Slos- 
son located on section 26, and on Sep- 
tember 28, 1858, entered his pre- 
emption claim for lots 1 and 2 and the 
Wi NEi of that section, containing 
158 acres. His eldest son, Oscar Slos- 
son, December 8, 1860, entered as a 
pre-emption the SEi Sec. 24, 160 acres, 
same township, and received the pat- 
ent for it June 1, 1861; and Orlando, 
the second son, on January 18, 1868, 
entered as a homestead the NWi Sec. 
26, 160 acres, same township and re- 
ceived the patent for it September 1, 
^L869. 

David Slosson was the son of David 
and Esther (Yaughan) Slosson, his fa- 
ther being of Welsh and his mother 
of English descent. He was a native 
of Yermont, where he was born March 
11, 1811, near Grand Isle. He received 
a good common school education, and 
when quite young moved to New 
York state, where he learned the 
shoemakers' trade. 

At twenty he married Rachel 

Yaughan, a cousin, and during the 

next five years worked at his trade 

during the winter and on the farm 

uring the summer, He then moved 



to Summit county, Ohio— later to 
Clinton county, N. Y., and in 1846 re- 
turned to Summit county, Ohio. The 
next move was to Michigan, and in 
1852 he came to Clinton county, Iowa, 
where he remained until the time of 
settlement in this county in 1858. 

His next move was to Washington 
Territory, where his three sons — Oscar 
married to Julia Towslee, Orlando 
married to Harriet Halstead and Ed- 
mond married to Ellen Savage— still 
reside. He died there June 30, 1884. 
His daughter, Mrs. R. B. Fish, resides 
at Rolf e. 

At the time of the organization of 
this county, David Slosson had the 
honor to be chosen the first County 
Judge and served in that capacity 
from March 21st, the day he qualified, 
to Dec. 31, 1859. The duties devolving 
upon this officer were those that are 
now performed by the Board of Coun- 
ty Supervisors. As there was no pub- 
lic building in the county his cabin, 
which was somewhat central in the 
Des Moines settlement, became the 
seat of government for the county, 
and the public records were kept there 
until the erection of the first court 
house, in the fall of 1860. 

His administration of the affairs of 
this county, though limited to a peri- 
od less than one year, was unusually 
eventful and has been rendered mem- 
orable by three important contracts 
that were concluded by him in behalf 
of the county. These contracts re- 
lated to the erection of the first court 
house at Old Rolf e, the construction 
of the first bridge over the Des Moines 
river and the special survey of the 
swamp lands of the county that they 
might be given in payment for the 
public building and bridge. 

The following item from the record 
is of interest as showing the salary of 
the Judge and his systematic method 
of keeping the record; 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



177 



State of Iowa, 
Pocahontas Co., 

County Court, 

July 9, A. D. 1859. 

On this day, I, David Slosson, Coun- 
ty Judge of said county, drew a war- 
rant for $12.50 for one (the first) quar- 
ter's salary fee. David Slosson, 

County Judge. 

The law creating the Board of 
County Supervisors was enacted in 
1860, and in 1861 he had the honor to 
serve as a member of the first Board 
of County Supervisors. He also served 
on this Board during the years 1863 to 
'67, 1870 to '71 and 1874 to '79, making 
a period of nearly thirteen years that 
he served in this capacity, the longest 
of any incumbent in that office. 

John A. James, who came in 1858, 
located on the SEi Sec. 36, Des Moines 
township. On April 18, 1864, he enter- 
ed as a homestead claim lots 7 and 8 
and Ei of this section, containing 172 
acres, and received the patent for it 
June 1, 1866. He was the second to 
hold the office of County Judge. For 
this office he qualified Jan. 3, 1860, and 
continued to serve until May 6, 1861, 
when he resigned. His first' act was 
the appointment of Oscar Slosson, 
Jan. 9, 1860, the second Assessor for 
the county and on the same day he ap- 
pointed David Slosson a Justice of the 
Peace. At the time of the organiza- 
tion of Clinton township in the fall of 
1860, his home being included therein, 
he was chosen Clerk and also a Justice 
of the Peace of the township. He 
served as Clerk of the township three 
years, and subsequently served as 
Trustee and Assessor. At the general 
election held in the fall of 1863 on the 
home vote be was declared elected to 
the office of Sheriff for the county by 
a majority of two votes. But when 
the soldier vote was received and a 
new canvass made, about one month 
later, Abiel Stickney, the rival candi- 
date, won the office by a majority of 
two votes. There were but four sol- 
dier votes returned, but in this in- 



stance they were sufficient to reverse 
the decision of the home vote. 

Perry Nowlen and Julia A., his 
wife, who now reside at Rolfe, in 
March, 1858, came to Des Moines 
township and pre-empted the SWi 
Sec. 12, 160 acres, making' the entry 
Aug. 20, 1860, and receiving the patent 
April 1, 1861. They occupied and im- 
proved this claim until 1894, a period 
of 36 years, when they moved to Rolfe. 
They still own it and at the present 
time it is a source of pleasure to them 
to know that no mortgage was ever 
allowed to be filed against this claim 
around which cluster so many and va- 
ried experiences of pioneer life. They 
came to this claim with hands that 
were empty, but willing to work, and 
with heroic spirit they encountered 
and overcame the trials and privations 
incident to a settlement in a new 
country. Their pioneer home has 
been improved with fine buildings, 
groves and orchard, and they have 
made other purchases in addition to 
the home in town, so that they are 
now the owners of 315 acres of land 
and are in very comfortable circum- 
stances. 

Mr. and Mrs. Nowlen have had a 
trying experience with hard times, 
grasshoppers and the like, but they 
achieved success in spite of these evils 
by their persistent industry, economy 
and skill in farming. Daring seven 
out of nine years the grasshoppers 
made greater or less havoc of their 
crops. On one occasion from ninety 
acres of promising wheat he harvested 
not a sheaf. They survived the period 
of hard times by making cheese. As 
soon as they were able they purchased 
a few cows, keeping usually fifteen to 
eighteen, and these became the prin- 
cipal source of their income. Mrs. 
Nowlen was a skillful hand at making 
butter and cheese and they made but- 
ter in the cooler and cheese in the 
warmer weather. By this arrange- 
ment they had a marketable product 



178 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



from their dairy when butter was only 
ten cents and not in demand. During 
one year, not counting what was used 
in the family or fed to the pigs, the 
manufactured product of butter and 
cheese sold averaged $37.00 and during 
the year 1864 $44.00 to each cow. For 
a considerable time Fort Dodge, forty 
miles distant, was the nearest post- 
office and for many years the nearest 
market, and many a time did Mr. 
Nowlen take his night's rest under 
the wagon while making this trip, 
which always required two days. 

Mr. Nowlen was the first farmer in 
the north part of the county to en- 
gage in raising flax. He obtained his 
seed from New York state and re- 
ceived $2.00 a bushel for all he sold 
from the first two crops. He was also 
the first bee-keeper in the north part 
of the county. His first crop of tim- 
othy seed, raised on nine and one- 
half acres of breaking, brought him 
$244.00. 

Mr. Nowlen is a native of Allegheny 
county, Maryland, where he was born 
Oct. 31, 1823. He was the son of Sam- 
uel and Rachel Nowlen and his mar- 
riage occurred in New York state, Ju- 
ly 24, 1853. He has always been a re- 
publican but has never taken any par- 
ticular interest in politics, preferring 
to be a practical and successful farmer. 
He has one son Charles, who is still 
at home. 

Perry Nowlen, at the first general 
election, held Oct. 11, 1859, was elect- 
ed Superintendent of the Public 
Schools of the county, but did not 
qualify. On Oct. 8, 1861, he was elect- 
ed and on Jan. 6th, following, qualified 
as County Judge but resigned the of- 
fice after the lapse of five months. 

He who would succeed in this life, 
Must have an abundance of pluck; 
No one can win in the strife 
By trusting to what is called "luck." 

Henry Jarvis, whose home near Old 
Rolfe, became the first voting place in 
the north part of the county, was a 



native of England, where he was born 
Jan. 11, 1832. After coming to Amer- 
ica he located first in Illinois and later 
at Dyersville, Iowa, where on May 25, 
1858, he married Mary Tilley, (b. June 
19, 1839) and accompanied by his broth- 
er William Jarvis, they came to Poca- 
hontas county and built a log shanty 
in the Des Moines settlement, on the 
NWi Sec. .24, in which for several 
months they lived together. 

Both of them selected pre-emption 
claims. Henry, on Sept. 20, 1859, en- 
tered his claim for lots 2, 3 and 4, 60 
acres, on Sec. 24, Des Moines town- 
ship, and received the patent April 5, 
1862. On June 10, 1864, under the 
homestead law, he filed a claim for 
lots 7 and 8, Sec. 25, 115 acres, and re- 
newed this claim May 5, 1870. In 
1894, he purchased some land near 
Rolfe and building thereon, moved to 
town where he and his wife still re- 
side. Their family consisted of eleven 
children, two of whom died young and 
George, the eldest, after his marriage. 

Henry Jarvis was the second sheriff 
in Pocahontas county, and he served 
in that capacity 1860 to 1863 and 1865 
to 1867. His cabin was the polling 
place in the Des Moines settlement 
for the first three elections held in 
the year 1859, and the fourth one, on 
Nov. 19, was held at the home of his 
brother William Jarvis. 

William Jarvis pre-empted the SEi 
Sec. 14, Des Moines township, 160 
acres, making the entry Sept. 20, 1859, 
and receiving the patent Sept. 15, 
1861. He was born in Somersetshire, 
England, Jan. 4, 1829, and married 
there Sarah Sanely, March 26, 1856. 
Three weeks later they came to Amer- 
ica and after one year spent in Illinois, 
they came to Dyersville, Iowa. From 
this place they came to the Des 
Moines settlement by ox-team, in the 
spring of 1858. The weather was wet, 
the streams and sloughs were full and 
frequently they had to make their 
own road. On their arrival they 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



119 



erected a log shanty 16x24 feet, with 
two rooms and began farming opera- 
tions with the oxen, having brought 
with them a year's supply of provis- 
ions. Mr. Jarvis was a good feeder, 



were thus called upon to leave the 
pleasurable scenes and employments 
of an older and more cultured society 
in an eastern town for the sparsely 
settled settlement on the frontier, did 



and turning his attention to raising not see another woman's face during 
cattle and hogs, he soon acquired a 
considerable fortune. After occupy- 
ing their first residence fifteen years, 
they returned to England, and after 
three years they located in the town 
of Old Rolfe, and now reside at Rolfe. 
William Jarvis, in 1860, served as 



the first six months of their residence 
in Clinton township. To say that 
this experience was to them a lonely 
one only moderately expresses the 
situation. 

Under these privations their educa- 
tion and culture prepared them as it 
coroner and drainage commissioner were to extract sweets from the many 
for the county. At the first election rough experiences they were called 
for the township he was chosen one of upon to endure as early pioneers, 
the trustees for Pes Moines township These lonely experiences were endured 
and served in that capacity from 1860 not only without a murmur of com- 
to 1872, when he returned to England, plaint but were oftentimes turned 
a period of thirteen years. into pleasurable enjoyments. It 

Ora Harvey accompanied by O. F. must be remembered that there were 
Avery hisson-in-law, and their families only three other homes or cabins built 
came to Pocahontas county and locat- in the township at that time and 
ed on the NEi Sec. 10, 92-31 (Clinton what is now the populous and flourish- 
township). The family of Ora Har- ing township of Clinton was then a 
vey consisted of himself, wife (Eliza vast expanse of wild prairie. 
Marcy) and younger daughter, Helen Ora Harvey, on April 22, 1862, was 
M., who later became the wife of W. appointed Superintendent of the Pub- 



H. Hait. The family of O. P. Avery 
consisted of himself, wife (Jennie S. 
Harvey) and one son, Eugene. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ora Harvey were na- 



lic Schools of this county and served 
in this capacity until Jan. 7, 1863. At 
the first election held in Clinton town- 
ship in the fall of 1860, he was chosen 



fives of .New Hampshire but had spent a member of the first Board of County 
the early part of their lives in the Supervisors and, for eight successive 



town of Weathersfield, Vermont, 
where their two daughters were born 
and grew to womanhood. Both Ora 
and his wife had received and appre- 
ciated the value of a good education 
and they provided for both of their 



years, 1861 to 1868, was continued a 
member of that Board. At their first 
meeting held Jam 7, 1861, he had the 
honor to be chosen its first Chairman, 
and as long as he was continued a mem- 
ber of this Board that honor was an- 



daughters the opportunity of taking a nually accorded to him. This privi- 



complete academic course before leav- 
ing that place. 

It was the 7th day of November, 
1859, when they arrived upon their 
purchased frontier home in Clinton 
township. The winter following was 



lege of serving as Chairman of the 
Board of County Supervisors for a per- 
iod of eight successive years was an 
unusual distinction and reveals the 
confidence reposed in him and the es- 
teem in which he was held. Though 



extremely mild and by early spring modest and unassuming, he possessed 

they bad a small house built that they an unusual tact in managing his polit- 

were only too glad to occupy. The ical opponents and those who differed 

mother and her two daughters, who from him in judgment. He was one 



180 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of Nature's noblemen, gentle in man- 
ner and brave in action. He was a 
man whom his friends delighted to 
honor; and during those eight years of 
public service, though many import- 
ant items of business came before the 
Board, no consideration sufficed to 
sway him from an honest course and 
no event occurred to lessen the confi- 
dence of the people in the integrity of 
his purpose. Mrs. Harvey died July 
4, 1880, and his death occurred at Hum- 
boldt. 

Oscar F. Avery was born in Herki- 
mer county, New York, July 20, 1833, 
and after attending public school un- 
til he was sixteen, enjoyed the ad- 
vantage of one term at Fairfield Acad- 
emy. After teaching public school in 
his own county four winters he spent 
one and one-half years in the State 
Normal School at Albany, N. Y., 
where he graduated in January 1856. 
He continued to teach school during 
the next three years, teaching one 
year in Michigan and the next in 
Wisconsin. His marriage occurred a 
short time after he graduated and his 
last term of school was taught in Po- 
cahontas county during the winter of 
1860, making him one of the first three 
teachers of the county. This school 
was taught in the log house built by 
W. H. Hait that stood upon the ground 
occupied by his present residence on 
Section 26, Des Moines township. 

O. F. Avery by appointment of 
County Judge, John A. James, served 
as the first Superintendent of Public 
Schools of this county from March 20, 
1860 to May 6, 1861 when he resigned 
the office. On December 24, 1860 he 
received $6.00 for his services rendered 
as County Superintendent from the 
time of his appointment until that 
date, a period of nine months. He is- 
sued certificates to Helen M. Harvey, 
Ellen Condon and one or two others. 

In the fall of 1860 he selected a claim 
of 170 acres just across the line in 
Humboldt county and, moving upon 



it the ensuing summer occupied it 
nearly twenty years. During this 
period he and his family experienced 
some dark and also some bright and 
happy days — the former to be forgot- 
ten, the latter to be remembered and 
cherished while life has its claim on 
this planet. Engaged in the real es- 
tate and lumber business he now re- 
sides in one of the largest and most 
beautiful homes in the city of Hum- 
boldt and has become one of the most 
prominent and influential citizens of 
that county. His wife (Jennie S. Har- 
vey) died August 24, 1892, leaving one 
daughter who still resides with her 
father. Her portrait and also those 
of her sister Mrs. Hait and their pa- 
rents, Ora and Eliza Harvey, may all 
be seen in this volume. 

James Edelman was a trapper, and 
though on June 12, 1859, he entered as 
a pre-emption claim, lots 1 and 2 and 
the SWi SWi Sec. 36, 93-31, (Des 
Moines township) 134 acres, he sold it 
before the patent was received after a 
residence of one year in the county. 
His claim joined that of Edward Ham- 
mond on the north. At the first elec- 
tion held March 15, 1859, he was elect- 
ed Drainage Commissioner for the 
county but was not called upon to per- 
form any official duties in that capac- 
ity. 

John Straight was a brother-in-law 
of Perry Nowlen. He came here from 
Wisconsin and located on the SEi Sec. 
35, Des Moines township where he re- 
mained several years and then return- 
ed East. 

Hank Brown selected the NW|, Sec. 
34, Des Moines township as a pre-emp- 
tion claim and partly erected a log 
cabin on it, but afterward abandoning 
•it without entry, in 1865 Wm. D. Mc- 
Ewen entered it with a land warrant. 

"His happy home 
A cabin in the grove, 
Seat of contentment, 
Gratitude and love." 

W. D. McEwen in July 1857 engaged 




BRICK BLOCK OF C. F. GARRISON, Photographer, and 
S. A. BRIGHT, Grocer, ROLFE. 




STATE SAVINGS BANK, ROLFE, W. D.- McEwen, President. 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



181 



in carpenter work at Fort Dodge and 
in the spring of 1858 walked from that 
place to the home of Robert Struthers, 
his brother-in-law in Des Moines 
township for the purpose of locat- 
ing a pre-emption claim. But find- 
ing that another man had taken the 
claim he had in view he returned to 
Fort Dodge, and remaining there dur- 
ing that winter and the year follow- 
ing, was a frequent visitor to his 
friends in the pioneer settlement in 
in the northeast part of the county. 
In 1859 he returned to the east and 
spent several years in school. In 1865 
he located permanently at Old Rolfe 
the first county seat and commencing 
an official career as Superintendent of 
the Public Schools of this county in 
1866, he continued in the public serv- 
ice until Dec. 31, 1887, a period of 
22 years. The offices filled were Co. 
Superintendent, 2 years, 1866 and '67, 
Clerk of the District Court six years, 
1867 to 1872; County Judge in 1869, the 
last incumbent of that office; Clerk of 
the Board of Supervisors three years, 
1867 to 1869; County Auditor four 
years, 1870 to 1873, the first incumbent 
of that office; and County Treas- 
urer twelve years, 1874 to 1883 and 
1886-87. In 1876 he was the Commis- 
sioner from this county to the Centen- 
nial at Philadelphia. 

"Pay as you go" has ever been a car- 
dinal business principle with him and 
finding the county $20,000 in debt 
when he became Auditor, he began to 
use his influence to protect the credit 
of the county and maintain its war- 
rants at par value. Before the close 
of his public career he had the pleas- 
ure to see every vestige of indebted- 
ness removed. Few men enjoy the 
privilege of rendering so long a period 
of public service or of receiving so 
many proofs of appreciation from the 
people whom he served as W. D. Mc- 
Ewen. On Jan. 12, 1884, when his final 
accounts for the first ten years of serv- 
ice as treasurer were audited and ap- 



proved by the Board of Supervisors, 
they passed a resolution expressing 
their sincere thanks to him for the 
kind, gentle and manly manner in 
which he had filled the office of County 
Treasurer so long, and presented him 
with the gold pen he had used, as a 
memento of the office. As a public 
officer he was uniformly courteous and 
considerate, and kept the records 
in a plain, neat and methodical man- 
ner. 

He has been a loyal and ardent re- 
publican, was personally and very fa- 
vorably known to every voter in the 
county, and no one could say aught 
against his qualifications or honesty. 
On one occasion near the close of his 
public career, having received the 
nomination for County Treasurer 
about the fourth time, one of his 
friends very wittily remarked that the 
only exception his opponents could 
take to him as a candidate, was that 
expressed by the young man who, be- 
ing present at a wedding in a New 
England town, when the minister 
asked if any one objected to this man 
marrying this woman, interrupted the 
ceremony by stammering out, "I want 
her myself. " So with his political op- 
ponents, they have been chiefly those 
who wanted the office for themselves. 
He has been a persistent friend of 
progress and aided greatly in the de- 
velopment and upbuilding of the in- 
terests of this county. In 1867 he as- 
sisted in the publication of a pam- 
phlet giving a description of Pocahon- 
tas county and inviting immigration, 
of which hundreds of copies were dis- 
tributed in the East. In 1869 he com- 
menced the publication of the Poca- 
hontas Journal, the first paper pub- 
lished in the county, but as it could 
not be made a financial success it was 
discontinued in 1872. In 1875 he pub- 
lished a map of the county, and in 
1876 he resumed the publication of 
a county paper, the Pocahontas Times, 
that has been continued until the 



182 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



present time, though for two years 
under a new name — The Fonda Times. 
In 1878 he issued a second advertising 
pamphlet of the county and in 1881, 
15,000 copies of another one entitled, 
The New Home, all for free distribu- 
tion. 

W. D. McEwen was horn in Chateau- 
gay county, Canada, July 9, 1838, and 
was the son of William and Margaret 
McEwen both of whom were natives 
of Scotland and came to the Province 
of Quebec in 1820. He -attended pub- 
lic school until he was fourteen years 
of age and then learned the carpen- 
ter trade during the next three years, 
working chiefly at bridge building. 
This was his employment while he re- 
mained in Fort Dodge from July 1857 
to the fall of 1859 and again in 1864 
when he returned and completed his 
citizenship at that place. When he 
visited the Des Moines settlement in 
1858 he found it a boundless wilder- 
ness and as the times were dull and 
his expected claim taken he decided 
in the fall of 1859 to enter Hunting- 
don Academy in the Province of Que- 
bec and complete his education. He 
remained at this institution until the 
death of his father, who appointed 
him executor of his estate. As soon 
as the affairs of his father's estate had 
been settled, he arranged to return to 
the land of his adoption with the 
$5,000 that fell to his share. 

In the spring of 1865 when he locat- 
ed permanently in Pocahontas county, 
Robert Struthers, his brother-in-law, 
was County Recorder. Having a farm 
and family to look after, W. D. Mc- 
Ewen at once became his deputy and 
the work of the Recorder's office was 
turned over to him. As the work of 
this office was not very exacting nor 
very lucrative, he worked at his trade 
during the day and on the public rec- 
ords in the evening. Frequently the 
records of the entire week were writ- 
ten on Saturday night. During the 
first three years of his residence in the 



county he taught school at Old Rolfe 
in the winter and worked at his trade 
in the summer. In his youth he rec- 
ognized the importance of getting a 
good start in life; he was never idle 
and on several occasions, carrying his 
tools on his shoulder, he walked eight 
miles (once barefooted) in order to as- 
sist where he was needed. 

On November 18, 1885, he married 
Jennie Matson, a lady who, like him- 
self, was also of Puritan descent, a 
resident of Des Moines township and 
one of his own pupils when he taught 
at Old Rolfe. She was the daughter 
of William and Mary (Baxter) Matson, 
who located at Old Rolfe in 1867. 
They have one son, Donald, who is in 
his thirteenth year. They are still 
residents of the county and live at 
Rolfe, where he is engaged in banking 
and occupies one of the finest resi- 
dences in the county. 

"LIZARD AND DES MOINES SETTLERS. 

These were the first settlers in the 
Lizard and Des Moines settlements, 
which were the first in the county. 

It may be observed that those in 
the Lizard settlement were all of 
Irish descent; most of them being na- 
tives of Ireland, who had lived a few 
years in the coal regions of Pennsyl- 
vania. In religious belief they were 
devout Catholics and as early as 1857, 
when a private house large enough for 
the purpose was erected in the east- 
ern part of the settlement in Webster 
county, public worship was estab- 
lished that resulted in the organiza- 
tion of the Lizard Catholic parish in 
1870, and the erection of the Lizard 
Catholic church in 1871. All of them, 
with a single exception, favored the 
principles of the democratic party, and 
under these conditions the colony was 
united and disposed to share each 
other's hardships during the period of 
hard times. 

Those in the Des Moines settlement, 
on the other band, were nearly all of 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY. 



183 



Scotch descent and had come either 
from Canada or New England. Most 
of them were Presbyterians in relig- 
ious belief, and as early as 1859, under 
the ministry of Eev. David S. McComb, 
united to form the Unity Presbyteri- 
an church, the first church organized 
in the county. They were practical 
farmers and a large number of them 
had received a liberal education. 
These circumstances were of great ad- 
vantage to them, enabling them to 
act as leaders in the organization of 
the county and to secure for them- 
selves some special benefits during 
the first few years of the county's his- 
tory. Their political faith was, for 
the most part, Republican. 

For nearly twenty years after the 
arrival of these first settlers the prog- 
ress of the county was very slow. At 
that time there were no settlers west 
of these places except the few pioneers 
who had located along the Little 
Sioux river. The Spirit Lake Massa- 
cre had occurred early in the spring 
of 1857 and the excitement from it 
had, to a large extent subsided before 
the settlement of the northern part 
of the county had fairly commenced; 
yet for several years the settlers were 
subject to considerable anxiety lest 
another outbreak should occur. Dar- 
ing the years immediately following 
these first settlements, many pioneers 
passed westward through this section 
and it was only occasionally that one 
stopped to select a claim and improve 
it. 

For many long years Fort Dodge, 
distant twenty to forty miles, was the 
nearest trading point and postofflce 
for all of the settlers in the county. 
In 1857 there was no mail route to the 
west except the one from Fort Dodge 
via Twin Lakes and Sac City to Sioux 



City and by means of a line of daily 
stages, that became a great thorough- 
fare of travel for western emigration. 
The route to the northwest was along 
the west branch of the Des Moines 
river. Early in the sixties a postofflce 
was opened in Des Moines township, 
and in 1865 a mail route was estab- 
lished from Fort Dodge to Spirit Lake 
via Old Rolfe. 

During the years 1856 to 1858 no 
crops were raised in the county except 
a little sod corn and a few potatoes, 
the whole amount of breaking not ex- 
ceeding about thirty acres. The set- 
tlers had to live on what they brought 
with them or bought. The winter of 
1856-7 was very severe and noted 
among the early settlers for its deep 
snows, terrible blizzards and extreme 
cold; but the winter following was 
comparatively mild. 

"The pioneers who came to this 
county during the fifties and also the 
sixties, in leaving their more or less 
comfortable homes in the Eastern 
states for the western prairies, found 
a country so wide, so smooth and so 
unbroken in its painfully solemn qui- 
etude, hundreds of miles from mail 
facilities and neighbors so few and 
far between that only those who were 
patient, persevering, brave and cour- 
ageous could achieve success. The 
new resident of today, after the lapse 
of forty years finds a land dotted with 
towns and villages, schools and church- 
es, thrifty groves, broad acres of fer- 
tile soil and a country settled with a 
prosperous and happy people, with all 
the advantages and luxuries of the 
East brought within easy attainment 
by the network of iron that has spread 
like a civilizing web over the prairie 
wastes of 1857." 



184 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



VII. 
THE ©RGHNIZaTION ©F THE 60UNTY. 

"What constitutes a state? 
Not high raised battlements or labored mounds, 

Thick walls or moated gate; 
NOt cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned: 

But men, high-minded men; 
Men, who their duties know, 

And their rights dare maintain." 

1859. 




lURING the fall and 
winter of 1858 the 
settlers discussed the 
propriety of effecting 
the organization of 
the county and most 
of them signed a petition asking the 
County Judge of Webster County— to 
which Pocahontas was then attached — 
to issue a call for an election and an or- 
der for organization. This petition 
was granted and a special election was 
ordered to be held on March 15, 1859, 
under the auspices of a Committee of 
County Canvassers, consistingof Luth- 
er L. Pease, County Judge, Henry 
Winn and Egbert Bagg, Justices of the 
Peace, all from Webster county. By 
this order Des Moines township was 
constituted, embracing the entire 
county, but as a matter of conven- 
ience to the voters it was divided into 
two voting precincts known as the 
Des Moines and Lizard precincts. Two 
voting places were designated, one at 
the house of Henry Jarvis on section 
24, 93-31 (Des Moines township) and 
the other at the house of Chas. Kel- 
ley on Sec. 12, 90-31 (Lizard township.) 
At this election 23 votes were cast 
and the following county officers were 
elected: County Judge, David Slosson; 



Clerk of the District Court, A. H. 
Malcolm: Treasurer and Recorder, 
William H. Halt; Drainage Commis- 
sioner, James Edelman; County Sur- 
veyor, Guernsey Smith; Coroner, Hen- 
ry Park; Sheriff, Oscar Slosson. This 
report of the board of County Canvass- 
ers was made at Fort Dodge March 21, 
1859, and on that same day before 
Luther L. Pease, County Judge of 
Webster county, David Slosson took 
the oath of office and filed bonds as 
County Judge of Pocahontas county, 
his term of office to continue until his 
successor should be elected and quali- 
fied. All the other officers elected 
qualified before Judge Slosson, except 
A. H. Malcolm and on May 11, 1859, at 
the first session of the county court S. 
N. Harris being appointed in his stead, 
qualified as Clerk of the Court until 
his successor should be elected and 
qualified. This appointment was the 
first official act of the County Judge of 
Pocahontas county in open court and 
it was the only one at this session of 
the Court. 

Officers for Des Moines township, 
which then included the entire coun- 
ty, were also elected as follows: Jus- 
tices of the Peace, Robert Struthers 
and S. N. Harris and Township Clerk, 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



185 



W. H. Hait. No record was made of 
the election of trustees or assessor. 
On April 19, 1859, W. H. Hait 'was ap- 
pointed assessor, and on October 12th, 
following, justice of the peace in place 
of S. N. Harris, who did not qualify. 

During the first two years of the 
county's organization, 1859 and 1860, 
the general management of the coun- 
ty's affairs was vested in the County 
Judge, the Board of Supervisors not 
having an existence at that time. 

The County Judge held all the 
authority now vested in the Board of 
Supervisors and part of that vested in 
the Auditor and District Court. 

The first entry in the Record Book 
of Dayid Slosson, the first County 
Judge of Pocahontas county, is of 
date, May 25, 1859, and reads as fol- 
lows: 

State o? Iowa, ) 

Pocahontas Co., \ " 

County Court, 

May 25, 1859. 

Now on this day comes N. W. Mills 
& Co., and present their bill for books 
furnished for said county amounting 
to the sum of $285.00, as per voucher, 
said amount having been examined 
and found correct, it is therefore or- 
dered by the Court that said claim be 
allowed and that a warrant be issued 
in favor of said N. W. Mills & Co. for 
$285.00 and vouchers placed on file. 
David Slosson, County Judge. 

W. H. Hait was allowed a bill of 
$6.00 for bringing the above books 
for the County Becords from Des 
Moines. 

On the same day it was ordered that 
a warrant of $100 be issued to George 
S. Ringland and John W. Brady in 
part payment of a contract made and 
entered into by and between Messrs. 
Bingland & Brady and Pocahontas 
county on the — day of March 1859, 
for the selection, surveying and mak- 
ing returns of the swamp and over- 
flowed lands of the county. On this 
contract, for the survey of the swamp 
lands, there were issued that same 
year other warrants as follows: 



July 8, 1859, Bingland & Brady, $ 125 00 
Aug. 19, " " " 1003 00 

Nov. 8, " " " 850 00 

" 29, " " " 1920 00 

Dec. 17, " " " 1866 50 

Total for the year 1859. . . .$5864 50 

On July 9, 1859, the salary of the 
county officials including the Treasur- 
er, Clerk of the Court and County 
Judge was fixed at $50.00 each for 
that year. 

W. H. Hait made a transcript of the 
Records relating to Pocahontas coun- 
ty from those of Webster county and 
received for this service $30; and Dav- 
id Slosson, for the rent of his house 
for the use of the county officers dur- 
ing the year 1859, received $80. 

Aug. 8, 1859, on the application of a 
majority of the citizens of this county, 
A. W. Hubbard, of Sioux City, Judge 
of the 4th Judicial district of Iowa, 
appointed C. C. Carpenter, of Webster 
county; Niles Mahan, of Palo Alto 
county and Hiram Benjamin, of Hum- 
boldt county, Commissioners to locate 
the county seat of Pocahontas county 
as near the geographical center as pos- 
sible, having due regard for the pres- 
ent and future population and to make 
report of their proceedings in this 
matter to the County Judge of Poca- 
hontas county. In accordance with 
these instructions Messrs. C. C. Car- 
penter and Hiram Benjamin on Aug. 
20, 1859, visited this county and made 
a report locating the county seat on 
the SWi of the NEi and SWi of sec- 
tion 26, Des Moines township, con- 
taining 200 acres according to the 
original survey. The little village 
that grew as a result of this lo- 
cation of the county seat was succes- 
sively called Highland City, Milton, 
(Old) Rolfe and Parvin, and it contin- 
ued to be the county seat until Oct. 1, 
1876, when the public records were re- 
moved to Pocahontas. 

As soon as the county seat was lo- 
cated the erection of a public build- 
ing or court house became the all- 



186 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



absorbing tppic of public discussion. 
There were some serious difficulties to 
be met and overcome. The erection 
of a building of suitable size would in- 
volve a large expenditure of money, 
and if there was any one thing that 
the early settlers could not give, but 
all alike felt the imperative need of, 
it was money. "When the financial 
panic of 1857 is recalled one is not sur- 
prised at the statement that there 
was no money in the hands of the 
settlers,.of Pocahontas county at this 
early date for this public improve- 
ment. It must be remembered they 
were very few in number and having 
built their cabins, shanties or log 
houses, the effort to hold their claims 
and subsist on the productions of the 
soil exhausted all their resources. 
The only things of which they had a 
surplus were sunshine, fresh air and 
swamp land. The sunshine and wind 
did not "count for much" in a bargain 
and the swamp lands were regarded 
as scarcely more valuable, save that 
they could be measured, the mine of 
wealth possessed in tbem being both 
undiscovered and unappreciated. 

The proposition to utilize the swamp 
or overflowed lands of the county, the 
special survey of which was then in 
progress, met with general favor, and 
on September 1, 1859, at a special elec- 
tion held for that purpose this prop- 
osition was submitted to a vote of 
the people. At the two polling places 
at which this election was held, six- 
teen votes were polled and all of them 
were cast in favor of this method of 
paying for the building, and disposing 
of the "waste" lands of the county. 

A form of contract was then pre- 
pared that provided for the erection 
of a court house and also a bridge 
across the west branch of the Des 
Moines river near the proposed site of 
the county seat, both by William E. 
Clark, of Baltimore, Md., and the con- 
sideration specified therein was "all 
the swamp and overflowed lands in 



the county. ' ' 

According to the terms of this con- 
tract the public building was to be 
built of brick upon a stone foundation. 
It was to be a "court and school house 
combined," 36 feet wide in front, 50 
feet deep and the second story 14 feet 
high. The brick were to be made 
of as good clay as could be procured in 
the vicinity and well burned. They 
were to be laid in mortar composed of 
well burned and well slaked stone 
lime and clean, sharp sand. The wall 
in the first story was to be 16 inches 
and in the second, 12 inches in thick- 
ness. All the openings for doors and 
windows, except the round-topped ones 
of the second story, were to have lin- 
tels of wood, that should not appear 
upon the face of the wall, and have 
arches of brick thrown over them. All 
the timber used, including the floor- 
ing, was to be of oak, elm or walnut 
and of the best quality obtainable in 
the vicinity. The roof, a plain comb, 
was to be supported by rafters 3x4 in. 
overlaid with good sheeting and cov- 
ered with good shaved or cut shingles 
not more than four inches to the 
weather. The chimneys, two on each 
side, were to be built in the walls and 
extend above the roof at the eaves. 
The frieze and cornices were to be 
furnished with beads and moldings to 
correspond with the tools most easily 
obtained. The front door was to be 
double and have four panels on each 
half. The front steps were to be fur- 
nished with seven-inch risers and ten- 
inch treads with molded nosings; and 
the platform extending the full width 
of the entrance, was to be four feet 
wide and finished at each end with a 
square pediment. The space on the 
first floor was to be divided into four 
apartments with a hall-way through 
the center of it. The court or 
school room in the second story was to 
be furnished with a Judges' bench, 
jury and prisoners' boxes, and the 
stairway with newel post, hand-rail 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



187 



and banisters. These were all to be 
of black walnut varnished. The rest 
of the interior woodwork was to have 
two coats of white lead in oil mixed 
with other colors to bring it to the 
proper tint. 

The bridge was to be built at the 
most convenient point on section 25, 
Des Moines township, upon supports 
constructed of wood, sills and posts 
well framed together, the spans not 
to be more than thirty feet and rest- 
ing on stringers not less than 10x12 in. 
square, four in number to each span. 
It was to be ten feet wide, covered 
with oak planks two inches in thick- 
ness and be' above the high water 
mark. 

Both the building and the bridge 
were to be received by the County 
Judge upon the approval of Egbert 
Bagg, of Webster county, architect 
and inspector. Upon the completion 
of this contract David Slosson issued 
the following proclamation calling for 
another special election to be held 
Nov. 19, 1859, to approve or disapprove 
this contract: 

State of Iowa, ) 

Pocahontas Co., f 

County Court, 

Oct. Term, 1859. 

"Whereas, a contract has been en- 
tered into between Wm. E. Clark, of 
Baltimore City, and state of Maryland, 
and the County Judge of Pocahontas 
county and state of Iowa, for the erec- 
tion of a public building and bridge; 
and whereas, in the above referred to 
contract the County of Pocahontas 
proposes to pay the entire cost of 
erecting said public building and 
bridge by deeding her lands known as 
Swamp and Overflowed Lands to the 
said Wm. Clark, as will more fully ap- 
pear by the contract hereto appended; 
and whereas, it is prescribed by law 
that the above referred to contract 
and the question therein involved 
shall be submitted to the people of 
the county in the manner provided 
for in Section No. 114 and 115 of the 
code. Now, therefore, be it known 
that I, David Slosson, Co. Judge of 
Pocahontas county, in compliance 
with the said contract and the law 



in such cases made and provided, do 
hereby give notice to the legal voters 
of said county that the question will 
be submitted to them at a special 
election which is hereby called for 
that purpose to be held on the 19th 
day of November, A. D. 1859, within 
the several townships of said county, 
at the usual places of holding elec- 
tions in said township and county, 
whether or not' a public building 
and bridge shall be erected in said 
County of Pocahontas to be paid for 
with the swamp and overflowed lands 
in said county as set forth in contract 
and which is now submitted for sat- 
isfaction or rejection; and I do further 
declare that the manner of voting 
shall be as follows: Upon each ballot 
shall be written or printed, "For the 
contract for the erection of a public 
building and bridge to be paid for in 
swamp and overflowed lands," or 
"Against the contract for the erection 
of a public building and bridge to be 
paid for in swamp and overflowed 
lands;" and I further declare that if a 
majority of the votes be cast affirma- 
tively, then such vote shall be deemed 
to be in favor of the contract herewith 
submitted, and said contract shall be 
binding upon the said Wm. E. Clark 
and upon the officers and people of Po- 
cahontas county as therein set forth 
in every particular; and if a majority 
of the votes so cast are in the nega- 
tive it shall be deemed a rejection of 
the contract and neither party shall 
in any wise be bound thereby. The 
votes shall be returned by the proper 
judges of the several precincts to the 
County Court of said county, on or be- 
fore the 23d day of November, 1859, to 
be there canvassed according to law. 
David Slosson, 
Co. Judge of Pocahontas County. 

This proclamation of the County 
Judge was duly published by Oscar 
Slosson, "the high Sheriff of Pocahon- 
tas County " and, after the lapse of 
some thirty days according to the 
public records, the voters of the coun- 
ty in response thereto met first at the 
home of Henry Jarvis, but adjourned 
and held this election at the house of 
his brother William Jarvis where, ac- 
cording to the canvass made Novem- 
ber 21st, it was declared twenty-one 
votes were cast and all of them in fa- 
vor of approving the proposed contract. 



188 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



This was, However, the election at 
which Patrick Forey cast the famous! 
' 'decisive vote. ' '* According to tradi- 
tion or the statements of those who 
participated in it, some of whom are 
Still living, this election was the first 
spirited contest among the voters of 
this county and it became intensely 
interesting because the voters in the 
two settlements or precincts, being 
relatively about equal in numbers, be- 
came directly arrayed against each 
other, not on the lines of partisan pol- 
itics, but in regard to the propriety 
of the proposed disposition of the 
swamp lands of the county. 

The fact the public records contain 
no summary of the vote on this occa- 
sion in the Lizard precinct is no great- 
er surprise than the general fact that 
they contain no summary from that 
precinct of any of the four elections 
held in the county during the year 
1859. The following incidental allu- 
sions in the records of the County 
Judge, by way of recording payment 
for services rendered as election offi- 
cers during that year, are very sug- 
gestive. At the first election of March 
15th, Michael Collins was one of the 
judges and Michael Broderick one of 
the clerks; at the second one held on 
the 7th day of September, John 
Calligan and Peter Garrahan were 
judges and Philip Russell and Mich- 
ael Collins were clerks; at the third 
or general election held on the 11th of 
October, Patrick McCabe, John Cal- 
ligan and Peter Garrahan were judges 
and Michael Broderick one of the 
clerks. The latter was also paid $8.00 
as a messenger, for carrying the re- 
turns of Lizard township for the year 
1859. 

The following statements from 
Walter Ford, one of the Lizard 
voters at that time and now a resi* 
dent of Clare, are pertinent: "The 
Lizard and Des Moines precincts were 
both organized in the spring of 1859. 

"See pages 165-166* 



By appointment of Luther L. Pease, 
county judge of Webster county, 
at Fort Dodge, Michael Collins, Chas. 
Kelley and I prepared the poll-books 
of Lizard precinct for the first election 
of that year. The polling place for all 
the voters of the Lizard precinct, at 
all of the four elections held in 1859, 
was at the home of Charles Kelley on 
section 12, Lizard township. At the 
special election held Nov. 19, 1859, 
Michael Broderick was- one of the 
clerks at the home of Charles Kelley; 
I voted there early in the morning of 
that day and then went to the polling 
place in the Des Moines precinct to 
Challenge illegal voters; and Patrick 
Forey was the only Lizard voter who 
voted in the Des Moines precinct that 
year and he only once, namely, at this 
last special election."* 

That Walter Ford and others who 
assisted in preparing the first Lizard 
poll-books and also as clerks and judg- 
es of election in the Lizard precinct 
during the year 1859, are not incident- 
ally named in the county records is no 
doubt due to the fact they presented 
no claims for the public services thus 
rendered. 

According to the facts thus inci- 
dentally noted in the records of the 
County Judge and more fully stated 
by Walter Ford and others, the result 
of the special election of November 19, 
1859, in regard to the contract for the 
erection of a court house and 'bridge 
to be paid for with the swamp lands 
of the county, was no doubt 11 for ap- 
proval and 10 for disapproval; or a ma- 
jority of one — the decisive vote of Pat- 
rick Forey — in favor of approving the 
contract. The votes were canvassed 
on the 21st day of November and as a 
result of the election, the contract 
was declared by the County Judge to 
be binding upon the parties. 

When the fact is noted that the 
consideration in ■ this contract was 

'Letter of Walter Ford, Clare, Iowa, March 
IS, 1899, 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



189 



an indefinite and also an undeter- 
mined quantity, namely, "all the 
swamp and overflowed lands in Poca- 
hontas county, " one is not surprised 
there should have been a difference of 
opinion among these early pioneers in 
regard to its ratification. A great 
deal of space in the public records of 
1859 is devoted to selections and con- 
tracts relating to the swamp lands in- 
volved in this contract. This dispos- 
al of them became an important event 
in the history of the county, one 
often referred to by the early settlers, 
and as it did more than all subsequent 
transactions to cloud the titles to 
lands then listed as "swamp and over- 
flowed, " a brief history of them will 
be appreciated. 

THE SWAMP LANDS.* 

On the 28th of September, 1850, an 
act of congress was approved by which 
the United States granted to the state 
of Iowa all of the swamp and over- 
flowed lands within the limits of the 
state then undisposed of. Two years 
later the State of Iowa, by an act of 
the General Assembly, approved Feb. 
2, 1853, granted these "swamp and 
overflowed lands" to the counties in 
which they were situated, and made 
provision for their selection. This 
was the status of these lands when 
Pocahontas county was organized. 
David Slosson, on behalf of the coun- 
ty and in pursuance of these acts, as 
soon as he was elected County Judge — 
in March, 1859,— entered into a con- 
tract with Eingland & Brady, of Fort 
Dodge, for their special survey and se- 
lection. As this contract does not 
appear on the records it is impossible 
to give its exact terms, but it has 
been stated the surveyors were to re- 
ceive for their services a certain com- 
pensation for each acre thus selected. 
Two selections were made during the 
year 1859. The first one, by Messrs. 

* J. J. Bruce in Pocahontas Record, May J, 
1884, and Plat Book of Pocahontas County, 
1887, page 6. 



Ringland & Brady, was rejected as 
a whole by the commissioner of the 
general land office; and one is not sur- 
prised at this result when it is known 
that the whole of township 91, range 
32 (Lincoln), was included as swamp. 
The second one was made by G. S. Eing- 
land and Guernsey Smith, who made 
their report Aug. 3, 1859. In this re- 
port they state that they were appoint- 
ed commissioners by the County Judge 
to make selections of the swamp and 
overflowed lands, and it is presumed 
that such was the case, although 
no entry of their contract or appoint- 
ment is found on the records. They 
swear that "they have examined the 
lines of each and every tract select- 
ed, and that the greater part of each 
is swamp and overflowed land." The 
number of acres according to their 
footing is 72,075.75, an amount equal 
to 114 sections or six sections more 
than three townships — about one-fifth 
of the entire county. 

At this day it seems quite incredi- 
ble that an amount of land so large 
should have been reported under oath 
as "swamp and overflowed." There 
are, however, three good reasons which 
may in a measure explain why an 
amount so large was selected. In the 
first place the compensation for the 
selection and survey was based on the 
number of acres selected; second, at 
that time the value of these treeless 
prairie lands was neither realized nor 
appreciated on the part of the pioneer 
residents of the county, many of 
whom were indifferent to a certain 
extent as to what became of them; 
and third, the cupidity of the parties 
who conspired to become possessors of 
so vast a domain. This second selec- 
tion, however, had to be submitted to 
the commissioner of the general land 
office for his approval or rejection. 

The contract with William E. Clark, 
of Baltimore, Md., of date Oct. 18, 
1859, and declared Nov. 21st, follow- 
ing, as having been approved by the 



190 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



people— on Nov. 14, 1860, "for good and 
valuable considerations in hand paid" 
was assigned by W. E. Clark to John 
M. Stockdale, of Webster county. 
The latter, under President Buchan- 
an, had been register of the U. S. 
land office at Fort Dodge, and the 
former proved to be a mere figure- 
head working under his direction. 
When Lincoln was elected, the lat- 
ter soon retired from the land office 
and assumed open control of his 
scheme. 

The public building and bridge 
when completed by John M. Stock- 
dale were accepted, and on Dec. 9, 
1860, there was deeded to him, accord- 
ing to the government survey, 76,250 
acres of land in Pocahontas county, 
the deed containing a clause that ex- 
pressly released the county from all 
liability arising from the reclaiming 
of these lands. This deed was attest- 
ed by John A. James, County Judge, 
and the estimated value of the lands 
conveyed was $91,000. 

It will be noticed that until this 
date the title to these lands rested 
upon an act of Congress and a subse- 
quent one by the General Assembly 
of Iowa, both of which were of a gen- 
eral nature referring to a certain class 
of lands, namely, ' 'swamp and over- 
flowed lands" and not to particular 
tracts. This left the title of particu- 
lar tracts without foundation until 
the selections should be approved by 
the government and their respective 
patents be issued. Until the land in 
particular tracts should be patented 
to the county, its title thereto would 
be imperfect and its deed to another 
would of course convey no title to the 
land. This was the kind of deed giv- 
en to John M. Stockdale, who under- 
stood its imperfect nature, but ex- 
pecting to secure the approval of his 
entire list, he was willing to let the 
entire matter rest in that condition. 
He began at once to sell particular 
tracts, putting his lists in the hands 



of agents in all parts of the country. 
He gave warranty deeds, selling gen- 
erally large quantities to each pur- 
chaser and representing to parties 
purchasing that patents could be pro- 
cured at any time upon application, 
but as the land was not taxable until 
patented, it was better to let them lie 
as they were and thus avoid taxation. 
Of the 76,250 acres deeded by the 
county to John M. Stockdale, the 
commissioner of the general land of- 
fice approved and issued patents to him 
for 29,000 acres, and formally reject- 
ed the remaining 47,000 acres as not 
swamp land within the meaning of 
the act. The last were disposed of by 
patent as follows: about 27,000 acres 
in a body to the Dubuque and Pacific 
Ey. Co., some to the Des Moines Val- 
ley Ey. Co., some to the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul Ey. Co., some to 
the Agricultural College, some to cash 
purchasers and others were claimed 
by homesteaders. Nearly all of these 
lands are now occupied as farms. The 
tracts patented to the county on which 
the taxes have been paid annually, 
thereby avoiding entanglement by tax 
sales, have good and perfect title. 

Another remarkable incident in 
the story of the swamp lands is the 
fact that John M. Stockdale under 
his imperfect deed from the county, 
continued to sell all the lands included 
therein, he seeming to be entirely in- 
different about the matter of patent. 
The fact that most of these lands had 
been patented to other parties made 
no difference to him so long as he 
could find buyers willing to purchase 
from him. The last lot sold by him 
was in the year 1882; it contained 9,000 
acres and the price paid was $200. Of 
the 29,000 acres patented to him and 
upon which the taxes have been paid 
the county probably suffered no great 
loss, since the amount originally re* 
ceived together with the taxes and 
interest paid would amount to about 
the present value of the land. The 



THE OBGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



191 



misfortune of the transaction came in 
a subsequent period of litigation over 
titles and consequent uncertainty in 
the minds of owners as to the stabil- 
ity of their tenures. 

It will be seen, from this brief re- 
sume, that patented swamp lands have 
good titles and the rejected selections 
had no valid title through John M. 
Stockdale.* The traffic in these re- 
spective swamp lands was a great 
scandal upon land titles and many in- 
nocent parties were bled severely. 

1860. 

The first officials of the county, elect- 
ed at the special election of March 15, 
1859, held office only during the re- 
maining months of that year. At the 
general election held October 11th fol- 
lowing, a full set of county officers for 
1860 was elected as follows: John 
A. James, County Judge in place of 
David Slosson; Samuel 1ST. Harris Clerk 
of the Court, a position he had filled 
by appointment; Wm. H. Hait was re- 
elected Treasurer and Eecorder, Hen- 
ry Jarvis, Sheriff; Eobert Struthers, 
Surveyor; William Jarvis, Coroner and 
Drainage Commissioner; Perry ISTow- 
len, Superintendent of Schools. Per- 
ry Nowlen did not qualify, and on 
March 20, 1860, Oscar P. Avery was 
appointed Superintendent by John A. 
James, County Judge. 

At that time the entire county still 
formed but one township with two 
voting precincts, and the following 
township officers were elected: Trus- 
tees, William Jarvis, Perry Nowlen 
and Oscar Slosson; Justice of the 
Peace, W. H. Hait; Township Clerk, 
Henry Jarvis; Eoad Supervisors, Perry 
ISTowlen and Patrick Fury; Constables, 
William Jarvis and Eoderick Harris; 
Assessor, A. H. Malcolm. A. H. Mal- 
colm did not qualify, and on January 

*Mr.Stockdale died in Washington, Pa., 
Sept. 17, 1897. He was well known to the ear- 
ly settlers of this county, and the titles to 
many farms bear his name as their first 
owner. 



1, 1860, Oscar Slosson was appointed 
Assessor in his stead for one year. On 
January 9, 1860, David Slosson was ap- 
pointed a Justice of the Peace for two 
years. 

The election officers making the re- 
turn of this general election in the 
fall of 1859, were those of the Des 
Moines precinct, namely, Perry Now- 
len, Eobert Struthers and Henry Jar- 
vis, Judges; Samuel N". Harris and W. 
H. Hait, Clerks. At this election 34 
votes were cast and all of them were 
credited to Des Moines township be- 
cause it embraced the entire county at 
that time. 

If the previous year (1859) was one 
of organization, discussion and con- 
tracts, the year 1860 was one of fur- 
ther development in the matter of or- 
ganization and was marked by the oc- 
currence of several interesting events. 

April 1, 1860, under the appoint- 
ment of John A. James, Eobert 
Struthers and W. H. Hait, consti- 
tuting the first county Board of Equal- 
ization, levied taxes for that year as 
follows: State tax one and one-half 
mills; county tax four mills; teachers' 
fund four mills; schoolhouse fund four 
mills, and for road purposes one mill. 

June 23, 1860, Hiram Evans was a 
juror, the first and only one named at 
this early date. Others who served in 
that capacity later that year were 
Ora Harvey, Eobert Struthers, Ed- 
ward Hammond, Isaac N. Belknap, 
Abiel Stickney, David and Orlando 
Slosson, W. II. Hait, Patrick Forey, 
James Donahoe, Eoger and Patrick 
Collins and William E. Clark. 

PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 

The most important events that oc- 
curred during the year 1860, that ren- 
der that year memorable in the histo- 
ry of the county were the erection and 
completion of the first public improve- 
ments in the county, consisting of the 
first court house at Highland City-^ 
the name for a short time given to 
the first county seat— and of the first 



192 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



bridge over the west branch of the 
Des Moines river, a sbort distance 
northeast of the public building. 

For the preparation of the materials 
to be used in the construction of these 
public improvements, a brickyard was 
established at Highland City for the 
manufacture of brick, and a sawmill 
was located in the timber for the pur- 
pose of sawing the lumber. The op- 
portunity of obtaining profitable em- 
ployment was afforded many of the 
settlers when these various enterprises 
were all in successful operation and 
the hum of business interrupting 
the solemn stillness of the wilderness 
was delightful music to every ear. 
Late in the fall of that year (Dec. 9, 
1860) the court house and bridge were 
completed and both of them were 
sources of great convenience to the 
people living in that section of the 
county. For nearly two years the 
public records of their respective of- 
fices had been kept and the public 
business of the county transacted in 
the homes of David Slosson and W. 
H. Hait. The public records and busi- 
ness were now transferred to the new 
and comfortable quarters that had 
been provided for them. The occu- 
pancy of the new building was in a 
measure coincident with the election 
of the first board of county supervis- 
ors, in the fall of 1860. 

Another public improvement that 
remains at Old Rolfe a reminder of 
the same eventful year, is the brick 
school house, located near to and just 
west of the court house. The contract 
for this building was let July 21, 1860, 
to W. H. Hait and Eobert Struthers 
for $4,850. The brick were burned in 
the immediate vicinity and the lum- 
ber was sawed at the steam sawmill of 
W. H. Hait, purchased from John M. 
Stockdale. It was completed and ac- 
cepted March 9, 1861. This was the 
first school house built in the county, 
and as a building it is still in good 
condition for use. 



FIRST PUBLIC ROADS. 

August 6, 1860, in response to a pe- 
tition signed by a number of the citi- 
zens of the county and presented to 
John A. James, County Judge, Ed- 
ward Hammond was appointed a com- 
missioner to view and locate a county 
road from the best point on section 4, 
Des Moines township, and passing 
southeast by the newly located county 
seat, extend to the line of section 7, 
92-30, now Avery township, Humboldt 
county. This road when located, was 
surveyed by Robert Struthers and Ed- 
ward Hammond and, on May 6, 1861, 
was established by the Board of 
County Supervisors. 

On the same day, August 6, 1860, in 
response to a petition signed by thir- 
teen citizens of Lizard precinct, Pat- 
rick Forey was appointed a commis- 
sioner to locate a county road, for the 
accommodation of the settlers along 
the Des Moines river and vicinity, ex- 
tending from the northeast corner of 
the SEi Sec. 36, 93-31 (Des Moines 
township) southward by the best route 
to the southeast corner of Sec. 36, 90- 
31 (Lizard township.) After the com- 
pletion of the Des Moines river bridge 
the proposed route of this highway 
was changed so that on May 7, 1861, 
when it was established by the Board 
of County Supervisors, it extended 
from the riyer bridge southward to 
Sec. 2, Lizard township, where it 
crossed Lizard creek on the line be- 
tween sections 1 and 2, thence south 
and east on the west and south lines 
of section 1. John A. James was ap- 
pointed to view the route as thus 
amended, and the survey of it was 
made by H. Morrison, of Fort Dodge, 
assisted by Orlando Slosson and Hiram 
Evans as chain carriers. These were 
the first public highways located in 
the county. 

The third public road was not lo- 
cated until January 6, 1863, when Pat- 
rick Collins was appointed a commis- 
sioner to view and locate a road for 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



193 



which Patrick McCabe and others had 
filed a petition, requesting that it ex- 
tend from the corner stake of the east 
line of Sec. 24, 90-31, (Lizard town- 
ship) by the most suitable route north- 
westerly to the quarter stake at the 
west line of section 13, near the house 
of Michael Walsh, and thence north- 
westerly to the Buena Vista county 
line at the southwest corner of Sec. 6, 
92-34, (Marshall township). This di- 
agonal road was on the direct line 
from Fort Dodge to Sioux Eapicls, 
then the county seat of Buena Yista 
county. It passed from the northeast 
part of Lizard township through Lin- 
coln and Grant to the northwest cor- 
ner of Marshall township. 

FIRST DIVISION OF THE COUNTY — LIZ- 
ARD AND CLINTON TOWNSHIPS 
ORGANIZED. 

When the county was organized 
in March, 1859, it formed one town- 
ship with two voting precincts. Des 
Moines precinct included the four 
townships in the northeast part of the 
county and Lizard precinct the four 
townships in the southeast part of it. 

On September 15, 1860, in response 
to a petition signed by a large num- 
ber of the legal voters of the county 
and presented to John A. James, 
County Judge, a third election pre- 
cinct (Clinton) was established, em- 
bracing all of townships 91 (Lake) and 
92, (Clinton) and the south half of 
the south tier of sections of township 
93 (Des Moines,) all of range 31. 
The house of Edward Hammond was 
designated as the polling place where 
at the time of the next annual elec- 
tion they should elect one county su- 
pervisor, township clerk, assessor, 
three trustees, two justices of the 
peace, two constables and one road su- 
pervisor, all of whom were elected 
November 6, 1860. Clinton township 
was thus established by the order of 
Judge John A. James, of date Sep- 
tember 15, 1860. 

In the records of the County Judge 



of September 15, 1860, no mention is 
made of Lizard voting precinct being 
accorded the full rights and privileges 
of a township, but as a matter of fact 
what Clinton did Lizard did also; and 
at the general election of November 6, 
1860, Lizard precinct elected one coun- 
ty supervisor, Michael Collins, who 
was at the same time elected township 
clerk for Lizard township and so qual- 
ified before John A. James, County 
Judge, January 7, 1861. John Calligan, 
Charles Kelley and Patrick Collins 
were elected trustees and John Quin- 
lan assessor, all for Lizard township. 
Other township officers were elected 
but their names have not been pre- 
served. This exercise of the rights 
and privileges of a township indicate 
that Lizard township was established 
September 15, I860.* 

DES MOINES, LIZARD AND CLINTON 
TOWNSHIPS RE-ARRANGED. 

On May 7, 1861, Des Moines and 
Clinton townships being still included 
in the same school district, the county 
was divided by the Board of Super- 
visors into two districts by a line run- 
ning east and west that should divide 
equally the entered land, for school 
purposes. At their next meeting, on 
June 4th following, this action was 
declared null and void. 

*These particulars have been given 
quite fully at this place because of the 
difficulty experienced in ascertaining 
the date when Lizard township was 
established. Those who have gone 
over this ground before, meeting with 
the same difficulty, have either re- 
frained from designating the date 
when that township was established, 
or have given as the date of the es- 
tablishment of both Lizard and Clin- 
ton townships, June 4, 1861. From 
the facts narrated above, it will be 
perceived that this date is nearly one 
year too late; that Lizard township, 
which was made a voting precinct of 
Des Moines township in March, 1859, 
when the county was organized, and 
Clinton also were both fully estab- 
lished in the enjoyment of all the 
rights and privileges of a township, 
from September 15, I860.— E. E. F, 



194 PIONEEB HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



On June 4, 1861, the Board of Super- 
visors decided to re-arrange the three 
existing divisions of the county into 
three "townships, districts or election 
precincts. " Under this new arrange- 
ment Des Moines township embraced 
the entire north half of the county 



the south tier of townships (Lizard, 
Bellville, Colfax and Cedar), the south 
half of 91-33 (Grant), and south half 
of 91-34 (Dover). These changes left 
the county in the shape indicated by 
the accompanying cut. 
On December 1, 1862, another change 













DES 


M I 


N E S 


Q 








h3 
O 








LIZ 


A E D 





93 



92 



90 



34 33 32 31 

Pocahontas County, June 4, 1861. 



and the north half of township 91-34 
(Dover), except township 92-31 and 
the south tier of sections in township 
93-31 (Des Moines). Clinton township 
was composed of townships 92-31 
(Clinton), 91-31 (Lake), 91-32 (Lincoln), 
north half of 91-33 (Grant), and the 
south tier of sections of 93-31 (Des 
Moines). Lizard township embraced 



was made in the boundaries of the 
townships by the Board of Supervisors. 
Lizard township was given the south 
tier of townships {Lizard, Bellville, 
Colfax and Cedar), the south half of 
91-33 (Grant) and south half of 91-34 
(Dover) as before, and in addition 
thereto the south tier of sections of 
townships 91-31 (Lake) and 91-32 (Lin- 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



195 



coin). Clinton township was arranged 
so as to include all of township 92-31 
(Clinton), the north five tiers of sec- 
tions of townships 91-31 and 91-32 
(Lake and Lincoln), and the north 
half of townships 91-33 and 91-34 
(Grant and Dover), the south tier of 
sections of 93-31 (Des Moines) and the 
south half of township 92-34 (Mar- 
shall). Des Moines township remained 
the same as before, except that the 
north half of township 91-34 (Dover), 
and south half of township 92-34 (Mar- 
shall), had been assigned to Clinton. 

THE REMAINING TOWNSHIPS ESTAB- 
LISHED. 

On September 3, 1866, the township 
of Nunda was established, composed 
of township 93-32 (Powhatan), which 
was set off from Des Moines. Al- 
though the records do not show it, 
this township originally embraced al- 
so the two townships west of it now 
called Washington and Swan Lake; 
later the south half of Swan Lake was 
annexed to Des Moines. April 20, 
1867, the name of this township was 
changed from "Nunda" to "Powha- 
tan." In June, 1874, the name was 
again changed from Powhatan to 
"Jackson;" and on January 8, 1878, it 
was finally changed from "Jackson" 
to "Powhatan." 

On June 2, 1868, the south tier of 
sections in township 93-31 (Des Moines) 
was taken from Clinton and annexed 
to Des Moines. 

On June 6, 1870, several new town- 
ships were established that materially 
affected the map of the county. Bell- 
ville township was established on this 
date, embracing township 90, range 
32; Cedar was established, embracing 
township 90, range 34, and Grant town- 
ship, embracing township 91, range 33. 
A petition was also presented asking 
for the establishment of Colfax town- 
ship, (90-33); for some reason this pe- 
tition was not granted, and on the 6th 
of September following, it was sepa- 
rated from Lizard and annexed to 



Cedar township. In the meantime 
townships 91-31 (Lake), and 91-32 
(Lincoln), had been taken from Clin- 
ton and attached to Lizard, thus leav- 
ing Clinton to embrace township 92, 
range 31, as at the present time. 

On September 6, 1870, Dover town- 
ship was established, embracing town- 
ship 91, range 34, that had previously 
formed a part of Lizard and Clinton 
townships, and on June 7, 1871, town- 
ship 92-34 (Marshall), was attached to 
Dover. 

On September 4, 1871, two new town- 
ships were established, Colfax and 
Swan Lake; the former embracing 
township 90, range 33, and the latter 
township 93, range 34. 

On June 4, 1872, township 91, range 
32 was established under the name of 
Carter township, but on July 8, 1873, 
the name "Carter" was changed to 
"Lincoln." 

September 7, 1872, Center township, 
(92-32) was established. 

September 5, 1876, Washington town- 
ship was established, embracing town- 
ships 93-33 and 92-33, (Washington a;nd 
Sherman.) 

June 5, 1877, township 91-31 (Lake), 
was established under the name of 
Burke township, and on September 3d 
following, the name "Burke" was 
changed to "Lake." 

April 5, 1880, Sherman township 
was established, embracing township 
92, range 33. 

June 5, 1882, township 92-34 (Mar- 
shall), was established as Laurens 
township, but on September 2, 1884, 
the name "Laurens" was changed to 
"Marshall." This was the last town- 
ship organized and since the change 
of its name to Marshall, no similar 
changes have occurred. It may be 
observed that the civil townships, as 
at present organized, are identical in 
their boundaries with the congression- 
al townships; and from the establish- 
ment of Des Moines township in 1859, 
the period of their organization, in- 



196 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



eluding the last change noted, em- 
braced just a quarter of a century. 

COUNTY SEAT RE-LOCATED. 

At the general election held Oct. 12, 
1875, a proposition to re-locate or re- 
move the county seat from (Old) Rolf e 
to Pocahontas Center, was submitted 
to a vote of the people with the re- 
sult that 356 votes were cast in favor 
of this proposition and only 57 against 
it. In view of this approving vote of 
the people the Board of Supervisors 
ordered the change of county seat on 
October 18th following; and the pub- 
lic offices and records were transferred 
from (Old) Rolfe to Pocahontas, Octo- 
ber 1, 1876. 

ORIGINAL ORDER FOR THE ORGANIZA- 
TION OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY. 

The following order of Luther L. 
Pease, County Judge of Webster coun- 
ty, obtained after the foregoing part 
of this chapter had been printed, will 
be read with interest, since it furnish- 
es positive information in regard to 
the establishment of two voting pre- 
cincts at the time of the organization 
of the county —Lizard and Des Moines 
precincts — and the names of those who 
were appointed to serve as judges at 
this first election in each precinct. 

State of Iowa, | ce 

Webster County. [ bb - 

County Court, 
Fort Dodge, Feby. 19, 1859. 

On this day comes Guernsey Smith, 
of the county of Pocahontas, which is 
by law attached to the county of Web- 
ster for election purposes, and pre- 
sents the petition of John A. James 
and twenty-six others, citizens and 
voters of Pocahontas county, and 
the said Smith makes oath that said 
petition contains the names of a ma- 
jority of the legal voters of said Po- 
cahontas county, and makes applica- 
tion for an order to hold an election 
for the purpose of organizing said Po- 



cahontas county. 

It is ordained, by the County Court 
of Webster county, that an election 
be held in said Pocahontas county on 
the third Tuesday in March, (15) 1859, 
for the purpose of organizing said 
county, and for electing the following 
county officers, towit: A County 
Judge, Clerk of the District Court, 
Treasurer and Recorder, Sheriff, Sur- 
veyor, Coroner and Drainage Commis- 
sioner; also the following township of- 
ficers, to wit: Three township trustees, 
a township clerk, two justices of the 
peace, two constables, one assessor and 
a supervisor of roads for each district. 

It is further ordered that two elec- 
tion precincts be formed in said Poca- 
hontas county: Townships number 
90 and 91, of ranges 31 and 32, shall 
constitute, be designated and known 
as Lizard precinct; and townships 
number 92 and 93, of ranges 31 and 32, 
shall be known and designated as Des 
Moines precinct. 

The election to organize said county 
shall be held in the Lizard precinct at 
the house of Charles Kelley; and 
Michael Collins, Patrick Forey and 
Charles Kelley shall be judges of said 
election at said place of voting. 

The place of voting in the Des 
Moines precinct shall be at the house 
of Henry Jarvis; and Samuel N. Har- 
ris, Perry Nowlen and Guernsey Smith 
shall be judges of election at said place 
of voting. 

And it is further ordered that 
Guernsey Smith be directed to post 
three notices of said election in each 
precinct in said county at least fifteen 
days before said third Tuesday in 
March, 1859, one of which notices in 
each precinct must be at the place of 
holding said election. 

The judges of said election are re- 
quired to make return of said election 
to the office of the County Judge of 
Webster county, on or before the 
seventh day after the holding of said 
election. The poll-books containing 
said returns are to be returned sealed, 
as the law directs. 

Given under my hand and the seal 
of Webster county, the date first above 
written. Luther L. Pease, 

County Judge. 




^o^ b f^r - ft — ^p jgK&gtti i 




o^k/c*, 



, OFFICER$°% uNT > 








Group of County Officers and their Deputies,- J 898. 




Auditor and Board of County Supervisors, — 1898. 



THE COUNTY OFFICEKS. 



197 



VIII. 

THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 

"We live in deeds, not years; 
In thoughts, not breaths; 
In feelings, not in figures 
On a dial." 

COUNTY JUDGE. 




IN March 15, 1859, 
when the county was 
organized, David 
Slosson was elected 
as the first County 
Judge, and six days 
later qualified for that office before 
Luther L. Pease, County Judge of 
Webster county, at Tort Dodge. He 
was not a candidate for re-election, 
and on January 3, 1860, he was suc- 
ceeded by John A. James who held 
the office until May 6, 1861, when he 
resigned and Isaac N. Belknap was ap- 
pointed by the newly organized Board 
of County Supervisors to fill the va- 
cancy. At the ensuing general elec- 
tion of that year Perry Nowlen was 
elected and qualifying as his successor 
January 1, 1862, served until June 
2d of that year, when he resigned and 
Charles C. Converse was appointed to 
fill the vacancy. The office was vest- 
ed in him from June 2, 1862, until 
October 19, 1863, when Fred E. Met- 
calf , who had been elected as his suc- 
cessor, qualified for a term of two 
years. On January 1, 1866, he was 
succeeded by Samuel N. Harris, who 
in the fall of 1867 was re-elected and 
held the office until January 4, 1869, 
when he resigned and William D. Mc- 
Ewen became his successor. The lat- 
ter thus became the last of the County 



Judges and ex officio the first County 
Auditor. 

In 1861, when the Board of County 
Supervisors was organized, the office 
of the County Judge became a com- 
paratively unimportant one; the gen- 
eral authority previously vested in 
him was transferred to the Board and 
there was left for him only some mat- 
ters pertaining to the probate court, 
the settlement of estates, the adminis- 
tration of oaths and the performance 
of an occasional marriage ceremony. 
The office of County Judge, however, 
continued in existence until the year 
1869, when, in accordance with a law 
enacted the previous year, it was abol- 
ished and its incumbent made ex officio 
County Auditor, an office that was 
created at that same time. The cir- 
cuit court, though it was afterward 
abolished, came into existence that 
same year, 1869. 

On January 5, 1861, John A. James, 
County Judge, issued a warrant of 
$100 to Edward Hammond for grading 
the court house yard, and seven oth- 
ers amounting to $2500 to John M. 
Stockdale, on a contract for the erec- 
tion of a bridge. 

After the date on which these war- 
rants were issued there are no further 
records of the proceedings of the 
County Judge, until April 13, 1865, a 



198 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



period of more than four years, when 
Frederick A. Metcalf , as Judge of the 
County Court, issued a marriage li- 
cense to Samuel A. Booth and Angie 
C. Keeney, with both of whom he 
states he was "personally acquainted 
and knew them to be of competent 
age and condition. " He received $1.00 
for the license issued. On May 2d fol- 
lowing, he issued a similar license to 
Orlando Slosson and Loretta L. Coffin. 

The next and also the last recorded 
proceedings of the County Judge are of 
date November 25, 1868, when Samuel 
N. Harris served as the presiding 
member of the court before which 
was heard the first election contest in 
the county. This contest was insti- 
tuted by Philip Russell, as member 
elect from the Lizard district, for the 
office of county supervisor against 
James J. Bruce, the previous incum- 
bent. The other members of this 
court were W. S. Fegles, chosen by 
the contestant, and Patrick Forey, 
chosen by the incumbent. From the 
judgment rendered in this case it 
seems the contestant received a ma- 
jority of the votes, cast at the previ- 
ous election, but the bond presented 
was deemed insufficient, and the case 
was decided in favor of the previous 
incumbent. 

There are only two other recorded 
proceedings of the County Judge, not 
already referred to in this and the 
preceding chapter that are worthy of 
mention, and they are as follows: 

Sept. 16, 1860, John A. James issued 
to William E. Clark, the original con- 
tractor for the erection of the court 
house, a warrant of $1800.00 for sink- 
ing a well; and on Sept. 26th following 
he issued a warrant of $163.00 to A. S. 
White for printing the first delin- 
quent tax list of the county. 

According to the records the first 
session of the county court was held 
May 25, 1859, when the. claim of $285.00 
was presented by Mills & Co. for pre- 
paring the first county records; and 



the first warrant of $100.00 was issued 
to Geo. S. Ringland and John W. Bra- 
dy on the contract for the special sur- 
vey of the swamp lands of the county, 
which contract, it is stated on Nov. 8 
following, had been concluded in the 
month of March, previous. Eight 
persons held the office of County Judge 
during the period 1859 to 1869, but 
only four of them performed any acts 
that were made matters of record; 
namely, David Slosson, John A. James, 
Frederick E. Metcalf and Samuel N. 
Harris. 

THE BOARD OF COUNTY SUPERVISORS. 

On March 22, 1860, an act of the 
General Assembly of Iowa was ap- 
proved that created the Board of 
County Supervisors. This act pro- 
vided that the Board of Supervisors 
in each county should consist of three 
persons, but on the petition of one- 
fourth of the qualified voters of the 
county, the Board might provide that 
their number be increased to five or 
even seven members. 

Members of the Board were to be 
elected for a term of two years (in 1871 
the term was increased to three years) 
save that those elected at the first 
election should draw cuts for their 
terms of one, and two years respect- 
ively, so that at least one member of 
the Board should be elected each year. 

This act with subsequent amend- 
ments, now provides that the mem- 
bers of this Board shall meet regular- 
ly at their respective county seats on 
the first Mondays in January, April, 
June, September and the first Mon- 
day after the general election in each 
year. 

To the Board of County Supervisors 
thus established there has been en- 
trusted the general management of 
the business affairs of the county such 
as the examination and approval of all 
claims or expenditures from the pub- 
lic funds, the establishment of high- 
ways, erection of bridges, care of all 
public buildings and grounds, the 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



199 



levying of taxes and management of 
the county road, school, poor, and spe- 
cial bounty funds, power to* establish, 
organize and change the boundaries 
of townships and to constitute a board 
of county canvassers after all elections 
that may be held. 

The first members of the Board of 
Supervisors for Pocahontas county 
were elected in the fall of 1860, and 
held their first meeting in the new 
court house at Old Eolfe, January 7, 
1861. The members of the Board 
were Ora Harvey, of Clinton township; 
David Slosson, of Des Moines, and 
Michael Collins, of Lizard. The Board 
organized by the selection of Ora 
Harvey, chairman; and the appoint- 
ment of W. H. Hait, the county Treas- 
urer and Eecorder, their clerk pro tern. 
They then proceeded to ballot for 
their respective terms of office, with 
the result that Ora Harvey was as- 
signed the term of two years and each 
of the other two members a term of 
one year. Inasmuch as there was no 
further business to transact at this 
their first meeting, the Board ad- 
journed until the first Monday in Feb- 
ruary following. 

On February 4, 1861, when the sec- 
ond meeting of the Board was held, 
there were present only two members 
of the Board — Messrs. Ora Harvey and 
David Slosson — and W. H. Hait, clerk 
pro tern. The resignations of the fol- 
lowing officers were presented and ac- 
cepted, namely: David Slosson as 
County Supervisor of Des Moines town- 
ship, John A. James as County Judge, 
and Samuel N. Harris as Clerk of the 
District Court. The Board then ad- 
journed until the first Monday in May 
following. On May 6, 1861, when the 
Board held its third session, there 
were present Ora Harvey and Michael 
Collins, members of the Board; and 
Perry Nowlen, who was appointed su- 
pervisor for Des Moines township in 
place of David Slosson who had re- 
signed, and he immediately qualified. 



Augustus H. Malcolm was appointed 
Clerk of the District Court and also of 
the Board of Supervisors until his suc- 
cessor should be elected and qualified. 

Isaac 1ST. Belknap was appointed 
County Judge to fill tbe unexpired 
term of John A. James, who had re- 
signed. 

William H. Hait was appointed to 
fill the office of County Superintend- 
ent of common schools until his suc- 
cessor should be elected and qualified. 

It was decided to allow the clerk of 
the Board of Supervisors $2.50 a day 
for his services and to allow the same 
compensation to all township officers 
whose fees were not prescribed by law. 

The county was divided into two 
school districts and the teachers' fund 
in the hands of the County Treasurer 
was apportioned to the districts ac- 
cording to the number of children in 
each district. 

The first two roads, already named, 
were established and the Clerk of the 
District Court was authorized to take 
counsel concerning the legality of cer- 
tain bridge contracts made by John 
M. Stockdale and the County Judge of 
Pocahontas county during the previ- 
ous year. 

Appropriations were made for the 
purchase of a "desk for each of the 
township clerks also a desk and book- 
case for the use of the Board of Su- 
pervisors." 

The claims of a number of town- 
ship officers were allowed, among 
which we note $15.20 paid to Charles 
Kelley, of Lizard for clerk's fees, 
house rent and mileage during the 
previous year; $2.00 to Perry Nowlen 
for one wolf scalp, and $22.00 to Ed- 
ward Hammond for wood for the 
court house during the previous win- 
ter. 

During the first six years, 1861 to 
1866, the Board consisted of only three 
members, one from each of the three 
townships then organized in the coun- 
ty. During the next five years, 1867 



200 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



to 1811, it consisted of four members, 
Powhatan township, organized in 1866, 
having been accorded a representa- 
tive on the Board. In 1870 several 
new townships were organized and 
the propriety of increasing the mem- 
bership of the Board was submitted to 
a vote of the people. A large major- 
ity were in favor of this measure, and 
before the general election of the en- 
suing year the county was arranged 
into five supervisor districts and from 
January 1, 1872, until the present 
time the Board has consisted of five 
members, one from each district. 

The Supervisor Districts are now 
arranged as follows: 

1st— Des Moines, Clinton and Pow- 
hatan townships. 

2d— Swan Lake, Washington and 
Marshall townships. 

3d— Cedar, Dover and Colfax town- 
ships. 

4th— Lizard, Bellville and Lake 
townships. 

5th— Center, Sherman, Grant and 
Lincoln townships. 

The present division of the county 
into supervisor districts is certainly 
an ideal one. Each of the four corner 
townships of the county is the central 
one of the three townships compris- 
ing their respective districts, which 
are numbered one, two, three and 
four respectively, commencing at the 
northeast corner and ending at the 
southeast corner of the county; and 
the fifth district is composed of the 
four central townships of the county. 
That which gives ideality or unique- 
ness to these districts is the fact that 
the county seat is central to all of 
them and then the largest town or 
postoffice in each district, where the 
triennial nominating conventions are 
naturally held, is located near the 
center of it, namely, Rolfe in the first, 
Laurens in the second, Fonda in the 
third, Lizard postoffice in the fourth 
and Pocahontas in the fifth. It is 
doubtful if these ideal conditions can 



be duplicated by any county in the 
state. 

SUCCESSION OF SUPERVISORS. 

The first one named each year was 
chairman that year; the township in 
which he lived is also indicated. 

Board, three members; term, two 
years. 

1861. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David 
Slosson, (resigned), Perry Nowlen 
(appointed May 6, 1861), Des Moines; 
and Michael Collins, Lizard. 

1862. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; and Patrick 
McCabe, Lizard. 

1863. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; and Patrick 
McCabe, Lizard. 

1864. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; and Patrick 
McCabe, Lizard. 

1865. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; and Patrick 
McCabe, Lizard. 

1866. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; Philip Russell, 
Lizard. 

Board increased to four members. 

1867. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; Philip Russell, 
Lizard; Henry Thomas, Powhatan. 

1868. Ora Harvey, Clinton; David J. 
Bishop, Des Moines; James J. Bruce, 
Lizard; and Henry Thomas, Pow- 
hatan. 

1869. James J. Bruce, Lizard; David 
J. Bishop, Des Moines; A. H. Mal- 
colm, Clinton; and Ira Strong, Pow- 
hatan. 

1870. A. H. Malcolm, Clinton; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; David Miller, 
Lizard; and Ira Strong, Powhatan. 

1871. M. A. Moore, Lizard; David 
Slosson, (resigned), John Heald (ap- 
pointed April 3, 1871), Des Moines; 
and John A. Hay, Cedar. 

Board, five 'members; term, three 
years. 

1872. John A. Hay, Cedar; R. B. Fish, 
Des Moines; Andrew Jackson, Pow- 
hatan; Walter Ford, Lizard; and A. 




THE COURT HOUSE AT POCAHONTAS, ERECTED IN 1876. 




THE COUNTY ASYLUM AND POOR HOUSE GRANT TOWNSHIP. 




OLD ROLFE AND VICINITY. THE FIRST COUNTY SEAT, 1859 TO 1876 
DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 





PILOT CREEK AND DES MOINES RIVER VALLEYS. SCENE OF INDIAN BATTLE, 
FROM THE SOUTH, A KNOLL ON SEC. 12, CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



201 



W. Rake, Grant. 

1873. Romeyn B. Fish, Des Moines; 
Andrew Jackson, Powhatan; Ray C. 
Brownell, Colfax; Walter Ford, Liz- 
ard; and A. W. Rake, Grant. 

1874. Walter Ford, Lizard; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; Andrew Jack- 
son, Powhatan; Bernard McCartan, 
Cedar; and Ray C. Brownell, Colfax. 

1875. Bernard McCartan, Cedar; Dav- 
id Slosson, Des Moines; J. C. Strong, 
Washington; Ray C. Brownell, Col- 
fax; William Stenson, Lizard. 

1876. J. C. Strong, Washington; David 
Slosson, Des Moines; Bernard Mc- 
Cartan, Cedar; William Brownlee, 
Bellville; and William Stenson, Liz- 
ard. 

1877. William Brownlee, Bellville; 
David Slosson, Des Moines; J. C. 
Strong, Washington; Harvey W. 
Hay, Cedar; William Stenson, Liz- 
ard. 

1878. Harvey W. Hay, Cedar; David 



Old Rolfk and Vicinity. 

This view is taken from a point a 
little east of south, and one-half mile 
distant. The highway shown runs 
north and south through the center of 
section 26, Des Moines township, and 
through W. H. Hait's farm. The old 
court house site is on the crest of 
the hill to the left of the road. The 
grove on the west side of the road sur- 
rounds the home of Mr. Hait, his barn 
and pasture appear on the east side of 
the road. 

The house and barn, that appear 
southwest of the court house site, be- 
longed to the farm of William Mat- 
son, now owned by R. B. Fish, of 
Rolfe. North of this and through the 
open grove can be seen the Old Rolfe 
brick school house, and west of that, 
near the left edge of the picture, is 
the home so long occupied by Wm. 
Jarvis, and now owned by W. Wood- 
ruff, of Marshalltown. The timber 
that appears on the horizon near the 
right hand edge, is on the Des Moines 
river south of the farm of Wm. 
Struthers. Of Old Rolfe it may be 
said: 

"Sweet smelling village 

Loveliest of the lawn, 

Thy sports are fled, 

And all thy charms withdrawn." 



Slosson, Des Moines; J. C. Strong, 
Washington; William Brownlee, 
Bellville; Carl Steinbrink, Lizard. 

1879. J. C. Strong, Washington; Dav- 
id Slosson, Des Moines; Harvey W- 
Hay, Cedar; Wm. Brownlee, Bell- 
ville, Carl Steinbrink, Lizard. 

1880. Carl Steinbrink, Lizard; James 
J. Bruce, Clinton; J. C. Strong, 
Washington; William Bott, Cedar; 
Wm. Brownlee, Bellville. 

1881. William Bott, Cedar; J. J. 
Bruce, Clinton; J. C. Strong, Wash- 
ington; William Brownlee, Bell- 
ville; Carl Steinbrink, Lizard. 

1882. James J. Bruce, Clinton; J. C 
Strong, Washington; Wm. Bott, Ce- 
dar; Wm. Brownlee, Bellville; Carl 
Steinbrink, Lizard. 

1883. J. C. Strong, Washington; J. J. 
Bruce, Clinton; James Mercer, Cedar; 
Wm. Brownlee, Bellville; Carl Stein- 
brink, Lizard. 

1884. James Mercer, Cedar; J. J. 
Bruce, Clinton; Charles G. Perkins, 
Colfax, (by appointment, Jan. 7, 
1884, in place of Wm. Brownlee, the 
Treasurer elect, resigned); T. J. Cal- 
ligan, Lizard; J. W. O'Brien, Sher- 
man. 

1885. James Mercer, Cedar; J. J. 
Bruce, Clinton; Swan Nelson, Bell- 
ville; T. J. Calligan, Lizard; J. W. 
O'Brien, Sherman. 

1886. T. J. Calligan, Lizard; Alexan- 
der McEwen, Powhatan; Wm. Bott, 
Cedar; Swan Nelson, Bellville; J. W. 
O'Brien, Sherman. 

1887. Wm. Bott, Cedar; Alexander 
McEwen, Powhatan; L. D. Beards- 
ley, Swan Lake; Swan Nelson, Bell- 
ville; M. T. Collins, Lizard. 

1888. Alexander McEwen, Powhatan; 
L. D. Beardsley, Swan Lake; Wm. 
Bott, Cedar; Swan Nelson, Bell- 
ville; M. T. Collins, Lizard. 

1889. L. D. Beardsley, Swan Lake; 
Alexander McEwen, Powhatan; Wm. 
Fitzgerald, Dover; Swan Nelson, 
Bellville; M. T. Collins, LJrard. 

1890. Alexander McEwen, Powhatan; 



202 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



L. D. Beardsley, Swan Lake; Wm. 
Fitzgerald, Dover; Swan Nelson, 
Bellville; M. T. Collins, Lizard. 

1891. Alexander McEwen, Powhatan; 
J. L. Hopkins, Swan Lake; Wm. 
Fitzgerald, Dover; Alexander Peter- 
son, Colfax; M. T. Collins, Lizard. 

1892. J. L. Hopkins, Swan Lake; Al- 
exander McEwen, Powhatan; Frank 

A. Thompson, Dover; Alexander Pe- 
terson, Colfax; M. T. Collins, Lizard. 

1893. Alexander McEwen, Powhatan; 
F. A. Thompson, Dover; Alexander 
Peterson, Colfax; Terrence Doyle, 
Lincoln; Samuel Powell, Center. 

1894. Alexander McEwen, Powhatan: 
F. A. Thompson, Dover; Alexander 
Peterson, Colfax; Terrence Doyle, 
Lincoln; Samuel Powell, Center. 

1895. J. J. Bruce, Clinton; M. A. Ho- 
gan, Dover; Alexander Peterson, 
Colfax; Terrence Doyle, Lincoln; 
Samuel Powell, Center. 

1896. J. J. Bruce, Clinton; M. A. Ho- 
gan, Dover; Alexander Peterson, Col- 
fax; Terrence Doyle, Lincoln; Louie 
E. Lange, Swan Lake. 

1897. J. J. Bruce, Clinton; M. A. Ho- 
gan, Dover; Alexander Peterson, 
Colfax; Terrence Doyle, Lincoln; C. 

B. Elsen, Lake. 

1898. Terrence Doyle, Lincoln; Claus 
Johnson, Des Moines; A. H. Bichey, 
Marshall; M. A. Hogan, Dover; C. 
B. Elsen, Lake. 

1899. Terrence Doyle, Lincoln; Claus 
Johnson, Des Moines; A. H. Richey, 
Marshall; M. A. Hogan, Dover; C. 
B. Elsen, Lake. 

COUNTY AUDITORS. 

In 1869 the office of county auditor 
was created by the same law that 
abolished the office of county judge, 
and William D. McEwen, on Jan. 4th, 
that year, by appointment of the 
board of supervisors, became the first 
Auditor of Pocahontas county. At 
the general election in the fall of 1869, 
he was elected to that office and, be- 
ing re-elected two years later, held it 
until January, 1, 1874, a period of five 



years. 

Abram O. Oarlock," elected in the 
fall of 1873, and three times thereafter 
re-elected, became his successor and 
held that office until January 1, 1882, 
a period of eight years. He was suc- 
ceeded by C. H. Tollefsrude, who 
served two terms, or a period of four 
years— 1882 to 1885. The next incum- 
bent was T. F. McCartan, who was 
twice re-elected, his third term being 
one of three years. By the .act of the 
General Assembly of Iowa, approved 
April 5, 1890,* for the purpose of hav- 
ing the election of the county Auditor 
and Treasurer come on alternate 
years, an additional year was added to 
his third term, making his period of 
service seven years— 1886 to 1892. F. 
G. Thornton, his successor, served two 
terms, or four years — 1893 to 1896. I. 
C. Thatcher, the present incumbent, 
is now serving his second term. 

All of the gentlemen who have held 
this office, with the single exception 
of A. O. Garlock, (Des Moines) are 
still residents of this county. 

It is the duty of the Auditor to re- 
cord all the proceedings of the board 
of supervisors in books printed for 
that purpose; to sign all orders issued 
by the board for the payment of 
money; to preserve and file all ac- 
counts acted upon by the board and 
perform such other special duties as 
are or may be required of him by law. 
The County Auditor has also the gen- 
eral custody of the court house, sub- 
ject to the direction of the board of 
supervisors. 

CLERKS OF THE COURT. 

The office of Clerk of the Court was 
first filled by appointment. In March, 

*The law as amended April 5, 1890, provides 
that there shall be elected in each county at 
the general election in each even-numbered 
year, a Clerk of the District Court, a Recorder 
of Deeds, an Audjtor and a County Attorney; 
and in each odd-numbered year, a Treasurer, 
a Sheriff, a Coroner, a County Superintend- 
ent and a Surveyor, all of whom shall hold 
office for the term of two years. 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



203 



1859, A. H. Malcolm was elected to 
the office, but as he did not qualify, 
the County Judge, on May 1st, 1859, 
filled the vacancy by the appointment 
of S. N. Harris. In the fall of that 
year he was elected for the term of 
one year, and in the fall of 1860 he 
was re-elected, but resigned the 
office on February 4th, 1861. On May 
•4th following, A. H. Malcolm was ap- 
pointed his successor but served only 
until September 2d following, when he 
was succeeded by Edward Hammond, 
also by appointment. In October fol- 
lowing, Philip Russell was elected for 
a term of one year and, at the next 
election in 1862, was re-elected for a 
term of two years, making his period 
of service three years — 1862 to 1864. 
W. H. Hait, who had been elected his 
successor, on Jan. 3, 1865, appointed 
Mr. Russell his deputy and left him 
in charge of the office, and resigning 
the office on March 20th following, the 
board of supervisors appointed Mr. 
Russell Clerk of the Court for the re- 
mainder of that year. In October, 
1865, A. H. Malcolm was elected for 
the remaining year of that term and 
served during 1866. W. D. McEwen, 
as his successor, was elected for a 
term of two years and, being twice re- 
elected, served as Clerk or the Court 
six years— 1867 to 1872. 

The next incumbent was M. E. 
Owen, who held the office two years — 
1873 and 1874. "He became involved 
in financial troubles and just before 
the expiration of his term fled the 
country, taking with him about $1000 
of the public funds belonging to his 
office. He was indicted by the grand 
jury and the board of supervisors of- 
fered a reward of $200 for his arrest 
and delivery, but he was never appre- 
hended." 

In the fall of 1874, J. W. Wallace 
was elected Clerk of the Court and 
was re-elected five times, making his 
term of service twelve years— 1875 te> 

1886. Whilst several others rendered 



public service to the county in differ- 
ent offices for a longer series of years, 
this is the longest period of consecu- 
tive service in the same office rendered 
by any of the public servants of Poca- 
hontas county.* 

On January 1, 1887, W. C. Ralston, 
Esq., became his successor and, being 
re-elected three times, served eight 
years— 1887 to 1894. On January 1, 
1895, Frank H. Plumb, the present in- 
cumbent, became his successor and he 
is now serving his third term. 

The clerk of the district court was 
by virtue of his office clerk also of the 
circuit court and it is his duty to keep 
a correct record of the proceedings of 
the court. 

COUNTY TREASURERS. 

During the first six years after the 
organization of the county, or until 
January 1, 1865, the offices of county 
treasurer and county recorder were 
united under the name of "treasurer 
and recorder." 

W. H. Halt was the first one to fill 
the double office. He was elected 
March 15, 1859, and being re-elected 
for a full term at the general election 
in October following, held these two 
offices during the first three years of 
the county's history, 1850 to 1861. 

On Jan. 1, 1862, Michael Collins be- 
came his successor in the double office 
and in 1863 was re-elected to the same 
offices for a second term. In the 
spring of 1864, an act of the General 
Assembly of Iowa was approved that 
divided these two offices and provided 
that the "treasurer and recorder" 
should hold the office of treasurer 
only, after that year. By reason of 
this act of the legislature, Michael 
Collins held the double office of treas- 
urer and recorder only three years, 
1862 to 1864, while he served as treas* 

*W. D. McEwen held the office ol County 
Treasurer the same number of yiars, and 
during the same period of time, except that 
the period of continue** serrice was broken 
by an iutferval of two years between the fifth 
and sixth terms-1884 and 1885. 



204 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



urer four years, 1862 to 1865. 

On Jan. 1, 1866, W. H. Hait again 
succeeded to the office of county treas- 
urer and, being re-elected the ensuing 
year, served two terms or four years, 



urer and, being re-elected five times — 
in 1875, 1877, 1879, 1881 and 1885— held 
the office for a period of twelve years, 
1874 to 1883, and 1886 to 1887— a period 
unbroken except by the two years in- 







Palo Alto County. 










©Plover. 






SWAN LAKE. 


WASHINGTON. 


POWHATAN. 


DES MOINES. 




©Laurens 


«H 


avelock. 


OldRolft 




t 






©Rolfe. 


& 










a 


MARSHALL. 


SHERMAN. 


CENTER. 


CLINTON. 


3 













OS 






©Pocahontas. 




00 

03 

a 
33 


°LiHy 
DOVER. 


County () Farm 

and Asylum. 

GRANT. 

°Rusk. 


LINCOLN. 


Gilmore City< 
LAKE. 










"Lizard. 




CEDAR. 


COLFAX. 


BELLVILLE. 


LIZARD. 




• Fonda. 









34 



93 



90 



31 



33 Calhoun Coun 32 ty. 

P©GHH©NTaS <2©UXTY, 
Showing the Townships, Towns, Postoffices and Supervisor 

Districts in 1898. 

'Supervisor Districts-No. 1, Des Moines, Clinton, Powhatan; No. 2, Swan Lake, Mar- 
shall, Washington; No. 3, Cedar, Dover, Colfax; No. 4, Lizard, Bellville, Lake; No. 5, Center, 
Sherman, Grant, Lincoln. 



1866 to 1869. He was succeeded by tervening between the fifth and sixth 

James J. Bruce who, being re-elected terms, 1884 and 1885, when he was not 

in 1871) served four years, 1870 to 1873. a candidate for re-election. William 

W. D; McEwen then became Treas- Brownlee served as Treasurer during 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



205 



the two years , 1884 and 1885. On Jan. 
1, 1888, J. N. McClellan became Treas- 
urer and being twice re-elected, held 
the office during a period of six years, 
1888 to 1893. On Jan. 1, 1894, he was 
succeeded by C. A. Charlton, who is 
now serving his third term. 

COUNTY RECORDERS. 

On January 1, 1865, the offices of 
treasurer and recorder having been 
separated the previous year, Robert 
Struthers became County Recorder 
and served one term of two years, 
1865 and 1866. During his first year he 
was invested with the duties of an of- 
fice to which Michael Collins, then 
serving as county treasurer, had 
been duly elected in the fall of 1863. 
On Jan. 1, 1867, E. C. Brown succeed- 
ed Robert Struthers and served one 
term of two years, 1867 and 1868. On 
Jan. 1, 1869, Thomas L. MacVey be- 
came the next incumbent and, being 
twice re-elected, held the office of re- 
corder for six years, 1869 to 1874. He 
was succeeded by Andrew Jackson, 
who served one term of two years, 1875 
and 1876. 

On Jan. 1, 1877, Oscar I. Strong be- 
came Recorder and performed the du- 
ties of the office until May 1, 1878, 
when on account of failing health, he 
appointed Jason H. Lowrey deputy re- 
corder and, placing him in charge of 
the office, made a trip east. On June 
5th following, he resigned the office 
and the board of supervisors appoint- 
ed Jason H. Lowrey Recorder in his 
stead for the remainder of that year. 

On Jan. 6, 1879, Geo. Wallace, of 
Colfax township, entered upon the 
duties of this office, and two days later 
the board of supervisors approved the 
appointment of O. I. Strong as deputy 
recorder. Mr. Wallace held the office 
until the time of his decease, August 
20, 1880, and the board of supervisors, 
at their session in September follow- 
ing, appointed C. A. Bryant recorder 
to fill the vacancy thus occurring, 
which included the remaining months 



of that year. 

Michael Crahan was the next Re- 
corder and he served during the two 
years, 1881 and 1882. 

A. L. Thornton was his successor, 
and being re-elected in 1884, he served 
from Jan. 1, 1883, until the time of 
his decease, May 13, 1885. Nine days 
later, or on May 22, 1885, the board of 
supervisors appointed Miss May E. 
Thornton, his daughter (now Mrs. 
Port C. Barron) to fill the vacancy 
thus occurring, until the end of that 
year. At the ensuing election in the 
fall of 1885, she was elected Recorder 
by the people and served the remain- 
ing year of that term — 1886. Whilst 
other ladies have rendered very effi- 
cient service as deputies, this is the 
only instance in which a lady has 
served as one of the public officers of 
this county previous to this date. 

W. F. Atkinson was the next in- 
cumbent and, being re-elected in 1888, 
he served a period of four years, 1887 
to 1890. He was succeeded by R. D. 
Bollard -who, being thrice re-elected, 
held the office a period of eight years, 
1891 to 1898. On the first Monday in 
January, 1899, he was succeeded by 
Leonard E. Hanson, the present in- 
cumbent. 

It is the duty of the county re- 
corder to make and keep a record of 
all deeds, mortgages and other instru- 
ments in writing that may be deliv= 
ered to him for record. 

SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY. 

The first Sheriff of Pocahontas 
county was Oscar Slosson, who was 
elected March 15, 1859. On Jan. 1, 
1860, Henry Jarvis succeeded him and 
being re-elected in 1861, 1864 (for one 
year — an unexpired term) and in 1865, 
filled that office seven years, 1860 to 
1863, and 1865 to 1867. For the term 
commencing Jan. 1, 1864, he was not a 
candidate, and Abiel Stickney, who 
had been elected, having resigned the 
office March 21, 1864, Edward Ham- 
mond, by appointment of the board of 



266 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



supervisors on that date, performed 
the duties of that office until the end 
of that year. 

It is of interest to note that Abiel 
Stickney was the one candidate in 
this county who was elected by the 
soldier vote. At the general election 
of Oct. 13, 1863, the home vote for the 
candidates for sheriff was as follows: 
John A. James, 16 votes; Abiel Stick- 
ney, 14; and John A. James was de- 
clared elected by a majority of two 
votes. But one month later when the 
four soldier votes Were canvassed and 
all of them were in favor of Stickney, 
they gave him a majority of two votes 
and he was then declared elected. 

On Jan. 1, 1868, Oscar Slosson be- 
came the successor of Henry Jar vis, 
and being re-elected in 1869, served 
four years, 1868 to 1871. At the gen- 
eral election held in the fall of 1867, 
the contest for sheriff became a very 
spirited one and each of the candi- 
dates, Oscar Slosson and George 
Spragg, received 50 of the 100 votes 
polled in the county at that election. 
On drawing cuts the tie was decided 
in favor of Oscar Slosson. 

T. J. Curtis was the next incum- 
bent and he served two years, 1872 
and 1873. 

Joseph Breitenbach in 1874 became 
his successor, and in 1875 he was re- 
elected. In 1877 he was again a can- 
didate for re-election, his opponent 
being T. L. Dean, and the vote was 
very close. The board of canvassers 
found Dean had received 269 votes 
and Breitenbach 266, and declared the 
former duly elected; but the latter 
contested the election and retained 
the office until the time of his de- 
cease, Sept. 13, 1878. 

This election contest was first tried, 
Nov. 24, 1877, before a court consist- 
ing of William Brownlee, chairman 
of the board of supervisors, Judge 
ex officio; W. H. Hait and J. E. Pattee 
associate judges, appointed by the 
contestants respectively. Captain J. 



A. O. Yeoman, of Port Dodge, ap- 
peared as attorney for the contestant, 
P. C. Hudson, of the same place, and 
J. A. Gould, of Pomeroy, for the in- 
cumbent. Two days were spent in. 
receiving the testimony of witnesses 
and hearing the explanatory addresses 
of the attorneys. The court then by 
a majority of one, gave its decision in 
favor of Thomas L. Dean. The dis- 
senting judge, however, filed three 
reasons for his dissent, one of which 
was, that owing to the irregularities 
that had been proven the entire vote 
of Center township (27 votes) was il- 
legal and, not counting it, the con- 
testant had a majority of 24 votes. 
The case was then appealed to the 
district court and before it was de- 
cided Mr. Breitenbach met with the 
runaway accident, one mile south of 
Pocahontas, that caused his death on 
the day following. 

Thomas L. Dean, who had qualified 
Jan. 6, 1877, by appointment of the 
board of supervisors served as Sheriff 
during the unexpired term, Oct. 1, 
1878, to Dec. 31, 1879. He was suc- 
ceeded by Capt. Joseph Mallison who, 
being re-elected in 1881, held the of- 
fice four years, 1880 to 1883. J. F. 
Pattee was his successor and he being 
twice re-elected, in 1885 and 1887, held 
the office six years, 1884 to 1889. John 
A. Crummer was the next incumbent 
and he was three times re-elected — 
in 1891, 1893 and 1895. He held the 
office eight years, 1890 to 1897. John 
Ratcliff, the present Sheriff, entered 
upon the duties of this office Jan. 3, 
1898. 

The sheriff is the custodian of the 
jail and of the prisoners confined in 
it. He and his deputies are conser- 
vators of the peace and in the effort to 
prevent crime, arrest criminals or ex- 
ecute the processes of the law they 
have the power, when necessary, to 
summon others to their assistance. It 
is the duty of the Sheriff to attend all 
the sessions of the court, to execute 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



207 



all orders placed in his hands by the 
court, the public and peace officers of 
the county and to make due return of 
them. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS. 

Perry Nowlen, of Des Moines town- 
ship, was the first one elected to the 
office of Superintendent of Schools in 
Pocahontas county. It was at the 
second election of county officers, held 
Oct. 11, 1859, that he was elected but 
he did not qualify. On March 20, 
1860, the County Judge, John A. 
James, appointed Oscar F. Avery to 
fill the vacancy, and as its first incum- 
bent, he held this office from the date 
of his appointment until May 6, 1861, 
when he resigned. W. H. Hait was 
appointed as his successor on that 
same date, by the board of county su- 
pervisors, and held the office of county 
superintendent until April 22, 1862, 
when he also resigned. Ora Harvey 
on that day was appointed to fill the 
vacancy and served as County Super- 
intendent during the remaining 
months of that year. On Jan. 7,1863, 
Michael Collins was appointed Super- 
intendent of Schools by the Board of 
Supervisors and held the office during 
that year. 

Fred E. Metcalf, the next County 
Superintendent, was elected by the 
people and served one term of two 
years, 1864 and 1865. He was suc- 
ceeded by W. D. McEwen, who served 
one term, 1866 and 1867; James J. 
Bruce one term, 1868 and 1869; David 
Miller one term, 1870 and 1871; and 
Geo. W. Hathaway one term, 1872 and 
1873. 

Oscar I. Strong was elected as the 
next incumbent and served from Jan. 
1, 1874, to June 9, 1875, when he re- 
signed on account of poor health and 
went to California. J. F. Clark'on Oct. 
12th, following, was elected to fill the 
vacancy thus occurring, and being re- 
elected the ensuing year, held the of- 
fice from the date of his appointment 
until the first Monday in January, 



1878, a period of three and one-half 
years. 

David Miller, being re-elected, 
served the next term, 1878 and 1879; 
and he was succeeded by Oscar I. 
Strong, who served his second term 
during the years 1880 and 1881. 

J. P. Robinson was the next incum- 
bent and, being re-elected in 1883, 
served as County Superintendent four 
years, 1882 to 1885. J. H. Campbell 
was his successor and also served four 
years, 1886 to 1889. 

Fred C. Gilchrist held the office 
during the next two years, 1890 and 
1891; and Clel Gilchrist, his elder 
brother, during the next three terms, 
or six years, 1892 to 1897. Arthur W. 
Davis, the present incumbent, entered 
upon the duties of this office Jan. 3, 
1898. 

It is the duty of the County Super- 
intendent to serve as the organ of 
communication between the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction and the 
school authorities of the district or 
township; to furnish the latter with 
all necessary blanks, circulars and 
other communications directed to 
them and to visit each school in his 
county once each year. It is also bis 
duty to provide an opportunity for 
the examination of teachers at the 
county seat on the last Saturday in 
each month and to issue certificates 
to those who are competent to teach, 
good for a term not exceeding one 
year; and to hold annually a normal 
institute for the instruction of teach- 
ers and those who may desire to teach. 
To defray the expenses of the insti- 
tute he shall require the payment of 
a registration fee of one dollar from 
each person attending the institute 
and the same amount from every ap- 
plicant for a certificate. It is also 
his duty on the first day of November 
each year to report to the superintend- 
ent of the Iowa College for the Blind 
(Vinton) the name and address of ev- 
ery blind person residing in the coun- 



208 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, 10 WA. 



ty, who may be of suitable age and 
capacity to be entitled to an educa- 
tion at that institution at the ex- 
pense of the state; and to the superin- 
tendent of the Iowa School for the 
Deaf (Council Bluffs) the name of any 
deaf and dumb person between the 
ages of five and twenty-one years. 

COUNTY SURVEYORS. 

At the first election held March 15, 
1859, Guernsey Smith was elected as 
the first County Surveyor for the re- 
maining months Of that year. The 
records do not show that, he qualified 
for this office, but only that, in part- 
nership with Geo. S. Ringland, he as- 
sisted in making the second special 
survey of the swamp lands of the 
county during that summer, under a 
special contract with Oscar Slosson, 
the County Judge. 

At the general election held in the 
fall of 1859, Robert Struthers was 
elected County Surveyor and seems to 
have been the first to qualify for that 
office. He was re-elected in 1863 and 
resigned Nov. 11, 1864. No one was 
appointed to fill the vacancy, and in 
the fall of 1865 he was again re-elected, 
ajid qualified. He was the only in- 
cumbent of the office during the ten 
years from Jan. 1, 1860, to Jan. 1, 1870. 

Geo. W. Strong was elected as his 
successor and held the office from Jan. 
1, 1870, to April 3, 1871, when he re- 
signed and Oscar I. Strong, his cousin, 
was appointed to fill the vacancy 
during the remaining months of that 
year. Geo. Van Natta was elected as 
his successor and served as County 
Surveyor from Jan. 1, 1872, to June 3, 
1873, when he resigned and William 
Marshall the next day was appointed 
to fill the vacancy during the remain- 
ing months of that year. In the fall 
of that year William Marshall was 
elected for the ensuing term and be- 
ing re-elected in 1875, 1877, 1879 and 
1881, held the office from the time of 
his appointment, June 4, 1873, until 
Jan. 4, 1884, a period of ten and one- 



half years. On Jan. 6, 1874, when he 
qualified for his first full term, he had 
Oscar I. Strong appointed as his dep- 
uty, and the latter, who was County 
Superintendent, had William Mar- 
shall appointed deputy Superintend- 
ent. These were the first deputies in 
these two public offices, 

LuteC. Thornton served the next 
term during the years 1884 and 1885, 
and after the lapse of two years, 
served another term during 1888 and 
1889. John J. Cullen served the in- 
tervening term, during 1886 and 1887. 
H. W. Bissell became the next County 
Surveyor and being re-elected, served 
four years, 1890 to 1893, when Fred A. 
Malcolm served two terms, 1894 to 

1897, and H. W. Bissell, on Jan. 3, 

1898, became his successor and is now 
serving his third term. 

It is the duty of the County Survey- 
or to make all surveys of land within 
the county that he may be called up- 
on to make, and his surveys are pre- 
sumed to be correct. He is required 
to establish corners and mark them 
by stones firmly placed in the ground, 
or by mounds. All plats and records 
made by him must show at whose per- 
sonal request they were made, the 
names of the chainmen and that they 
were approved and sworn by the sur- 
veyor, the date of the new survey and 
the variation of the magnetic from 
the true meridian stated. 

COUNTY CORONERS. 

The office of County Coroner is not 
very lucrative and for this reason no- 
body fights for it. It is the one pub- 
lic office that is allowed to "seek the 
man" rather than the "man seek the 
office." Frequently those who have 
been nominated and elected have not 
sufficiently appreciated the honor as 
to qualify for the performance of the 
duties pertaining to this office. 

At the first election for the organ- 
ization of the county, William Park 
was elected as the first coroner but it 
does not appear that he qualified. At 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



209 



the general election in the fall of 1859, 
William Jarvis was elected and held 
the office during the four years, 1860 
to 1863. Edward Hammond was elect- 
ed for two terms covering the four 
years, 1864 to 1867; but qualified only 
for the first term. John H. Johnson 
was- elected for the next term, 1868 
and 1869. Joseph Clason served two 
terms, 1870 to 1873. J. M. Carroll, M. 
D., served the next term, 1874 and 
1875; and he was succeeded by John 
H. Johnson, who was re-elected for 
the years 1876 and 1877. J. C. Enfield 
served two terms, 1878 and 1879, and 
1882 and 1883; J. M. Brown serving 
the intervening term 1880 and 1881. 
M. F. Patterson, M. D., served during 
1884 and 1885, J. M. Carroll, M. D., 
during 1886, W. W. Beam, M. D. during 
the next three years, 1887 to 1889. 
For the year 1890 this office was con- 
ferred upon C. C. Delle, Esq., and for 
1891 upon J. M. Carroll, M. D. O. A. 
Pease held it during 1892 and 1893; 
and Frank Reyburn the next four 
years, 1894 to 1897. C B. Lawrence, 
the present incumbent, has held the 
office since Jan. 3, 1898. 

It is the duty of the coroner to per- 
form all the duties of the sheriff when 
there is no sheriff, and in all cases be- 
fore the court when it appears from 
the papers that the sheriff is a party 
to the action. 

It is his special duty to hold an in- 
quest or official inquiry as to the cause 
of death, upon the dead bodies of 
those persons who are supposed to 
have died by unlawful means. When 
there is no coroner, and in case of his 
absence or inability to act, any justice 
of the peace of the same county is au- 
thorized to perform the duties of the 
coroner in relation to the dead. 

DRAINAGE COMMISSIONERS. 

In the early days there existed an 
unimportant office called "drainage 
commissioner." In the spring of 1872 
the General Assembly of Iowa trans- 
ferred the duties of this office to the 



board of county supervisors and abol- 
ished the office after the end of that 
year. 

At the first election in the spring of 
1859, James Edelman, and in the fall 
of that year, as his successor, William 
Jarvis were elected drainage commis- 
sioners for this county. During the 
next ten years, or until the general 
election held in the fall of 1869, no 
one was elected to this office. In 
October, 1869, W. S. Fegles was elect- 
ed to this office and two years later he 
was re-elected for a second term ; but 
neither he nor his predecessors in this 
office had any official duties to per- 
form. 

The duties of this officer related to 
the location and construction of ditch- 
es or drains, or changes in the direc- 
tion of any watercourse, as a matter 
of public benefit, in response to peti- 
tions signed by a majority of persons 
residing in the county and owning the 
land adjacent to the proposed im- 
provement. 

COUNTY ATTORNEYS. 

The office of county attorney was 
created by an act of the General As- 
sembly of Iowa in the spring of 1886 
and at the ensuing election William 
G. Bradley was elected as the first 
County Attorney of Pocahontas coun- 
ty and he served one term of two 
years, 1887 and 1888. He was succeed- 
ed by Byron J. Allen and C. C. Delle, 
each of whom served one term. Frank 
L. Dinsmore held the office four years, 
1893 to 1896. William Hazlett, the 
the present incumbent, entered upon 
the duties of this office Jan. 3, 1897, 
and is now serving his second term. 

The county attorney is elected in 
the even-numbered years and for a 
term of two years. It is his duty to 
appear for the state and county in all 
cases and proceedings in the courts of 
his county to which the state or 
county is a party. He is the legal ad- 
viser of the board of supervisors and 
other county officers in all matters in 



210 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



which the state or county is interest- 
ed. His annual salary is fixed by the 
board of supervisors and he may not 
accept any fee or reward from or on 
behalf of any one for services rendered 
in any prosecution commenced in the 
name of the state or county, or for 
the conduct of any official business as 
the county attorney. 

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. 

Previous to the establishment of 
the office of county attorney the func- 
tions and duties of that officer were 
performed by district attorneys, one 
of whom was elected in each judicial 
district for a term of four years. He 
appeared for the state and the several 
counties composing his district, in all 
matters in which the state or any 
county he represented was a party 
both in the district and circuit courts 
of his district. 

In this county the following per- 
sons have rendered service as district 
attorneys: 

O. C. Howe, Dickinson Co., 18:9-1862 
Henry Ford, Harrison county 1863-1866 
Orson Rice, Dickinson " 1867-1870 
C. H. Lewis, Cherokee " 1871-1874 
G. B. McCarty, Palo Alto " 1875-1876 
J. M. Toliver. Calhoun " 1877-1884 
John W. Cory, Dickinson ' ' 1885-1886 

The office was then abolished. 

I. DISTRICT JUDGES. 

(4th District.) 
A.W. Hubbard, Woodb'ry Co. 1859-1862 
Isaac Pendleton, " " 1863-1866 

Henry Ford, Harrison " 1867-1874 
C. H. Lewis, Cherokee " 1875-1886 

(14th District, 1877, Jan. 1.) 
Edward R. Duffie, Sac " 1877-1884 
Lot Thomas, Buena Vista " 1885-1898 
F. H.HelselLf " " 1898-date 

George H. Carr, Palo Alto Co. 1887-1894 
W.B.Quarton,* Palo Alto " 1894-date 

II. CIRCUIT JUDGES. 

J. M. Snyder, Humboldt Co.. 1869-1872 
Addison Oliver, X Monona Co. 1873-1874 

fAppolnted Aug. 16, 1898, in place of Lot 
Thomas, resigned ; elected Nov. 8, 189S. 

'Appointed Oct, 13, 1894, to fill vacancy; 
elected Nov. 6, 1894. 

{Resigned. 



J. R. Zouver, Harrison Co. . ..1875-1876 
Jno. N. Weaver, Kossuth Co. .1877-1884 
J. H. Macomber, Sac Co 1885-1886 

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS. 

On Feb. 20, 1852, which was soon 
after the establishment of Pocahon- 
tas county, and before there were any 
settlements in it, this county was as- 
signed to the 5th Judicial district; on 
Jan. 22, 1853, it was attached to Boone 
county, and on Jan. 24, 1855, to Web- 
ster county for judicial purposes. 

After the adoption of the state con- 
stitution of 1857, the judicial districts 
in Iowa were re-arranged by an act of 
the General Assembly of Iowa, ap- 
proved March 20, 1858, the change 
taking effect Jan. 1, 1859. At this 
date Pocahontas and twenty-one other 
counties in Northwest Iowa were in- 
cluded in the Fourth Judicial district 
and so remained until July 4, 1876, 
when by an act approved March 8th 
previous, the counties of Kossuth, 
Humboldt, Emmet, Palo Alto, Poca- 
hontas, Calhoun, Dickinson, Clay, 
Buena Vista, Sac and Ida were de- 
tached to form the new Fourteenth 
district, but for the purpose of hold- 
ing court remained connected with 
the former district until Jan. 1, 1877. 
On Jan. 1, 1887, when the circuit 
court was abolished and the judicial 
districts were re-arranged, Pocahon- 
tas county remained as a part of the 
Fourteenth district together with 
Buena Vista, Palo Alto, Clay, Dick- 
inson, Emmet, Humboldt and Kos- 
suth counties. For the district and 
circuit courts the judicial districts 
were the same. The judges in both 
courts were elected for a term of four 
years. 

The Circuit court, established Jan. 
1, 1866, had general original jurisdic- 
tion in all civil and special proceedings, 
and exclusive jurisdiction in all ap- 
peals and writs of error from inferior 
courts or officers. This court was 
abolished Jan. 1, 1887, by an act of the 
General Assembly of Iowa, approved 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



211 



April 10, 1886; but the judges of the 
circuit court whose terms of office had 
not expired Jan. 1, 1887, became judges 
of the district court in the district in 
which they resided. 

The District court has original and 
exclusive jurisdiction in all actions, 
proceedings and remedies, both civil 
and criminal, and exercises all the 
powers possessed by courts of record. 
It has the power to probate wills, 
grant letters of administration and 
appoint guardians of persons and 
property, subject to guardianship. It 
succeeded to and exercises full author- 
ity over the records of the circuit 
court and is invested with all the 



of the Sixth congressional district, in 
1872 a part of the Ninth and in 1882 a 
part of the Tenth district to which it 
still belongs. Members of the lower 
house of congress are elected for a 
term of two years and in this district 
in the even-numbered years. The 
representatives from this district have 
been as follows: 



Dist. 



Name. 



IT. Wm. Vandever, 
VI. A. W. Hubbard, 

" Charles Pomeroy, 

" Jackson Orr, 

IX. Addison Oliver, 

" Cyrus C. Carpenter, 

X. A J. Holmes, 
" J. P. Dolliver, 



Address. ' 

Dubuque, 
Sioux City, 
Webster Co. 
Boonesboro, 
Onawa, 
Fort Dodge, 
Boone, 
Fort Dodge, 



Date 

1859-1862 
1863 1868 
1869-1870 
1871-1871 
1875-1878 
1879-1882 
1883 1888 
1889-date 



Representatives in the General Assembly of Iowa. 

SENATORS. REPRESENTATIVES. 

G. A. Dist. Name. County. District. Name. County. 

1860. 8th 32d, J. F. Duncombe, Webster 51st Samuel Rees Webster 

1861.* •' " " " " 51st Samuel Rees Webster 

1862. 9th " " " ( " 58th Chas, C. Smelt zer Webster 

"* " " " "' " 58th, Chas. C. Smeltzer Webster 

1861. 10th 43d, Geo. W. Bassett, Webster 60th James W. Logan Harrison 

1866. 11th 44th, " " " 57th Robert Alcorn Webster 

1868. 12th 45th, Theo. Hawley, Webster 62d Samuel Rees Webster 

1870. 13th " " '• " 59th G. S. Toliver Greene 

lS'ia 14th 47th, Wm. H. Fitch, Calhoun 67th..., Robt. Struthers Pocahontas 

1873.* " " " " 67th Robt, Struthers Pocahontas 

1874. 15th " " " 71st „ E. J. Hartshorn Palo Alto 

1876. 16th 47th, E. J. Hartshorn, Palo Alto 51st G.S.Robinson Buena Vista 

1878. 17th " " •' •' 72d.. L.H.Gordon Buena Vista 

1880. 18th 49th, E. J. Hartshorn, " 72d D. J. McDaid Sac 

1882. 19th " " " " 72d Horatio Pitcher Cherokee 

1881. 2/th 47th, Chas. C. Chubb, Kossuth 78th Josiah D. McVay Calhoun 

1886. 21st " " " 78th... James J. Bruce Pocahontas 

1888. 22d 50th, A. O. Garlock, Pocahontas 77th Chas. W. Fillmore Clay 

1890. 23d 50th, Edgar E. Mack, BuenaVista 77th James Mercer Pocahontas 

1892. 21th " " " " 76th F. E. Carpenter Humboldt 

1894. 25th 50th, G.W.Henders'n Pocahontas 76th.... Parley Finch Humboldt 

1896. 26th " " " " 76th Parley Finch Humboldt 

1897.' " " " " " 76th Parley Finch Humboldt 

1898. 27th 50th, Parley Finch, Humboldt 79th M. E. DeWolf Pocahontas 

1899. " 

'Extra sessions of the General Assembly were held in 1801, 1862, 1873 and 1897. 

powers of a court of law and equity. Mr. Dolliver, the present repre- 

representatives in congress. sentative, has been five times re-elected 

At the time of its organization in and when llis P resent term ex P ires in 

1859, Pocahontas county was a part of 1900 ' his P eriod of service from tllis dis ' 

the Second congressional district trict wil1 have included twelve y ears - 

which then embraced the north half The legislative authority in Iowa is 

of the state. In 1862 it became a part vested in a General Assembly that con- 



212 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

GBNBRAL, EXHIBIT OB COUNTY OBBJCBRS, 

1859 TO 1899. 





County Judge. 


Auditor. 


Clerk of Court. 


Treasurer. 


Recorder. 


1859' David Slosson 




A. H. Malcolm* 
S. N. Harrisf 


W. H. Hait 


1860 J. A. Jamps 




S. N. Harris 


W. H. Hait 


18BI|I. N. Belknapf 




Ed. Hammond 


•' 


" 


1862, Perry Nowlen 




Philip Russell 


Michael Collins 


1863 c. 0. Converset 




Philip Russell 


" 




1861 


F. E. Metcalf 




" " 


Michael Collins 


1865 


F. E. Metcalf 




W. H. Hait 
Philip Russellf 


Michael Collins 


Robert Struthers 


1866 


S. N. Han is 




A. H. Malcolm 


W. H. Hait 


i. ii 


1867 






W. D. McEwen 


" •' 


E. C Brown 


1S68 


S. N.Harris 




" " 


W. H. Hait 


" '• 


1869 


W. D. McEwenf 


W. D. McEwenf 


W. D. McEwen 


" " 


Thbs. L. MacVey 


1870 




" " 


" " 


J. J. Bruce 


ii u ii 


1871 




W. D. McEwen 


W. D. McEwen 


" " 


Thos. L. MacVey 


187^ 




" " 


'• " 


J. J. Bruce 


" " " 


1873 




W. D. McEwen 


M. E. Owen 


" " 


Thos. L. MacVey 


1874 




A. O. Garlock 


it n 


W.D. McEwen 


i. ii i. 


1V75 




" " 


J. W, Wallace 


" " 


Andrew Jackson 


1876 




A. O. Garlock 


" " 


W. D. McEwen 


ii ti 


1877 




" » 


J. W. Wallace 


" " 


Oscar I. Strong 


1878 




A. O. Garlock 


" '• 


W. D. McEwen 


J. H. Liowreyt 


1879 




" " 


J. W. Wallace 


ii ii 


Geo. Wallacpj 


1880 




A. 0. Garlock 


" " 


W. D. McEwen 


C. A. Bryantf 


1881 




" " • 


1. W.Wallace 


ti ii 


Michael Crahan 


1882 




C. H. Tollefsrude 


.i ii 


W. D. MiEwen 


" " 


1883 




" " 


J. W. Wallace 


" " 


A. L. Thornton 


1884 




C. H Tollefsrude 


" " 


Wm. Brownlee 


ii ii 


1885 




" " 


J. W. Wallace 


u i'i 


A. L. Thornton! 


1886 




T. F. McCartan 


" " 


W. D. McEwen 


May E. Thornton 


1887 




" " 


W. C. Ralston 


" " 


W. F. Atkinson 


1888 




T. F. McCartan 


" " 


J. N. McClellan 


ii i. 


1889 




" " 


W. C. Ralston 


ii u 


W. F. Atkinson 


1890 




T. F. McCartan 


" " 


J. N. McClellan 


ii it 


1891 




It l! 


W. C. Ralston 


ii n 


R. D. Bollard 


1892 




" " 


ii u 


J. N. McClellan 


u it 


1893 




F. G. Thornton 


W. C. Ralston 


" " 


R. D. Bollard 


1894 






" " 


C. A. Charlton 


" " 


1895 




F. G. Thornton 


F H. Plumb 


i. ii 


R. D. Bollard 


1896 




" " 


" '• 


C. A. Charlton 


ii ii 


1897 




I. C. Thatcher 


F. H. Plumb 


ii ii 


R. D. Bollard 


1898 




>. i> 


ii it 


C. A. Charlton 


u ii 


1899 




I. C. Thatcher 


F. H. Plumb 




L E. Hanson 



Sheriff. 



Surveyor. 



Coroner. 



Drainage Com. 



1859 
1800 
1861 
1862 
1863 

1864 

1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
187 i 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 



Oscar Slosson 
Henry Jarvis 

Henry Jarvis 

Abiel Stickney 
Ed. Hammondf 
Henry Jarvis 

Henry Jarvis 
Oscar Slosson 

Oscar Slosson 

T. J. Curtis 

J. Breitenbach 

J. Breitenbach]: 

T. L. Dean 

Jos. Mallison 

Jos. Mallison 

J. F. Pattee 

J. F. Pattee 

J. F. Pattee 

J. A. Crummer 



Perry Mowlen* 
O. F. Averyf 
W. H. Haitf 
Or a Harvey t 
Michael Collinsf 

Fred E. Metcalf 



VV. D. McEwen 

J. J. Bruce 

Dayid Miller 

G. W. Hathaway 

O. I. Strong 
J. F. Clarkf 
J. F. Clark 

David Miller 

O. I. Strong 

J. P. Robinson 

J. P. Robinson 

J. H. Campbell 

J. H. Campbell 

F. C. Gilchrist 



Guernsey Smith* 
Robert Struthers, 

Robert Struthers 

Robert Struthers 

Robert Struthers 

Robert Struthers 

G. W Strong 
O. I. Strongf 
Geo. Van Natta 
Wm. Marshall! 
Wm. Marshall 

Wm. Marshall 

Wm, Marshall 

Wm. Marshall 

Wm. Marshall 

Lute C. Thornton 

John J. Cullen 

L. C. Thornton 

H. W. Bissell 



Henry Park 
Wm. Jarvis 

Wm. Jarvis 

Ed. Hammond 

Ed. Hammond 

John H. Johnson 

Joseph Clason 

Joseph Clason 

J. M. Carroll 

John H. Johnson 

J. C. Enfield 

J. M. Brown 

J. C. Enfield 

M. F . Patterson 

J. M. Carroll 
W. W. Beam 

W. W. Beam 
C. P. Delle 
J. M. Carroll 



J. Edelman 
Wm. Jarvis 



W. S. Fegles 
W. S. Fegles 



Co. Attorney. 



W. G. Bradley. 
Byron J. Allen 
C. C. Delle 



THE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



213 



General Exhibit of bounty Officers, 1859 to 1899 -Continued. 





Sheriff. 


Superintendent. 


Surveyor. 


Coroner. 


County Attorney 


1892 


J. A. c rummer 


Clel. Gilchrist 


H W. Bissell 


0. A. Ptase 


" " 


Km 


" " 


" " 


" " 


" " 


F. L. Dinsmore 


1891 


J. A. Crammer 


Clel. Gilchrist 


F. A. Malcolm 


Frank Reyburn 


" " 


I89r> 


" " 


■ " '• 


" " ' 


" '• 


F. L. Dinsmore 


189H 


J. A. Crummer 


Clel. Gilchrist 


F. A. Malcolm 


Frank Reyburn 


" ■* 


1897 




H i. 


" '« 


" •* 


Wm. Hazlett 


1898 


John Ratcliff 


A. W. Davis 


H. W. Bissell 


C. B. Lawrence 


" " 


1899 


" " 


" " 


" " 


" " 


Wm. Hazlett 



* Did not qualify. 

t Appointed. 

I Died while In office. 



sists of a senate and house of represent- 
atives. The sessions of the General 
Assembly are held biennially and con- 
vene in the capitol at Des Moines, on 
the second Monday in January in each 
even-numbered year. Members of the 
house of representatives must be 
twenty-one years of age and are elect- 
ed for a term of two years. State sen- 
ators must be twenty-five years of age 
and are elected for a term of four 



years. 

It will be perceived that during the 
past history of this county it has been 
represented in the state senate by two 
of its own citizens; Abram O. Garlock 
in 1888-89, and Geo. W. Henderson, 
1894 to 1897. In the house it has been 
represented by Robert Struthers, in 
1872 and 1873; James J. Bruce in 1886- 
87; James Mercer, 1890-91, and M. -E. 
DeWolf, 1898-99. 



214 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



IX. 

PIONEER PERIOD, 1855 TO 1869 OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS 

"As I sit in my home in the Are-light glow, 
Watching the shadows flit to and fro, 

My mind wanders back 

Over life's thorny track, 
To the bright golden days of long ago. 

A feeling of sadness comes stealing along, 
And with it some strains of a dear old song, 

That calls from the shadowy past 

Visions of joy too sweet to last: 
How the years with their treasures roll swiftly along!" 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, 1862 TO 186P. 




!HE first settlements 
in the southeast and 
northeast parts of 
the county previous 
to the year 1860, 
have already been 
noted; also the principal events of that 
and the previous years when the coun- 
ty was organized and the first court 
house built. All the proceedings of 
the county judges worthy of men- 
tion have also been noted and those of 
the board of supervisors during the 
year 1861. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Iowa Homestead, a weekly 
farmers' journal, published in D. s 
Moines in the early sixties by Mark 
Miller and later by G Sprague, at $2. 00 
a year, was subscribed for by the 
county board July 1, 1862; and this 
subscription for the Homestead was 
continued until 1869. In 1870, the 
board subscribed for a copy of the 
Western Farm Journal and it was 
continued until 1877, when the custom 
of the board to subscribe for an agri- 
cultural paper seems to have been 



abandoned. 

The delinquent tax list, in 1^62, 
was published by John F. Buncombe, 
at Fort Dodge for $130.00, and for sev- 
eral successive years by B F. Cue, at 
the same place. 

In 1869, the county printing was 
done for the first time in a home pa- 
per by local parties. For that year 
the delinquent tax list, the proceed- 
ings of the board and the advertise- 
ments of the sale of the school lands 
of Des Moines, Clinton, Lizard and 
Powhatan townships, the only ones 
then organized, were printed in the 
Pocahontas Journal, of which Wm. 
D. McEwen and J. J. Bruce were the 
proprietors. They received for this 
work $237.00, and on Feb. 9, 1870, the 
Journal was again selected to do the 
county printing, including the pub- 
lication of the laws of the 13th Gen- 
eral Assembly that year. 

HONOR ROLL. 

On June 6, 1863, by the appointment 
of 
Edw. Hammond for Clinton Twp. 
Philip Bflssell " Lizard " 
W. H. Hait " Des Moines" 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



2 1.5 



an arrangement was made for the en- 
rollment of the militia of the county 
which included all the able-bodied 
male citizens between the years of 
eighteen and forty-five, who were not 
exempt from military duty. 

At their meeting held Jan. 2, 1865, 
the board agreed to pay a bounty of 
$900 to each volunteer who would en- 
ter the army or navy of the United 
States, and the later records show 
that Dennis Quigley and Thos. Quig- 
ley were recipients of this special 
bounty. This volunteer bounty fund 
was raised by an assessment of four 
mills on the dollar during the year 
of 1865. A soldiers' relief fund of two 
mills on the dollar had been raised for 
the benefit of those who had enlisted 
at the beginning of the war, namely: 

A. H. Malcolm, Henry Cooper, 
Oscar Slosson, Henry Tilley, 
Chas. W. Jarvis, Hiram Evans, 
W. S. Fegles, John Gayier, 
Andrew Mills. 

il For those true men who fought to lift 
Our country's banner high in air, 

Wreaths of lilies we weave and bring 
Roses and star-eyed pansies fair." 

During tbe war, Pocahontas county 
furnished eleven men, which was 
one-third of the able-bodied residents 
of the county at the time. This was 
her full quota and there was no need 
of a resort to a draft. 

Four of those named above, namely, 
A. H. Malcolm, Henry Cooper, Hiram 
Evans and Oscar Slosson enlisted at 
the same time— Sept. 2., 1861, at Fort 
Dodge— and became members of Co. 
A, 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers, un- 
der Captain Franklin A. Stratton, of 
Fort Dodge. This company went by 
stage to Cedar Falls, the nearest rail- 
road station, and in due season ar- 
rived at Dubuque where they were 
mustered in, September 21st, follow- 
ing. 

On October 6th they were transport- 
ed via Chicago and Pittsburg to Wash- 
ington. At Newton Hamilton, Pa., 
where the train stopped to let another 



one pass it, a member of the compa- 
ny, Peter Bowers, was killed by falling 
under the wheels in trying to board 
the train while in motion. With oth- 
ers he had gone to get some ripe ap- 
ples from a trae near the railroad and 
the tra'in was moving slowly from the 
station when he returned. 

At Washington the company found 
their tents, horses, bridles, saddles 
and sabers awaiting them, and on De- 
cember 24th they passed to Annapo- 
lis, where they embarked on an old 
worn-out propeller— Pocahontas— and 
landed at Fortress Monroe. Here in 
March, 1862, they witnessed the de- 
struction of the Congress and the 
grounding of the Minnesota by the 
rebel ram, "Merrimac, " and its de- 
struction by the Monitor on the day 
following. Other places where the 
company was located were Norfolk, 
Suffolk, Gatesville, North Carolina; 
Windsor, Hanover Court House, York- 
town, Williamsburg, Gloucester and 
Petersburg. On September 20, 1864, 
only 37 of the 83 men comprising the 
company remained with it to be mus- 
tered out at Jones' Landing, and of 
this number were Henry Cooper, John 
Gayier, trumpeter, and Sergeant A. 
H. Malcolm, from Pocahontas county. 
The company had been constantly en- 
gaged doing scouting work in front of 
the rebel lines, and many had become 
victims of disease, died in rebel pris- 
ons or had fallen in conflicts with the 
enemy. Their return was via Bermu- 
da Hundred. Fortress Monroe (where 
they waited three days for their pay) 
and Baltimore. 

FIRST TAX SALE. 

The first instructions of the board 
to the assessors seem to have been 
given on Jan. 6, 1863, when the assess- 
ors of the three townships then or- 
ganized were directed to estimate the 
value/Of the taxable property of the 
county as follows: 

Working oxen (pair). . .$25 00 to $50 00 
3-vr-old steers 12 00 " 18 00 



216 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Horses 15 00 " 75 00 

Cows 7 00 " 10 00 

Real estate 2 00 per acre 

For the year 1864, this valuation 
was directed to be considerably higher, 
so that a pair of oxen should rate $40 
to $80; 1-year-old steers, $6 to $10 each; 
horses, $15 to $100 each, and swine 
50 cents to $1.50 a head. The land 
continued to be rated at $2.00 an acre 
until the last year of the period, (1869) 
when it was raised to $2.50 an acre. 

The first sale of lands for the non- 
payment of taxes, seems to have oc- 
curred at the court house, May 15, 
1862, under the direction of Micbael 
Collins, county treasurer. At this 
sale a large number of lands were sold 
for delinquent taxes, and Pitt Cook 
was the principal purchaser. After 
the sale some doubts arose in regard 
to its legality, owing to the fact no 
warrant had been endorsed on the tax 
lists by the proper officers of the coun- 
ty to the treasurer, authorizing him 
to collect the taxes, and some of the 
previous owners threatened to com- 
mence legal proceedings against the 
treasurer of the county for the recov- 
ery of the lands. On March 3, 1863, 
the board of supervisors found it nec- 
essary to sign a bond of $10,000 to in- 
demnify the county treasurer before it 
was deemed advisable for him to dis- 
burse the funds received from this 
tax sale. Later, $62.08 was returned 
to Pitt Cook for lands erroneously 
sold, and to Caspar Rice were returned 
all funds received from him, with in- 
terest; and to Widow Washburn was 
restored the title to her lands, and in 
1868 to E. G. Morgan, also. 

HIGHWAYS AND BRIDGES. 

The first three county roads have 
already been noted. During the lat- 
ter part of this pioneer period a num- 
ber of new roads were laid out, of 
which the principal ones were as fol- 
lows: On Nov. 6, 1865, Hugh Collins 
was appointed to view and locate a 
road from the northeast corner of sec- 



tion 24, Lizard township, westward to 
the Buena Vista county line. 

The next year Jeremiah Young was 
appointed to locate the Des Moines 
river and Swan Lake road, commenc- 
ing at the northeast corner of the 
NWi Sec. 26, Des Moines township, 
and running west to intersect the 
Buena Vista county road as near 
Swan Lake as practicable. In the 
survey of this road Oscar I. Strong 
was assisted by Henry Thomas as car- 
rier. On the petition of Patrick Forey 
and others the Branch road was es- 
tablished extending from the Des 
Moines river to the north line of sec- 
tion 1, Lizard township; thence to 
Lizard creek and thence on the near- 
est and most practicable route to the 
county road in Buena Vista county. 
This road was located by Henry 
Cooper and surveyed by O. I. Strong, 
assisted by Charles and Geo. W. 
Strong, chain carriers. 

At the request of A. H. Malcolm 
and others, the same year a road was 
established, commencing at the north 
line of section 4, Des Moines town- 
ship, extending thence south to the 
quarter stake on the east line of sec- 
tion 28, thence east to the center of 
section 26, until it intersected the 
Des Moines river and Lizard road. A. 
H. Malcolm was appointed to view 
and locate this road and it was sur- 
veyed by Robert Struthers assisted by 
Oscar Slosson and Joseph Clason, chain 
carriers, and James Drown, axeman. 

In 1867, the Clinton road was estab- 
lished at the request of Daniel W. 
Hunt and others, and it was located 
by Samuel N. Harris; and the next 
year the Barrett and Boyd road was 
established in Lizard township. This 
road was located by R. L. Sherman, 
and surveyed by D. C. Russell assisted 
by John Price, axeman. The Pow- 
hatan and Lizard road was es- 
tablished the same year at the re- 
quest of Daniel Thomas and others. 
It was located by B. L. Inman and 





ORA HARVEY, Clinton Twp. 
Co. Supervisor, 1861-1868 



MRS. ORA HARVEY 



i • 



-^: ■#*-*• 



DAVID SLOSSON, 

First Co. Judge, Mar. 15 to Dec. 31, 1859. 

Co. SupVr, 1861, 63-67, 70-71, 74-79. 




ROMEYN B. FISH, 
County Supervisor, 1872-73 




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PIONEER PERIOD. 



217 



surveyed by O. I. Strong assisted by 
E. J. and D. Strong. 

In 1866, Henry Cooper and others 
petitioned for a road extending from 
the south line of section 4, Des Moines 
township, so as to intersect the Fort 
Dodge and Spirit Lake road, and 
thence west to the west line of Pow- 
hatan township. This road was lo- 
cated and surveyed by Henry Cooper 
and it was known as the Coopertown 
road. 

In 1869, the Depot road was estab- 
lished in Lizard township at the re- 
quest of H. B. Vaughn, and it was lo- 
cated by E. V. Brown. 

In 1862 arrangements were made 
for the erection of three important 
bridges — one over the Des Moines 
river, by W. H. Hait, and two over 
the Lizard, one by Charles Kelley and 
the other over the north fork by Mi- 
chael Morissey. The two latter were 
inspected by Robert Struthers, and 
his report, which was spread upon 
the records, shows the discriminating 
judgment and sterling integrity of 
that worthy pioneer. His report was 
as follows: 

Milton, Jan. 2, 1866. 
To the Board of Supervisors: 

Gentlemen — According to appoint- 
ment, I did visit on the 15th day of 
July, 1865, the two bridges built over 
the Lizard. I found the one built by 
Charles Kelly complete, hut the other 
one was very imperfect noth as re- 
gards material and workmanship. 

Robert Struthers. 

On October 18, 1865, Messrs. Elijah 
D. Seeley, Charles Campbell and Wm. 
D. McEwen reported favorably on the 
completion of the bridge built over 
the Des Moines river by W. H. Hait. 

The dates of these reports indicate 
that these public improvements moved 
slowly in those days. It was the pe- 
riod of the war when public attention 
was directed to the scene of conflict, 
and every available man had enlisted. 
It was also the period of hard times 
and there was not to be found either 
the men or the money to secure the 



speedy erection of these public im- 
provements. When these contracts 
were let there was no money in the 
county treasury to pay for them. The 
funds were provided by voting 
a special three-mill tax in November, 
1862. for the Des Moines river bridge 
and a two and one-half mill tax, on 
September 5, 1863, for the two bridges 
over the Lizard, that cost $1,396. The 
whole number of votes polled at this 
last election was twenty-four, and 
twenty-three of them were for the 
special levy. 

During the sixties two other bridges 
were built, one by W. H. Hait, over 
Pilot creek in 1865, at a cost of $250; 
and one by Cbarles Kelley, over the 
Lizard, and inspected by W. H. Hait, 
Robert Struthers and Jas. McCaskey. 
In the last year of this period (1869) 
provision was made for the erection 
of a number of bridges. Thomas L. 
MacVey was appointed to view the 
ground and prepare the specifications 
for one where the Branch road crossed 
Pilot creek, near the home of D. W. 
Hunt, and another one over Beaver 
creek, where it is crossed by the line of 
section 27, Des Moines township. The 
latter was erected by Henry Jarvis, 
for $167.00. Andrew Jackson built 
one over the Big Slough on the Branch 
road and another one on the Swan 
Lake road where it crossed the Liz- 
ard, each of them costing $175.00. J. 
C. VanNatta built one over Beaver 
creek on the North Branch road for 
$255.00. Contracts were- also made 
with Michael Wiese for the erection 
of two bridges over the Lizard, one on 
the Depot road for $445 and the other 
on the Barrett and Boyd road for 
$425.00. 

In 1867, the fourth member was 
added to the board of supervisors, 
Nunda (now Powhatan) township be- 
ing represented. On June 6th, Galu- 
sha Parsons, of Fort Dodge, was em- 
ployed as an attorney for the county 
at a salary of $25.00 a year. The dis- 



218 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



trict attorney at this time lived in 
Dickinson county. The first fees for 
services as constable seem to have 
been paid this year to Joseph Clason 
who received $1.00 for services ren- 
dered under the direction of the dis- 
trict court. The first of the county 
coroners to receive compensation 
seems to have been John H. Johnson, 
of Lizard township, who received 
$16.90 for services in 1869. The salary 
of the sheriff in 1864 was $20.00; in 1869 
it was raised to $50.00 and in 1870 to 
$100.00. The salary of the county su- 
perintendent from 1868 to 18*70 av- 
eraged $100.00 a year. The salary of 
the double office of treasurer and re- 
corder in 1864 was $840; the next 
year these offices were separated, and 
in 1870 the salary of the treasurer was 
fixed at $1000, and that of the auditor 
at $800. 

WOLF BOUNTY. 

On Nov. 15, 1864, the board agreed 
to give a bounty of $2.00 each for wolf 
scalps in addition to the $1.00 provid- 
ed by the state. Those who were re- 
cipients of this wolf bounty in 1865, 
were Wm. Harris for one and Charles 
Kelley for two scalps. In 1866, Joseph 
Clason received $21.00 for five scalps. 
Some of these were timber and others 
were prairie wolves, and two of them 
were claimed to be a cross between 
the timber and prairie wolf, and for 
these two he received $5.00 each. 

On Jan. 8, 1867, the board increased 
the bounty on wolves to $5.00 each, 
and the recipients that year were 
Joseph Clason, $25.00; David J. Bishop, 
$5.00; Richard Chatfield, $10.00 and 
Samuel Bowman, $6.00 for six swifts. 
The swift was an animal having the 
color and habits of a small fox, but 
with a darker head, more slender form 
and swifter movement. The prairie 
wolf was a little larger and darker in 
color than the coyote and the timber 
wolf was about twice as large as the 
prairie wolf. 

On Feb. 29, 1868, the board rescind- 



ed the act allowing a county bounty 
on wolves, but before this act was 
passed, Wm. L. Clason and Richard 
Chatfield each reported the capture of 
two wolves that day. 

On Jan. 4, 1869, the board agreed to 
give a bounty of $3.00 each for wolves 
caught in this county. On the next 
day, however, when it was known 
that O. F. Avery, of Humboldt county, 
but county superintendent in 1861, 
was in town with seventeen wolf 
scalps, the board hastily rescinded its 
action of the previous day and gave 
him a warrant for the state bounty at 
$1.00 each. The other recipients of 
the state bounty that year were Rich- 
ard Chatfield, Wm. L. and Henry 
Clason. 

UNITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The first religious services held in 
Pocahontas county were conducted by 
Rev. David S. McComb, of Algona, 
who, visiting the northeast part of 
this county in the spring of 1859, or- 
ganized the Unity Presbyterian church 
with a membership consisting of the 
following persons: Mr. and Mrs. 
Robert Struthers, of Pocahontas coun- 
ty; Mr. and Mrs. John McCormack, Sr., 
Thomas and John McCormack, Jr., 
Mr. and Mrs. Carter, Mr. and Mrs. 
Samuel McClellan, of Palo Alto coun- 
ty; Mr. and Mrs. Seth G. Sharp and 
Mrs. Hannfh Evans, of Humboldt 
county, and Mr. and Mrs. Edward 
McNight. At the time of its organ- 
ization John McCormack, Sr., John 
McCormack, Jr., and S. G. Sharp were 
appointed elders, and a little later 
Joseph Clason was added to their 
number. Others who served in this 
capacity during the later years of this 
organization were Robert Lothian, 
James- Dean, Robert Struthers and 
Robert Anderson. 

The services were held once in two 
weeks and at the homes of the settlers. 
A frequent place of meeting was the 
cabin of Edward McNight, a settler 
from Pennsylvania, who in 1856 had 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



219 



erected a substantial log cabin in the 
grove of natural timber near the 
county line on the eastward curve of 
the Des Moines river, now known as 
McNight's Point. As soon as it was 
ready for occupancy in 1860, the court 
house at Old Rolfe became the regu- 
lar place of meeting and later the 
brick school house when it was com- 



Dubuque, Maquoketa and' Delaware 
county, in 1856 he located at Algona, 
then a mere hamlet, where he organ- 
ized a church. In October, 1861, he 
was elected county judge of Kossuth 
county for one year. He was the first 
moderator of the Presbytery of Fort 
Dodge, November 2, 1865. In 1868 he 
located on a homestead in Palo Alto 




REY. DftVID S. Mce©MB, 

The pioneer preacher of Pocahontas County. Pastor of Unity Presbyterian 
Church, Old Rolfe, 1859 to 1871. 



pleted in 1861. 

Rev. David S. McComb ministered 
to this congregation nearly thirteen 
years, 1859 to 1871. He was a native 
of Washington county, Pa., a gradu- 
ate of Jefferson college and Allegheny 
Theological seminary. He was or- 
dained in 1841 and four years later 
came to Iowa where he spent a life- 
long service in pioneer missionary 
work. After pastorates in Oskaloosa,- 



county, one mile west of Rodman, 
where he died June 12, 1888. As a 
minister he was always very prompt 
in meeting his appointments. In 
storm and wind as well as sunshine he 
was seeking out the destitute and 
bringing to them the tidings of the 
gospel. So fearless was he in his work 
that riding in a severe gale to meet 
one of his appointments, he lost the 
sight of one of his eyes. Of this pio- 



220 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



neer preacher it may be said: 

"This man never preached for money, 

If he did he never got it; 

He had faults and many virtues, 

He was conscientious and devoted, 

Persevering and determined. 

Long his name will be remembered." 

Other pastors who served this Unity 
church were Mr. Hugh McG-uire, in 
1872; Eev. Walter L, Lyons, three 
years, 1873 to 1875; Mr. F. F. Young, a 
student of Park college, two years, 
1876 to 1878, and Lyman C. Gray, two 
years, 1879 and 1880. At this date^the 
new town of Eolfe was located in 
Clinton township, the place of meet- 
ing was changed and a new organiza- 
tion being effected known as the Sec- 
ond Presbyterian church of Eolfe, the 
former organization known as the 
Unity Presbyterian church, after an 
existence of twenty-one years, became 
obsolete. 

THE LAST BUFFALO CHASE. 

The buffalo, that noble specimen of 
the ox species, that once grazed in al- 
most countless numbers on these 
beautiful prairies, afforded the red 
man abundance of meat, and so much 
did he prefer it to all others while it 
was available, that deer, elk and other 
smaller kinds of game were left to 
sport upon the prairies undisturbed, 
unless their hides were needed for 
dress or tent coverings. The buffalo, 
or more properly speaking, the bison, 
is a noble animal and it once roamed 
over the vast prairies from the borders 
of Mexico on the south to Hudson's 
bay on the north. Their size was 
somewhat larger than that of common 
cattle and their flesh, which had a de- 
licious flavor resembling and equaling 
that of fat beef, furnished the sav- 
ages of these vast regions a wholesome 
and substantial element of food upon 
which they sometimes lived almost 
exclusively; while their hides, horns, 
hoofs and bones were utilized for 
clothing, tenting and the construction 
of bows, shields and ornaments. The 
male when fully grown, was one of 



the most formidable and frightful 
looking animals in the world when ex- 
cited to resistance; his long, shaggy 
mane hung in great profusion over 
his neck and shoulders and often ex- 
tended quite down to the ground. 
The cow was less in stature and less 
ferocious, but just about as wild and 
frightful in her appearance. 

In noting the large boulders in this 
county a reference was made to the 
supposed "buffalo wallow" at the base 
of the one in Lincoln township. An 
account of these old landmarks is now 
appropriate. 

Like a "buffalo in his wallow," is 
an old adage that had a very signifi- 
cant meaning to those who have seen 
the male buffalo perform his ablutions, 
or rather cool his heated sides in the 
warmer weather by tumbling about in 
a mud puddle. 

In the heat of summer these huge 
animals, that no doubt suffer great 
discomfort from the profusion of their 
long and shaggy hair, while grazing 
on the low grounds or sloughs on the 
prairies where there is a little stand- 
ing water upon the surface and the 
ground underneath is soft, lowered 
upon one knee will plunge first their 
horns and then their head, shoving 
out the earth and making an excava- 
tion in the ground into which the 
water filters from the surrounding 
surface and forms for them a cool and 
comfortable bathing place into which 
they plunge like a pig in the mire. 
Into this delightful laver the buffalo 
throws himself flat upon his side and 
forcing himself violently around, with 
his horns and huge hump on his shoul- 
ders he continues to plow up the 
ground by a rotary motion and sinks 
himself deeper and deeper by the con- 
stant enlargement of the place until 
he becomes nearly immersed. 

"Oft in the full descending flood he 
tries, 

To lose the scent and lave his burn- 
ing sides." 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



221 



It is generally the leader of the herd 
that makes the wallow, and when he 
has cooled his sides in the water and 
mud mixed into a perfect mortar that 
completely changes his color, he comes 
forth a walking mass of dripping, 
black mortar — a hideous monster of 
mud and ugliness too frightful and ec- 
centric to describe. 

One wallow served for a herd, and 
when the leader came forth from it 
another and another stood ready to 
enjoy this luxury until the entire 
herd had their tarn, each adding a 
little to its size and carrying away an 
equal share of the dirty, black mortar. 
These wallows were often left fifteen 
to twenty feet in diameter and two 
feet deep; and when filled with vege- 
table deposits through the lapse of 
years they have yielded an unusual 
growth of grass and herbage in circu- 
lar form that has attracted the atten- 
tion of the traveler and awakened his 
curiosity.* 

The chief hunting amusement of the 
Indians consisted in the chase of the 
buffalo which was almost invariably 
done on horseback with bow and ar- 
row. Mounted on his little wild 
horse, which had also been caught on 
the prairies and trained for the chase, 
without bit or bridle the Indian dash- 
ed off at a full speed for the herd, and 
when alongside his game, sent his 
deadly arrows to their hearts from the 
back of his pony. 

And now the morning, sun ascends the 

sky, 
The armed hunters after the buffalo 

hie. — Virgil. 

On August 20, 1863, the last buffalo 
seen in Pocahontas county was chased 
and killed by W. H. Hait assisted by 
Orlando Slosson, Robinson Gordon and 
Abiel Stickney. 

Mrs. Charles Jarvis, whose husband 
that year was running Mr. Hait's 
sawmill and with her living in his 
home, and now a resident of Bradgate, 

*George Catlin, in North American Indians. 



was the firgt to see this one in the dis- 
tance. On going to milk the cows at 
the barn in the morning before break- 
fast she found them missing, and 
viewing the country around to see 
where they were, her eye fell on a 
strange looking object capering on a 
little knoll on section 22, about one 
and one-half miles northwest of the 
court house, that awakened her sur- 
prise. Mr. Hait was in the court 
house at this time, and when he re- 
turned home for breakfast and his at- 
tention was called to it he recognized 
it as a buffalo. 

Mr. Hait hurriedly partook of some 
breakfast and then began to prepare 
for the chase by summoning to his as- 
sistance the men named above. Three 
things were needed— fleet horses, good 
weapons and ammunition. In the 
court house there were some old 
Springfield army muskets, but there 
was no ammunition suited for them. 
The only ammunition available was 
in the form of some little cartridges 
for a small (No. 32) revolver owned by 
Mr. Hait. As it was deemed advisa- 
ble that each man should have a load- 
ed weapon, the muskets were loaded 
as best they could be with that kind 
of ammunition, and while Mr. Hait 
took his revolver, each of his assist- 
ants was armed with a musket. Un- 
fortunately suitable horses were as 
scarce as the weapons, there being 
but one horse available that could 
run as fast as a buffalo. Happily this 
one belonged to Mr. Hait, and he 
mounted it while the others took 
such as they could get. Thus equipped 
"They to the buffalo's pursuit, 
With spurring put their horses to it; 
And, till all four were out of wind 
And their game captured, never looked 
behind."* 

As the buffalo was capering with 
manifest enjoyment, they did not plan 
to flank or surround him, but started 
off in high glee expecting to give him 
a general broadside that would lay 

*Hudibras. 



222 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



him low; but when they had proceeded 
a short distance the buffalo perceived 
them and avoided the broadside by 
quitting his capering, turning tail 
and speeding away in a northwesterly 
direction. The chase was now begun 
with all possible earnestness, each 
hunter urging his steed to make his 
utmost speed. 

Mr. Hait, who was riding a horse 
bred in Kentucky and one of the fleet- 
est ever brought to this county, was 
soon a considerable distance ahead of 
the others, and it became apparent 
that his steed was the only one in the 
lot that could run as fast as the buf- 
falo. After a chase of two miles or 
more he overtook the buffalo and gal- 
loping by his side, at the distance of 
one rod, he fired in quick succession as 
many shots as he could from his little 
revolver, aiming at the heart of the 
brute. 

When the third wound had been in- 
flicted the buffalo became enraged 
and, charging furiously at the steed 
of his pursuer, compelled Mr. Hait to 
beat a hasty retreat. This retreat 
took the form of a semi-circle, and 
the buffalo followed Mr. Hait until 
his companions arrived, when each 
of them fired a shot as he had oppor- 
tunity. About the only effect of 
these shots was to lead the buffalo to 
attack each man as he inflicted a 
wound. One of the men in his effort 
to avoid the charge of the buffalo, 
dropped and lost his musket in the 
grass. 

Mr. Hait having reloaded, and see- 
ing the danger of his companions who 
were scarcely able to keep out of his 
way when pursued by the enraged 
brute, for the purpose of attracting 
him from them, again rode close by 
and fired another series of shots at his 
heart. This was the crisis or turning 
point in the battle with this buffalo. 
The buffalo did not now attack Mr. 
Hait as before but sought shelter 
from his pursuers and relief from the 



oppressive heat by running in a west- 
erly direction to the center of a large 
slough. All the men now realized the 
danger connected with their under- 
taking. The retreat of the buffalo 
was a source of great relief, affording 
them time to reload their weapons 
and give their exhausted steeds a few 
moments of greatly needed rest. 

The battle after this point took the 
form of a series of skirmishes in as 
many as four or five different sloughs, 
each one being some distance further 
westward. In these skirmishes in 
the sloughs, the men would go as near 
to the buffalo as they could safely 
with their horses and firing at him he 
would charge upon them, compel them 
to retreat and then seek refuge in 
another one further west. 

At last the buffalo became too weak 
and weary to charge upon his pursuers 
and finding they could not kill him 
outright, they drove him back about 
a half-mile when, exhausted and dy- 
ing, he lay down on that part of the 
SWi of section 24, Powhatan town- 
ship, that is now owned by Dora 
Strong. When he lay down Orlando 
Slosson ventured close to him and 
fired two more shots into him after 
which he soon expired. About three 
hours had been occupied in the chase, 
and the place where he fell was about 
five miles northwest of Old Rolf e. 

Mr. Hait and two of the men now 
returned home for a team and left 
Oscar Slosson to guard their game and 
enable them to find the place where 
he was lying. The latter, however, 
became very dry, and going some dis- 
tance in search of a stream of running 
water, lost his bearing and was vainly 
trying to find the buffalo, now con- 
cealed from view at a distance by the 
tall grass of the prairie in the midst 
of which he was lying, when his com- 
panions returned with the team. By 
following his trail in the grass the 
buffalo was finally located. 

This buffalo was a very large one and 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



223 



his weight was estimated at 1400 
pounds. His horns were not very 
long but were very strong, being fully 
three inches in diameter at the base 
and each had seventeen rings. They 
removed his hide and the hump of 
lean meat on the top of his neck and 
shoulders. The latter was about the 
size of the drum of an old-fashioned 
cook stove, weighed over one hundred 
pounds, and being divided among the 
settlers who lived in the vicinity of 
Old Rolfe, furnished them a good, 
tender steak as long as they were able 
to keep it in the hot weather. 

This was the last buffalo known to 
have grazed on the prairies of this 
county. This largest of American game, 
like the Indian to whom he was the 
principal means of subsistence, is fast 
passing away at the approach of civil- 
ized man. In the winter of 1881 and 
1882 there were killed in this country 
80,000 of these noble creatures. At 
this time there remains only a few 
small herds of them and they are in 
the region of country drained by the 
head waters of the Missouri river 
west of the Black Hills. In a very 
few years the wild buffalo will 
live only in books that contain his 
history and in pictures upon canvas. 

THE LAST INDIAN HUNT, JULY 13, 1864. 

Among the many incidents of inter- 
est that happened to the early pio- 
neers of this county were those caused 
by Indian scares. The Spirit Lake 
Massacre occurred in 1857 and the 
greater one at New Ulm a few miles 
further north in 1862, and one is not 
surprised at the statement that the 
mere report of the red man advancing 
upon the defenceless and unprotected 
settlers always had a very disquieting 
effect; and when the report was com- 
municated by one who had a sight of 
the real Indian dressed in war cos- 
tume with feathers and gun, as was 
the case in 1864, the effect was ' mag- 
ical. 

In the month of July, 1864, what 



was believed to be a lone Indian was 
reported to have been seen passing 
down Pilot creek amid the timber in 
Clinton township. He was decked 
with war-paint, had the ominous 
feathers in his cap and carried his gun 
in his hand. This report excited and 
arouse'd all the settlers for many 
miles around Old Rolfe, and they 
deemed it expedient to take immedi- 
ate steps for their mutual protection. 
The fact that the Indian disappeared 
as suddenly as he had made his ap- 
pearance, left the community in a 
state of bewilderment almost unen- 
durable. 

Scouting parties scoured the coun- 
try for a short distance around, the 
first evening, but did not discover any 
trace of the Indians. On the following 
morning about sixty of the settlers of 
Pocahontas and Humboldt counties 
assembled at a place in the southeast- 
ern part of Powhatan township, then 
known by the euphonious name of 
Gandertown, and a council of war was 
held. It was finally decided to divide 
their number into two companies, one 
of which under the command of Oscar 
F. Avery, should go west to Swan 
Lake, and the other under the leader- 
ship of Edward Hammond, should go 
south to Lizard lake. 

The first party, under O. F. Avery, 
started in a westerly direction but the 
day being cloudy and dark, the tall 
grass of the prairies trackless and the 
region traversed uninhabited, they 
found it a difficult matter to keep the 
right course. At three o'clock in the 
afternoon they discovered they were 
at the southern extremity of Rush 
lake, which is about six,; miles north- 
east of Swan Lake. They arrived at 
the latter place about five o'clock. 

This long and tedious ride, like oth- 
er similar ones, was not lacking in its 
amusing features. Its tediousness 
was somewhat mellowed by listening 
to the many and various plans that 
some of the brave members of the 



224 PIONEEEmiSTOHY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



party proposed to execute in the event 
they had the good fortune to find the 
fiendish and brutal Sioux. 

As they neared the timber that 
skirted the outlet at the southeast 
part of the lake they began to discover 
.trails made by the passing and re- 
passing of Indian ponies along the 
lake; signs that told quite plainly that 
the much hated red man had occu- 
pied this locality, but just how long 
before that day it was impossible to 
tell. 

While the leader of the party was 
searching intently for newly made 
signs of the presence of Indians and 
was about to enter the timber, he was 
surprised to find that the horses of a 
large number of the party had sudden- 
ly become very tired on arriving at a 
shooting distance of the timber, and 
refused to advance any nearer. The 
only remaining horses, that retained 
vigor enough to carry their riders to 
the timber with their leader, were 
those in charge of W. H. Hait, Fred 
E. Metcalf and A. M. Adams, who is 
now editor of the Humboldt Independ- 
ent. 

These four men proceeded cautious- 
ly through the narrow belt of timber 
and across the outlet of the lake. 
There they found, not the Indians 
they were looking for, but a deserted 
place where seven tepees or Indian 
tents had been recently pitched and 
the campfire was still burning; and 
strewn promiscuously around it were 
the fresh remains of elk, deer and fish. 
A careful inspection led to the con- 
clusion that this camp had been de- 
serted about twenty-four hours before 
and they dismounted for the purpose 
of resting their tired limbs. 

A few moments later Metcalf dis- 
covered a sand-hill crane a few rods 
distant and, thinking no harm would 
result, shot the bird; but before the 
echo of the gun had died away they 
were startled by the sound of horses 
galloping at a distance. This led 



them to feel they had misinterpreted 
the deserted camp and that they were 
soon going to be surrounded by a band 
of the treacherous and savage Sioux, 

Hastily remounting their steeds and 
recrossing the belt of timber, they 
were surprised to find that none of 
the horses of their brave comrades 
were near at hand but at the distance 
of a mile or more were passing over 
the brow of a slight elevation, bear- 
ing their riders at a breakneck speed 
in the direction of Old Kolf e. At the 
distance of two miles some of them 
halted to investigate the cause of 
alarm, but of two of their number it 
is said, they were so badly frightened 
they were unable to check their horses 
until they were once more within 
sight of the old court house. 

On realizing, with considerable 
feeling of amusement, the new situ- 
ation of affairs, Mr. Avery and his 
companions again dismounted for a 
short time to let their horses rest and 
feed. They then returned to Old 
Eolfe, where they arrived about eleven 
o'clock that night. Edward Ham- 
mond and his party, whose trip to 
Lizard lake had been without inci- 
dent save the disappointment in not 
finding some trace of Indians, had re- 
turned to this place, and about two 
hundred others, old and young, had 
also gathered here from the surround- 
ing country for their better protec- 
tion from the Indians and to hear the 
news. About midnight O. F. Avery, 
Edward Hammond, Ora Harvey, A. 
M. Adams, W. H. Hait and their fam- 
ilies with an armament from the court 
house armory, consisting of a half 
dozen Harper's Ferry muskets of the 
patent of 1827, returned to Avery's 
Park Grove farm, located across the 
line in Humboldt county. The others 
also sought places of safety and rest 
for the night. 

Thus ended one of the most exciting 
incidents in the early history of Poca- 
hontas county. ISTo event connected 



PIONEER PEEIOD. 



225 



with the quiet life of the little vil- 
lage of Old Rolfe ever developed any- 
thing like the intense and long sus- 
tained excitement of this memorable 
13th day of July, 1864. 

Time hath wrought a wondr 'us change, 
The painted warrior is no more; 

The pale intruders' herds now range 
Along the lake and river shore. 

THE GRASS AND MOSQUITOES. 

The grass of the prairies in these 
early days was very luxuriant. The 
prevalence of a large amount of sur- 
face water in the sloughs and ponds 
resulted in the luxuriant growth of 
several varieties of tall grasses that 
was neither cut nor pastured, and in 
midsummer this growth of grass to a 
great extent prevented the evapora- 
tion of the surface water. Illustra- 
tions of three kinds of native grasses 
appear in the frontispiece of this vol- 
ume. The samples of wild rye at the 
left and of panic or upland prairie 
grass at the right were each three and 
one-half feet in height, and the sam- 
ple of fresh water cord or fine slough 
grass in the center, measured seven 
and one-half feet. Another variety 
known as coarse slough grass and also 
the iron weed, both grew to the 
height of seven to eight feet, so that 
a man riding horseback amid these 
tall grasses in the low places could 
knot them over his head and ride 
forth from under the knot. 

The sloughs with their moisture 
and luxuriant vegetation became 
breeding places for the mosquitoes, 
and from early spring until the first 
frost of autumn their musical notes 
were heard. It was impossible to 
milk the cows after sundown without 
a smudge (a smoky fire) or a protection 
of mosquito bar over the face. It was 
conceded by all who spoke of the mos- 
quitoes that they were the "toughest 
and longest bill of fare the pioneer 
had to contend with." 

The mosquito has been described as 
"the smallest fowl that navigates the 



air." Although they do not soar so 
high as other fowls they make fouler 
sores than any other and are so tame 
that they will eat out of your hand. 
They are not very devout and yet 
they sing. As songsters they are a 
success, making some of the sweetest 
sounds ever heard. One was some- 
times constrained to lie awake all 
night to listen to their strains even if 
it was a confounded strain on the 
sleeper. If any one did not like their 
music and "got on his ear" about it, 
they were very accommodating and 
pretty sure to light on his ear. One 
naturally liked their music better 
than anything else about them. 
Many a time has an early settler, as 
'he lay upon his downy bed, listened to 
their charming music until he, too, 
would join their melody by shouting 
' 'Shoo fly ! " and clap his hands together 
in the hope of capturing some of his 
interesting little serenaders. 

TRIALS AND PRIVATIONS. 

The early settlers in a homestead 
country are usually not very rich ,in 
this world's goods, and their first 
years in the new country are invari- 
ably characterized by privation and 
hardship, especially if the promised 
railroad lags at an eastern terminus. 
The markets are at a great distance 
from home, the rivers and sloughs are 
unbridged and during a considerable 
portion of the year impassable, thus 
forcing the pioneer to depend on his 
own resources. 

In the spring of 1867 the streams 
were unusually high and the dam of 
the mill at Fort Dodge, which was 
the nearest one accessible to the pio- 
neers of this county, was swept away. 
No flour could then be procured near- 
er than Boonesboro, Nevada or Web- 
ster City, and it was impossible to 
reach these places for several weeks, 
because nearly all the bridges were 
also swept away. 

Very few of the settlers had any 
great quantity of flour or meal on 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



hand for they had neither the room 
nor the receptacles for it, and long be- 
fore the waters subsided so that the 
streams could be forded or the mills 
repaired the supply of these neces- 
saries of life in the northeast part of 
the county was exhausted. The out- 
look was dark and discouraging. 
Nearly all had grain of some kind in 
the crib or bin, but they had no means 
of converting it into meal or flour. 
The settlers of Powhatan township, 
being the furthest from all sources of 
supply, were the worst off. 

During this period many of them 
lived on johnny-cake and hom- 
iny. The corn was converted into 
meal by running it through a coffee- 
mill. Unfortunately there were but 
two or three coffee-mills in the town- 
ship at this time and the settlers had 
to take their turns in grinding their 
little grists, each doing his own turn- 
ing. 

The grinding of the flinty corn on 
the coffee-mill was a slow process and 
hard work. The mill had to be set so 
as to grind it coarsely the first time 
and when set closer the grist was run 
through it a second time before it was 
fine enough for use. The effort to 
"keep the wolf from the door" by this 
means was declared by one to be a 
real "ground-hog case," and one of 
the good ladies remarked that there 
was always a "bear in the house" 
whenever her husband run the mill, 
which was three times a day. The 
time required to grind a one-meal 
grist for a family of four was three 
quarters of an hour, and the head of 
the family was usually glad there were 
no more. The first flour, that was 
brought into the Powhatan settle- 
ment after the spring floods of 1867 
had subsided, was hauled on wagons 
from Iowa Falls to Humboldt and cost 
there $11.00 a hundred weight. 

Sometimes when the corn began to 
mature in the fall of the year, ears 
that were soft enough were reduced 



to a coarse meal by rubbing them over 
a rude grate made by punching holes 
in the bottom of a tin pan; and when 
the grain became drier many an ear 
was reduced by means of a jack-plane. 
Wheat from the bin was often boiled 
and eaten with a fair degree of thank- 
fulness, and hominy was made from 
the corn in the crib. When coffee 
and tea could not be obtained or af- 
forded, a substitute was found in a 
decoction made from corn and peas 
mixed together, roasted and ground. 

This coarse, rough food, consisting 
of boiled wheat, whole or cracked corn, 
agreed very well with the young and 
vigorous but it was not a suitable diet 
for the sick and aged. An elderly 
Jady, (Mrs. Lowrey) who had been in 
the settlement only a short time and 
was in poor health, failed rapidly when 
the supply of nourishing food was ex- 
hausted and, her immortal spirit 
passing to that land where there is 
neither hunger nor thirst, on the 
morning of May 15, 1867, she was 
buried at Old Eolfe the next day. 

The year 1869 was also remarkable 
for an unusual rainfall. The heavy 
rains of the spring filled all the sloughs, 
ponds and streams. During the 
months of J uly, August and Septem- 
ber that year it rained about four 
days in each week and the streams 
were full of water all that year. 

On March 27th that year, the mill- 
dam at Fort Dodge was again swept 
away. Among the first to discover 
this fact were James J. Bruce, William 
Price and Charles Kelley, of Lizard 
township, as they were returning 
home from Fort Dodge. Knowing 
this event was not known in Fort 
Dodge they immediately returned to 
that city and bought all the flour 
available on that market at $7.00 a 
barrel. When the dealers later 
learned of the washout and found 
they could not get another supply of 
flour except by team from Webster 
City after the floods should subside, 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



227 



they created quite a row until they 
succeeded in buying back their own 
stocks at an advanced price. 

In the month of June following, a 
little incident occurred in Lizard 
township that illustrates the incon- 
venience of living in a country where 
the streams are unbridged. At the 
county convention that year Messrs. 
W. D. McEwen and James J. Bruce 
were appointed delegates from this 
county to attend the senatorial nom- 
inating convention. A couple of days 
before the senatorial convention the 
former came on horseback to Lizard 
township, where the latter was still 
making his home. The next morning 
they started on their trip to the con-- 
vention, having only one horse be- 
tween them. When they came to the 
Lizard, near the line between section 
29 and 30, it was bankf ull and too deep 
for them both to ride across on the 
back of the same pony. The crossing 
was, however, successfully effected by 
one of them taking the pony and the 
clothing of the other while the latter 
swam across. The public spirit of 
these men, or their interest in the 
convention, was not dampened by the 
high water and their inconvenience 
was not an infrequent experience in 
the early days. 

PIONEER DWELLINGS. 

The dwelling places of most of the 
settlers during this early period were 
small, rude structures and were built 
either of logs in the vicinity of native 
timber, or of sod on the distant prai- 
rie. The supply of oak timber along 
the Des Moines river suited for build- 
ing purposes was soon exhausted, and 
although there was a market at Fort 
Dodge for groceries, provisions and 
other supplies, the nearest places 
where pine lumber and building ma- 
terial could be obtained were at 
Boonesboro and Nevada, sixty to 
eighty miles distant, and the price of 
it was exorbitant. 

The first log houses, especially in 



the northeastern part of the county, 
were low structures protected with a 
shed roof of common boards, and tbey 
were called "shanties" or "cabins." 
During the sixties, when the comb- 
roof covered with shingles came into 
use, they were called "log houses." 

On the prairie the first dwellings 
during the sixties and early seventies 
were usually constructed of the prai- 
rie sod. The tough, virgin sod was 
turned with a breaking plow and cut 
into pieces of a suitable length that 
were laid one upon the other to form 
the outer walls of the structure, which 
were about eighteen inches in thick- 
ness and never more than one story 
in height. Occasionally these sod 
houses were covered with a roof of 
boards, but most frequently the roof 
was constructed of wood overlaid 
with earth and sod. 

The "sod house" thus constructed, 
though not without its inconveniences, 
was nevertheless cool in summer, 
warm in winter and formed a cozy 
and quiet retreat in the time of storm. 
It was not, however, a very perma- 
nent structure and had to be rebuilt 
every one or two years. The frost in 
winter and dampness in the spring of 
the year seriously affected the walls, 
causing them to heave or spread, thus 
endangering the lives of the occu- 
pants by the falling of the heavy roof. 

A family in an adjoining county 
(Palo Alto) was aroused from sleep 
by a crackling sound that came from 
the inner supports to the roof. They 
hastily arose and went to the 
home of a neighbor for the remainder 
of the night. In the morning when 
they returned they found their sod 
house a mass of ruins. The walls had 
spread and the heavy roof had fallen 
to the ground; had they remained the 
entire family might have perished. 

When an excavation of two feet or 
more was made for the sod house 
located on the slope of a little knoll, 
it was called a "dug-out. " Sometimes 



228 PIONEEK HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the only openings in a dug-out were 
the door of entrance and the exit for 
the smoke in the comb of the roof. 

In the center of the frontispiece 
may be seen the cut of an improved, 
enlarged and substantial dwelling of 
this sort built and still occupied by 
John Woods and family, in the south- 
eastern part of Cedar township. The 
first building on this site had a board 
roof and sides; and in 1882 it was re- 
built with walls of rock, a shingle 
roof and an addition to the front of it. 
This dwelling is located near the path 
traversed by several of the cyclones, 
that have visited this section, and its 
inmates have dwelt in safety and se- 
curity. On the morning after the cy- 
clone that came from the southwest 
on April 11, 1893, overturning all the 
buildings within three quarters of a 
mile of- it, the writer found this home 
a veritable hospital, where four of the 
injured in other families were lying 
abed in one of its apartments and 
others were enjoying the hospitality 
of this home and family. 

In the frontispiece may also be seen 
two other illustrations of pioneer 
homes; first, the log house of John 
Eraser, built in 1868, on section 36, 
Powhatan township, and in which all 
of his children were born; and under- 
neath it a cut of the log cabin built by 
Henry Thomas* near the southwest 
corner of-section 24 of the same town- 
ship, in 1866. This relic of pioneer 
days, now owned by Miss Dora, a 
grand-daughter of Ira Strong, is still 
used as a dwelling house, and the 
grove of cotton-wood trees around it, 
planted by Henry Thomas in 1865, are 
believed to be the oldest and many of 
the trees the largest of their kind in 
the county, being about three feet in 
diameter. 

The log cabins built along the Des 
Moines river and Lizard creek were 
quite substantial and rendered good 

^Erroneously ere iited to Ira Strong, in tha 
frontispiece. 



service for many years. Mrs. Charles 
Kelley and family, of Lizard township, 
are still living comfortably in one of 
the first log houses erected in this 
county. It is located on section 12, 
was built of oak in 1856, and after 
forty-three years of constant use, 
looks as though it would last as many 
more. 

"From cabins such as these 
Come our sturdy natures, 
Who give proud inspiration to a state, 
Who fight its battles and decide its fate, 
Who make its courts 
And shape its legislatures." 

The first settlers in the wilderness 
of the west, like the savages whom 
they displaced, contented themselves 
with very humble and inexpensive 
dwellings, but the modest log cabin 
was a palace compared with the tepee 
or wigwam of the Indian. The log 
house, with its many cracks and 
chinks between the logs and its great 
open fire-place almost large enough for 
a small bedroom, was just the right 
place in which to lay the foundation 
for that soundness and hardiness of 
constitution which is the most reli- 
able basis for the highest usefulness. 

The men born and reared in the 
modern well built frame or brick 
house, that has succeeded the log cab- 
in in clue course of time as wealth in- 
creased, and replaced the yawning 
fire-place — the best of ventilators— by 
the air-tight stove and room, are the 
ones who fill the growing ranks of 
consumptives, dyspeptics and rheu- 
matics. 

The pioneer's humble home, 
His log cabin in the grove, 

Was the seat of contentment, 
Of health, gratitude and love. 
—Leonard Brown. 

lost on the prairie. 
In these early days on the prairies 
at a distance from the Des Moines 
river, there were no groves and but 
very few houses to serve as way-marks 
for the traveler, and as a natural re- 
sult the pioneer of these days when 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



229 



overtaken on a journey either by night- 
fall or a snow storm, was liable to lose 
his direction and be compelled to 
spend the night alone on the prairie. 
In the summer season this experience 
was one to be feared because there 
was no refuge from the bloodthirsty 
mosquitoes, whose constant attentions 
prevented the approach of "tired Nat- 
ure's sweet restorer," and the barking 
of prairie wolves in the vicinity was 
sure to awaken feelings of discomfort; 
but to lose one's way in the winter by 
reason of the falling snow, and especi- 
ally to become bewildered in a blind- 
ing and freezing blizzard, was fearful 
and sometimes proved fatal to the 
lost ones. 

Among the number of those who 
experienced a night on the prairie in 
a lost condition, we note three in- 
stances during this period— Robert 
Struthers, John B. Joliffe and one 
other who perished, whose name is 
unknown. 

About the year 1869 and in the 
month of June, Robert Struthers, of 
Des Moines township, found that 
three of his colts had strayed away. 
In a lumber wagon, accompanied by 
his hired man and horse, he started in 
search of them, first to Dakota City, 
then northward. Learning they were 
in the vicinity of Algona, he sent his 
hired man for them and started home- 
ward with the wagon. When the 
shades of night began to fall upon 
him it also began to rain and he was 
then on the open prairie in an unin- 
habited and trackless section of Palo 
Alto county. It was impossible for 
him to see in front of his team and be- 
fore he was aware of it the horses 
mired in a slough and stopped. Re- 
lieving the horses and hitching them 
by means of a chain to the rear end of 
the wagon, he drew it out of the 
slough but did not then know how to 
cross it. He therefore prepared for 
the night by removing the harness 
from the horses, tying their halter 



straps to the lines and the latter to 
the clips on the singletrees and then 
placed the doubletree under the wag- 
on. Removing his boots which were 
full of water, he lay down under the 
wagon, having only the wild grass 
of the prairie for a bed and using the 
doubletree for a pillow. 

A little later the running of a wolf 
or fox frightened the horses and they 
ran away dragging the evener and 
whifnetrees with them. Not seeing 
but hearing them, he ran after them 
and succeeded in catching them at a 
distance of three quarters of a mile 
and, placing the evener on his shoul- 
der he endeavored to lead them back 
to the wagon. All his efforts to find 
the wagon in the darkness were un- 
availing and he was compelled to plan 
to spend the remainder of the night 
without its comfort and protection. 
This was done by tying the horses as 
before to the singletrees and letting 
them feed while he lay down again on 
the doubletree, but this time hatless, 
bootless and exposed to the drizzling 
rain. When morning dawned he was 
pleasanl ly surprised to find he was not 
more than five rods from the wagon 
and it was headed toward his home. 

On February 15th and 16th, 1868, 
John B. Joliffe, of Powhatan township, 
came near losing his life in a blizzard. 
While returning from the home of 
Henry Cooper, whither he had gone 
to borrow some meal, he was caught 
in a blizzard, lost his direction and 
aimlessly wandered about in the 
blinding, drifting snow all night. 
The home of Henry Cooper was on the 
SWi of Sec. 6, Des Moines township, 
and that of Mr. Joliffe on the NEi 
of Sec. 2, Powhatan township, two 
miles distant to the northwest, the di- 
rection from whence the storm came. 
His own thrilling account of his ter- 
rible experience is as follows: 

"Sometimes I sank down in a snow- 
drift, b'it my freezing hands and feet 
warned me that if I expected to sur- 
vive I must keep moving and await 



230 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the light of day. When the daylight 
came it brought no relief; there was 
no cessation of the terrible storm and 
it was impossible to see more than a 
few feet in advance of me. My feet 
and limbs being frozen I felt as though 
I was walking on sticks, and the al- 
most superhuman will that had sus- 
tained me in the weary hours of an- 
guish in the night, now seemed about 
to yield to the inevitable— to lie down 
and die. But just when the feeling of 
drowsiness was about to overcome me 
there came to me bright visions of all 
that I held dear in life, visions of 
home and friends, and a thought of 
their feelings should they find my 
body frozen and the snow my winding 
sheet; my thoughts also ascended to 
the throne of the Invisible and amid 
the blinding storm I knelt and prayed 
for deliverance, and He whose ear is 
open to the heartfelt prayer, answered 
mine. I rose from my knees with the 
assurance that my prayer had been 
heard and deliverance was near at 
hand. On walking a few rods farther 
I came to a wire fence, and following 
it slowly around to the buildings, 
found I was about to enter again the 
home of Henry Cooper that I had left 
the previous evening. When I en- 
tered this home, scarcely more alive 
than dead, I fell prostrate and re- 
mained in it until my frozen hands 
and feet had been thawed out and I 
had regained my strength." 

In the spring of 1866, there was 
found on the homestead of Robert An- 
derson, Powhatan township, by his 
brother John Anderson, the whiten- 
ing bones of a man who became lost 
and perished in a blizzard two years 
before. A part of a woolen mitten 
still encased a fleshless hand, and his 
boots, charred by the prairie fires, 
clung to his feet. His relatives, who 
lived near Tobin's ford, gathered his 
bones and gave them christian burial. 

In January, 1869, a severe blizzard 
passed over this section, that caught 
Charley Hale, the stage-driver, on the 
road between Fort Dodge and Twin 
Lakes. The following account of his 
experience is from the pen of Thomas 
L. MacVey, one of the pioneers of 
Powhatan township, who met him the 
following summer and listened to his 
own recital of his terrible experience 



with the Storm King: 

Charley Hale left Twin Lakes for 
Fort Dodge just before the storm 
came and was caught in its fury at a 
distance from any settlement. When 
the falling snow had covered the trail 
before him and he had driven several 
hours drifting before the wind, he un- 
hitched the team from the sleigh, ad- 
justed the harness on each of them 
and turned them loose while he re- 
mained at the sleigh until near 
morning, vainly hoping the storm 
would abate. Notwithstanding he 
was warmly clad, the increasing fury 
of the storm and intense cold warned 
him that if; he would survive, he 
must move with the storm and trust 
to providence that, as he drifted to 
the southeast, he might live to reach 
a settlement along the Des Moines 
river in the southern part of Webster 
county. Turning his back to the 
storm he began a lonely and perilous 
journey upon a blinding desert of ed- 
dying snow. 

For three days and nights the storm 
raged with unrelenting fury and dur- 
ing this period he was driven before it, 
save at short intervals when nearly 
exhausted he would bury himself in 
the snow and snatch a few minutes of 
rest and sleep, with little hope that 
he would ever awake again. Posses- 
sing an iron constitution and indom- 
itable will he would rise from his 
fleecy bed, brush the snow from his 
aching eyes and, with failing strength 
but determined perseverance continue 
the unequal contest between life and 
death. The day passed into night 
and the night into day but the storm 
still raged. Hunger, cold and fatigue 
were proving more than equal to his 
iron will, yet he struggled on with 
frozen feet and limbs, so nearly ex- 
hausted that to make any headway he 
had to use his hands to lift his numb 
and useless feet. The morning of the 
fourth day finally dawned upon the 
sufferer and, the storm having passed, 
the rising sun cast his bright rays 
over the desert waste. Hale was still 
alive but no longer able to walk. 
Working himself along upon his hands 
and knees he moved slowly toward a 
house that finally appeared in the 
distance. He at last arrived at the 
door and managed to enter it but 
found no one at home. This family 
had gone to visit a neighbor just be- 
fore the storm and had not been able 
to return. They however returned in 
time to aid the sufferer and to procure 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



231 



for him medical assistance by means 
of which his life was saved but with 
the loss of both of his feet. His place 
of rescue was in the settlement just 
west of Dayton, and during the prog- 
ress of the storm he had been driven 
about thirty miles before it. 

POSTOFFICES. 

During this early period there were 
but two postoffices in the county. 
Early in the sixties a postoffice was 
established at Old Rolf e in Des Moines 
township, and the mail for the north- 
east part of the county was received 
once a week from Port Dodge. In 
1865 a mail route was established from 
Port Dodge to Spirit Lake via Old 
Rolfe, and the mail was received more 
frequently. The postmasters at this 
place were W. H. Hait and J. J. 
Bruce during this period and later, 
Geo. W. Horton, who was in charge 
of the office at the time of the remov- 
al of the county seat in 1876. 

The first postoffice in the south part 
of the county was established in De- 
cember, 1868, and William Stenson, 
now in Manson, but then the occu- 
pant of the west half of the southeast 
quarter of section 14, Lizard town- 
ship, was the first postmaster. He 
held the office nearly four years and 
received a salary of one dollar a 
month. He was succeeded by M. E. 
Owens, who moved the office to sec- 
tion 10. The postoffice at Manson 
having been established, this one was 
discontinued about the year 1873. 

TRIALS ON THE WAY. 

Many of the settlers of this, period 
had a trying time in getting their 
families to their intended homes on 
the frontier while the terminus of 
the railroad remained at Dubuque or 
later, at Iowa Palls. Some of them 
traveled this remaining distance on 
foot rather than pay the high rates 
by stage. 

John Calligan, in the spring of 1856 
at Dubuque, put his wife and four 
children on the stage and paid $45.00 
for their fares to Fort Dodge while he 



made the trip of 2C0 miles on foot. 
The spring was a wet one, the trails 
were muddy and swampy, and the 
streams were unbridged except at 
Cedar Falls. A ferry boat for a trav- 
eler would consist of a wagonbox set 
on a few pieces of timber and it would 
be propelled either by rude paddles or 
a pole. He waded through the sloughs 
and smaller streams and was ready to 
swim when it became necessary. 

lu the Lizard settlement he and 
others experienced the same incon- 
venience in crossing Lizard creek dur- 
ing the three wet seasons (1856-1858) 
that followed their settlement there. 
His own account of going to mill, 
with his first crop of wheat, is as fol- 
lows: 

"I had to go to the woods, get a 
tree and hollow it OJt for a canoe, 
then I would transfer the grain across 
the creek in the canoe, and when- the 
wagon had been transferred in the 
same way, piece by piece, I would 
swim the oxen across, taking one at a 
time. On my return I had to work 
the flour, the wagon and the oxen in 
the very same way." 

Walter Ford relates how he and 
Thomas (a brother of John) Calligan 
came very near losing their lives by 
drowning, in Lizard creek in the 
spring of 1858. At that time there 
were only three "dug outs" or canoes 
from basswood trees, along Lizard 
creek from its sources in this county 
to its mouth near Fort Dodge. Trav- 
eling on foot from Fort Dodge, they 
came to what was then known as the 
Snodgrass ford in Webster county, and 
George Smith undertook to ferry 
them across in a dug-out. The wind 
struck the side of their little craft 
causing it to roll and when they were 
in the middle of the stream it cap- 
sized, throwing all of them into the 
deep water. Mr. Ford, who could not 
swim, caught the boat and clung to it 
until he was drawn ashore. After 
wringing the water out of their cloth- 
ing as much as possible they went to 
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Michael 



232 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Collins where they were very kindly 
received. 

James J. Bruce in March, 1866, on 
his way to the Lizard settlement car- 
ried his grip and footed it from Iowa 
Falls, a distance of 77 miles, and 
made the trip in three days. From 
Fort Dodge he was accompanied by 
Mr. Wallace and when they arrived at 
the Des Moines river they saw no one 
in sight but did see a boat at the other 
side. He waded the stream and re- 
turning with the boat took his com- 
panion and their luggage across. By 
this time the wife of the owner of 
the boat was at hand and gave them 
the assurance that it was a fortunate 
thing her husband was not at home 
or he would have given them a good 
thrashing for taking the boat with- 
out her permission. She was however, 
unwilling to take anything for the 
use of the boat. 

THE PRAIRIE FIRE. 

To the early settler of this period, 
who lived out upon the prairie at a 
distance from the timber, the dread 
of the "prairie fire" was as great as 
his fear of the Sioux Indians. 

They were exposed to the prairie 
fire in the early spring, if the season 
was dry, but the period of special 
danger was the fall of the year, par- 
ticularly themonths of October and 
November when the luxuriant grasses 
of the prairie had fully matured and 
the sloughs were dry. Many severe 
and apparently irreparable losses did 
they sustain from this cause. Fre- 
quently did they see their hay and 
grain, in the field or stack, go up in 
smoke in an unexpected moment, and 
sometimes their hard earned improve- 
ments including their dwellings met 
with the same fate. It was just as li- 
able to come upon the lonely settler 
during the night as in the daytime; 
and it has been said that many of 
them, in this section in dry seasons, 
"did fret day and night" lest they 
should be surprised by finding they 



were in the way of one of these raging 
demons of the wilderness that should 
arouse them from their midnight 
slumber and sweep away their prop- 
erty. His only protection from the 
prairie fire-fiend was the fire-guard 
which consisted of a number of fresh 
furrows plowed around his buildings 
or stacks; and if the wind was high 
these afforded but little or no protec- 
tion. 

If the reader will turn to the front- 
ispiece there will be seen the cut of a 
tumble weed. This cut is from a 
sample that was three feet high and 
four feet wide. This weed matures 
early and as soon as it attains its 
growth it becomes loose at the root 
and is then ready to commence the 
tumbling process by rolling over and 
over with the first breeze that blows. 
When dry they are very light and a 
strong wind will even pick them up 
and carry them a considerable dis- 
tance. The tumble weed aflame has 
never been a respecter of fire-guards 
and when the fire on the prairie has 
been driven by a high wind the 
thatched roofs of buildings have been 
seen ablaze before the fire on the 
ground had reached them. 

Sometimes the prairie fire would 
originate by getting beyond the con- 
trol of a settler while burning off a 
pasture or field, but more frequently 
they occurred by some careless trav- 
eler throwing a burning match into 
the dry grass after lighting his pipe. 
The paper wadding used in the old 
shotgun and musket, was also suffi- 
cient under favorable circumstances 
to start a fire on the prairie and this 
fact made the hunter a menace to the 
safety of the pioneer. 

These prairie fires moving with the 
wind would travel with alarming ra- 
pidity and leap over creeks, in some 
instances, as many as four rods in 
width. In a gentle breeze the fire 
would travel as fast as a man walks, 
but when the wind was high the 




RESIDENCE OF GEORGE SANBORN, FONDA. 




MANSE OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, FONDA, 1893. 




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PIONEER PERIOD. 



233 



"head-fire" would rush through brush 
and brake with loud crackling sound 
"as fast as a horse could run." 

The prairie fire, as it used to be, is 
now an event of the past in this coun- 
ty, and the following vivid descrip- 
tion of a fearful one that passed over 
the county during this period of its 
history, (just after the war) from the 
pen of John M. Russell, of Lizard 
township, will be read with interest: 

One fine evening, about the middle 
of autumn and after the close of the 
war, the wind, as it ofttimes does, 
suddenly turned and came from the 
northwest. The weather for several 
weeks had been dry, and a hot wind 
from the south had prevailed for sev- 
eral days, withering the ripened grass 
on the prairie and rendering it inflam- 
mable as tinder. 

About dusk a faint glow was ob- 
served in the sky to the northwest, 
the appearance of which was similar 
to that seen in the east on a clear 
night just before the rising of the full 
mootf. This glow, as it was afterward 
learned, was caused by a fire on the 
prairie started by a settler several 
days previous along the Little Sioux 
river far to the southwest. Driven by 
the hot wind it had moved northward 
many miles through an uninhabited 
section and the side-fire had widened 
eastward to the west line of Pocahon- 
tas county. When the wind changed, 
this long line of fire began to move in 
a southeasterly direction over a vast, 
expanse of territory. 

To the observer in the Lizard settle- 
ment no flame was at first visible, but 
as the moments passed the horizon 
gradually grew brighter and about 
eight o'clock the flames of the "head- 
fire" could be distinctly seen. A little 
later several fine, luminous lines, like 
threads of tiny, sparkling beads, be- 
came visible. "Distance lends en- 
chantment to the view" but the ob- 
servers well knew that in those faint, 
glimmering lines of beauty there 
dwelt, in an ungovernable form, the 
most fiendish of devouring elements, 
fed by an abundance of dry prairie 
grass and driven by a powerful wind. 
In this instance the warning came be- 
fore bedtime and opportunity was af- 
forded to provide some protection 
against it. Those who were not al- 
ready secure now went scurrying 
about with plows, scythes, matches, 



mops and buckets of water. 

The fire had crossed Cedar creek in 
several places in the north part of the 
county, and the head-fire when first 
seen was sweeping down the north 
flank of the Lizard creek bottom. An- 
other head of the fire, separated from 
the other by a large slough near the 
source of the west branch of the Liz- 
ard, was coming down the west and 
south branches of the Lizard and 
moving in the direction of the pres- 
ent, town of Barnum. The progress 
of this line of fire seemed now more 
rapid than the other, which was im- 
peded in its course by the curves of 
the west branch of the Lizard which 
it jumped in several places, thus form- 
ing a series of new head-fires On the 
south side of that stream. 

Thus this great fire came sweeping 
across this county like a messenger of 
vengeance set loose from the kingdom 
of Tartarus to scorch, as it were, the 
"Lizards" and see who could stand be- 
fore its chargers armed with an hun- 
dred heats. 

About nine o'clock it had come 
within a short distance of the settlers 
and was practically upon them. It 
was in the dark of the moon and the 
brilliancy of the fire was even greater 
on this account. The smoky firma- 
ment was gorgeously illumined with 
lurid splendor and together with the 
numerous lines of side-fire, far and 
near, interspersed with the black, 
burnt sections, presented a spectacle 
of appalling magnitude that was both 
grand and dismal. 

The noise of this immense display 
of fireworks was like the continuous 
roar of distant thunder and the thick 
columns of curling smoke, that issued 
petulantly from some deep sloughs, 
reminded one of those scenes described 
in Milton's Paradise Lost or Dante's 
Inferno. 

No one along the Lizard dared to 
close his eyes in slumber that night 
until all felt sure that the impending 
danger had passed. On the next 
morning they awoke to find the prai- 
rie bare, the air rank with the smell 
of burnt grass and entire counties a 
blackened waste. A considerable 
amount of hay and timber along the 
branches of the Lizard and several 
bridges over those streams were 
destroyed. These streams and the 
belts of timber along them were a 
natural protection to the early settler 
both from the blizzards in winter and 
the prairie fire in summer. 



234 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The severest fire in the Lizard set- 
tlement during this early period was 
in the fall of 1859, their first dry year. 
The ponds were dry for several months 
that year and when the fire came, late 
in the season, it burned everything; 
and the peat in the dry bottoms of 
the ponds continued to burn for more 
than a week after the fire had passed. 

POPULATION. 

The population of the county during 
this period was as follows: 



Year 


Pop. 


Year 


Pop. 


1855 


7 


I860 


103 


1856 


45 


1863 


122 


1857 


75 


1865 


215 


1858 


90 


1867 


453 


1859 


108 


1869 


637 






1870 


1446 



began, and with it came the era of 
sod shanties in both the north and 
south parts of the county, a circum- 
stance due to the fact they had to 
build at a distance from the timber 
and at a time when lumber was not 
available. 

The leading attraction at this peri- 
od was the homestead and among the 
number of those who located in this 
county at this date— 1865 to 1869— we 
note the following, most of whom 
were heads of families: 

I.— IN NORTH PART OF THE COUNTY. 



These figures indicate that there 
was no perceptible increase in the pop- 
ulation of this county from the year 
1859, when it was organized, until the 
year 1865 which was at the close of 
the civil war, and that it was even 
less in 1860 than in 1859, and only a 
few more in 1863. Three unfavorable 
circumstances tended to prevent the 
growth and development of this coun- 
ty during this period. These were 
the years of distrust and hard times 
that followed the financial panic of 
1857 and 1858, the fact that the settle- 
ments in this county, contrary to all 
expectation, remained 230 miles dis- 
tant from the terminus of the nearest 
railroad, and further, every able- 
bodied man, responding to the call of 
his country, had entered the army. 

At the close of the war the construc- 
tion of the railroads across this state 
was resumed and the Dubuque & 
Sioux City road (111. Central) was built 
as far as Ackley. The building of the 
railroads attracted the public atten- 
tion again to western Iowa and a new 
impulse was given to the settlement 
of this county. 

It is worthy of note that this new 
immigration commenced in the year 
1865, just t?R years after the first one 



Beriah Cooper, 
Henry Cooper, 
Thos. E. Cooper, 
James Drown, 
Koswell Drown, 
Chas. C. Converse, 
P. B. Fish, 
Park C. Harder, 
Elijah D. Seeley, 
George Stevens, 
Thomas Rogers, 
Edward Tilley, 
A. H. Handier, 
Henry Fulcomer, 
Edw. Anderson, 
Geo. Henderson, 
Jno. B. Joliffe, 
Samuel N. Strong, 
F. A. Metcalf, ('62) 
Thos. L. MacVey, 
Geo. W. Proctor, 
Andrew Jackson, 
Wm. S. Fegels, 
John B. Strouse, 
David Hays, 



Wm. D. McEwen, 
Alex. McEwen, 
Wm. Matson, 
Wm.Struthers('60) 
Lot Fisher, 
Daniel W. Hunt, 
Marcus Lind, 
E. Northrop, 
W. F. Seaman, 
Isaac Peed, 
Gilbert G.Wheeler, 
Geo. Goodchild, 
Henry Thomas, 
Robert Lothian, 
John Fraser, 
Robert Anderson, 
Jas. Henderson, 
Edward Hammond 
S. E. Heathman, 
Ira Strong, 
Geo. W. Strong, 
Oscar I. Strong, 
A. M. Thornton, 
Frank G.Thornton, 
Oscar A. Pease. 



II.— IN SOUTH PART OF THE COUNTY. 



Carl Steinbrink, 
Wm. Price, 
James J. Bruce, 
Jacob Carstens, 
G. B. Carstens, 
David Wallace, 
John W. Wallace, 
H. Stickelberg, 
A.H. VanV'lknb'g 
Patrick Enright, 
Ferdinand Zanter, 
Michael O 'Shea, 
David Miller, 
John Donahoe, 
John H. Johnson, 
*Julia A Johnson, 
Isaac W. Johnson, 



Wm. Westlake, 
John F. Hintz, 
G. Schoonmaker, 
John Weise, 
Michael Weise, 
John Julius, 
M. McCormick, 
M. Fitzgerald, 
Patrick Crahan, 
Michael Crahan, 
James Sinnott, 
Dennis Mulholland 
Henry Shields, 
David Brown, 
Joseph Fell, 
John Harrold, 
Thos. Harrold, 



* Widow of Marshall Johnson, la^r inarrjefl 
to Robert Russell. 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



235 



Daniel Johnson, 
Wm. Stenson, 
Win. Boyd, 
J. D. Hoefing, 
Jos. Brittenbach, 
Wm. Brownlee, 
Swan Nelson, 
John Lampe, 
F. J. Lampe, 
Henry Lampe, 
John W. O'Keefe, 
Benjamin Rost, 
Henry Shields, 
Carl Rodman, 
Patrick Riley, 
J. C. Carey, 
Elijah Chase, 
Geo. Spragg, 
Ephraim Garlock, 
A. O. G-arlock, 
W. E. Garlock, 
Geo. W. Smith, 
Fred Steendorf, 
Geo. Sanborn, 
Joseph Brinker, 
C. M. Say lor, 
Felix W. Parrish, 
Rev. J. A. Griffin, 
August Prange, 
Gad C. Lowrey, 
John Russell, 



R. F. Cedarstrom, 
C. F. Hillstrom, 
Cbas. P. Peterson, 
Fred Smith, 
William Bell, 
Nils Hanson, 
W. B. Dickinson, 
R. Zieman, Sr., 
H. Helmich, 
August Mullen, 
John Kreul, 
Bernard Stegge, 
William Tobin, 
E. K. Cain, 
Bernard Niehouse, 
Michael Rankin, 
John C. Evervine, 
Horace Skinner, 
Charles Skinner, 
John Dunkerly, 
H. C. Tollefsrude, 
C. H. Tollefsrude, 
E. M. Tollefsrude, 
H. L. Norton, 
S. W. Norton, 
J. S. Howell, 
I. E. Parrish, 
Rudolf Zieman, 
Amandus Zieman, 
Ludwick Turner, 
John A. Hay. 



These hopefully came to the west. 

A wilderness before them lay, 
A garden that should bloom one day. 
No castes were here but all were free 
To found a home in a land of liberty. 

These pioneers, like the few who 
had arrived before them, did not come 
to this section to mine gold, to gain 
wealth by lumbering or make their 
living by hunting game with the gun, 
or fish with the rod and net; they 
came for higher and nobler purposes; 
to found homes, to convert these des- 
olate wilds into fruitful fields and de- 
velop a christian civilization that 
would secure to every citizen the same 
privileges and advantages in solving 
the problem of their individual des- 
tiny. Their first concern was to pro- 
vide a place of shelter and then for 
the cultivation of the soil. All that 
they found was Nature's handiwork. 

Pocahontas then was seen, 
Arrayed in her robe of green; 
A maid of more than usual charms, 
A prairie destined for a thousand 
farms. 



GROVE PLANTING. 

The date of this second immigration 
marks the era of grove planting. The 
first settlers located along the streams 
where there were narrow belts of nat- 
ural timber and they had secured all 
of these apparently most desirable 
locations. The newcomers were there- 
fore obliged to build on the open prai- 
rie and a grove of timber around their 
buildings became necessary as a pro- 
tection from the high winds and 
storms. In the course of a few years 
the prairies were dotted with beauti- 
ful groves of maple, willow and cotton- 
wood, and these gave a finer appear- 
ance to the country. 

One can no longer see the long dis- 
tances that were possible to an ob- 
server before the era of artificial 
groves. Citizens of Bellville town- 
ship state that, during this early pe- 
riod and from elevated points in that 
township, it was possible to see the 
grove of natural timber at Sunk 
Grove in the northwest part of Cedar 
township, and also buildings in process 
of erection at Sac City. 

TRAPPING. 

The coming of this second immigra- 
tion marks also the beginning of the 
period when "trapping" became a 
popular and profitable business among 
the settlers. During the winter of 
1859 a hunter by the name of Jacob 
Mirale, shot and killed along the Des 
Moines river ninety-six deer, six elk 
and one buffalo. Nearly all the large 
game in Northwestern Iowa, however, 
disappeared during the early sixties, 
and hunting, except for small game 
and waterfowl, was no longer profit- 
able. Trapping muskrats now be- 
came not only the most interesting 
diversion in the fall of the year, but 
to some their most profitable avoca- 
tion. 

The first settlers of this county were 
neither hunters nor trappers. This 
fact is wortby of note, for if they had 



236 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



engaged in trapping they might have 
secured a larger income from this 
source than from their little patches 
of corn and wheat. They were no 
doubt aware of the fact that mink and 
otter were plenty, that beavers had 
built numerous dams along the streams 
and that muskrats, building their 
slough grass houses in the sloughs had 
made them look like real cities of rats 
where they multiplied from five to 
fifteen fold each year; also that pro- 
fessional trappers and bands of peace- 
ful Indians made annual pilgrimages 
to this "trappers' paradise" along the 
Lizard streams, but not having come 
to this section attracted by these 
aquatic rodents, it required the lapse 
of several years before they came to 
an appreciation of the value their 
hides might have been to them. The 
furs of these animals at that time 
brought a high price, as follows: 
Muskrats 20 to 35 cents each; mink 
$5.00 and upwards; beaver and otter 
$5.00 to $15.00 each. 

Ail the settlers of this entire pi- 
oneer period enjoyed unrestricted 
privileges for raising cattle. Their 
herds roamed over the prairies for 
miles in all directions without the 
least hindrance, and the income real- 
ized from this free pasturage was, in 
most cases, greater than that de- 
rived from their cultivated farms. 

THE PRE-EMPTION CLAIM. 

The only title to the soil tbat has 
ever been recognized in the aboriginal 
inhabitants of this country was that 
of occupation. This right has gener- 
ally been respected until it has been 
extinguished by treaty, purchase or 
conquest under the authority of the 
nation exercising dominion over them, 
but they have never been permitted 
to dispose of their possessions except 
to the nation to which they were thus 
bound by a qualified dependence. 
The United States, or the state gov- 
ernment, thus becomes the original 
source of title to all lands in this 



country; and the official certificate of 
the government, by which the title of 
the public lands is conveyed to indi- 
vidual holders, is called a "patent," 
to denote that it is the original cer- 
tificate of conveyance and to distin- 
guish it from all subsequent ones, 
which are called "deeds." 

By an act of congress approved Sep- 
tember 4, 1841, all lands then belong- 
ing to the United States or to which 
the Indian title might later be extin- 
guished, were subject to the right of 
pre-emption under the conditions pre- 
scribed in that law. Under this "pre- 
emption law" any one who was the 
head of a family, a widow or a single 
person over the age of twenty-one 
years and a citizen of the United 
States, (or had filed a declaration of 
intention to become a citizen as re- 
quired by the naturalization laws) 
might locate on these unoccupied 
lands, and file a claim with the regis- 
ter of the land office for that district 
for any number of acres not exceeding 
one hundred and sixty, if it was be- 
yond the limits of any railway grant. 

The first step in securing a pre- 
emption was to go upon the land and 
commence improvements. When this 
was done, if the land had been 
offered at public sale, the applicant 
within thirty days from the "date of 
his settlement, filed his claim and 
within one year made proof of actual 
residence on and cultivation of the 
land. On the payment of $1.25 an 
acre, (or $2.50 if within a railway 
grant) he received a patent, or certifi- 
cate of ownership, from the govern- 
ment. 

The first settlers in Lizard and Des 
Moines townships secured their homes 
under this law. They ' were called 
"pre-emptors" and their claims "pre- 
emptions." 

By an act of congress approved May 
15, 1856, a grant of every alternate sec- 
tion designated by the odd numbers 
for six sections in width on each side 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



237 



of the road, was made to the state of 
Iowa for the purpose of aiding in the 
construction of a railroad from the 
city of Dubuque to Sioux City; and on 
December 27, 1858, this belt of alter- 
nate sections, twelve miles in width 
across this state, was certified and ap- 
proved by the Department of the In- 
terior as belonging to the Dubuque 
& Pacific (now 111. Central) railway 
Co. 

The pre-emptor who had located on 
an odd-numbered section and had ob- 
tained his patent before these lands 
were certified to the railway company, 
was not affected by this grant save 
that he found all lands adjoining had 
doubled in value; but the pre-emptor 
who had not gained previous posses- 
sion now found that his improvements 
were upon the lands of another owner, 
and in changing his location to .the 
even-numbered sections within the 
railroad limits, he could pre-empt only 
eighty acres and had to pay $2.50 an 
acre. 

On May 20, 1862, the time for a pre- 
emptor to make his final proof and 
payment was extended from one year 
to two and one-half years, and to all 
persons rendering military or naval 
service the time was indefinitely ex- 
tended to six months after the expira- 
tion of their term of service. 

In the north part of the county 
there were pre-emptors in two of the 
townships as follows: 
Des Moines— A. H. Malcolm, Guern- 
sey Smith, Robert Struthers, Wm. 
Struthers, Wm. Jarvis, Henry Jar- 
vis, Samuel 1ST. Harris, David Slos- 
son, Orlando Slosson, John Strait, 
James Smith, John A. James, James 
Edelman, Julia A. Nowlan and 
Daniel W. Hunt. 

Clinton— Ora Harvey. 

In the south part of the county the 
following residents of Lizard town- 
ship were pre-emptors: John Calli- 
gan, Michael Collins, Roger Collins, 
Charles Kelley, Philip Russell, Wal- 
ter Ford, Dennis Connors, Chris No- 



lan, Nicholas Nolan, James Gorman, 
Peter McCabe, Michael Broderick, 
Michael Walsh, James Donahoe, John 
Quinlan and Thomas Crowell. 

In Lake township the only pre- 
emptors were Patrick Forey, Henry 
Brockschink and John Russell. 

THE HOMESTEAD. 

The homestead law was framed by 
Galusha A. Grow and approved by 
President Lincoln May 20, 1862. 

Under the homestead law the land 
is virtually a gift to the settler by the 
government in consideration of set- 
tlement and cultivation, the fees 
charged being about sufficient to cov- 
er the cost of entry and conveyance. 
Under the pre-emption law the right 
of purchase was conceded only to the 
actual settler, and under both laws 
the lands occupied were exempt from 
taxation during the term necessary to 
acquire a title, or a patent was issued. 

The homestead consisted of eighty 
acres or less within, and of 160 acres 
or less, beyond the limits of a railway 
grant, save that all honorably dis- 
charged soldiers from the army and 
sailors from the navy, by the act of 
June 8, 1872, were entitled to 160 acres 
within as well as beyond the railway 
limits. The entry fee for eighty acres 
or less was $5.00 and for more than 
that amount, $10.00. The commis- 
sions within the railway limits were 
double those beyond and made the 
total cost of the land to the home- 
steader as follows: For 40, 80 and 160 
acres beyond the railway limits — the 
land being valued at $1.25 an acre — 
$7.00, $9.00 and $18,00 respectively; 
and within these limits— the land be- 
ing valued at $2.50 an acre— $9.00, 
$13.00 and $26.00 respectively. On 
July 1, 1879, this law was amended so 
that citizens as well as soldiers might 
homestead 160 acres within the rail- 
way limits. 

In favor of the soldiers of the war of 
the rebellion it was provided that the 
term of their service during the war 



238 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



to the extent of four years, might be 
deducted from the five years' residence 
required by law; and a soldier honor- 
ably discharged by reason of wounds 
or disability contracted in the service 
might be so credited with the entire 
term of his enlistment. 

In order to obtain a homestead, the 
applicant filed with the register of 
the U. S. land office a declaration 
that he was over twenty-one years of 
age, that he was a citizen of the 
United States or intended to become 
one, and that the entry was made for 
his exclusive use and benefit for act- 
ual settlement and cultivation. The 
entry thus made vested in the home- 
steader only an inceptive right. He 
had a claim to the land which no one 
could dispute so long as he complied 
with the law requiring him to live 
Upon and cultivate it for five years; 
but he had no title to the land where- 
by he could convey it. If he aban- 
doned the land or remained absent 
from it more than six months his en- 
try was liable to be contested and 
cancelled; and then the land was 
again open to the first legal applicant. 
Having resided upon and cultivated 
his claim for five years the settler was 
allowed two years more, but no longer, 
in which to make his "final proof." 
This final proof consisted in the affi- 
davit of the settler and another one 
signed by two disinterested witnesses, 
showing that the claimant was a cit- 
izen of the United States, that he had 
made actual settlement upon and cul- 
tivated the land in good faith for the 
time required and that he had never 
perfected or abandoned an entry made 
under the homestead laws. 

"Happy the man whose wish and care 
A few productive acres bound; 
Content to breathe the balmy air 

On his own ground; 
Whose herds yield milk, 
Whose fields yield bread. 
Whose trees in summer yield him shade 

In winter, fire." 

The townships in which most of the 



"homestead" claims were located were 
Lizard, Bellville, Colfax, Cedar, Do- 
ver, Grant, Lincoln, Powhatan and 
Des Moines. From one to three 
claims were located in Clinton, Lake 
and Swan Lake townships, but none 
in Center, Sherman, Marshall and 
Washington townships. The lands in 
these last named townships were 
bought by non-resident purchasers be- 
fore the settlement of the county had 
been extended to them; there were no 
permanent settlements in them until 
the spring of 1870. The only advan- 
tage the pre-emptor had when com- 
pared with the cash purchaser was, 
that he obtained possession of his 
lands without advance payment and 
held them without taxation until his 
final payment was made the same as 
the homesteader. As soon as the 
first railroad grants were made, there- 
by doubling the price of all lands 
within their limits, the attention of 
cash purchasers was directed to 1 the 
lands just beyond those limits, and in 
a very short time they had gained 
possession of them. 

The feeling that one was settled and 
fixed on a "homestead" was an in- 
ducement to improve it by the erec- 
tion of comfortable buildings, by en- 
closing fields and planting shade trees, 
groves and orchards. Each successive 
improvement was a bond binding the 
settler still closer to his home, and 
this brought contentment to his fam- 
ily. His wife and daughters fell in 
love with the country, his sons, appre- 
ciating the home founded for them on 
the farm more than places of dissi- 
pation, preferred farming to profes- 
sional loafing, and the father was 
happy in seeing the contented and 
cheerful faces of his family. 

The home may be humble, but make 
it convenient and beautiful, and the 
children will love it above all other 
places; they will leave it with regret, 
think of it with fondness, come back 
to it joyfully and seek their chief hap- 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



239 



piness around the cozy and familiar 
fireside. 

The effort to improve and beautify 
the old homestead gave unusual pleas- 
ure and delight. It awakened the 
feeling that 

"There is something to live for 

And something to love, 

Wherever we linger, 

Wherever we rove; 

For the spirit of man 

Is like garden or grove; 

It will yield a sweet fragrance, 

If by unremitting toil 

He develops the spring blossoms 

And cultivates the soil." 

Women and children need more than 
bread and raiment. They have a love 
for the beautiful that seeks expression 
as well as tastes that may be culti- 
vated. Their ingenuity was taxed 
and their time employed in efforts to 
make their humble home on the prai- 
rie a lovely one, by constant efforts to 
multiply its comforts and conven- 
iences. They planted the fragrant 
flowers and trailing vines while others 
set the trees for their shade and lus- 
cious fruit. 

When necessary, the little cabin on 
the old homestead was opened for 
school and public worship. Thus 
their minds and hearts were culti- 
vated as well as the fields, and intelli- 
gence and contentment became the 
rule instead of the exception. 

The difficulties to be surmounted by 
the occupant of the old homestead in 
this county during this period were 
certainly very great. He obtained 
land, plenty of it; it was fertile and 
he could claim it as his own, but he 
had little else. The produce of the 
soil had to be consumed at home or 
near it; ready money was scarce, dis- 
tant products were scarcer and com- 
forts, other than the modest substi- 
tutes of home manufacture, were un- 
obtainable. The experience of priva- 
tion and hardship usually fell most 
heavily upon the wives and mothers, 
and no estimate of the heroism needed 



to achieve final success in the old 
homestead would be adequate that 
did not include woman's share in it. 
The women, who by the sides of 
their husbands have endured the pri- 
vations and hardships incident to the 
development of new countries, are 
among the noblest of their sex. 
Their self-sacrifice and devotion have 
marked every age in the settlement of 
the American continent, and looking 
back to the early clays of this county 
we see that here they maintained that 
reputation. In the early settlement 
of this county they ground the corn 
for the stock, held the plow, went 
often without the necessaries of life; 
they helped to gather the scanty 
crops, and, amid the heat of summer 
and the cold of winter, they wavered 
not because of want and exposure. 

As unto the bow the cord is, 
So unto the man is woman; 
Though she bends him, she obeys him, 
Though she draws him, yet she follows; 
Useless each without the other. 

— Longfellow. 

the timber claim. 

On March 3, 1873, an act was ap- 
proved known as the "timber culture 
act, " the purpose of which was to en- 
courage the growth of timber on the 
western prairie where large portions 
of the unoccupied public lands were 
destitute of timber. Under this act 
anyone entitled to claim a homestead, 
might enter as a "timber culture" 
claim one quarter section (160 acres) of 
prairie land, upon making affidavit to 
the fact that he desired it for his own 
benefit and for the purpose of plant- 
ing and cultivating timber upon it. 

The person making the entry for a 
"tree" or "timber claim" of 160 acres 
was required to break or plow five 
acres during the first year; and during 
the second year to cultivate them and 
plow five additional acres. During 
the third year he was required to cul- 
tivate the second plot that had been 
broken and plant the first 



240 



PIONEEK HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



one with timber seeds or cuttings. 
During the fourth year he was re- 
quired to plant the second plot with 
timber, seeds or cuttings, and to pro- 
tect and cultivate both of them. 
Fruit trees and shrubbery were not 
regarded as timber under this act. 
Timber claims of less than 160 acres 
were to be cultivated and planted 
during the same periods and in the 
same proportion, namely, to the 
amount of one-sixteenth of the area 
claimed. The land office fees for the 
timber claim were $9.00 for 80 acres 
or less, and $14.00 if more than that. 

If at the expiration of eight years 
from date of entry or at any time with- 
in five years thereafter the claimant 
proved by two witnesses that he had 
successfully cultivated the required 
amount of. timber for not less than 
eight years according to the provisions 
of the act of June 14, 1878, he was en- 
titled to a patent for the land em- 
braced in the entry. But if at any 
time after one year from the date of 
entry, the claimant failed to comply 
with any of the requirements of the 
act, his claim became liable to con- 
test; and upon due proof of such fail- 
ure his entry was cancelled and the 
land again became subject to entry, 
either as a homestead or timber claim 
by some other persons. If, however, 
his trees were destroyed by fire, 
drought or grasshoppers, his time for 
final proof was extended. 

It will be perceived that the "tim- 
ber culture" act did not require the 
settler to live upon the claim as the 
pre-emptor and homesteader were re- 
quired to do. By reason of this fact 
the homesteader, if he wished, could 
also enter a timber claim. In fact, 
after a settler had exercised his right 
of pre-emption and obtained a title 
to his claim, there was nothing in the 
laws subsequently enacted to prevent 
him from proceeding to settle upon 
another tract under the homestead 
law; and if, during the period of his 



residence on the homestead, he made 
another entry for a "timber claim," 
it was possible in this way for the 
settler to acquire a title to an aggre- 
gate of 480 acres. This was done oc- 
casionally, but more frequently the 
additional claims were taken by dif- 
ferent members of the same family. 

So far as we have been able to learn, 
fifteen "timber claims" were located 
in Pocahontas county, and J. A. 
Sayre located the first one on section 
18, Dover township, July 13, 1875. 
During the next year Joseph South- 
worth located one on the same section 
and Swan Peterson one on section 36, 
Bellville township. The other timber 
claims were filed by Abraham Bor- 
jenson on section 18, and C. G. Blan- 
den on section 24, Bellville township; 
George Garlock (cancelled) and John 
C. Williams on section 18, Dover town- 
ship; John Lemp on section 18, Cedar 
township, and Emma Hirshfleld on 
section 28, Swan Lake township. The 
application for this last one was filed 
August 18, 1883; Blanden's claim was 
filed in November following. A little 
later Wm. H. Burnett made an entry 
of the SEi SEiSec. 6, (40 acres) Cedar 
township, as a timber claim, and it is 
now held as such by Henry Voss. 

The other timber claims were secur- 
ed by J. B. Joliffe on Sec. 2 and J. B. 
Kent on Sec. 4, Powhatan township; 
L. C. Coffin on Sec. 7 and Thomas En- 
right on Sec. — , Clinton township; 
W. F. Atkinson on Sec. 10, Marshall 
township. 

THE SOURCE OF SUPPLIES. 

During this entire period, which 
preceded the advent of any of the 
present railway facilities, Fort Dodge 
was the source of supplies to all the 
settlers of this county. The follow- 
ing facts in regard to this city are of 
historic interest: 

The town of Fort Dodge was plat- 
ted in March, 1854, at which time the 
only residents were Major Williams, 
James B. Williams, John M. Hefley 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



241 



and the family of Wm. K. Miller, who 
kept the hotel. During that same 
month, John Scott and his brother 
Eobert and family arrived; and on 
June 28th following, ex-Governor Cy- 
rus C. Carpenter, walking the distance 
from Des Moines to that place. He 
taught the first school in that town 
the ensuing winter, in a small log 
building back of the Wahkonsa hotel. 
In the spring of 1855, John F. Dun- 
combe, Geo. B. Sherman and a host of 
others arrived, and so great was the 
crowd for the size and capacity of the 
town that when the dinner bell at the 
hotel rang, fifty persons would make 
a rush for the table, which could ac- 
commodate only ten. In May, Wm. 
Hodges bought the hotel and enlarged 
the table to a capacity for one hun- 
dred guests. The population of the 
town was then about 150 persons and 
the greater part of them were young 
men. A postoffice was established 
and Major Williams became the first 
postmaster. John P. Duncombe was 
the first lawyer, and Geo. B. Sherman 
established the first grocery store, 
where he furnished the early settlers 
with groceries, often exchanging them 
for furs, deer skins or any other com- 
modity that would bear transporta- 
tion to Muscatine and other places 
along the Mississippi river. The first 
frame building in the town was erect- 
ed in May, that year, and was used for 
a public office, and the first brick 
building was erected that fall. As 
winter approached, the squatters on 
the pre-emption claims in the country 
around returned to the town, and the 
hotel and boarding houses being full, 
they established bachelor halls where 
the young men broiled their own ven- 
ison and provided for their hungry 
comrades. In 1856, the grant of lands 
was made to the Dubuque & Pacific 
railway, and this company giving the 
assurance that their road would be 
built at once and Fort Dodge be made 
an important station, it gave the town 



an additional impulse, new sections 
were platted and the city grew rapid- 
ly- 

■ The wonderful advance of civiliza- 
tion is frequently remarked in a gen- 
eral way, but few of us practically re- 
alize the progress of settlement during 
the past forty years in this section of 
the country. In 1859, when this 
county was organized, there was not a 
single postoffice within the territory 
now included in the states of North 
and South Dakota, whose population 
is now counted by hundreds of thou- 
sands. Ten counties in Northwestern 
Iowa, among which were Buena Vista, 
Lyon, O'Brien, Osceola, Plymouth and 
Pocahontas, had not a postoffice. The 
counties of Clay, Cherokee, Emmet, 
Carroll, Ida and Sac had one each, 
while Crawford, Dickinson and Palo 
Alto had two each. 

TIIE U. S. LAND OFFICES. 

The first United States land office in 
Iowa was established at Burlington. 
In January, 1848, one was established 
at Iowa City, where it remained until 
the capital of the state was trans- 
ferred to Des Moines, in 1857. On 
November 5, 1855, the state of Iowa 
was divided into four districts, viz: 
Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Sioux City 
and Council Bluffs, and a land office 
was established in each of them, in 
the city giving name to the district. 

The Fort Dodge district extended 
along the north boundary line of the 
state from the line between ranges 33 
and 34, to the line between ranges 24 
and 25; thence south along this range 
line to the corner common to town- 
ships 93 and 94; thence east to the line 
between ranges 18 and 19, and thence 
south to the line between townships 
85 and 86; thence west to the line be- 
tween ranges 33 and 34, and thence 
north to the north line of the state. 

The U. S. land offices at Fort Dodge 
and Council Bluffs were continued for 
the convenience of settlers in making 
their entry of the public lands, until 



242 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



June 1,1873, and at Sioux City until 
December 31, 1871, when by executive 
orders issued by tlie president of the 
United States, they were consolidated 
with the office at Des Moines. At the 
time of the last named date there 
were less than 2000. acres of lands in 
Iowa subject to the disposal of the 
government; and arrangements were 
made for homesteaders to obtain com- 
plete title by making final proof be- 
fore the courts of record in the coun- 
ties where the land was situated. 
This county belonged to the Fort 
Dodge district, except the west range 
of townships, including Cedar, Dover, 
Marshall and Swan Lake, which be- 
longed to the Sioux City district. 

The land office at Fort Dodge was a 
matter of great convenience to all the 
settlers in the eastern part of this 
county, for they had opportunity to 
visit the office and report their intend- 
ed settlement while on the way to 
their lands. By this means they were 
freed from all anxiety and fear on the 
part of the "claim jumper. " Those 
who located claims in the west range 
of townships, had to go to the office at 
Sioux City and it was not an unusual 
occurrence for the settler to find that 
the lands he had selected were either 
bought or taken by others before he 
arrived and gained the attention of 
the register of the land office, espe- 
cially if -he discovered to others on 
the way the location of his claim and 
spoke very highly of its merits. We 
learn there are residents of this county 
today who had this experience when 
the rush of settlers came to this sec- 
tion with the advent of the railway, 
about the year 1870. 

The story is told that a certain chap, 
who selected a claim a little further 
west, made a free use of the names of 
several of the most prominent men in 
this country at that time in order to 
hold it while he went to the land of- 
fice. This was done in a very effect- 
ive manner by tacking to a stake set 



on the claim the following notice: 

m>- n. b.* m> 

We, the undersigned, claim this 
homestead. Pass on. 

U. S. Grant. 
Brigham Young. 
Sitting Bull. 

Of course no one dared to meddle 
with this claim. 

THE RAILROAD LANDS. 

A reference has been made to the 
act of congress approved May 15, 1856, f 
granting to the state of Iowa, for the 
purpose of aiding in the construction 
of railroads across the state, every al- 
ternate odd-numbered section for a 
distance of six miles on each side of 
the road. This act provided that 
when the lines of these roads should 
be definitely fixed, if it should appear 
that any section or part thereof thus 
granted had been previously sold or 
pre-empted, then the railway com- 
panies might select, subject to the ap- 
proval of the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior, from the unoccupied and unsold 
lands nearest their line of railway, so 
much land in alternate sections as 
should equal the amount thereof sold 
or pre-empted; but the lands thus lo- 
cated should in no case be more than 
fifteen miles distant from the line of 
the railroad. Under this provision, 
it will be perceived, the belt of rail- 
road lands would naturally vary all 
the way from six to fifteen miles on 
each side of the line of the railway. 

The legislature of Iowa, by an act 
at a special session held in Iowa City 
and approved July 14, 1856, made a 
grant of these lands to the Dubuque 
& Pacific E. E. Co. upon the condi- 
tion that the company should com- 
plete and equip 75 miles of its main 
line within three years from Dec. 1, 
1856, 30 miles in addition each year 
thereafter for five years, and the re- 
mainder of their road including a 



*From "Not't bene" and means 
tloe." 

tPage 81. 



'Take No- 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



243 



branch from Dubuque to the mouth 
of the Tetc des Morts,% within one year 
thereafter, — Dec. 1, 1865. The main 
line of this company was to extend 
from Dubuque to Sioux City. 

All persons who, at the time this 
grant was made, held valid claims by 
actual occupation and improvement 
upon any of these railway sections 
were protected in their rights, but to 
secure this protection, within three 
months from the passage of this act, 
they had to prove to the satisfaction 
of the county judge that their claim 
was valid and existed at the time the 
grant was made; then on the pay- 
ment of $2.50 an acre they were en- 
titled to a patent for the land. 

By an act of the legislature of Iowa, 
approved Jan. 28, 1857, the five railway 
companies in Iowa, to whom the first 
grants in Iowa had been made,* 
were allowed to execute mortgages 
or deeds of trust upon these odd- 
numbered sections of railroad lands 
for the purpose of securing the funds 
necessary to complete the construc- 
tion of their respective railroads. 

Under the provisions of this act the 
Dubuque & Pacific R. R. Co. on 
March 14, 1857, executed a trust deed 
of all their lands along their proposed 
route, to Abram S. Hewitt, Thomas E. 
Walker, Frederick Schuchardt and 
Curtis B. Raymond, trustees of said 
company, for the sum of $12,000,000 
secured by 12,000 construction bonds 
of $1000 each, with the right to issue 
a further amount of 3,000 similar 
bonds, making on the whole a sum not 
exceeding $15,000,000. To secure the 
payment of these bonds the railway 
company conveyed to these trustees 
all their right, title and interest in 
the public lands granted to it. 

tTa'ta de More, a creek near Sabula. 

*Burlington & Missouri River, (now C. B. & 
Q.) Mississippi and Missouri River, (now the 
C. R. I. & P.) Iowa Central Air Line, (now C. 
& N. W.) Dubuque & Pacific, (now 111. Cen- 
tral,) and McGregor & Missouri River (now C. 
M. & St. P.) 



In the year 1860, Morris K. Jesup, 
Piatt Smith, W. W. Hamilton and 
Herman Gelpecke had become the 
successors of Messrs. Hewitt, Walker, 
Schuchardt and Raymond as trustees 
of the Dubuque & Pacific R. R. Co. A 
large amount of bonds had been is- 
sued under the mortgage of March 14, 
1857, and default in the payment of 
the interest having been made, these 
trustees brought an action of fore- 
closure in the district court of Du- 
buque county at the August term, 
1860, against the railway company and 
a decree of foreclosure was entered 
August 21, 1860, by which it was or- 
dered that these trustees recover of 
the Dubuque & Pacific R. R. Co. the 
sum of $1,722,510, and if payment of 
this amount was not made in ten 
days then the equity of redemption 
should be forever barred and fore- 
closed. In contemplation of this fore- 
closure, a large number of persons who 
were interested in the railway com- 
pany, as holders of Its bonds and stock, 
formed a new company under the 
name of the Dubuque & Sioux City 
R. R. Co. , to become the successor of 
the Dubuque & Pacific R. R. Co. , for 
the purpose of acquiring all their 
rights, privileges and land grants, 
and to complete the construction of 
the railroad. This deed was executed 
by the president and secretary of the 
railway company and also by Morris 
K. Jesup and others, trustees, default 
having been made. 

On April 7, 1862, an act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Iowa was approved 
requiring the Dubuque & Sioux 
City R. R. Co. to release all the 
"swamp and overflowed" lands with- 
in the fifteen-mile limit of the road 
to the county in which they were sit- 
uated, according to the act of con- 
gress approved March 3, 1857. In con- 
sideration of this relinquishment of 
the "swamp and overflowed" lands, 
the time of completion of any part of 
the road was extended one year. 



244 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



On December 1, 1866, when it should 
have been completed, this road ex- 
tended only to Iowa Falls, and the 
company failed and refused to execute 
the release of the swamp and over- 
flowed lands as required by the act of 
the legislature of Iowa, April 7, 1862. 
By an act approved March 10, 1868, 
the General Assembly of Iowa de- 
clared the forfeiture of the lands 
granted to the Dubuque & Pacific 
(now Dubuque & Sioux City) R. R. 
Co. beyond the extension of their line 
and their reversion to the state of 
Iowa. 

On January 7, 1868, the Dubuque & 
Sioux City R. R. Co. conveyed so much 
of the Dubuque & Sioux City rail- 
road as remained to be constructed 
at that time and the pro ratio of six 
sections a mile of the lands granted 
by congress to aid in the construction 
of this road west of Iowa Falls, to the 
Iowa Falls & Sioux City R. R. Co. 

The Iowa Falls & Sioux City R. 
R. Co. was formed to complete 
the construction of the road from 
Iowa Falls to Sioux City, and the Du- 
buque, Bellevue & Sabula R. R. Co. 
was organized to construct the Tete 
cles Morts branch along the west bank 
of the Mississippi river south from 
Dubuque. On April 7, 1868, an act of 
the General Assembly of Iowa was ap- 
proved that renewed the grant of 
lands forfeited by the Dubuque & 
Pacific (per the Dubuque & Sioux 
City) R. R. Co. to the two compa- 
nies last named, upon the condition 
that the main line be completed to 
Fort Dodge by July 1, 1869 and to 
Sioux City before January 1, 1872. 

Dubuque & Sioux City R. R. 
Lands.— Under these enactments the 
following lands in Pocahontas county 
were assigned to the Dubuque & Pacific 
(Illinois Central) R. R. Co., name- 
ly: All the odd-numbered sections in 
Lizard, Bellville, Colfax, Cedar, Dover, 
Grant, Lincoln and Lake townships, 
embracing the two south tiers, and in 



the south half of Center, Sherman and 
Marshall, in the third tier of town- 
ships, and all or parts of sections 29, 
31, 32, 33 and 35, Swan Lake township. 

Previous to the transfer of its in- 
terest to the Dubuque & Sioux City 
R. R. Co., Aug. 24, 1860, the Dubuque 
& Pacific Co. had built the road, to 
Waterloo, a distance of 80 miles, and 
had disposed of a large amount of their 
lands to eastern capitalists, who in 
turn sold them to settlers at $1.25 to 
$2. 50 an acre and all the titles thus 
given were good. 

All their lands in Lincoln township 
were sold to the Artisan's Bank of 
New York city, and this bank becom- 
ing insolvent, the railroad lands in 
that township were ordered by the 
courts of the state of New York to be 
.sold at public auction. This sale was 
held in the city of New York, July 23, 
1862, and the purchasers were Geo. W. 
Powers, Jacob S. Carter, John E. Cor- 
with and Charles J. Forrest. 

They also sold a great many of their 
lands in this county to a company 
composed of some twelve men in Bos- 
ton, who organized themselves into 
the corporation known as the "Iowa 
Homestead Company," and appointed 
Geo. J. Forrest, Wm. J. Barney and 
Frederick C. Gebhardt their trustees. 
These trustees acquired the title to 
these lands direct from the railroad 
company and held them for the Iowa 
Homestead Co. until about March, 
1880, when they sold them to the Iowa 
Land & Loan Co., of which Joseph 
Sampson, of Sioux City, (then at Storm 
Lake) was president for many years. 

The railroad lands in the south half 
of Center township were included in 
the grant received by the Dubuque & 
Sioux City R. R. Co., and all of these 
south of section 15, including sections 
15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33 and 35 
were sold to Warrick Price, of Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

The Rogers' Locomotive company, 
of New Jersey, in compensation for 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



245 



supplies furnished the Dubuque & 
Pacific R. R. Co. and their successors, 
became the owners of 4,800 acres of 
the lands granted this company in 
this county, located in Lizard, Bell- 
ville, Colfax, Sherman and Grant 
townships. 

Des Moines Valley R. R. Lands. 
—The Des Moines Valley Railroad Co. 
was organized to build a railroad 
from Des Moines to the north line of 
this state along the Des Moines river, 
and this company received a grant of 
land along the line of its railway un- 
der the act of congress approved July 
12, 1862. Their lands in this county 
were located in the north and eastern 
parts of it, as follows: 
Clinton township— All of sections 19, 

23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 and part of 

Sec. 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 21. 
Des Moines— All of section 1 and part 

of section 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 

25, 27, 29, 31 and 33. 
Powhatan — All of sections 13 and 22, 

and part of Sec. 1, 3, 11, IS, 19, 21, 

26 and 27. 
Swan Lake — All of section 1, 5 and 8, 

and part of sections 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 17, 18 

and 20. 

The fact that so many parts of sec- 
tions appear in this grant is due to 
the fact the government had issued 
scrip to many persons, especially sol- 
diers, in compensation for services 
rendered the government, and those 
who held this scrip had purchased 
therewith parts of these sections be- 
fore the grant was made to this rail- 
road company. 

In the year 1877, the Des Moines 
Valley R. R. Co., having completed 
its line only to Fort Dodge via Tara, 
went into liquidation and the Des 
Moines and Fort Dodge R. R. Co. be- 
came its successor. In 1881 it extend- 
ed the railway through this county to 
Ruthven and secured possession of the 
lands previously granted. 

McGREGOR AND MISSOURI RlVER 

R, R. Lands,— The McGregor and 



Missouri River R. R. Co.* was organ- 
ized to build a railroad from McGreg- 
or, in Allamakee county, to a point 
on the Missouri river, and on July 19, 
1867, this company received a grant 
that included the following lands in 
Pocahontas county: Part of sections 
7 and 9 in Clinton township, part of 
section 3 in Des Moines, part of all the 
odd-numbered sections from 3 to 35 in 
Washington, part of sections 1 and 3 
in Sherman and part of sections 1, 3, 
5, 7, 9 and 11 in Center township. The 
patent for these lands was issued by 
the State of Iowa, Dec. 20, 1880. 

It is not known that this company 
built any railroad, and its successor, 
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, 
R. R. Co., built none in this county 
nor within fifteen miles of it, but 
they acquired the lands, franchises, 
etc., of the former company. 
This company made sales directly to 
the settlers and favored all of them 
with a rebate on the purchasing price 
that broke a certain number of acres 
within a specified time. 

The Toledo & Northwestern R. R. 
Co., which in 1881 built the railroad 
passing through Rolfe and Laurens, a 
branch of the Chicago & Northwestern 
system, received no grant of lands nor 
any public aid along its line in this 
county. 

OTHER LAND GRANTS. 

There have been approved to Iowa, 
under the several grants of congress, 
above 8,000,000 acres of land, or nearly 
one-fourth of the entire state. Of 
this amount about 400,000 acres were 
approved to the state to aid in tbe 
improvement of the Des Moines river; 
1,500,000 acres for the support of the 
public schools; 204,000 acres for the 
support of the Agricultural College; 
45,000 acres of saline lands, the unsold 
portion of which was transferred to 
the State University by an act of the 
General Assembly of Iowa approved 

*The successor of the McGregor >fe Sioux 
City R. R. Co, 



246 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



March 25, 1864; 4,675,000 acres to aid 
in the construction of the first rail- 
ways across the state; and 1,570,000 
acres of swamp lands, including those 
for which cash and land indemnity 
had been allowed. 

The grant in Pocahontas county for 
the support of the public schools, em- 
braced section number 16 in each 
township, or 10,240 acres. 

Of the Agricultural College, lands, 
4,730 acres were located in this county 
on Jan. 13th and April 15th, 1869, un- 
der the act approved Dec. 16, 1864. Of 
this amount 1,760 acres were located 
in Bellville township, (Sec. 14, 28, 31, 
32 and 36) and the remainder in Colfax 
(Sec. 18, 20), Lizard (Sec. 20, 28), Mar- 
shall (Sec. 22, 26), and Swan Lake 
(Sec. 26, 34, 36), townships. 

Ten other counties in the earlier 
settled portions of this state, located 
14,086 acres in this county. The selec- 
tion and location of these lands was 
as follows: 

Tama county, Sept. 23, 1864, in Pow- 
hatan township (Sec. 2, 3, 6) 1031 acres. 

Johnson county, Dec. 28, 1864, in 
Powhatan (Sec. 8, 18) 400 acres, and 
Washington (Sec. 4, 6, 10) 1081 acres; 
total 1481 acres. 

Buchanan county, Feb. 28, 1865, in 
Powhatan (Sec. 20) 200 acres and in 
Washington (Sec. 2, 14) 600 acres; total 
800 acres. 

Butler county, June 20, 1865, in Lin- 
coln (Sec. 18) 214; Grant (Sec. 2, 6, 14) 
608; Center (Sec. 2, 6, 18, 30) 767; Sher- 
man (Sec. 4, 6, 18) 771; total, 1684 acres. 

Allamakee county, June 27, 1865, in 
Powhatan (Sec. 8, 10, 28, 30, 34) 1787 
acres. 

Bremer county, June 29, 1865, in 
Center (Sec. 4) 130; Lake (Sec. 6, 18, 30) 
304; Powhatan (Sec. 32) 560; and Wash- 
ington (Sec. 18, 20, 22) 880; total, 1870 
acres. 

Dubuque county, Nov. 18, 1865, in 
Lake township, lot No. 2 of Sec. 22, 
31 acres. 

Jasper county, Feb. 17, 1869, in Cen- 



ter (Sec. 13) 240; Swan Lake (Sec. 30) 
80; Marshall (Sec. 8. 18, 20) 1214; total, 
1534 acres. 

Clinton county, March 20, 1870, in 
Dover (Sec. 10) 40, and Swan Lake 
(Sec. 2, 22, 24, 34) 400; total, 440 acres. 

Cedar county, in Washington town- 
ship (Sec. 5, 7, 17, 18) 1064 acres. 

THE DISTRICT AND CIRCUIT COURTS; 
FIRST SESSIONS. 

The first record of a term of the dis- 
trict court and of a trial before it is 
of date, "Highland, Nov. -2, 1860." 
Hon. A. W. Hubbard, of Woodbury 
county, was the presiding judge, and 
the first case was entitled: 
A. K. Hill 
vs. 
Perry Nowlen, 
and W. H. Hait appeared as the attor- 
ney for the plaintiff. 

Only one other case was tried at 
this term of the court and it was en- 
titled "JohnM. Stockdale vs. John C. 
Straight." . 

Thomas McCormick, a native of 
Ireland, was declared a citizen of the 
United States. 

These items represent the business 
done at this first session of the dis- 
trict court in this county, and both 
the record and attestation thereof are 
in the handwriting of Judge Hubbard. 

The time for the next term of court 
was May 22, 1862, but the only case in 
hand was granted a change of venue 
to Kossuth county by reason of the 
fact it was impossible to secure a jury 
of twelve men in this county for the 
trial of it. This change of venue was 
granted by the judge without coming 
to this county, and all the other items 
of business were postponed until the 
next session of the court. 

The next records of the district 
court are of date Oct. 31, 1863, and 
show the business done at the second 
session of the court. At this date 
Isaac Pendleton, of Woodbury county, 
had become the successor of Judge 
Hubbard and, not arriving until tlw 



PIONEER PERIOD. 



247 



third day of the session, Philip Rus- 
sell, the clerk of the court, main- 
tained the session by opening the 
court each day at the appointed hour 
and then adjourning it from day to 
day until the time of his arrival. 

There were twenty-two other coun- 
ties in Northwest Iowa in this judi- 
cial district at this date and the dis- 
trict court held only one session each 
year in thirteen of them, Pocahontas 
being among this number. In the 
other nine counties two sessions were 
held annually. 

In 1869,- the "circuit court" was es- 
tablished for the purpose of holding 
two sessions each year in every county. 
The first session of this court in this 
county was held at (Old) Rolfe, May 4, 
1869, by Judge Jared M. Snyder, of 
Humboldt county, and only two items 
of business were transacted that be- 
came matters of record. James N. 
Prouty made application and was ad- 
mitted to the practice of law before 
this court. He then presented to the 
court Thomas Peters, a foreigner, and 
secured his naturalization. When 
the second session of the court was 
held in this county, Feb. 8, 1870, sev- 
eral state and probate cases were 
heard and disposed of. 

On the records of the courts during 
this period the names of the following 
persons appear as applicants for nat- 
uralization, the date given being the 
one on which the final papers were is- 
sued and the country, their native 
place: 

1860, Jan. 3, Robert Struthers, Scot- 
land. 

1861, Aug. 23, James Hood, Canada. 

1863, Nov. 2, William Struthers, 
Canada. 

1864, Feb. 2, Matthew Tilley, Eng- 
land. 

1867, June 4, John Weise, Prussia. 
1867, June 4, Michael Weise, Prussia. 

1869, May 4, Thomas Peters 

1871, Feb. 6, Bernard Stegge, Cer- 
many. 



1871, May 1, John Kreul, Germany. 

1871, May 1, Peter H. Niemand, Ger- 
many. 

1871, May 1, Robert Lothian, Scot- 
land. 

h ait's sawmill. 

The only sawmill ever erected in 
the county was the one located at Old 
Rolfe in I860, by Wm. E. Clark and 
John M. Stockdale for the purpose of 
sawing the material for the first court 
house and bridge over the Des Moines 
river at that place, rt consisted of a 
circular saw run by steam and was lo- 
cated near the residence of W. H. 
Hait on section 26, Des Moines town- 
ship. After the completion of the 
court house and bridge, Mr. Hait 
bought it and retained possession of it 
until 1870, when it was sold to the 
owner of a grist-mill in Webster coun- 
ty. 

The first one who died in this coun- 
ty was Patrick Calligan, in the Lizard 
settlement, in August 1856. 

The first white children born with- 
in the limits of the county were Rose 
Ann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James 
Donahoe, Feb. 23,1857; Maggie, daugh- 
ter of Mr. and Mrs. John Calligan, 
Aug. 11, 1857; Annie, daughter of Mr. 
and Mrs. Michael Collins, March 10, 
1858; Mary, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
Michael Walsh, April 10, 1858, and 
Charles Joseph, son of Mr. and Mrs. 
Charles Kelley, May 6, 1858. All of 
these belonged to the Lizard settle- 
ment. The portraits of all but two of 
these persons may be seen in this vol- 
ume. 

The first birth in the Des Moines 
settlement occurred on January 1, 
1859, when Ellen, a daughter of Mr. 
and Mrs. Robert Struthers, was born. 
She is now Mrs. Richard Mathers, of 
Clinton township. 

The first marriage in this county oc- 
curred in the Des Moines settlement 
December 30, 1859. The ceremony was 
performed by Samuel N. Harris, clerk 
of the district court, and the con- 



248 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tracting parties were Michael O 'Boyle 
and Margaret Sheridan, both of Hum- 
boldt county. The first marriage of 
residents of this county occurred at 
the home of Samuel N. Harris, in 
Des Moines township, July 18, 1861. 
In this instance the contracting par- 
ties were William Seymour Fegles and 



Miss Elizabeth Harris, the ceremony 
being performed by Robert Struthers, 
a justice of the peace. 

On July 15, 1869, the Pocahontas 
Journal, the first newspaper published 
in the county was established at (Old) 
Rolfeby W. D. McEwen and J. J. 
Bruce. 



X. 



Second Period, 1870 to 1882— Period of Railroad 
and Township Organization. 



(Construction 



"While I bebold the rushing tide of life, 

Advancing westward, covering all the land, 

A land, the richest in the fertile world, 

The glorious garden of the peopled earth, 

Budding, blossoming like the lovely rose, 

I ask myself, what will this country be 

When for its development time is given?" — L. Bkown. 

THE FIRST RAILTtOAD. 




T the beginningof this 
period, it may be said 
"The movers came 
by dozens, staked 
their claims and 
built their cabins." 
The year 1870 marks a new era in 
the history of this county. It was 
during this year the first railroad was 
built through its borders, and this 
event gave a new impetus to the set- 
tlement of the county, that was felt 
in every township, but most in those 
situated in the southwestern part of 
it. 

In 1866 the Dubuque & Sioux City 
R. R. Co. had secured the extension of 
their line from Dubuque to Iowa 
Falls, a distance of 143 miles, but there 
it rested. In October, 1868, John 1. 
Blair, of Blairstown, N. J., contractor 
and builder for the Iowa Falls & 
Sioux City R. R. Co., began the exten- 
sion of the road to Sioux City, a dis- 
tance of 183 miles. This railroad was 
completed to Webster City Dec. 31st, 



following; to Fort Dodge in May and 
to Pomeroy Dec. 25, 1869. This rail- 
road reached Cedar creek on the bank 
of which Fonda now stands, about 
May 1, 1870, and was completed at 
Storm Lake July 4, following. The 
west half of this railroad was built 
from Sioux City to Storm Lake. 

William Bott, who is still an hon- 
ored resident of Fonda, superintended 
the laying of the track of this first 
railroad from Iowa Falls to Storm 
Lake and, as a foreman of track-hands 
continued in the employ pf the rail- 
road company for a number of years 
afterward. He and his family were 
the first occupants of the depot at 
Fonda, and they enjoyed this luxury 
until the arrival of the first ticket and 
freight agent, Geo. Fairburn, a young 
man from Dubuque, full of hope, 
pluck and energy, well equipped for 
all the duties of this new and responsi- 
ble situation on the frontier, and who, 
from that date, Oct. 15, 1870, until the 
present time, has been prominently 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



249 



identified with the public and busi- 
ness interests of the new city then 
founded, first called Marvin, now 
Fonda. 

The completion of the Iowa Falls & 
Sioux City railroad was signalized by 
the construction company running an 
excursion train from Fort Dodge to 
Sioux City on July 4, 1870. This train 
consisted of an engine profusely dec- 
orated with flags, several open flat- 
cars and a caboose; and most of 
the passengers were workmen and 
those who were interested in the rail- 
road. 

Among those who came on this 
train to see the location of the new 
town on the east bank of Cedar 
creek, was Abram Weaver, of Deer- 
field, New York, the present owner of 
section 1, Cedar township. On this, 
his first visit to this section he made 
the purchase of the west half of that 
section and two other tracts of land 
in the vicinity of Twin Lakes. 

In June, 1869, thirty days after the 
completion of the railroad to Fort 
Dodge, The Illinois Central R. R. Co. 
leased the road and established a train 
service to that city. When the rail- 
road was completed to Sioux City the 
Construction Company establish- 
ed a daily train service about 
August 1, 1870. This service at first 
consisted of one train a day each way, 
and during the months of August and 
September their agent located at New- 
ell, Captain E. W. Stetson, still 
a resident of the town of Newell, 
attended to all the business at the 
Marvin station by coming to this 
place on one train and returning to 
Newell on the next one. This train 
was a mixed one, consisting of several 
freight cars and one passenger coach. 
On October 15th, the Illinois Central 
R. R. Co. having leased the entire 
line of the road, established a through 
traia service, which, during the first 
year, was Sfiriilar to tUat established. 



by the Construction Co.* 

About ten miles of this railroad 
were built in Pocahontas county. It 
entered the county on the south side 
of Sec. 34, Colfax township, and passed 
through it in a straight line running 
about 15 degrees north of west to the 
west line of Sec. 19, Cedar township. 
It is so free from steep grades that a 
Mogul engine, the kind now used on 
it, having 18x24-inch steam cylinders 
and weighing 25 tons, can draw a load 
of 300 tons exclusive of the weight of 
cars, over its entire length in Iowa. 

The Western Union Telegraph Co. 
handles the telegraph business along 
this road, under a contract given 
Sept. 20, 1863, to the Illinois & Missis- 
sippi Telegraph Co. The telegraph 
company furnishes the necessary ma- 
terial and the R. R. Co. the labor for 
the maintenance of the line, all mes- 
sages of the R. R. Co., pertaining to 
their business, being transmitted free. 
The American Express Co. has charge 
of the express business, and on the 
main line the mails are weighed every 
four years from 1895 to determine the 
compensation for carrying them. 

When this first railroad entered Po- 
cahontas county in the spring 
of 1870, a settler resided upon a 
homestead in the vicinity of Storm 
Lake, but there were no visible indi- 
cations of the thriving city that now 
bears that name; and when it reached 
Cedar creek, the section of country 
now occupied by the city of Fonda was 
a wild but beautiful prairie broken 
only by the trail of an occasional team 
to Fort Dodge. 

*The Dubuque & Pacific R. R, Co. built the 
railroad from Dubuque to Independence, a 
distance of 69 miles, reaching that place June 
3, 1860. The Dubuque & Sioux City R. R. Co., 
their successor, extended it to Iowa Falls, a 
distance of 74 miles, on April 15, 1886. On Oct. 
23, 1888, all the railroad built by the Iowa 
Falls <fe Sioux City R. R. Co. was conveyed to 
the Dubuque & Sioux City R, R. Co., and it 
still owns the road from PnpiiQUp t-Q Sjpitx 
City. 



250 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



FONDA FOUNDED IN 1870. 

Peter G-. Ibson, who is still a resi- 
dent of the county, but then a black- 
smith for the bridge builders along 
the line of the railroad, in February, 
1870, erected a blacksmith shop about 
twelve feet square, on the present 
site of the Fonda water works, and 
this was the first building erected on 
section 27, Cedar township. He had 
entered the employ of the bridge 
builders of the railroad construction 
company near Webster City the pre- 
vious year, and moving his shop west- 
ward with the progress of the road, 
chose this location as one convenient 
for the builders of the railroad bridge 
across Cedar creek. The superintend- 
ent of the bridge builders was George 
. Sargent. 

Previous to this date, (Feb., 1870) 
two small buildings had been erected 
about three-quarters of a mile west of 
Cedar creek on section 28. One of 
these was a little one-story frame 
building built in the fall of 1869 by 
Jacob Silbar, a Jewish peddler, who 
sold his goods from a wagon during 
the summer, and erected this build- 
ing for a home during the winter. It 
stood south of the railroad grade, and 
as soon as Cedar creek became dry in 
1870, Maurice Chase, a resident of the 
settlement at Sunk Grove and who 
the previous year had hauled the 
lumber for it from Fort Dodge, drew 
this building on a set of skids across 
the creek at the old fording place 
north of the Catholic church, and lo- 
cated it a few feet east of Ibson 's 
shop. The sight of these two unpre- 
tentious looking buildings on the 
prairie just south of the railroad, is a 
matter of very distinct recollection on 
the part of many of the older residents 
of this community. 

The other building west of Cedar 
creek, was built by John A. Hay on 
his homestead on the north half of 
section 28, and the place where it 
stood is still marked by- a gl'oye of 



cottonwood trees that may be seen 
north of the railroad and about forty 
rods west of the east line of the sec- 
tion. In this building, which was 
erected also in the fall of 1869, John 
A. Hay and his brother. Harvey W. 
Hay, lived during that winter, and 
the former kept a small stock of gro- 
ceries, receiving his supplies from 
Fort Dodge. 

In the summer of 1870, John A. 
Hay built a store building that was 
first located on what for many years 
has been known as the Geo. Ellis 
property, south of Second and east of 
Main streets, where he sold goods 
under the firm name of Hay & Alford, 
the latter being a resident of Fort 
Dodge. Wm. Marshall, who arrived 
in May, 1870, built the first dwelling 
house, hauling the lumber from Pome- 
roy. This was a one and a half story 
building located north of Second 
street, first on lot 6 of block 8, and at 
present on the southwest corner of the 
next block east. Mr. Marshall had 
no desire to keep hotel but it became 
a matter of necessity that he should 
be willing to receive and entertain 
transients until a hotel was built. 
He established a lumber yard north- 
west of the depot, later owned by Geo. 
Fairburn and now by the Shull Bros.' 
Lumber Co. The depot was the next 
building completed, and Wm. Bott 
and family began to occupy it about 
the first of August. Two months later 
when he had to vacate it, the work- 
men under his care in one day erected 
a building north of the track, into 
which he moved and remained a con- 
siderable time. 

In September, 1870, John I. Blair, 
of Blairstown, N. J., owner of the 
section, (27) had Frederick Hess, of 
Fort Dodge, make a survey and plat 
of the new town which he called Mar- 
vin, in honor of Marvin Hewitt, su- 
perintendent of the Illinois Central 
R. R. Co. at that time. The original 
plat embraced four streets running 




GEORGE FAIRBURN 
President, Pocahontas County Bank, Fonda. 




Fonda and Vicinity. 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



251 



northward from the railroad, on the 
east bank of Cedar creek, and named 
from it, Howard, Main, Franklin and 
King streets; and four streets running 
east and west, numbered from the 
railroad, First, Second, Third and 
Fourth streets, the last being south 
of the Presbyterian church. This 
plat was tiled for record Sept. 13, 1870, 
and Fonda thus became the second 
town platted in the county. Mr. 
Blair set apart for public use as high- 
ways forever all the land included in 
the streets and alleys as shown in the 
original plot, the width of Main street 
being 100 feet and of the other streets 
80 feet. 

After the town was platted, John 
Hay moved his store building to the 
west side of Main street on the lot 
now occupied by the north half of the 
Fairburn bank building, Jacob Silbar 
erected a new building on the next 
lot north of it, and Peter Ibson built 
a new shop south of Second street 
near the former site of Hay's store, 
where it remained about two years 
or until it was moved to the corner on 
the west side of Main street now oc- 
cupied by the brick block of Roberts 
& Kenning. 

When Ceo. Fairburn arrived he was 
accompanied by W. S. Wright, a 
young man also from Dubuque, and 
both of them made their home in the 
depot. The latter became the first 
express agent and postmaster. He es- 
tablished the first postoffice in the 
depot, under the name of Cedarville, 
and during the year he remained in 
charge of it the mail was kept in a 
little box that had only four pigeon- 
holes. 

The first hotel was built by Albert 
Hay, an uncle of John A. Hay, on the 
corner north of the railroad, now oc- 
cupied by the Washington hotel, for 
which it is still used as a kitchen. 

The second good residence building 
was built by Wm. Snell, on the east 
side of Main street and on the second 



block from the railroad. This build- 
ing for many years was the home of 
Capt. Joseph Mallison, but in 1899, 
the large Cottonwood trees that had 
been planted in front of it were cut 
down and it was removed to the lot of 
Frank Scott, near the cemetery, to 
make room for the two-story brick 
block of J. W. Rock. Wm. Snell es- 
tablished a real estate agency in part- 
nership with Jacob Snyder, and a 
place for the sale of agricultural ma- 
chinery in partnership with Wm. Mar- 
shall. 

On the east side of Main street on 
the first block from the depot, several 
other buildings were built in 1870. 
One was erected as a restaurant by 
Horace and Charles Skinner, on the 
corner now occupied by the bank 
building of the Farmers' Loan and 
Trust company. Their first structure 
consisted of a board roof that rested 
on corners and pillars built by placing 
bunches of shingles on top of each 
other and the spaces between them 
were protected with canvas or tent- 
ing. Canute Tisdale, severing his 
connection with Jacob Silbar, built a 
shoemaker shop near the south corner 
of that block. North of it M. D. 
Skinner, of Webster City, built a long 
frame building that was intended to 
serve as a residence and printing of- 
fice. A printers' outfit entirely new 
was put in the front room of this 
building and Mr. Skinner as editor 
and proprietor began to issue the Po- 
cahontas Times. Previous to the is- 
sue of the Times, W. S. Wright, the 
express agent, had had several weekly 
issues of the Cedarville Herald print- 
ed at Storm Lake and distributed 
through the postoffice at the depot. 
Dick Mills erected a temporary meat 
market near the alley a little north of 
the site of McKee's brick block and 
Charles Skinner a flour and feed 
store on the west side of Main street. 
About this time Samuel Hughes ar- 
rived and, purchasing the building 



252 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and stock of goods owned by Jacob 
Silbar, moved the building forward to 
the line of Main street, and its previ- 
ous owner left the settlement. 

CEDAR TOWNSHIP— FIRST RESIDENTS. 

1868. The first residents of Cedar 
township seem to have been Elijah 
Chase and family, consisting of 
wife and five children, and Geo. 
Spragg and family. These two fami- 
lies were related to each other by 
marriage, and bringing their effects 
from Buchanan county on wagons 
drawn by oxen, they located at Sunk 
Grove on Sec. 6, Aug. 9, 1868. At this 
date there were no settlements west 
of those along the Lizard streams and 
not even a beaten wagon trail through 
this township. 

For several months during the fall 
and winter preceding, Bartlett M. 
Morse, now a resident of Calliope, 
Sioux county, had engaged in trapping 
around the lake at Sunk Grove, and 
lived in a rude shanty in the grove; 
and another trapper by the name of 
King occupied it the ensuing winter, 
but neither of them became perma- 
nent residents of the township. 

1869. On March 23, 1869, Ephraim 
Garlock, Abram O. Garlock, Geo. 
Hathaway and A. W. Creed entered 
and with their families began to occu- 
py homesteads on section 24, and Geo. 
H. Wright and family on section 36 
of Cedar township. Andrew J. Norem 
entered his homestead on section 22, 
on March 5th previous, but he did not 
immediately locate upon it. 

In May following, Wm. Erastus 
Garlock and family and his brother 
George Garlock arrived in wagons, 
bringing their own and their father's 
stock from DeKalb county 111., and lo- 
cated also on section 24; John Dunker- 
ly and family on section 6; Sidney E. 
Wright, (a brother of Geo. H.) Geo. 
W. Wopd and Jphn R, Perry on sec- 
tion 36, and Julius P. Steven^ op sec- 
tion 4. 

1$ *T\iri<> fch$ f$w pettier^ were Hor- 



ace R. and Chas. Skinner on section 
6; John A. Hay on section 28; Wm. 
Richards on section 32; Wm. Lawler, 
John Brown and Wm. Lynch and 
family of four children, all on sec- 
tion 2. 

Other settlers that arrived later and 
entered their homesteads that year 
were Harvey W. Hay and J. S. Howell 
and family on section 28; John Diviny 
and Mrs. Rachel Hartwell on section 
6; John Lemp on section. 18; John M. 
Wood on section 36; and John Olson, 
wife and three children, who bought 
the SEi of Sec. 33, and lived upon it 
until 1885. 

1870. The first homesteaders to ar- 
rive in Cedar township in 1870, were 
Geo. Sanborn and family on section 
34; Austin G. (brother of A. W.) 
Creed, on section 12; Matthew Byrne 
on section 4, and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph 
Mallison on section 20. These were 
followed in the spring by Jeremiah 
Sullivan and Chas. Breslin who came 
together and located also on section 4, 
April 7th. Among those who followed 
later that year were Samuel H. Mc- 
Deid, Geo. E. Thompson and family 
and Geo. H. Thompson his nephew, all 
of whom located on section 18; Geo. A. 
Woolworth and Albert Wolfe on sec- 
tion 11; Pelatiah E. Bennett and Al- 
bin C. Spearin on section 8; Joseph C. 
Stevens, Albert Hanke and his broth- 
er Frank Hanke, all on section 6; Ad- 
am Cleghorn on section 20; Thomas 
Slater and Edward Mellen on section 
36; John N. Welsh, Carrie, sister of A. 
W. Creed, and David Spielman on sec- 
tion 24. 

The following additional persons in 
in 1869 visited and located homesteads 
in Cedar township, namely: John D. 
Nichols, Wm. H. Schooley, James C. 
Kromer, Alfred Rowe, Grimes I. 
Snow, Justus F, Heath, Eugene Criss, 
Wm. Curney and Charles M. Hunt; 
and in 1870, Henry Pallersels, James 
F. Capen, Wm, G, Winn and John 
Munro, but they remained only a short 
time and their claims were canoelJedj 



SECOND PERIOD, 187C-1882. 



253 



WILLIAMS TOWNSHIP, 1868-1870. 

With the tide of immigration that 
reached the western part of Pocahon- 
tas county, along the route of the pro- 
posed railroad, a settlement was 
formed in Williams township, Calhoun 
county, adjoining Cedar township 
on the south and tributary to Fon- 
da as a center of trade, of which the 
following facts, pertinent to the his- 
tory of this period, will be read with 
interest. 

1868. The first families to locate in 
this settlement were those of Wm. 
EL Stott and of his wife's brother, 
Wm. P. Bush, both of whom located 
on section 14, in the early part of 1868. 
Soon afterward that same year they 
were joined by Samuel Poland, Jacob 
Stilts and family, George Fastle, Hugh 
Hocking, Jr., and his brother Wm. 
Hocking, all on section 10; Hugh 
Hocking, Sr., and his family, and his 
son John Hocking, on section 2. 

1869. In 1869, John Stott and fam- 
ily located on section 18, on which his 
two sons, John Jr., and George also 
took homesteads that so cornered 
with their father's that when they 
built their house, which had three 
rooms, one room of it was on each of 
the three homesteads. 

William Kennedy and family in 
April located on section 4, on the farm 
now owned by Charles Zeigler, and 
on June 5th, 1869, they were 
joined by Geo. Sanborn and family, 
his brother-in-law, with whom the 
latter remained until February, 1870, 
when he moved to his own homestead 
on section 34, Cedar township, one- 
half mile south of Fonda. 

Sarah J. Clemens and family of four 
children, purchasing the homestead 
right of Alfred Hay, located on sec- 
tion 12, and in December, 1870, she 
was joined by her eldest daughter, 
Harriet A., then a school teacher, but 
now the wife of Baxter S. Chapman. 
This homestead is now the farm of 



D. C. Morey. 

Lemuel Milnor, Isaac Warner and 
family and Silas Flint and family lo- 
cated on section 12, the latter and his 
son George taking homesteads on that 
section, and Charles Flint on section 14. 
Charles H. Poland, Sr., RoderickJ. Ab- 
bott and his brother Wm. Abbott, lo- 
cated on section 10; Nicholas Strauss 
and family and Henry Baker and fam- 
ily on section 6. Orlando O. Brown 
and family and his two sons, Nathan 
L. and Lyman W. Brown, located 
three homesteads on section 8, and 
James Rigby on the fraction of sec- 
tion 4. The latter was an earnest 
Seventh-day Adventist and in 1876 or- 
ganized an Adventist church of thirty- 
six members in the Kennedy (now 
Mayo) school house. 

Mrs. Mary Jane Jenkins (daughter 
of John Hocking, Sr.) and family, 
Jacob E. Kephart and David Thayer 
and family located on section 2. 

In 1870, Obed Slater and family lo- 
cated on section 2, James Whitbeck on 
section 12, and a number of others, too 
numerous to mention, in various parts 
of the township. 

At ihis date the settlement had al- 
ready come to be known as the "Will- 
iams settlement, " by reason of the 
fact that three of the first men to lo- 
cate in it— Wm. Stott, Wm. Bush and 
Wm. Kennedy were often referred to 
as the three "Williams." 

In 1871 when the township was or- 
ganized, it was very naturally named 
'Williams" in honor of these three 
men whose public spirit made them 
as prominent as the fact they were 
early pioneers. 

The first death in this settlement is 
believed to have been Amanda Stilts, 
the daughter of Jacob Stilts, who 
died about December 28, 1870, and was 
buried on a spot of high ground on 
her father's homestead which was on 
the M SWi Sec. 10. The location of 
this grave is still indicated by a clump 
of Cottonwood trees that were planted 



254 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



around it after her burial. 

Miss Harriet A. Clemens taught the 
first school in this settlement, a term 
of two-months, in January and Febru- 
ary 1871. This was before the organi- 
zation of the township, and among the 
pupils that she enrolled there were 
two that were over age, namely, John 
StottandWm. P. Bush. The latter 
was thirty-two years of age and gave 
as the reason for his attendance the 
fact that his enlistment in the army 
prevented him from going to school in 
his younger days. He is now a resi- 
dent of Gilmore City. 

In the spring of 1871 this settle- 
ment was divided into two school dis- 
tricts. In district No. 1, the first 
teacher-was Miss Harriet A. Clemens, 
(now Mrs. B. S. Chapman) who taught 
the summer and winter terms of 1871, 
the former term in the summer kitch- 
en of Wm. H. Stott, on section 11, 
where she taught the previous term, 
and the latter one in a small tem- 
porary school building that was lo- 
cated near the center of section 11 on 
the north part of the farm now owned 
and occupied by Isaac P. Longnecker. 
Roderick J. Abbott taught the sum- 
mer and winter terms of 1872 and Mrs. 
Rachel Hartwell, of the Sunk Grove 
settlement, the summer and winter 
terms of 1873 in the same temporary 
building. In 1874, when the school 
house was built in this, the Warner dis- 
trict, James Clemens was the first 
teacher to occupy it. 

In the other district the first teacher 
was Edgar E. Mack, who taught the 
summer and winter terms of 1871 and 
also of 1872, in the home of Nathan L. 
Brown, on section 8. Mrs. Alice B. 
Ellis, wife of Capt. Ellis, of Ft. Dodge, 
taught the summer and winter terms 
of 1873 in the same place. In 1874, the 
Kennedy (now Mayo) school house 
was built and the first two terms in it 
were taught by Miss Sarah J. Darling, 
now the wife of Judge S. M. Elwood, 
of Sac City. 



The first board of directors con- 
sisted of O. O. Brown, president; 
"Wm. P. Bush, secretary; John Stott, 
treasurer; Wm. Kennedy and Roderick 
Abbott. 

The first permanent school buildings 
in Williams township were built in ' 
the Warner, Kennedy (now Mayo) and 
Jackson districts, in the season of 1874 
and by Abram O. Garlock, a resident 
of Cedar township, as contractor and 
builder. 

The Jackson district received this 
name from Joseph Jackson, who lo- 
cated in that district about the year 
1871. He was a carpenter as well as a 
farmer, and in 1875 was the contractor 
and builder of the school house in dis- 
trict No. 3, the Strauss neighborhood. 
The first teacher to occupy this build- 
ing was George Sanborn, the present 
editor of The Fonda Times. 

THE TOWNSHIPS ORGANIZED. 

•American youth behold where you 

stand ! 
To you must be given the care of this 

land; 
Prepare for your calling; be worthy 

the trust." 

As a natural result of the immigra- 
tion to this section, induced by the 
construction of the first railroad 
through it, four new townships were 
organized in Pocahontas county in the 
year 1870, namely, Cedar, Bellvilleand 
Grant on June 6th, and Dover (in- 
cluding Marshall) on September 6th, 
following. One year thereafter Colfax 
and Swan Lake townships were es- 
tablished; and in 1872 Lincoln (under 
the name of Carter) and Center town- 
ships. 

About this date the ravages of the 
grasshoppers and other causes of hard 
times checked immigration very seri- 
ously and a period of four years 
elapsed before Washington township 
was established (Sept. 5, 1876.) and 
Lake, the year following. Another 
period of three years, suggestive also 
of hard times, elapsed before Sherman 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



township was established. Finally 
on June 5, 1882, Marshall township, 
the last one remaining, was estab- 
lished under the name of Laurens. 

The last date given marks an im- 
portant epoch in the history of this 
county. It not only denotes the time 
when the organization of the town- 
ships of the county was completed, 
but the period when this county was 
traversed in the north and east by two 
more important railroads, the Toledo 
& Northwestern and the Des Moines 
Valley (now the C. R. I. & P.). This 
date also marks the end of a period of 
repeated disappointments, hard times 
and unexpected disasters on the one 
hand, and the beginning of an era of 
uninterrupted growth and pros- 
perity that has continued until the 
present time. 

The following exhibit of the popu- 
lation of the county during this peri- 
od, 1870-1882, shows when its growth 
was retarded by unfavorable circum- 
stances and when manifest impulses 
were received. 
Year Pop. Year Pop. 

1869 637 1875 2249 

1870 1446 1880 3713 
1873 2175 1885 6154 

It will be perceived that there were 
two short periods of manifest growth 
that in general may be said to have 
embraced the first two and the 
last two years of the period under con- 
sideration; and that almost the en- 
tire decade included in the seventies 
— 1872 to 1879 — was an era of slow 
growth in the development of the 
county, a circumstance that was no 
doubt due to the trials and hardships 
experienced by those who were' resi- 
dents of the county during that time. 

If we seek for the principal causes 
that checked the forward impulse of 
1870, it will be found that they were 
three in number, namely; the grass- 
hoppers, the financial panic of 1873 
and the strikes or hard times of 1877. 
The first of these retarding causes 
was in some measure local, but the 



two last were felt more or less serious- 
ly throughout the whole country. 

THE GRASSHOPPERS. 

As early as 1856 and 1857, and again 
in 1864 and 1866, the grasshoppers of 
the Rocky mountain region visited 
the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Ne- 
braska and Kansas, but owing to the 
limited number of the settlements at 
that early date, their ravages were 
not seriously felt or emphasized. 

In Pocahontas county there were 
three distinct visitations of grass- 
hoppers that are well remembered. 
These occurred in 1867 and '68, in 1873 
and '74 and, in diminished numbers, 
in 1875 and '76, when they departed, 
unwept and unmourned. 

These visitations were the cause of 
a vast amount of suffering through- 
out the entire northwestern part of 
this country and added greatly to the 
ordinary hardships of pioneer life. 
When they came sweeping through 
the land on the wing they darkened 
the face of the sun, and when they 
lighted on the farmers' gardens and 
growing crops they darkened the face 
of the husbandman, who saw before 
them his hope of subsistence but after 
them only a desolate wilderness. 
Whilst they would satisfy the cravings 
of their hunger, when necessary, by 
feeding on the tough native grasses of 
the prairie, they always manifested a 
keener relish for the tenderer vegeta- 
tion that grew in the cultivated fields 
of the settler, and when they found 
them they "cleaned them out." 

The region known as the permanent 
home of the Rocky mountain locusts 
or grasshoppers, where they breed ev- 
ery year and are always found in 
greater or less numbers, embraces the 
greater part of Montana, a narrow 
strip of western Dakota, most of Wy- 
oming and Colorado, the eastern por- 
tions of Utah, Idaho and Oregon, and 
a very large area in the British posses- 
sions north of Montana that equals 
more than one-third of the whole re- 



256 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



gion. The region over which they 
have temporarily migrated in years 
of excessive abundance, but from 
which they have disappeared the fol- 
lowing year, includes on the eastern 
side of the mountains all of Texas, In- 
dian Territory, Kansas, Nebraska, 
western Missouri, the greater half of 
Iowa, nearly all of Minnesota, Mani- 
toba and the country north to Lake 
Winnipeg. 

"The locusts," says the wise man, 
"have no king, yet go they forth all of 
them by bands. " This is true of the 
grasshopper, which is a species of lo- 
cust. They form in compact ranks 
like the battalions of a disciplined 
army and they march at the command 
of a divine and mysterious will. One 
spirit rules the mighty hosts, and 
they move in numbers without num- 
ber — countless as the snowflakes and 
dark as the clouds. "When they travel 
on the earth they cover everything as 
completely as the river its bed. 
When they fly they not only darken 
the sun, but the sound of their wings 
is as the sound of many waters. They 
enter windows, doors and chimneys, 
cover beds, tables and furniture and 
fill all wells and open fountains of 
water. They are omnipresent like 
the pestilence and, defying sword, 
spear and cannon, are resistless like 
the tornado. Famine and pestilence 
follow their march. 

The Arabs say "they have the face of 
a horse, the eyes of an elephant, the 
neck of a bull, the horns of a deer, the 
chest of a lion, the belly of a scorpion, 
the wings of an eagle, the thighs of a 
camel, the feet of an ostrich and the 
tail of a serpent." 

One wbo had the opportunity of ob- 
serving them and their habits in 1876, 
wrote as follows: 

The grasshopper as a champion mul- 
tiplier has no equal. He lays an egg 
which is about the size and shape of a 
long primer "O;" in> fact he lays' sev- 
eral of them. From the first of Au- 



gust until winter he is actuated by a 
reckless ambition to bore holes in the 
ground about the size of a pipestem 
and then to fill these holes with cream- 
colored eggs. Although he is small 
he attends to business and is a tri- 
umphant success. In stature he is a 
match for a six-penny stub nail and 
in form he is like unto a linchpin. 
He wears a green sealing-wax head 
and a pair of large glass eyes, so that 
with his long-tailed duster he looks 
like an unsophisticated school-master. 
He is not, however, unsophisticated; 
he thoroughly understands numera- 
tion and multiplication. He will 
stand himself bolt upright like a peg 
in one of those holes aforesaid, and 
viewing the heavens with sublime se- 
renity and wooden-headed uncon- 
sciousness knows just what he is 
about. He prefixes himself like a fig- 
ure "1" in the business and adopting 
the decimal system of notation calmly 
places a "0" where it will do the 
most good. That stands for 10, and 
before you know it he has added an- 
other cipher to that and he now reads 
100. 'About this time you begin to 
find out what kind of a multiplier he 
is and you entertain a degree of awe 
for him not inspired by a front view 
of his green goggles; you discover 
that he is a dangerous neighbor. In 
one hour he has given you a problem 
that with all your powers oi multipli- 
cation cannot be solved. He com- 
pounds his interest at 100 per cent ev- 
ery month and puts a snap judgment 
on your cornfield before you can say 
"grasshopper."* 

A practical use of the innate energy 
of the grasshopper is suggested by the 
following incident. A man riding 
along the border line of the county 
about the time of their last visitation, 
was passed by a runaway mule and 
soon after met fragments of a wagon 
and the owner of the outfit. The 
owner, after making inquiries, re- 
marked quite cheerfully that he was 
pretty sure he had cured his .mule of 
"balkin." "You see, I heerd that a 
grasshopper put in the ear of a hoss 
or mule would cure Mm from balkin'. 
So I tied a rag over the critter's ear 
so it couldn't get out, cotched a 
grasshopper, put it in, an' stranger, 

*Fergus Falls Journal. 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



257 



it's the best remedy I ever seed. The 
mule didn't give me time to get in 
the wagon. I never seed a mule so 
sprightly. I reckon the hopper 's out 
now an' I'll go an' cotch the mule." 
The eggs of the grasshopper are 
laid in almost any kind of soil, but 
principally in one that is tolerably 
compact rather than loose. When 
about to lay her eggs the female forces 
a hole in the ground by means of the 
two pairs of horny valves that open 
and shut at the tip of her abdomen 
and which, from their peculiar struc- 
ture are admirably fitted for the pur- 
pose. The eggs in each nest are care- 
fully placed side by side in four rows 
and each row generally contains seven. 
The laying season, commencing about 
the first of August, lasts six to eight 
weeks, and each female lays 100 to 150 
eggs during that time. The young 
hatch out about the first of May fol- 
lowing and as soon as the supply of 
food in their locality is exhausted, 
they commence to migrate, frequently 
in a body a mile wide, devouring as 
they advance all the grass, grain and 
garden truck in their track. In mi- 
grating they move, as a rule, during 
the warmer hours of the day only, and 
always in search of food. If it is per- 
fectly calm a traveler may meet dif- 
ferent bodies of them moving in dif- 
ferent directions, but if there is a 
breeze they rise facing it and then 
move with it. Only those that are 
hatched in their permanent region 
near the Rocky Mountains are capable 
of reproducing their species; that 
those hatched in this section and 
throughout the region of their tem- 
porary migrations lack this power is 
attributed to the effect of the change 
of climate. If the latter lay eggs they 
hatch the same season and are killed 
by the frosts of autumn. Their rate 
of movement when half grown is sel- 
dom greater than three yards a min- 
ute and then they walk three-fourths 
of the distance and hop the rest; later 



when they take wing they average 
about 20 miles a day. 

In 1867, the date of their first se- 
rious visit to Pocahontas county, they 
came to Powhatan township from 
the southwest, and when alighting 
their appearance was like the "falling 
snowflakes of a December storm." 
They moved in vast swarms, some- 
times several miles in extent, and in 
looking toward the sun they appeared 
a mile in depth. After doing consid- 
erable damage and depositing their 
eggs they rose from every part of the 
country like smoke from a forest and 
departed for Minnesota. Their reap- 
pearance in 1868 consisted of the young 
brood that came from the eggs depos- 
ited the previous year in this section 
of the country. During this year 
their ravages were seriously felt in 
Lizard township. 

In 1867 they came from the Rocky 
Mountain region and, depositing their 
eggs, a second crop appeared in the 
young brood that hatched in this vi- 
cinity in the spring of 1868. Their 
ravages during both of these years was 
felt most in the gardens, where they 
devoured most of the vegetables. 
They flavored their tobacco and cab- 
bage with onions, peppers, carrots, 
peas and tomatoes. Pumpkins and 
squashes were partially destroyed but 
they were not favorite articles of diet. 

On Friday, June 13, 1873, the first 
year of their second visitation to this 
county, a swarm arrived in Cedar 
township. In two days they had de- 
voured the corn and garden truck, but 
they remained in this section until 
they had deposited their eggs. These 
hatched the following spring about 
May 15th and by July 1st were ready 
for migration. Their injury this year 
was chiefly confined to the small grain 
and this was so nearly destroyed that 
in Cedar township in threshing time 
15 acres of wheat yielded 6 bushels, 
and 10 acres of oats 30 bushels. Six 
farmers who were neighbors stacked 



258 PIONEER HISTOKY OE POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



„ all their crops together to get a setting 
for the thresher, and it still cost them 
about ten cents a bushel, the crop con- 
sisting almost entirely of straw. 

J. C. Strong, a resident of Washing- 
ton township, on June 13, 1873, had 
occasion to go to Sioux Eapids, and 
when a short distance east of that 
place he encountered them on their 
first recorded arrival in that township. 
They were coming from the west and 
in a cloud so dense and thick that it 
was with difficulty he kept his team in 
the road or urged them forward. 
They were in the act of alighting and 
when he emerged from the swarm the 
ground was covered with them. When 
they encountered on the wing a build- 
ing or otber obstruction, they fell to 
the ground and laid in heaps and rows 
like drifts of snow that could be scoop- 
ed with the shovel. 

This swarm arrived in the north- 
west parts of the county, in Swan Lake 
and Marshall townships, on June 14th, 
and otber townships south and east 
on the day following. In crossing 
Pickerel lake they did not commence 
to alight until they had passed about 
a mile beyond it, and by reason of this 
circumstance, the fine crop of Milton 
Newell on the east side of the lake es- 
caped uninjured. Some time after 
harvest this crop was bought by J. C. 
Strong and it yielded about 400 bush- 
els of wheat and 600 bushels of oats. 

The grasshoppers on this occasion 
did not incline to alight on the open 
prairie, no doubt because the grass 
was well advanced in its growth and 
it did not afford them so delicious a 
repast as the tender, cultivated crops 
of the early settlers. The settlers 
then were few in number, widely sep- 
arated and their cultivated are,as be- 
came the special object of their rav- 
ages. When they passed to another 
district the scene left behind them 
was as sterile as if had been swept by 
the dreaded prairie fire. 

The second crop of this visitation, 



the one that hatched in this section in 
the spring of 1874, was not quite so de- 
structive as the first one, during the 
previous year, and various means were 
employed both to destroy them as soon 
as they were hatched and to protect 
the growing crops from their ravages. 
Constant and unceasing cultivation 
was found to be of great value in sav- 
ing the corn crop. On cool nights and 
windy days the young grasshoppers 
would cluster in bunches of old hay, 
grass or stubble as a protection from 
the cold. By taking advantage of 
this instinct of their nature, dry hay 
and straw were sometimes scattered 
in small bunches and many were thus 
burned in the cool of the following 
morning before they began to move 
about. Sometimes a deep ditch was 
sunk on one side of a field and some 
dry straw or hay being placed in the 
bottom of it, several persons moving 
abreast with brush in their hands 
would then drive them into the ditch 
and there burn them. 

Another device for destroying them, 
called a "hopper catcher," consisted 
of a tin pan which in some respects 
resembled an eaves-trough. It had a 
high back and was divided into sec- 
tions each one foot in length. It was 
usually eight, twelve or sixteen feet 
long, six inches wide, two inches high 
in front and ten at the back. The 
short ones were carried by hand either 
level or at an inclination of forty-five 
degrees, but the long ones were usual- 
ly supported by a pair of light wheels, 
one at each end, and they were then 
drawn or pushed along either by hand 
or a horse. This machine was intend- 
ed to catch the young grasshoppers 
when they attacked the heads of the 
wheat and oats crops, and when ready 
for use the sections were filled with 
kerosene, or water and kerosene. 
When it was passed back and forth 
over the field scaling the heads of the 
growing crops, the hoppers naturally 
and fortunately hopped against the 



SECOND PERIOD, 187C-1882. 



259 



high back-board and falling into the 
kerosene, very soon expired. Win. 
Bott and Wm. Snell, of Cedar town- 
ship, and others in this vicinity, used 
these hopper catchers with good re- 
sults. 

Hon. L S. Coffin, of Webster county, 
using hot water in the sections instead 
of kerosene, saved the grasshoppers 
and feeding them to his hogs found 
that for that purpose one bushel of 
them was worth about three of corn. 
When the chickens, however, fed upon 
them too freely, their eggs, of which 
the yolks became red like blood, had a 
peculiar taste and emitted an unpleas- 
ant odor that unfitted them for use. 

Prof. J. H. Fowler found that one 
barrel of grasshoppers contained from 
three to four gallons of a fine grade of 
machine oil, suited for sewing ma- 
chines and the like, and that a manu- 
facturer of the oil could afford to pay 
from 75 cents to $1.00 a barrel for the 
hoppers for that purpose. 

At their meeting held January 5, 
1875, the board of supervisors of Poca- 
hontas county, finding that many of 
the settlers were unable to pay their 
taxes by reason of the loss of their 
crops by the grasshoppers in 1873 and 
1874, adopted a resolution to the effect 
"that no interest should accrue on 
taxes delinquent until March 1, 1875." 

In 1876 the grasshoppers came again 
from the Eocky Mountain region and 
in as great numbers as in 1873, but 
they arrived too late in this county to 
injure the crops of small grain for 
they had already been harvested. In 
Cedar township, coming from the 
northwest, they began to alight about 
noon on Sabbath, the 6th day of Au- 
gust. The air was full of them and 
they began their depredations by de- 
vouring the choicest morsels of the 
husbandman's store, the garden vege- 
tables. The next day at noon most of 
them "took wing," and though they 
left their mark behind them, very 
little damage was done, the corn crop 



being well advanced. In Dover town- 
ship and other parts of the county 
they arrived two weeks earlier, did 
more damage especially to the late 
corn, and deposited their eggs. 

On Saturday evening, September 23, 
1876, a meeting of thecitizensof Grant 
township was held in school house No. 
1, and an organization was effected for 
the mutual protection of that settle- 
ment, then embracing eleven sections, 
against prairie fires and the ravages of 
the young grasshoppers the ensuing 
season. A. W. Rake was elected 
chairman and C. Ii. Tollefsrude sec- 
retary of this meeting. 

In the spring of 1877 the young 
brood, forming the second crop of this 
visitation, commenced to hatch about 
the first of April and in numbers so 
great as to endanger all the crops of 
that year. Fortunately for the farm- 
ers, a storm of three days' duration 
commenced on Thursday, April 26th, 
that destroyed most of them. This 
storm was a regular old-fashioned 
blizzard, somewhat out of season but 
bringing relief so immediate and com- 
plete from the grasshopper pest that 
every old settler remembers it with a 
feeling of gratitude. A gentle rain 
commenced on Thursday that on the 
next day about noon changed to snow 
accompanied with a high wind, and 
the snowing and the blowing contin- 
ued until nearly Sabbath morning fol- 
lowing, when the ground was covered 
with a deep snow. The frosts and the 
dampness that ensued had the good 
effect of destroying the unhatched 
eggs and most of the young brood. 
The few that survived, at the time of 
their maturity, "took wing" and de- 
parted. A little later the same season 
another lot came from the northwest 
and settled in the gardens and fields 
of oats, then nearly ripe, but they re- 
mained only one or two clays. 

These repeated ravages of the grass- 
hoppers deprived the farmers of North- 
western Iowa not only of their ex- 



260 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



pected incomes, but of profitable em- 
ployment. Their lands were rendered 
valueless, many were compelled to 
seek lucrative employment in other 
sections and the outlook was dark in- 
deed. 

NO MORE GRASSHOPPERS. 

In the spring of 187*7, Prof. Aughey, 
the celebrated western naturalist, 
who had made a special study of the 
grasshopper, predicted that that sea- 
son would be the last of the grasshop- 
per visitation for many years. The 
IT. S. commission entertained the 
same opinion. The basis of this opin- 
ion was the following report made to 
the governor of Nebraska, June 10, 
1877, by Prof. Aughey and Prof. C. 
Thomas: 

We consider the danger from the 
young which have hatched out this 
season in Nebraska, over, and that 
this part of the problem is already 
solved. We also believe the long 
series of their visitations has come to 
a close. There may be and doubtless 
will be at irregular periods, visitations 
by migrating swarms, but it is nob at 
all likely that the present generation 
will ever witness another such a series 
as that which has just passed. 

These predictions were singularly 
verified for that and every year since 
that time. Their conclusions were 
based on facts that they had learned 
from the natural history of this in- 
sect. The cultivated areas are now 
so large that in the future, even if 
they should come, they will not be 
able to make much if any impression 
on the growing crops; and the people 
have learned how to meet and contend 
successfully with them when they ap- 
pear in the spring, so that as a de- 
stroyer they have lost their terror. 

FINANCIAL PANIC OF 1873. 

In 1870 and 1871 occurred the brill- 
iant victories of Germany over France 
that resulted in an accession of terri- 
tory and the payment of an indemnity 
of more than a thousand millions of 
dollars to the former. Two short 
years thereafter a series of financial 



disasters occurred, commencing with 
the crash on Wall s'treet, New York 
city, that caused among others on 
that same day, the failure of Jay 
Cooke & Co., September 19, 1873, the 
panic of that year and a period of hard 
times, that culminated in this coun- 
try in the bloody railroad strikes of 
1877. The day on which this crash 
came on Wall street was Friday, and 
so far-reaching were its ominous re- 
sults that it has since been known as- 
"Black Friday." 

The panic of 1837 inaugurated a pe- 
riod of hard times that old men still 
remember as disastrous, but it was 
preceded by bountiful harvests and 
food was plenty. The panic of 1857 
was one that ruined the material 
prosperity of thousands, but it was 
soon relieved by the discovery of gold 
the same year in California and Aus- 
tralia, and the use of steam in indus- 
try had marvelously increased the 
productive power of human labor, but 
in 1873, no adequate immediate relief 
was found; even the planting of new 
homes on the frontier was completely 
checked by the remarkable visitations 
of the grasshoppers that occurred at 
this time and for several years de- 
voured the new settlers' means of sub- 
sistence. 

RAILROAD STRIKES OF 1877. 

The great railroad strikes of 1877 
had their beginning in the east, on 
July 16th, when the locomotive en- 
gineers and firemen on the Baltimore 
& Ohio, at Martinsburg, W. Va,, left 
their posts, and in less than twenty- 
four hours the entire B. & O. system 
of railroads was idle. The men on 
other railway systems joined the 
strike, so that on August 1st, follow 
ing, they numbered 15,000 who, resist- 
ing the constituted authorities of the 
government, burned a vast amount of 
railroad property in Pittsburg and 
caused the shedding of blood in Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania, New York, New 
Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michi- 



SECOND PEEIOD, 1870-1882. 



261 



gan, West Virginia, Kentucky and 
Missouri. Trade and commerce were 
paralyzed and the scenes of devasta- 
tion and murder were unparalleled in 
the previous history of this country 
during an era of peace. The immedi- 
ate cause of this strike was a reduc- 
tion of ten per cent in the wages of 
engineers and firemen. It was the 
first violent demonstration of that an- 
archistic movement, which was im- 
ported to this country by Johann 
Most and Justus Schwab, and that 
continued to grow until it received 
its quietus by the execution of Spies, 
Parsons, Engel and Schwab, ten years 
later at Chicago. 

HARD TIMES— SECOND PERIOD, 1873- 

1877. 

The period from 1873 to 1877 was one 
of hard times throughout the com- 
mercial world. The hard times ex- 
perienced by the residents of Pocahon- 
tas county during this period were 
not incident to a peculiar condition 
of things in this section of the coun- 
try, nor even in our own land, for the 
people in the various countries of 
Europe experienced the same unfavor- 
able conditions that affected us. The 
laws of trade and the ways of com- 
merce seem to have been obstructed 
or disturbed, and the whole world was 
struggling under the same wet blan- 
ket that covered us as a nation. It 
may be truthfully said, however, that 
on the frontier the trials of this peri- 
od were more severely felt than in 
other sections of the country, by rea- 
son of the repeated ravages of the 
grasshoppers and the greater distance 
of the settlers from all sources of sup- 
plies. 

To those who suffered the loss of 
their crops the preceding year, even 
the prospect of commencing the en- 
suing summer's work on the farm was 
gloomy, for they had no money in 
hand and nothing that might be ex^ 
changed for the necessaries of life, 
Only tUose who fire in this position, 



and have the loving and innocent eyes 
of a family looking to them for sup- 
port and such comforts as others en- 
joy, can appreciate this situation. 

In this school of experience on the 
frontier many learned that the real 
necessaries of life are few; that for 
health, strength and comfort, but few 
things are absolutely needed, and 
these are within the reach of every 
honest and industrious tiller of the 
soil, no matter how low his stock of 
provisions might be reduced. They 
learned to be content with such 
things as they had or to which the ne- 
cessities of the situation confined 
them. They realized that fine cloth- 
ing was not necessary for the comfort 
and respectability of the family, and 
that we live in an age and country 
where the texture of the wearing ap- 
parel does not establish the standard 
of intelligence, morals or refinement. 
They learned to live economically and 
contract as few debts as possible, by 
making the products of the cows and 
chickens supply their table and even 
meet other demands. 

It has been said, "A German will 
live on what an American throws 
away; a Jew on what a German throws 
away, and a Chinaman on what a Jew 
throws away;" and yet all these classes 
enjoy just as good health, are able to 
perform as much hard labor and enter 
as fully into the pleasure and zest of 
life as the American. 

The lessons and experiences of this 
trying period are now recalled by the 
early settlers with a good deal of 
pleasure and delight, a fact that is 
very neatly expressed and illustrated 
by the following incident: 

A poor old Scotch woman having 
nothing to eat, knelt on the floor of 
her little cabin, built close against 
the rocks of a hillside, and prayed for 
bread. A roguish boy of the neigh' 
borhood chancing to pass that way, 
heard her voice and listened at the 
door. He hurried home and, quickly 
returning with a loaf of bread, stepped 



262 PIONEEB HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



from the rocks to the roof of the cabin 
and then dropped the loaf down the 
chimney. It rolled from the empty 
fireplace to the chair beside which the 
old lady still knelt earnestly praying. 
There was a moment's pause and then 
her supplications were changed to 
thanksgiving. "You need not be 
thankin' the Lord for that loaf, I 
brought it," shouted the youngster 
down the chimney. "Ah, my laddie," 
she answered from below, "it was the 
Lord that sent it, even if the devil 
brought it." 

OTHER CAUSES OF HARD TIMES. 

No account of the hard times ex- 
perienced by the sturdy pioneers of 
this county would be complete that 
did not include some reference to the 
numerous destructive prairie fires that 
occurred during the period now under 
consideration, and of the depredations 
committed by the gophers and black- 
birds. 

PRAIRIE FIRES DURING THE '70 'S. 

Prairie fires occurred before, and oc- 
casionally afterward, but it was dur- 
ing the 70's that the aggregate amount 
of losses from this cause was the great- 
est to the early settlers of Pocahontas 
county. The first settlers, locating 
their homes along the streams and 
timber belts in the eastern part of the 
county, found in them a natural pro- 
tection from the devouring flame of 
the prairie Are, but when the prairies 
became dotted with scatl ered homes 
without any natural protection, they 
were exposed to this danger, and the 
losses sustained from this cause were 
very severely felt. 

About October 1, 1870, a fire was 
started one afternoon on the NWi of 
Sec. 29, Cedar township, (now ITawley 
farm) by the hired man employed by 
T. J. Curtis and, the wind from the 
northwest becoming strong, it was 
soon beyond his control. In a very 
short time it had reached the premi- 
ses of Jacob Snyder, on Sec. 31, now 
the Stafford farm. Mr. Snyder had 
gone to Sac City and when he returned 
he found the stable, which contained 
one horse and two co.ws, in. ashes, and. 



just outside the door of it lay the 
charred and lifeless bodies of his wife 
and little child, the latter amid the 
ashes of the buggy. The circumstan- 
ces indicated that when Mrs. Snyder 
saw the fire approach the stable, she 
hastened thither carrying her babe in 
her arms, and placing it in the buggy, 
undertook to remove the stock from 
the stable, and while thus engaged 
both became enveloped in the flames 
and perished. Their bodies were first- 
buried on the farm, and afterward 
sent to Wisconsin. Their house was 
not burned and Cedar creek prevented 
the fire from spreading farther east. 
This sad loss of life and property 
led the new settlers in the southwest 
part of the county to adopt the prac- 
tice of surrounding all their buildings 
with fire-guards made by plowing two 
sets of furrows a rod or two apart 
around them and either mowing or 
burning off the intervening space. 

The summer of 1871 was unusually 
dry throughout the Upper Mississippi 
Valley, and the autumn of that year 
has become historic for the great fires 
that occurred at that time. On Oct. 
8-9-th, the great fire in Chicago oc- 
curred that burned 18,000 buildings, 
covering 2,124 acres and valued at 
$200,000,000. Terrible forest fires that 
same year caused great destruction of 
property and some loss of life in 
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

On Sabbath evening, October 8th, 
1871, which was the very time of the 
Chicago fire, there passed over Poca- 
hontas county a prairie fire that is 
said to have been the most destruc- 
tive one in its history. It came from 
the southeast, the vicinity of Twin 
Lakes, Calhoun county, and with a 
broad front that in the shades of 
evening resembled an ocean of fire. 
Sweeping over Bellville, Colfax and 
Cedar townships on the south it sped 
northward across the county, con- 
suming everything t/h£lt was not care- 
fully protected, 



SECOND PEEIOD, 1870-1882. 



263 



Where the prairie sod had been 
broken or the ground newly cultivated 
during that and the two preceding 
years, there had grown a great lot of 
tumble weeds that were then dry as 
tinder and loose at the root. These 
miniature haystacks (see frontispiece) 
rolled over the prairie, before the 
wind that drove the Are, like flocks of 
sheep, carrying the flames over the 
barriers that were supposed to be 
proof against the progress of any fire. 

When the farmers the next day 
looked for their stacks of hay on the 
prairie and of straw or grain in the 
field, they saw only the place where 
they had served as fuel for the flame. 
Where the fire passed through the 
groves and orchards, most of the 
young trees were killed. Numerous 
bins, stables and other buildings, to- 
gether with their contents or stock 
enclosed therein, were burned. Some 
of the hogs that escaped sustained the 
loss of their bristles, and others the 
loss of their ears or other extremities. 
There was no place for miles around 
where this fire did not spread, and in 
many instances the home was the 
only building saved. 

Some indeed were not even so for- 
tunate as to save their homes. One 
of those who lost everything by this 
fire was Andrew Jackson, of Grant 
township, who at this time was occu- 
pying the dug-out of his neighbor, 
Stephen W. Norton. Mr. Jackson and 
family at the time of the fire were in 
Sac City. When he returned and 
found his stacks, stable, own cabin 
and furniture, representing his year's 
crop and improvements, all destroyed 
he was completely discouraged and 
left the county. 

In September, 1873, another de- 
structive fire swept northward through 
the central part of the county, that 
burned all the buildings of John B. 
Joliffe and bis neighbor, Mr. Rowley, 
residing in the northeast part of Pow- 
hatan township. Messrs, demons, 



Achor and others of their neighbors 
living north of them in Palo Alto 
county sustained similar losses on 
this occasion. This was one of the 
hard years to the settlers of this coun- 
ty when the tire consumed what the 
grasshoppers had left. 

On Tuesday, October 13, 1871, a fire 
was started near the Fonda creamery 
that ran first northward to Dover 
township, and then westward, de- 
stroying a considerable amount of 
property. A farmer of Dover town- 
ship lost his hay by this fire, and 
many of his cattle starved to death 
the ensuing winter. 

On October 6, 1875, another fire 
from the south burned over the west- 
ern portion of the county, destroying 
a large amount of the hay and un- 
threshed crops of that year, which 
were the least injured by the grass- 
hoppers during the period of their vis- 
itations. 

About this time the cattle raisers 
in other counties south of this one 
began to send here, in the spring of 
the year, great numbers of cattle that 
were herded on the unoccupied prai- 
ries in this section during the summer. 
The close pasturage of the prairies 
proved a public benefit, for by this 
means the areas that had previously 
been sources of danger every recurring 
fall and spring, were now transformed 
into real barriers to the spread of the 
prairie fire, and to this extent lessened 
the danger of losses from this cause. 

On Monday, October 6, 1879, another 
general and destructive prairie fire oc- 
curred that is worthy of special men- 
tion. It began in the vicinity of Lake 
City, where it burned slowly for sev- 
eral days, the weather being calm. 
During the afternoon of the third day 
a strong wind from the south arose 
that drove it northward at a rapid 
rate through Williams township and 
that portion of Pocahontas county 
that is west of Cedar creek. When 
the fire came sweeping over their 



264 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, 10 WA. 



farms in Williams township, Martin 
Welsh, Win. Wykoff, O. O. Brown and 
others were attending a meeting of 
the school directors, one mile east of 
Cedar creek. Martin Welsh and fam- 
ily were living on the east side of sec- 
tion 8, and their stable was located on 
the east or opposite side of the 
road on section 9. When Mrs. Welsh 
became aware of the near approach of 
the fire, the wind was so strong it 
lifted and carried burning brands in 
mid-air, so that the thatch roof of the 
stable was already ablaze although 
the fire on the ground had not yet 
reached it. Hastening, with only 
stockings on her feet, to rescue the 
stock at the stable, consisting of two 
horses and two cows, she succeeded 
in saving the horses but her feet were 
so badly burned she fainted and fell 
helpless on the road. At the home of 
Wm. Wykoff the fire leaped over a 
strip of plowed land three rods in 
width, and consumed his stable, wag- 
on, hay and .granary, including the 
crop threshed three days previous, 
consisting of wheat 100, barley 90, 
flax 60, rye 100 and oats 225 bushels. 
On the approach of this fire to Fon- 
da, the people turned out en masse to 
fight it but they were powerless in 
front of the head-tire. It crossed the 
railroad west of the Cedar bridge, and 
it's movement, northward, as John 
Lemp found while chased across the 
open section south of the farm of R. 
P. Thompson, was nearly as fast as his 
team could travel. This fire destroyed 
not only a great deal of hay in the 
stack and grain in the bin, but numer- 
ous groves and orchards. Among the 
losers on this occasion were John 
Lemp, six stacks of grain; Frank 
Hanke, barn and stacks; Eugene Ev- 
ans, barn and cribs; Samuel McDeid, 
thirty tons of hay, and Geo. O. Pinneo 
among other things, his nursery. The 
latter had planted 20,000 fruit trees, 
2,000 shade trees and 200 evergreens. 
The grasshoppers, by cfeyoiyipg tl|eir 



foliage, killed many of them, but after 
this fire only a remnant of about 100 
trees remained. 

Since 1880, prairie tires have not 
been so extensive or frequent in their 
occurrence. Cultivated fields, herded 
pastures and graded roads have taken 
the place of the open prairie with its 
treacherous covering of dry grasses, 
and the danger from this source has 
been no greater than is incident to 
any other agricultural section. But 
during the '70's when it was an annu- 
ally recurring event, the prairie tire, 
in dry seasons, was dreaded more by 
the settlers than blizzards and cy- 
clones; in fighting it men exhausted 
themselves, women fainted and some 
even lost their lives. 

GOPHERS. 

The gopher is well remembered by 
every old settler, both for his friendly 
manner and troublesome depredations. 
An occasional one (of the little striped 
gophers) may yet be seen on the vir- 
gin prairies but during the 'TO's, be- 
fore the boys began the work of their 
destruction, the prairies were full of 
them. 

The gopher is a burrowing rodent 
having a stout, rat-like form and 
strong fore legs, that are adapted for 
digging in the ground. Three varie- 
ties of them were found in this coun- 
ty, namely, the pocket, gray and 
striped. The pocket gopher has two 
cheek pouches that open outside of 
the mouth and are used for carrying 
the ground to the surface while dig- 
ging its hole. This and the gray 
gopher are about the size of a gray or 
fox squirrel. The striped one resem- 
bles a ground squirrel but is much 
longer, and when alarmed stands up- 
right to see the cause of danger. 

These occupants of the prairie were 
ever on the alert to share with the 
pioneer farmer not merely the fruits 
of his labor in the time of harvest but 
also the precious seed at seed-time. 
When the corn was planted, the ker* 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



265 



nel was an appetizing morsel to be 
diligently sought after by tbe indus- 
trious gopher and, if perchance, he 
did not succeed in scenting it before- 
hand in the furrow, he was sure to go 
for (gopher) it as soon as it came peep- 
ing through the soil. The loss of the 
seed of course meant the loss of the 
crop, and so serious were their depre- 
dations that at last the farmers fell, 
the necessity of doing something for 
their utter extermination. 

On January 5, 1877, a petition was 
presented to the board of supervisors 
of this county asking that a bounty 
be offered for killing pocket gophers, 
and in response thereto the following 
resolution was adopted: 

Resolved, That the board of super- 
visors offer a bounty of five cents each 
for killing pocket gophers and gray 
gophers, and two and a half cents 
each for killing striped gophers, when 
presented in sufficient amounts to be 
entitled to $1.00 bounty; and the coun- 
ty auditor is hereby authorized to 
draw warrants on the county fund, 
when presented in accordance with 
this resolution. 

The effect of this premium on the 
heads of the little gophers made their 
capture very interesting. The boys 
not otherwise employed went forth 
with a string, provided with a slip- 
noose at one end, and made general 
havoc of them. They then realized 
how numerous they were and how 
rapidly they multiplied. 

On June 7th, five months after the 
payment of a bounty was proposed, A. 
O. Garlock, the auditor, reported to 
the board of supervisors that from 
April 1st to that date, warrants for 
gopher bounty had been issued to 72 
persons and the amount of them was 
$234.68. 

It will be perceived that the first 
action of the board required that the 
captured gophers be brought to the 
auditor, and after the payment of the 
bounty on them they were naturally 
2^ffc in his hands. This was a new and 



unexpected experience, and when ithe 
above report was made, the board for 
his relief ordered that all parties 
claiming bounty on gophers should 
"take their tails to the nearest justice 
of the peace and by him be sworn to 
the fact of having destroyed the 
gophers in Pocahontas county. " The 
justice of the peace was to destroy the 
tails and certify the fact and number 
of each kind destroyed. Upon the 
presentation of his certificate at the 
regular session of the board, the boun- 
ty previously provided was then to be 
allowed. 

Thirty days later, or on July 2, -1877, 
the auditor reported certificates and 
the board issued warrants ranging 
from $1.00 to $13.66, in favor of 63 per- 
sons, William Brownlee, of Bellville, 
receiving the largest one. 

It will be perceived that gopher 
hunting had suddenly become im- 
mensely popular. The times were 
hard, employment scarce and the 
bounty offered made the capture of 
the gopher not merely an interesting 
sport but a lucrative employment 
alike to men and boys. The board of 
supervisors was surprised at the inter- 
est awakened and became a little 
alarmed at the results, for the war- 
rants issued amounted to several hun- 
dreds of dollars, and no tax had been 
levied to meet this demand. On that 
day, therefore, the board ordered that 
after July 20, 1877, no more bounty 
should be paid until the people should 
have an opportunity of approving its 
payment and vote a tax for that pur- 
pose. At the general election that 
fall a tax of one mill for gopher bounty, 
was approved, there being 206 votes in 
favor and only 31 against it. 

At their next meeting, January 11, 
1878, the board renewed the bounty 
on gophers. That fall there were 382 
votes for, and 35 against; and in the 
fall of 1879, which was the last time it 
was submitted, there were 280 votes 
for, and 204 against, a gopher bounty 



266 



PIONEEK HlSTOBY OF POCAHONTAS COtJHTY, IOWA. 



tax. The payment of the bounty was 
continued until June 1, 1881, and sev- 
eral hundreds of persons were glad- 
dened by it. Among those whose in- 
dustry was rewarded by the largest 
warrants, we note in 1878, Warren 
Smith, $10.35; C. C, Herrington, $10.95; 
K. H. Mathers, $14.63; George and Al- 
bert Gilson, $15.00: in 1879, H. Young, 
$12.27; and in 1881, Dennis Pagan, $11.- 
80; Geo. Gilson, $13.85; Wallace, Noah 
and Kalph Hallock, $13.90; Wm. Whit- 
tlesey, $14.10; T. L. Dean, $19.57 and 
James Quinn, $38.37. 

"It matters not what may have been 

fortune's dole, 
The dream of youth is clear, and when 

again 
He sees the prairie he looks for the 

gopher's hole." 

Experience proved that the bounty 
was a wise means of getting rid of 
these pests. In winter they gnawed 
the roots of grape vines and young 
trees; the amount of grain destroyed 
by one of them in a year is not likely 
to be overestimated, and by avoiding 
these losses the welfare of the farmer 
was promoted. The bounty had the 
good effect of unifying the efforts of 
all the farmers at the same time for 
their extirmination, and this is the 
only way such a result could be ac- 
complished. 

THE BLACKBIRDS. 

Another friendly visitor and rob- 
ber of the pioneer was the blackbird, 
and he was sure to call twice a year. 
Blackbirds are neither lonely travel- 
ers nor solo singers, but choral song- 
sters that make their trip to the sun- 
ny south in the fall of the year in 
flocks of such countless numbers, that 
they thrill the air with the movement 
of their wings and cover an acre of 
ground when they alight. 

In the spring they were accustomed 
to alight upon the freshly broken 
prairie where they naturally picked 
up the seed that had been only half 
covered. In the fall they were de- 
lighted in finding the oats in the 



shock, the buckwheat in the patch and 
the corn ripening on the stock. Far 
mers that lived in the vicinity of 
Sunk Grove in the early '70's state, 
that their loss from the depredations 
of the blackbirds would sometimes 
amount to nearly one third of the 
crop. After their departure many a 
stock of Corn would have only a red 
cob instead of an ear of golden grain. 
Blackbirds are not thieves, they 
disdain to act like a thief. They are 
rather roguish and entertaining vis- 
itors that entertain the husbandman 
with a delightful open air concert 
while they help themselves to the 
fruits of his toil. In the fall of the 
year as they move southward they 
sing merrily together, and when they 
settle upon a field where food is 
plenty, they give manifest expression 
to their hearty enjoyment, by blend- 
ing their myriad voices in one grand 
chorus of delight that is always 
charming to the human ear. Al- 
though the losses sustained from the 
depredations of the blackbirds were 
deeply felt, nevertheless their autum- 
nal chautauquas were so friendly and 
interesting to the lonely pioneer, that 
he usually enjoyed rather than be- 
grudged them their free entertain- 
ment. 

THE BLIZZARDS. 

The snow lies thick around us 
In the dark and gloomy night, 

The cold blizzard wails above us, 
And the stars withhold their light. 

Another cause of hardship to the 
pioneer of the '70's is found in the se- 
vere snow storms that then occurred 
and caused a great deal of privation 
and suffering. The word "Blizzard" 
was coined by O. C. Bates, founder of 
the Vindicator at Estherville, to desig- 
nate the storms of wind and snow that 
were once peculiar to this treeless and 
desolate region. The blizzard usually 
found the pioneer unprepared for its 
coming, and always left him "snowed 
in." 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



267 



The old- settlers affirm that the cli- 
mate of this section has changed con- 
siderably since its settlement. The 
winters generally are not so severe and 
the summers are drier. The drainage 
of the soil has left it not only drier 
but warmer, and it is possible that 
these changes occurring over a large 
section of country affect the atmos- 
phere in the same way. 

The blizzards usually lasted three 
days, and during this period the snow 
would fall so rapidly and in flakes so 
fine as to suggest that the cloud had 
descended to unload its burden. It 
would sometimes be ushered in by a 
cloud in the western sky that promised 
only a gentle fall of snow. On the 
first day the snow would commence to 
fall gently, with a slight movement 
from the southwest; but about noon 
or evening the temperature would 
commence to fall rapidly and the wind, 
changing its course, would come from 
the north or northwest in whirls, 
blasts and sweeping gales, with con- 
stantly increasing force, until about 
the morning of the third day. 

Where the fire had swept over the 
prairie the previous fall there was 
nothing left to hold the light, feath- 
ery snow drifting before the driving 
wind, and this mingling in the air 
with that which was constantly com- 
ing from above, formed a white cloud 
so dense that at a distance from the 
belts of timber one could not see ord- 
inarily more than a few rods, and 
sometimes only a few feet. "We could 
scarcely see the road just ahead of us," 
was a common remark. Trails on the 
prairie were soon covered and but few 
grades existed; the sharp, frozen par- 
ticles of snow hurled fiercely in the 
face and eyes caused a blinding and 
suffocating sensation and the extreme 
whiteness of the snow made the ground 
and sky one color thus producing a 
kind of color blindness that resulted 
in bewilderment. In a few hours 



large drifts were formed in the hol- 
lows, sheltered nooks and along bluffs 
so that the roads in these places were 
soon buried several feet deep. To 
pilot one's way in the day time was 
bad enough, but after the darkness of 
night set in the benighted traveler 
was usually forced to stop and make 
the best possible provision for the 
night. 

It must be remembered that these 
were days of long distances to the 
mill, store and post office and the far- 
mer could not always anticipate 
where or when he might be over- 
taken in the storm. Sometimes a 
pioneer would be overtaken at the 
home of his neighbor and not be able 
to return to his own without getting 
lost on the way. Some even got lost 
on the way from the house to the 
barn. It was impossible to see the 
buildings and if one happened to wan- 
der a little from the right direction 
it was difficult to find their location. 
The constant and loud roar of the 
wind made it impossible to hear the 
cry of a lost one and, when a row of 
young trees had not been planted for 
that purpose, a guide-line of rope or 
wire from the house to the barn was 
sometimes used to insure a safe return 
while passing to and fro. Familiar 
instances of bewilderment in going 
short distances in this section are 
those of John Lemp and George Fair- 
burn; the former while going from his 
cabin to the stable, the latter while 
going from the depot to his home in 
Fonda. Children were liable to be- 
come bewildered and perish on the 
way from school. The stables or 
stock pens that were not wholly en- 
closed would sometimes be filled to 
the roof with snow and unsheltered 
stock would be driven for miles before 
the chilling blasts and then perish. 

About the third day the storm would 
abate and the sun show signs of reap- 
pearance, but the cold wave would 



268 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



hold sway until the morning of the 
day following when it would register 
25 to 35 degrees below zero. A few 
days of calm weather usually followed 
the blizzard and then the sun shone 
from an exceedingly clear sky with un- 
stinted brightness, as if the eye of 
heaven would look in cheering sympa- 
thy upon a bleak, dreary scene where 
the elements had held high carnival, 
upon a world enshrouded beneath <a 
glistening robe of snow. 

One who occupied a loghouse in 
the eastern part of this county, and 
sat by a warm stove while one of these 
old-time blizzards was raging, states 
that he remembers how he listened 
with a feeling of awful security to 
the clatter of the shingles and the 
howling of the nigbt wind. Every 
little while the winter hurricane 
would swell with accelerated rage and 
shake the solid structure over him to 
its very foundation.* 

One who was detained at Pocahon- 
tas by a blizzard left behind him the 
following suggestive lines: 

"Oh, thou howling, screeching bliz- 
zard! 
You fairly freeze our gizzard. 
You come from the north pole, 
And really make our soul 
Long for the balmy summer shades,' 
And wish you were in far off hades. 
You pile up the snow in cold disdain, 
And from blowing you scarce refrain; 
Business quails in your path, 
And at railroads you only laugh. 
We dread thy fierce blast and song, 
That maketh a board bill one mile 
long. 
We long to see thee no more." 
On March 14-16, 1870, there occurred 
a snow storm that is remembered as 
the "big blizzard." The weather for 
some time previous had been mild and 
pleasant and the forenoon of the ]4th 
was so warm that the snow at first 
fell in large flakes. Toward evening 
a strong northwest wind arose tbat 
Vohn M, Russell, Llssard. 



continued to grow stronge and as tehr 
cold increased the snow became fine 
as dust, so that at nightfall the air 
was completely filled with it. On the 
morning of the 15th the temperature 
was 20 degrees below zero and the 
snow, tossed and driven by the wind, 
was falling more rapidly than ever. 
During that day the wind was so 
furious and the air so densely filled 
with snow that one could not see 
more than a few feet distant. The 
storm did not subside until the close 
of the day following. Subsequent 
storms have been as cold and long but 
none so blinding as this one during 
the second day of its continuance. 
On beds and cabin floors the snow lay 
from one to three inches deep and 
many stables were filled. Families 
that lacked fuel went to bed to keep 
warm, and live stock were uncared 
for until the fury of the storm had 
passed. At this time there were but 
few settlers and very little stock in 
the western part of this county. The 
snow lay in drifts fifteen feet deep in 
the low places along the streams and 
eighteen persons perished from expos- 
ure in northwest Iowa. 

On March 25-27, 1875, a severe bliz- 
zard occurred that detained the school 
board and a number of others from 
Center township, three days in the 
courthouse at Old Rolfe. They got 
their meals at the home of A. O. Gar- 
lock, a few rods distant, but they could 
not obtain bed clothing sufficient for 
all and the nights were so cold that, in 
order to keep warm, they had to ap- 
point one of their number to stay 
awake and put wood in the stove about 
once every hour. The wind was so 
strong that a furious blast of it wrecked 
the building badly and caused a con- 
siderable part of the plastering to fall 
from the ceiling. It fell with a loud 
crash at night while the men were 
sleeping and it thoroughly aroused 
them very suddenly. Among the tium« 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



269 



ber of those who were in the court 
house at this time were Wenzel Hubel, 
Joseph Stverak, Joseph Stoulil, direc- 
tors, and Wm. A. Hubel, interpreter. 

The winter of 1880 and 1881 is re- 
membered for the large amount of 
snow that fell and the uniformly low 
temperature that prevailed. On Oct. 
15, 1880, the snow fell to such a depth 
as to All the cornfields and prevent 
the husking of that crop that fall. 
Other snow storms followed this one 
from time to time during that winter 
until the depth of the snow was very 
unusual. The ground was complete- 
ly and constantly covered with snow 
from the time the first storm came 
until the 15th of April following, 
when a heavy rain melted it and caus- 
ed floods that washed away many of 
the bridges. 

The storm of Oct. 15-17th, 1880, was 
general throughout the Mississippi 
Valley and in many places was at- 
tended with serious results. It rained 
on the 15th and at night, the temper- 
ature falling, the rain changed to snow 
and the wind became fierce. Chimney 
tops were thrown down, trees were up- 
rooted and considerable stock was 
killed by the overturning or destruc- 
tion of outbuildings, Col. Elandon of 
Bellville losing several of his best steers 
and J. E. Metcalf seventeen. The corn 
crop was left flat on the ground, every 
line of telegraph wire in the entire 
northwest was thrown down and. the 
western railroads were blockaded gen- 
erally, the Illinois Central from Sat- 
urday noon until Monday night. 

On Jan. 20-22, 1881, another snow 
storm occurred and the weather was 
colder than for twelve years previous. 
The Cedar was frozen to the bottom 
and considerable stock perished. 

On Feb. 4-6, 1881, there occurred an- 
other three days fall of snow from the 
southeast that drifted greatly and 
blockaded the 111. Central R. R. from 
Saturday, Feb. 5 to the 11th— six full 



days. Drifts were fifteen feet deep 
and in some instances cattle sheds 
were completely covered. S. E. 
Heathman and Geo. Henderson of 
Powhatan, each lost stock to the 
amount of $100 and many others less 
amounts. The first train from Sioux 
City on the 11th was overtaken by an- 
other blinding snow storm from the 
northwest before it arrived at Fonda, 
and at Pomeroy it was compelled to 
remain from Friday night until the 
following Tuesday morning. The road 
west of Fonda was not opened until a 
couple of days later. On Saturday 
morning, the 19th, just when the road 
had been fairly opened, a violent wind 
from the north began to blow that im- 
mediately filled the cuts and again 
blockaded the trains. On Monday 
night the first train from Sioux City 
passed and Tuesday morning the wind 
again filled the cuts and stopped all 
trains until Thursday. This was the 
third time in succession, that within 
a few hours after the first Sioux City 
train passed Fonda, the railroad was 
again completely blockaded with snow. 

The Pocahontas Times, as a result 
of this last blockade, was unable to re- 
ceive the usual supply of paper for its 
weekly issue, and on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 
1881, in order to maintain the regular 
publication of its legal advertisements, 
there was issued a small four page 
paper of which most of the copies were 
printed on brown wrapping paper. It 
is remembered as the blizzard issue of 
the Pocahontas Times. It was Issued 
on the last day of the blockade and in 
it the editor expressed his sympathy 
for the railroad men by observing that 
"If the railroad men get through this 
winter, without the use of exclama- 
tions not taught in the Sabbath schools 
their hereafter will be assured." 

During the fall of 1880 and the 
winter following, the demand for coal 
in northwestern Iowa was greater than 
the supply, so that at Fonda and other 



270 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



stations along the 111. Central R. R. 
cars that were temporarily sidetracked 
were unloaded and sometimes the rail- 
way company was compelled to con- 
fiscate the contents of private cars to 
supply their engines. In Fonda the 
schools were kept open by means of 
fuel furnished by private citizens, but 
in Swan Lake township and other 
places the schools were closed during 
the entire winter because they had no 
coal. On Dec. 8tb Geo. Fairburn went 
to Fort Dodge and succeeded in mak- 
ing arrangements for the shipment of 
one car of coal a day to Fonda, which 
was then the only railroad station in 
this county. During the blockades in 
February a coal famine at Fonda was 
averted by securing possession at one 
time of four cars and at another three 
cars of coal that, while on the way to 
stations further west, were providenti- 
ally sidetracked at this place. 

This coal famine in the fall of 1880 
was not due to snow blockades but 
rather to a greatly increased demand 
as a result of the large immigration 
tbat year and the fact the Fort Dodge 
Coal Co. could not obtain a sufficient 
number of men to mine the coal. In 
response to numerous appeals for relief 
the Iowa state railway commissioners, 
on Feb. 12, 1881, sent the following re- 
sponse: "All communities in those 
portions of the state where coal is the 
principal article of fuel ought to pro- 
cure their winter supply before the 
earliest date of winter's opening. The 
unexampled demand suddenly precip- 
itated upon the state by the early and 
continued cold weather of November 
and December could not be wholly and 
promptly met." 

On Monday, Jan. 30, 1883, another 
great snow storm occurred, lasting 
three days, that blockaded all the rail- 
ways for many days so that supplies of 
coa} and nouKwere exhausted in the 
towns as well as in the rural districts. 
The removal of the blockade on the 



C. R. I. & P. railroad was so long de- 
layed that the citizens of G-ilmore City, 
on account of their immediate need of 
supplies of fuel and bread, sent a pe- 
tition to Gov. Sherman, requesting 
him to take steps to have that railroad 
opened for their relief. 

During the winter of 1885 two great 
snow storms occurred that blockaded 
the railroads for several days, namely 
on Jan. 15-18 and Feb. 9-13, the block- 
ades in the south part of the connty 
lasting three and four days respec- 
tively. 

The year 1886 was not only ushered 
in, in this county, . with an ever mem- 
orable blizzard, but was rounded out 
with another of the same proportions 
in November. 

On Saturday afternoon, Jan. 2d, the 
snow began to fall, accompanied with 
a high wind and the storm continued 
with unabated fury until Monday 
night. The drifting snow was left in 
great artistic piles upon the streets, 
in the front yards, and every railroad 
cut was filled. On Wednesday night 
following, the railroads south and east 
of Fonda had been opened but before 
the first trains had passed over them 
another three days blizzard from the 
northwest commenced that night that 
made the blockade worse than ever. 
On the two roads at Fonda the block- 
ade continued longer than on any 
previous occasion. On the 111. Cent, 
it lasted ten days, from noon Jan. 3 to 
the 13th. Fortunately the dealers at 
Fonda had a full supply of coal and 
breadstuffs. 

It was on this occasion that the 
board of supervisors and the editors of 
the local county papers held their 
merry winter chatauqua at Pocahon- 
tas and published their sayings and 
doings in The Daily Blizzard, the first 
daily paper issued in Pocahontas 
county. The board this time was not 
able to get together until late on Tues- 
day and the second storm commenced 
after the arrival of the editors the 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-18.82. 



271 



next day. 

On Friday the visiting editors and 
printers, organizing under P. C.Barron, 
editor-in-chief, took possession of the 
office of the Pocahontas Record, and 
Oil Saturday morning, Jan. 9, 1886, 
issued the fi i st copy of the famous little 
daily. The other members of the edi- 
torial staff consisted of George San- 
born, assistant editor; Will Chiquet, 
boss reporter; Supt. J. P. Rubinson, 
farm editor; Ed. Donohue. city editor; 
Will Hodges, society reporter; and 
Rufus Thornton, foreman. Its motto 
was, 

Laugh and the world laughs with 
you. 
Weep and you weep alone. 

Laugh till you shake like ague, 
And your wife will stay at home. 

This paper was the occasion of con- 
siderable merriment, especially to 
those whose "sayings and doings ' were 
not reported. The following state- 
ments are gleaned from its introduc- 
tory edit> rial: "This is a great news- 
paper. We make this solemn state- 
ment for fear you would take this 
great paper for a patent mrdicine ad- 
vertisementor asoap box label. Every 
great paper should have an object and 
the object of this one is to benefit man- 
kind and elevate them from the slough 
of despond. What grander, nobler 
object could any man ask for? As we 
unfurl our banner to the breeze we de- 
sire to inform our unsuspecing victims 
how this great aggregation of brains, 
and stupendous constellation of intel- 
lect associated together to throw forth 
this sheet to the world. It was a bliz- 
zard!" 

On Nov. 15-17, 1886, a b'izzard oc- 
curred that blockaded the trains on 
the IllinoisCentral railroad eight cbiys. 
The train west on Tuesday, the 16th, 
struck the snow at Storm Lake and 
remained there till the road was 
opened The severity of tlvs storm 
was felt most seriously in northwest' rn 
Iowa, but all railroad business and 
traffic was suspended throughout; the 



state on the 17th. The temperature 
fell to 20 degrees below zero. 

On Jan. 12-13, 1888, another se- 
vere blizzard occurred that caused a 
blockade of several days. It was 27 
degrees below zero and John, a son of 
Richard Olney, aged 16 years, froze 
to death about two miles west of 
Laurens. This storm extended to the 
the Gulf of Mexico and more than 100 
persons perished in Dakota, Minne- 
sota, Nebraska and Iowa. This large 
loss of life was due to the fact that the 
storm in Dakota caught many of the 
teachers and their pup'ls either in 
school or on the way home, and many 
farmers and their wives trading in 
town, and they perished in the effort 
to return to their homes. Two little 
girls of A. II. Strouse of Swan Lake 
township were so badly frozen that one 
of them lost a hand. Samuel Tibbits, 
his daughter and child, encountered 
the slorm near Laurens and the team 
refusing to face it, he unhitched them, 
ovei turned the sleigh and all sought 
refuge under it. They remained on 
the open prairie with no other protec- 
tion, while the storm was raging, for 
fourteen hours and were very much 
frt stbitten. 

These accounts of the snow storms 
during the 70's and 80's have been given 
with considerable fullness, for they 
were events that affected the welfare 
of every resident of the county in those 
days. It remains to be said, that these 
great snow storms were not peculiar to 
this section but prevailed over a large 
part of this country. Their severity, 
however, was felt far more keenly by 
the early pioneers in their humble and 
unprotected cabins than by those liv- 
ing in older communities, and the- rail- 
roads suffered more then than now for 
they were also almost wholly unpro- 
tected. The situation is now so greatly 
changed, both with respect to the 
railroads and the homes of the people, 
that, although similar storms may oc- 
cur in the future, nevertheless their 



272 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, 10 WA. 



severity will never again be so seriously 
felt by tbe people, and the railroads 
may never be so badly blockaded. 

Tbe reasons for these observations 
are obvious. An era of better times 
has been ushered in, the settlement of 
the country has been completed, the 
people now live in comfortable homes 
that are protected by artificial groves 
and the dealers have ample facilities 
for carrying abundant supplies. Be- 
sides the snow no longer drifts for 
miles over an open prairie but is held 
by numerous fields and fences; and the 
railroads, profiting by their experience 
and observation, have perfected the 
means for their complete protection 
against a blockade. 

TREE EXEMPTIONS. 

In order to encourage the planting 
of artificial groves for the natural pro- 
tection of the homes of the lonely pio- 
neer on the prairies, and to alleviate 
the burden of taxation to all who were 
actual residents of the county during 
the period of hard times, the board of 
supervisors on Jan. 2, 1872, authorized 
an exemption, except for state pur- 
poses, on the real or personal property 
of each and every taxpayer who should 
within the county plant and suitably 
cultivate one or more acres of forest 
trees. The amount of this exemption 
was $250 for each acre of forest trees 
planted not more than eight feet apart 
each way and properly cultivated. 

On April 1 following, the board in- 
creased the amount of this exemption 
to $350 an acre and the treasurer was 
authorized to deduct this exemption 
from the assessor's returns for the year 
187X. This measure had the effect of 
ascertaining in an official way the 
names of those who were pioneer tree 
planters in this county. A few of 
these names are as follows: 

May 6, 1872, A. M. Thornton of 
Thornton, Greene & Co., Marshall 
township, 2i acres, consisting of one 
acre of timber, one acre of orchard and 
one half mile of hedge. 



June 3, Wm. Lynch, Cedar, 2 acres 
of timber. 
Nov. 12 W. J. Curtis, 3 acres, John 

A. Hay, Harvey W. Hay and John 
Brown each 2 acres; Henry Shields, A. 
Brown, D. W. Brown, Eliza Forey and 
Geo. E. Thompson each one acre. 

On Jan. 6, 1873, the following per- 
sons were added to the list: Wm. 
Bott and H. C. Tollef srude each 3 acres ; 
Theodore Dunn, Wm. Stenson; W. 
Bichards, J. C. Strong and Marcus 
Lind, each 2 acres; Geo. Wallace, H. 
H. Wallace, John Dooley, P. Shea, H. 

B. Vaughan, B. McCartan, R. C. 
Brownell and M. E. Owens each one 
acre. 

April 7 and later in 1873, J. W. 
Brown, Wm. Snell and Michael 
Wiese each 3 acres; A. O. Garlock, W. 
E. Garlock, John Wiese, Edward Til- 
ley, and Samuel Booth each 2 acres; 
E. D. Seeley, R. L. Sherman, John 
Proctor, G. G. Wheeler, C. M. Saylor 
and A. Hoover each one acre. 

In 1874 the following additional per- 
sons: C. H. Tohefsrude, A. F. Hub- 
bell, Fred Gintz, J. D. Adams, N. 
Keef er each three or more acres; John 
Soder, Wm. Orcutt, David Slossonand 
Nancy A. Hancher (for 1871) each two 
acres; David Wallace, B. F. Osburn, 
Ephraim Garlock, W. B. Harris, Rob- 
ert Dixon, Hans Leib, Geo. O. Pinneo 
and O. I. Strong each one acre. 

The exemption on forest trees was 
discontinued on trees planted 
after Sept. 1, 1874 aud on Feb. 2, 1875 
the exemption on fruit trees was re- 
duced to $250 an acre. Those who re- 
ceived this exemption for fruit trees 
in 1875 were Mrs M. E. Wagner, Peter 
Peterson and Henry Elsen each on one 
acre for the years 1871, 1872, and 1873; 
Peter Wendell two acres and J. B. 
Thomas one, both for the years 1872 
and 1873; M. Byrne, A. C. Blakeslee, 
E. Mullen and H. Falconer on one acre 
each for 1873; O H. Booth, J. H. John- 
son and J. F. Clark on one acre each 
for 1874: John Lampe, J. D. Hilton, 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



273 



Wm. Gilson, S. E. Heathman and H. 
Heathman one acre each for 1875; and 
J. T. Cary for 1872 and 1873. In the 
fall of 1876 the exemption on forest 
trees was renewed and in 1877 W. J. 
Busby, N. C. Synstelien and a host of 
others received it. 

Encouraged by these exemptions the 
settlers on the prairies planted groves 
and orchards, some on a scale so liberal 
that they soon became not only objects 
of beauty and convenience but of great 
value for the shelter they afforded. 
Those that protected their young trees 
from live stock and prairie fires, and 
gave them proper cultivation began to 
have a beautiful grove in a half dozen 
years. The soft maple makes a very 
rapid growth but the black walnut, 
after the lapse of ten years, grows 
nearly as fast and its timber is more 
valuable. The elm, oak, white ash, 
honey locust, cottonwood and willow 
have been planted with good success 
for their timber, and the white pine, 
cedar, fir, spruce and box elder for or- 
namentation and windbreak. The 
broad prairies have been relieved of 
their wild magnificence by intelligent 
industry and made more beatiful by 
these serviceable ornamentations — the 
handiwork of industrious settlers. 

PRAIRIE WOLVES. 

Another means of cooperating with 
the pioneer and at the same time pro- 
moting the public welfare was the 
payment of a bounty on prairie wolves. 
The state which now pays a bounty of 
$5 for the scalp of an adult wolf, dur- 
ing the '70's and '80's paid only $1, but 
during the year 1871 this county offered 
an additional bounty of $2 and the 
lucky recipients that year were A. O. 
Garlock and Joseph Clason, who re- 
ported the capture of one and two 
wolves respectively. Others who were 
fortunate enough during the '70's to 
win the state bounty by the capture 
of one or more wolves were Edward 
Calligan, Nelson Palmatier, Philander 



Strong, Oscar Brown, John Freeman, 
A. Baker, E. P. G-orton, Charles Ne- 
mick, Frank Payer, Wm. Lynch, C. H. 
Tollefsrude, T. Shimon, C. L. Van Al- 
stine, G. J. Gibson, J. Kregci and F, 
Hronek. In 1879 a boy of John Soders 
caught eight little wolves in one day, 
and in 1881 Harold and John Shull 
captured 23 wolves and a number of 
otter and mink in Swan Lake town- 
ship. During the years 1884 and 1885 
the county bounty on wolves was re- 
newed but not to exceed $2.50 includ- 
ing the state bounty. 

The prairie wolf was about the size 
of a large cat and the timber wolf con- 
siderably larger. Both were of a gray 
color and they carried their ears erect. 
Their movement was similar to that 
of a dog and their howl was usually 
preceded by two barks similar to those 
of a pug dog. They lived in the banks 
along the streams and sauntered forth 
after nightfall in packs of a half dozen 
or more in search of their food. They 
were very fond of chickens, and if a 
pioneer located his cabin near their 
haunts, they would sometimes sur- 
round his premises during the night 
and favor him with a howling sere- 
nade. Early one morning when Mr. 
and Mrs. D. M. Woodin of Dover were 
bringing a lot of live chickens to 
Fonda, two timber wolves followed 
them a distance of two miles from the 
creek south of the Hubbell farm. In 
November 1876, W. S. Fegles shot a 
timber wolf along the north branch of 
Lizard creek that had followed Charles 
Keeler about two- miles. 

They were very timid, never hurt 
anybody and nobody was afraid of 
them; nevertheless their peculiarly 
doleful howl around a settler's cabin, 
especially on a rainy or stormy night, 
tended to produce a feeling of uncom- 
fortable loneliness. 

MUSKRATS. 

The surface drainage of this section 
of country did not begin until after 
1880, and during the '70's it continued 



274 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



to be covered with numerous ponds 
and sloughs where the muskrats multi- 
plied rapidly from year to year until 
about the close of this period. The 
sloughs were so dotted with their 
houses that they presented the appear- 
ance of ahayfielcl thickly set with piles 
of hay partially submerged with water. 

The muskrat, as a providential 
helper to the pioneers of this section 
during the '70's, performed a more im- 
portant part than is ordinarily ac- 
corded to him. If the negro was 
slighted and few persons appreciated 
his claim to recognition until Harriet 
Beecher Stowe espoused his cause and 
wrote that familiar volume, "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," something like this is 
true of the muskrat. Like the native 
grasses on which he lived he was a 
natural product of this section, and, 
all unconscious to himself was as help- 
ful and profitable to the early pioneer 
during this period as the ravens to 
Elijah, yet, comparatively few care to 
acknowledge his worth to them in 
the time of their greatest need. 

The muskrat lived where he de- 
stroyed nothing valuable and his fur 
was always in demand. In 1857 when 
the banks suspended specie payment 
and issued their own notes for money, 
the people called it "wild cat" and 
"red dog" money, because the farmer 
found that much of it became worth- 
less in his pocket the next day after 
he got it. Every old settler, however, 
remembers that when there was no 
other money in circulation on the 
frontier the "muskrat hide" was al- 
ways to be relied on; and during the 
grasshopper period it was about the 
only money, or reliable source of in- 
come, that some of them had. 

In those days the trapper was as 
jealous of his trapping claim as of his 
homestead, and this right was en- 
forced, when necessary by an appeal 
to arms if the trespasser did not leave 
within two or three hours after a 
proper notice had been given. Several 



instances of this sort occurred in Swan 
Lake township and the number of per- 
sons involved made the danger of a 
pitched battle quite imminent. 

A half dozen persons from a distance 
located at the northwest part of Swan 
Lake and by their trapping trespassed 
on the territory. claimed by John B. 
Strouse and David Hays, settlers in 
that vicinity. These two men noti- 
fied the trespassers that if they did 
not leave within two and one half 
hours they would return with others, 
divide their furs and throw their traps 
in the lake. In this instance the 
notice was promptly obeyed. 

About the first of December, 1878, 
four trappers from Sioux Bapids took 
possession of the vacant house of Bev. 
Win. McCready in Washington town- 
ship and began to trap in the sloughs 
in that vicinity, that had already been 
flagged by the settlers, who discovered 
what was going on and politely re- 
quested the intruders to go to some 
other locality. The trappers defiantly 
boasted that they would not leave and 
if it became necessary they would 
throw lead. The next day eight men 
headed by J. C. Strong as captain made 
their way to the trappers' cabin and 
found them supplied with sp ,% ars, 
knives and firearms. Capt. Strong now 
ordered them to gather their traps 
and leave immediately. This brought 
matters to a dangerous crisis, but for- 
tunately a conflict was avoided by the 
trappers beating a hasty retreat. 

The trapper usually placed his steel 
traps in or near their houses, and this 
was the principal method of catching 
them. In the fall of the year when 
the ice was clear, it was great sport to 
spear them through the ice, and one 
man in this way has caught as many 
as 75 in a day. Their pelts or hides 
seldom brought less than fifteen cents 
each, and sometimes they were worth 
two or three times that amount. 

Two trappers from Omaha two sens- 



SECOND PERIOD, 187J-1882. 



275 



.oris in succession, 1868 and 1869, occu- 
pied a dugout on Devil's Island on sec- 
tion 9, Grant township. They brought 
their supplies with them and when 
they returned in the spring they took 
with them wagon' loads of furs. After 
a terrible snowstorm in January, 1870, 
they found a man frozen to death two 
miles north of that place. He was 
driving an ox team from Sioux Rapids 
to Fort Dodge and, becoming bewil- 
dered, had lost the road. 

Herkimer L. Norton, a resident of 
Fonda but then of Grant township, 
realized $105 from furs obtained by 
trappingat Devil's Lake in one month, 
February, 1870, and about $500 from 
his catch during that winter, which 
included a few otter and mink. John 
W. Wallace and I. E. Parrish by trap- 
ping six weeks in Grant township the 
same winter obtained 1,835 mviskrat 
hides that brought them about $300. 
The trapping that year was splendid. 
Later Wm. F. Bridges received $98 for 
one lot and some pioneers built their 
houses from funds thus obtained. 
In the fall of 1878 the price of their 
fur was high and the drought of that 
season made it easier to catch them. 
Theodore Dunn at Fonda in one day 
from one set of trappers received 2,000 
muskrat hides, and on March 1, 1879, 
it was found that the number of hides 
received and shipped from Pomeroy 
the previous fall and winter was 57,- 
000. The fact that this section of 
country was once very full of them is 
commemorated by the name given to 
"Muskrat Slough" in the northwest 
part of Colfax township. 

During the winter of 1870 and 1871, 
John W. Wallace, L. M. Schoonmaker, 
A. R. Vansickle and two others spent 
six weeks in hunting and trapping in 
Osceola county. They built a hunter's 
shanty on Ocheydan river, which con- 
sisted of an underground room so dug 
out that the frozen ground overhead 
was left undisturbed except in one cor- 
ner where a ho]e w/ijS made for the 



chimney. They lined the inner wars 
of this hunter's parlor with willow 
poles laid one on top of another and 
covered the floor with dry prairie 
grass. The tire was always made on 
the ground in one corner of the room 
and their fuel consisted of dry prairie 
grass and green willows. During their 
stay in that section they saw the large 
drove of elk in that vicinity and fol- 
lowing them until dark two men got 
close enough to shoot at them but 
killed none. This pursuit took them 
fifteen miles from their underground 
parlor, and they were compelled to 
erect a tent they had with them for 
the night. They did this upon the ice 
in a slough of tall grass, making a Are 
of slough grass at the door of the tent. 
The next morning they found they 
were only a half mile from the cabin 
of a Poland er, who gave them their 
breakfast, the first meal they had 
after taking their previous noon lunch, 
and it consisted of coffee and brown 
bread spread with lard. They caught 
two beavers and a large quantity 
of muskrats but their hunt was not 
so successful as they anticipated. 

While the otter lives on fish and 
snapping turtles the beaver and musk- 
rat live on a vegetable diet. When 
other game was scarce it was not an 
unusual thing for an early settler to 
make use of the hind quarters of the 
latter for food, and sometimes jokes 
were perpetrated on those who could 
not bear the idea of '-eating a rat." 
Such an instance has been related as 
having occurred as follows: A certain 
new settler had occasion to call upon 
a neighbor before breakfast. He par- 
took freely of the family meal and 
supposed at the time he was eating 
chicken, but as he rose from the table 
his astonishment and horror can be 
better imagined than described when 
the neighbor said to his wife: "Wife 
you got an extra good fry on the musk- 
rats this morning." 

This incident reminds one of the 



276 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



first experience with the, oyster con- 
cerning which it has been said, he 
must have had a palate covered over 
with brass or steel, who on the 
rocky shore, 

"First broke the oozy oyster's 

pearly coat, 
And risked the living morsel down 

his throat." 

BEES AND RABBITS. 

la the early days there was current 
a tradition to the effect that the 
Indians have said "when bees and 
rabbits appear in the timber it is time 
for them to depart. " In the timber 
along the Des Moines river in the 
northeast part of this county, there 
were no wild bees until Perry Nowlen. 
the pioneer bee keeper of Des Moines 
township, brought bees to that sec- 
tion. No rabbits were seen in that 
township, or even the sign of any, un- 
til the season of 1860 and quail did not 
make their appearance there until 
1867, although prairie chickens were 
very abundant. The large jack rabbit 
or hare did not make his appearance 
in this county until 1885, when two of 
them were caught, one west of Fonda 
and the other west of Pocahontas. In 
1888 Thomas Reamer of Grant town- 
ship caught a rabbit weighing eight 
and one-half pounds that was perfectly 
white in color and differed materially 
from the jack rabbit. It was of a 
species not seen in this section until 
that year and its flesh had the rich 
flavor of the English hare. Others of 
the same species were caught that 
year. 

EEAVERS. 

The beaver is the most industrious 
and sagacious of all fur bearing ani- 
mals. A colony of them still exists 
on the south branch of Lizard Creek. 
The residents of the neighborhood, 
where for years they have made their 
abode, guard them from trappers with 
jealous care. Every fall they build 
anew their dam across the creek. The 
dam built in 1895, the season of 



greatest drought in this section of 
country, was larger and higher than 
any of its predecessors, being about 
four feet high and ten feet wide at the 
base. It tapered to a narrow width 
at the top. Trees, eight inches in di- 
ameter, were gnawed off by their sharp 
teeth and formed into a foundation 
for the dam. This was overlaid with 
the branches of the trees and tbe slen- 
der willows in the vicinity, so as to 
form a firm and suitable base for their 
mortar which consisted of mud. The 
dam thus built from these crude ma- 
terials by means of their paws, noses 
and powerful jaws awakened the sur- 
prise of all who saw it, and it backed 
the water in the creek for a consider- 
able distance.* 

ELK. 

This section was once the home of 
the highest types of wild animal 
life known to the American continent 
— the buffalo, elk and deer. The buf- 
falo, wildest by nature, finding that 
the hunter was after his hide and 
horns, fled first; the elk and the deer 
lingered a few years longer. 

A considerable drove of elk, num- 
bering 200 or more, found feeding 
grounds and comparative security for 
rearing their young, in the unsettled 
region of northwestern Iowa around 
the head waters of the Little Sioux 
and Rock rivers, in Osceola and neigh, 
boring counties. The new settlements 
of 1869 and 1870, in southern Minne- 
sota and Iowa, forced this herd to take 
refuge in the valley of Ocheydan river, 
a tributary of the little Sioux. There 
they remained in comparative security 
until July, 1871, when the entire herd 
was driven southward from its place 
of seclusion, and scattered into frag- 
ments tbat were overtaken and killed 
before they reached the Missouri river. 

One of the fragments of this herd 

containing about eighteen elk passed 

southward through Pocahontas county 

following in general the course of 

*Manson Democrat. 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



277 



Cedar creek. They were seen on sec. 
19, Marshall township, and on sections 
1 and 10, Cedar township, by L. C. 
Thornton, Wm. Lynch, David Wallace, 
sr., and his son Samuel, respectively; 
and by several persons at intervening 
points. 

A few years previous a drove of a 
half dozen elk sauntered near the home 
of Ora Harvey in Clinton township and 
his wife who was alone, mistaking 
them for Indians, hastily ran into the 
house and locked the door. Mrs. C. 
M. Saylor and others, while riding to 
old Rolfe in a sleigh, saw about the 
same number and in all probability 
the same lot. Seeing at first only their 
antlered horns above the snow beyond 
the brow of a little hill, they also 
thought they were Indians by reason 
of the resemblance of their horns to 
the tops of tepee poles. 

In the fall of 1868, John W. Wallace 
and Garret Schoonmaker killed an elk 
on the west branch of Lizard creek 
near the center of Lincoln township. 
It weighed 400 pounds and, as it had 
been seen a day or two previous, it was 
the special object of their hunt. 

DEER. 

During the early '70's, deer were 
quite plenty in the central part of this 
county and during the summer when 
they were undisturbed they would 
even linger in the vicinity of the home 
of the settler, mingle with his cattle 
and feed in the unprotected corn 
fields. During the first two seasons 
that D. M. Woodin was a resident of 
section 24 Dover township, five deer 
frequently mingled with his cattle in 
the open pastures and three of them 
were killed by Garrett Gibson, who, 
in the fall of 1873 and winter following 
shot eighteen deer in this county. 
Nearly all of the deer then killed 
were captured in Grant township, and 
the other most successful hunters were 
Herkimer L. Norton and Geo. E. 
Hughe's. 



When Nelson Palmatier was build- 
ing the schoolhouse in the Tollefsrude 
district, Grant township, he expressed 
a desire to see some deer. Mr. Norton 
took him to Devil's Island and they 
killed three deer that day, and on a 
subsequent afternon Mr. Norton and 
Robert Russell shot three more. As 
late as the fall of 1877 Messrs. Norton 
and Hughes killed four deer in five 
days, and the next season five deer in 
six days, in Grant township. These 
instances show that a number of deer 
lived here, and that these men met 
with as good success, as those who 
make deer hunting a specialty. While 
Mr. Hughes was recognized as the best 
shot in all this section, he was free to 
attribute their success in killing deer 
to his friend Norton, who, he said, 
"was a scientific hunter and experi- 
enced in killing deer; rather slow on 
the trail but sure to overtake them." 
They killed one after the severe snow 
storm in October, 1880 and another one 
in 1882; and these seem to have been 
the last ones killed in this county. C. 
H. Tollefsrude and his brother Elisha, 
by concealing themselves in an old 
well, partly filled and located between 
a great stretch of tall slough grass and 
a patch of buckwheat, had the pleas- 
ure of capturing a deer in the winter 
of 1874-75. 

WILD DUCK AND GEESE. 

In 1869 and 70 this section of the 
country, twice a year, was not only 
full of wild ducks, brandts and geese, 
but their tameness was the subject of 
frequent remark. At that time one 
could shoot at them in the sloughs and , 
missing them, could reload and shoot 
a second time before they would fly 
away. This statement is made by the 
men who laid the track on the Illinois 
Central railroad and by Ruf us Greene, 
a resident of Marshall township. 

THE CRANES. 

"Of homely form and solemn mien, 

With dagger beak and leg's so slim, 
On© thinks of him as visions seen 



278 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IO WA. 



In olden dreams,now vague and dim." 
In the early day as many as one 
hundred cranes would occasionally be 
seen in a flock. On one occasion about 
twenty alighted near the home of 
Ruf us Greene, and his little daughter 
about six years old went out and played 
among them a considerable time, 
many of their heads being higher than 
hers. 

The cranes, when dancing on the 
prairie, presented a very ludicrous 
appearance. Some, who saw them 
and were familiar with the figure, 
said their movements resembled a 
"French Four." They danced at 
other times but the finding of a little 
snake was sure to be the occasion for 
a lively dance. One crane would catch 
the snake and fling it into the air, 
sometimes as high as ten feet. An- 
other one would then give it a fling, 
and while they continued to repeat 
this snake performance, it was per- 
fectly comical to see them stepping 
around fantastically on ti-ptoe. 
"A weird shape winging hurriedly, 
A fleeting shadow— nothing more." 

OTHER NATIVE BIRDS. 

The mellow goose and mallard duck, 
the swan and the crow, used to come 
from southern lands to watch the 
cornfields grow; the hungry hawk and 
'•thunder pump" came along, to join 
the cheerful racket with the frog's 
tuneful song. Numerous hunters 

"Had watched the beaver build like 
men, 

Killed the wild duck and marsh hen; 

Caught wolves and badgers, lynx and 
raccoon, 

And shot on Lizard lake the lofty 
loon," 

It remained, however, for Charles E. 
Whitehead of New York City, presi- 
dent of the Des Moines and Fort 
Hodge, now Rock Island, railway com- 
pany, to place the names of some of 
the most numerous and favorite birds 
of this locality in an historic setting. 
When this line of road was built 
through this county, he was assigned 



the privilege of giving names to the 
towns on it north of Rolfe. He was 
fond of hunting and named them 
Plover, Mallard, Curlew and Widgeon, 
in honor of favorite native birds of 
this section. When other members of 
the railway company proposed to call 
the new town in Clinton "Whitehead" 
to commemorate bis own name, he 
politely declined the honor and, trans- 
ferring the name of the first county 
seat, called it Rolfe. 

PDBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 

The increase in the population of 
this county in 1370 resulted not merely 
in the organization of new townships 
and an increase in the membership of 
the board of supervisors, but quick- 
ened interest in the public improve- 
ment of the county, which consisted 
chiefly in the establishment of new 
highways and the erection of bridges 
across the streams and sloughs. In 
1871, on the petition of David Slosson 
and others, the board of supervisois 
established highways on all the sec- 
tion lines of the county except a few 
that were named, but many of them 
were not opened until ihey were 
needed ten or fifteen yeais later. That 
same year arrangements were made 
for the erection of bridges across the 
Cedar at Fonda by B. B. Moore, across 
the same stream four miles north on 
the Bell and Hanson road by J. II. 
Vosburgh, across Fast creek, near Gar- 
lock's by John A. Hay and across the 
north and south Lizard streams by 
B. B. Moore. In May following the 
last one was washed out and it was 
then replaced by J. J. Bruce. 

On January 2, 1872, it was decided 
to change the method of contracts for 
the erection of bridges by arranging 
that the county furnish all the mater- 
ials used during that year, and Thos. 
L. MacVey was appointed a commis- 
sioner to locate all bridges that might 
be deemed necessary, to furnish the 
plans for them and inspect them when 
completed, to purchase the lumber and 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882, 



279 



employ all workmen needed in their 
construction. He held this position 
until April first following when he re- 
signed so far as related to the pur- 
chase of material and the employment 
of labor. 

In 1874 the first pile driver was pur- 
chased by the board of supervisors for 
the use of the county in building 
bridges. In 1881 the board directed 
that all bridges across the several 
streams in the county be bridged by 
piling, and in January, 1882 that all 



a great improvement, and, at tie rate 
of $4 95 per lineal foot, erected bridges 
in 1882 over the Dzs Moines river, 
Cedar (Woodin's) and Pilot (Rolfe) 
creeks, two on Beaver creek ( Handler's 
and sec. 9, Des Moines township) and 
three on the north branch of Lizard 
creek, in Lake, Center and Washing- 
ton townships. He was also accorded 
all the repair work on the old bridges. 
In 1889, two wrought iron bridges 
were built, one over Cedar creek at 
Fonda and the other over the Des 




THE FIRST COURT HOUSE 1860—1876, OLD ROLFE. 



contracts for their construction be 
upon the basis of the number of feet 
in length, the county to furnish all the 
material and the contractor to furnish 
all the labor and erect all the bridges 
needed that year. 

The first contractor under this new 
arrangement, and for a number of 
years afterward, was N. B. Post of 
Fonda. He introduced the use of 
cedar piling instead of pine, which was 



Moines river in tne northeast part of 
the county. 

CHANGE OF COTJiSTY SEAT. 

As early as June 3, 1873, petitions 
were presented to the board of super- 
visors asking that a vote be taken for 
the removal of the county seat to the 
northwest corner of the sw I sec. 18 of 
Lincoln township. These petitions 
were rejected because of certain de- 
fects in the signatures, and the lacjj 



280 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, 10 WA. 



of affidavits to establish their gen- 
uineness. 

On June 8, 1875, in response to a pe- 
tition signed by a number of the legal 
voters of the county asking that the 
county seat be changed to the village 
of Pocahontas Center, situated on sec- 
tion 31 Center township, it was ordered 
that the question be submitted to the 
people at the next general election, 
and it was approved. 

The contract for the new court 
house at -Pocahontas was let by the 
board of supervisors in January, 1876, 
to J. L. Gould for $2,600. 

The board of supervisors held its 
last session at old Rolfe on September 
6, 1876, and the circuit court its last 
session on September 14, 1876, J udge J . 
R. Zouver presiding. The attorneys 
in attendance were J. D. Springer and 
Capt. J. A. O. Yeomans of Foi t Dodge, 
J. McDaid of Sac City, A. E. Clarke of 
Humboldt, and members of the bar 
residing in this county. The most 
importaut case tried at this session 
of the court was that of E. E. Roosa 
vs. John II. Johnson for slander. It 
occupied two days, developed some pe 
culiar phases of human life and the 
jury rendered a verdict of $150 in favor 
of the plaintiff. 

On Oct. 6, 1876 the board of super- 
visors held their first meeting at Poca- 
hontas, first as a committee of the 
wiiole to inspect the new building and 
then to let the contracts for the erec- 
tion of certain bridges. 

On Dec. 3, 1876, the first session of 
the district court was held in the new 
court house at Pocahontas, Judge C. 
II. Lewis presiding, J. W. Wallace 
serving as clerk of the court and Jos- 
eph Breitenbach as sheriff. 

The board of supervisors consisted 
of J. C. Strong, Bernard McCartan, 
Wm. Brownlee and Wm. Stenson. 
The other public officers were A. O. 
Garlock, auditor; W. D. McEwen, 
treasurer; Andrew Jackson, recorder; 
J. W. Clark, superintendent and Wm. 



Marshal], surveyor. 

On Jan. 2, 1877 the court house at 
old Rolfe was sold to Rev. Wm. Mc- 
Cready for the use of the M. E. church 
for $150. This sale was not approved, 
and on the next day the court house 
and grounds, known as theStockdale 
reservation, were sold at public auction 
to James J. Bruce for $200. It re- 
mained until July, 1882, when the pur- 
chaser used the material in it for the 
erection of the Tremain house in the 
new town of Rolfe. 

Pocahontas, the new county seat, is 
located at the geographical center of 
Pocahontas county on the south half 
of section 31, Center township. The 
land was owned by Warrick and Buelah 
Price of Cleveland, Ohio. On Novem- 
ber 4, 1870, they had it surveyed and 
platted, and arranged the lots, blocks, 
avenues, streets and alleys as they ap- 
pear in the original survey. The plat, 
which included one hundred acres, and 
was called the village of P ocahontas 
Center, was surveyed by Fred Hess and 
approved by Judge J. M. Snyder of the 
circuit court at Humboldt, November 
9, 1870. They set apart for public use, 
as a court house site and public park, 
a rectangular plat 600x800 feet in the 
center of the plat, provided the people 
of Pocahontas county should accept it 
foj that purpose within five years from 
that date. 

The court house site is 400x600 feet, 
surrounded on each side by a court or 
park place 100 feet in width; all en- 
closed within a larger rectangle 1200x 
1400 feet. The latter has two large 
avenues 100 feet in width, one of 
which, called "Buelah Avenue" after 
the name of his wife, runs north and 
south from the center of the court 
house site, and the other called "Wai- 
rick Avenue," to commemorate 
his own name, runs east and west from 
the same point. From each of the 
four corners of the court house park, 
extending diagonally through the first 
tier of blocks, are four streets 7i feet 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



281 



in width that were named in memory 
of their four daughters as follows: 
The one at the northeast corner, "Ot- 
terlia;" northwest, "Theo;" southwest 
"Elizabeth" and southeast, "Laura." 
The two avenues north and east of the 
court house park are called "Park 
Place" and those west and south 
"Court Place." The street running 
east and west one block south of the 
court house was called "William" and 
the corresponding street one block 
north of the court house "John" in 
memory of their two sons. The cor- 
responding streets one block distant 
from the east and west sides of the 
court house site are called "East" 
and "West" streets respectively. 

In the spring of 1879 the board of 
supervisors had the park around the 
court house planted with trees. The 
trees, which consisted of 50 ever- 
greens, 50 basswoods, 100 elms, 100 
ottonwoods, 200 box-elders, 400 ash 
and 700 soft maples, were furnished by 
W. D. McEwen and they were planted 
under his direction by John W. Wal- 
lace. 

FAREWELL TO OLD ROLFE. 

The Pocahontas Times, in its issue 
of October 10, 1876, because of the re- 
moval of the county records and offices 
to Pocahontas, thereby compelling it 
to follow suite, very affectingly bade 
adieu to (old) Rolfe. "We leave (old) 
Rolfe with many regrets. For over 
twelve years we have been actively en- 
gaged in business in that town and 
formed many friendly relations with 
the people which it is hard to sever. 
We look back on these years of toil 
with feelings of pleasure because we 
remember that there were always 
kind friends to advise and willing 
hands to aid whenever assistance was 
wanted." 

"In July, i869, in partnership with 
J. J. Bruce; we commenced the publi- 
cation of the Pocahontas Journal, the 
first newspaper published in the 
county, but after the lapse of two and 



one half years it expired in January 
1872, without a groan. In April last 
(1876) we purchased the Pocahontas 
Times of M. D. Skinner, Fonda, and 
have published it at Rolfe since that 
date. We have now built a new office 
at Pocahontas Center and shall gather 
up our household traps and remove 
thither this week. Farewell to old 
Rolfe."* 

SCHOOL LANDS AND BOOKS. 

The school lands of the county, 
which embraces all of section 16 in 
each township, by direction of the 
board of supervisors were appraised 
and put upon the market for sale dur- 
ing the latter part of this period. As 
early as June 8, 1869, the auditor was 
directed to notify the trustees of the 
townships then organized to divide 
section 16 into suitable tracts and ap- 
praise them according to law on or be- 
fore the 28th day of that month. On 
that day the trustees of Lizard town- 
ship, A. H. Van Valkenburgh, Henry 
Steckleburgh and Joseph Breitenbach, 
reported an appraisement of their 
lands at $3, $4, $5 and $6 an acre; D. W. 
Hunt, Joseph Clason and A. H. Mal- 
colm, trustees of Clinton, those of that 
township at $1.25, to $2.50 an acre; Wm. 
Jarvis, Oscar Slosson and Robert 
Struthers, those of Des Moines town- 
ship at $1.25 to $1.50 an acre; and Sam- 
uel Booth, Henry Tilley and Geo. Van 
Natta, those of Powhatan township at 
$1.25, $2.00 and $2.50 an acre. 

The auditor was then directed to sell 
these lands to the highest bidder, but 
in no instance for a less amount than 
their appraised value. Theconditions 
of payment were one third of the whole 
amount in cash and the balance in 
ten years with interest at ten per cent. 

Notwithstanding the apparently low 
valuation put upon them and the long 
time allowed for payment these lands 
sold very slowly. As the sale of these 
lands was of no special interest to any 

*W. D. McEwen, editor and proprietor! 



282 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



one except the county auditor, those 
from a distance who came to buy land 
did not ordinarily have their attention 
called to them unless they met that 
officer, to whom alone their sale was 
entrusted. 

The school lands of Dover township 
were not appraised and exposed for 
sale until May 15, 1878. As late as 
June 6, 1882, some of the school land 
in nearly every one of the townships in 
the county remained unsold, and by 
request of the board of supervisors, 
another report of an appraisement of 
their unsold school lands was made by 
the trustees of Cedar, Center, Des 
Moines, Grant, Lake, Lincoln, Wash- 
ington and Powhatan townships. 

On Jan. 8, 1879, the permanent 
school fund of the county was $5,466.67, 
the number of school children enrolled 
was 1187 and the amount of school 
funds received from the state, at the 
rate of twenty-five cents each, was 
$296.75. 

During that year an effort was made 
to secure uniformity of text books 
in all the schools of the county. This 
movement was inaugurated by R. M. 
Wilbur of Pomeroy, agent for the pub- 
lications of A. S. Barnes & Co. He 
first visited the county institute and 
secured from the teachers a report 
commending the movement to the di- 
rectors of the several townships in the 
county. The plan was adopted by 
Bellville, Center, Clinton, Des Moines, 
Grant, Lincoln and Lizard townships. 
The books were introduced at a greatly 
reduced price and, what seemed a very 
commendable feature at that time, 
many of them "at an extra cost of 5 or 
10 cents each, were bound with an iron 
binding that made them so strong 
no two boys could tear one apart." 

OUT OF DEBT CENTENNIAL YEAR. 

A comparison of the conditions ex- 
isting in 1879 with those of 1874 shows 
that some progress was made even 
though the times were extremely dull, 
In 1874 the amount of taxes levied in 



the county was $42,000 and 40 schools 
were in session; in 1879 the taxes levied 
were only $35,000 and over 60 schools 
were in session. On Jan. 1, 1874, the 
outstanding warrants awaiting pay- 
ment amounted to $5,000 and • there 
was no money in the treasury; but on 
June 1, 1879, there were no outstand- 
ing warrants and there were funds on 
hand as follows: County, $1,900; poor, 
$1,000; gopher, $1,000; bridge, $3 200; 
total, $7,100. During the six years in- 
cluded in this period an unusual 
amount of money was spent in perma- 
nent improvements, such as the erec- 
tion of the new court house at Poca- 
hontas, the purchase of a burglar 
proof safe and the construction of fire 
proof vaults for the preservation of the 
public records. 

The statement that showed the re- 
moval of the last vestige of this 
county's indebtedness was the one ren- 
dered by W. D. McEwen, county treas- 
urer, on June 1, 1876. This statement 
not only showed for the first time a 
clean balance sheet for the county but 
also that all except two of the town- 
ships, Cedar and Lizard — whose in- 
debtedness was but a trifle — were also 
free from debt. The fact that many 
of the counties of northwestern Iowa 
had been involved under heavy debts 
that generally represented no value 
received but only the work of a set of 
public swindlers, caused many land 
buyers to avoid for awhile this section 
of country, but happily for this county 
the centennial year found it free from 
debt. All the taxes collected, after 
the payment of current expenses, had 
been honestly and legitimately used 
in making public improvements so 
that each township, as it was settled, 
was supplied with good substantial 
school houses that were paid for as 
they were erected. 

As late as Jan. 1, 1882, of the nine- 
teen counties in northwestern Iowa 
only two, Pocahontas and Calhoun, 
were free from debt, the Indebtedness 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



283 



of the others ranging from $16,000 in 
Kossuth to $200,000 in O'Brien county. 
Foremost among the men who labored 
to get this county out of debt and 
keep it so were Messrs. W. D. McEwen, 
A. O. Garlock and J. J. Bruce. 

W. D. McEven, from the time of 
his first identification with the public 
interests of this county as a deputy in 
the recorder's office in 1865, exerted a 
strong and positive influence in favor 
of a rigid economy in the administra- 
tion of all public matters. His excel- 
lent business qualifications and keen 
foresight, utilized through many suc- 
cessive years of continuous public ser- 
vice, were of great advantage to this 
county. He took so much pride in the 
county's welfare that, when serving as 
treasurer collections were slow and 
outstanding warrants could not be 
paid, possessing ample means, he did 
not hesitate to make use of his own 
private funds to bridge over the occa- 
sion and thus maintain the credit of 
the county. 

A. O. Garlock has already received 
well merited recognition for his effi- 
cient services as a public officer and 
constant aim to promote the interests 
of this county. The board of super- 
visors acknowledged its indebtedness 
to him while serving as county aud- 
itor, for his wise and prudent counsel, 
always modestly given. He never fal- 
tered when it became necessary for 
him to protect the rights and interests 
of the county, and his careful man- 
agement of the school fund made it a 
source of profit to the county. He 
was uniformly courteous, a good judge 
of character and probably no other 
man during this period induced so 
many families to settle in this county. 

J. J. Bruce, who as county superin- 
tendent and member of the board of 
supervisors in 1868 began a long con- 
tinued official career in this county, 
was another who rendered faithful 
cooperation in the effort to secure an 
hconest ana" Rccmornic!}] administration 



of its affairs. His education and legal 
training enabled him to prepare the 
copy for the printed forms of this 
county twenty five years— 1870 to 1895 
— and were of great advantage to him 
and the public he served as a member 
of the board of supervisors. He was 
an indefatigable worker for the best 
interests of the county and no respect- 
er of persons in resisting or exposing 
plans for personal aggrandizement at 
the public expense. On March 13. 
1873, while serving as treasurer, the 
county safe was burglarized by some 
experts. On this occasion there was 
offered him the opportunity to have 
left the county suffer a considerable 
loss by affirming the loss of public 
funds, since the treasurer and his 
bondsmen were not liable for money 
stolen from the county safe by bur- 
glary. He reported there were no 
public funds in the safe at the time of 
the burglary and the county did not 
lose a dollar. Another instance of his 
honest and honorable method of pro- 
cedure occurred on Oct. 10th following, 
when M. E. Owens, who two years 
later was a fugitive from justice, dur- 
ing a meeting of the board of super- 
visors made known the discovery that 
the official bonds of the county treas- 
urer and sheriff had been abstracted 
from the auditor's office and bond 
record book. This was near the end 
of the first year of his second term as 
treasurer of the county and as soon as 
his attention was called to this dis- 
crepancy he came forward promptly 
and, placing his property real and 
personal at the disposal of the board 
of supervisors by the execution of a 
trust deed, gave assurance he would 
prepare and file a new bond with the 
same bondsmen within a reasonable 
time. 

The editor of the Newell Mirror in 
1876 having occasion to make a per* 
sonal investigation of some matters in 
this county wrote as follows; "We 
do not p^Upvo there is a county \n 



284 PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



northwestern Iowa that has heen con- 
ducted on more economical principles 
than Pocahontas under its present 
management; and the taxpayers have 
stood by their public officials, because 
they have always managed so as to 
lessen the taxes, as much as possible, 
and maintain their outstanding war- 
rants at par value until the last one of 
them has been paid. " 

DELEGATE TO THE CENTENNIAL. 

After the announcement that Poca- 
hontas county was free from all in- 
debtedness, W. D. McEwen was ap- 
pointed a delegate to represent it at 
the Centennial in Philadelphia. On 
this trip he was accompanied by W. S. 
Fegles and from his own graphic ac- 
count of what they saw we glean the 
following paragraph. 

"By many the main building, which 
was 70 feet in height, sides and ends 
of glass set in an iron frame work, 
covering 21i acres of ground and cost- 
ing $2,000,000, would not be regarded 
as a beautiful building, but I must 
say it looked to me grand and caused 
a thrill of admiration. Standing in 
one of its galleries W. S. Fegles and I 
gazed upon such a sight as the world 
never before furnished. Spread be- 
fore us was a wide expanse dotted with 
structures, strange in shape and color, 
and extending so far that all distinct- 
ness is finally lost. It is a brilliant 
and inspiring scene, one that must 
satisfy all save the most captious. I 
cannot conceive that any one could 
look upon it and not be deeply im- 
pressed. It is a scene to fascinate the 
imagination and stir the soul to its 
depths. You look in wonder and ask 
yourself whence this grand display, 
this conglomeration of widely differing 
shapes and glowing colors, destitute 
of all harmony and deriving a consid- 
erable portion of its charm from its 
very strangeness. Almost oblivious of 
every thing else you draw on your im- 
agination pictures of thej Arabian 



Nights or dream of fairyland until you 
arouse to the agreeable reality that 
you are viewing the Centennial Ex- 
hibition." 

The Centennial was the greatest ex- 
position the world had ever seen until 
that date, and it was opened May 10, 
1816, in the presence of 200,000 persons. 
Its object was very neatly expressed 
by President Grant in the opening of 
his address on that occasion. "It has 
been thought appropriate to bring to- 
gether for popular inspection speci- 
mens of our attainments in the indus- 
trial and fine arts, literature, science 
and philosophy, as well as the great 
businesses of agriculture and com- 
merce, that we may more thoroughly 
appreciate the excellences and defici- 
encies of our achievements, and also 
give an emphatic expression to our de- 
sire to cultivate the friendship of the 
great family of nations. The enlight- 
ened agricultural, commercial and 
manufacturing people of the world 
have been invited to send hither cor- 
responding specimens of their skill, 
to exhibit on equal terms in friendly 
competiton with our own. One hun- 
dred years ago our country was new 
and but partially settled; our necessi- 
ties have compelled us to expend every 
means in felling trees, subduing prair- 
ies and building dwellings, factories, 
ships, docks, warehouses, roads, canals, 
machinery, etc. Most of our schools, 
churches, libraries and asylums have 
been established within a hundred 
years. Our achievements have been 
great enough to make it easy for 
our people to acknowledge superior 
merit wherever found; and now we 
hope a careful examination of what is 
about to be exhibited to you will not 
only inspire you with a profound re- 
spect for the skill and taste of our 
friends from other nations, but also 
call forth your highest admiration as 
you note the attainments and progress 
of our own people during the last - one 
hundred years." 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



285 



MAIL ROUTES AND POSTOFFICES. 

After the removal of the county seat 
to Pocahontas, several new mail routes 
and postoffices along them were es- 
tablished in this county. On Nov. 1, 
1877, A. O. Garlock was the postmas- 
ter at Pocahontas and the people of 
that vicinity called at the auditor's 
office for their mail. The new routes 
are indicated by the following sched- 
ule prepared by him for that point on 
the above date. 

The mail arrives at Pocahontas from 
Fonda and the south on Tuesdays, 
Thursdays and Saturdays at 12 o'clock 
m., and departs for Fonda and the 
south at 1 o'clock p. m. on Mondays, 
Wednesdays and Fridays. 

The mail arrives from (old) Eolfe 
and the north on Mondays, Wednes- 
days and Fridays each week at 12 
o'clock m., and departs for (old) Rolfe 
and the north on Tuesdays, Thursdays 
and Saturdays at 1 o'clock p. m. 

The mail arrives from Sioux Eapids 
and the northwest every Thursday at 
5 o'clock p. m. and departs for Sioux 
Rapids and the northwest every Fri- 
day at 7 a. m. 

In March, 1878, another mail route 
was maintained between old Rolfe and 
Humboldt, and a postoffice was located 
at the home of Sewell Van Alstine in 
Clinton township. Mr. Van Alstine 
was appointed postmaster, the name 
of the office was called "Blooming 
Prairie" and the mail was carried by 
Ira Scranton once a week from old 
Rolfe until February, 1879, and then 
from Pocahontas until Gilmore City 
was founded, when this route and 
postoffice were discontinued. 

On Nov. 1, 1877, a new postoffice by 
the name of "Swan Lake" was estab- 
lished in Swan Lake township on the 
route from Pocahontas to Sioux Rapids 
and Charles L. Strong was appointed 
postmaster. On Nov. 22d following, 
the name of this postoffice was changed 
to "Garlock" in honor of A. O. Gar- 
k, the popular county auditor at 



that time. Mr. Strong resigned June 
20, 1879. 

On Dec. 30, 1877, a new postoffice by 
the name of "Luella" was established 
on the same route at the residence of 
J. C. Strong in Washington township, 
and he served as the postmaster. The 
name of this office was derived from 
that of Myrta Luella, the youngest 
daughter and only member of Mr. 
Strong's family that was born in this 
county. 

On Jan. 26, 1879 another postoffice 
was established near this route at the 
home of D. P. Frost in Powhatan 
township and he was duly appointed 
postmaster, but owing to the fact that 
he lived about two miles from the 
mail route and no provision bad been 
made for the extra distance on the 
part of the mail carrier no mail was 
received or distributed at this office, 
which was called "May view. " 

In the spring of 1882, when the 
towns of Havelock and Laurens were 
founded along the line of the Toledo 
& Northwestern railway, the "Gar- 
lock" and "Luella" postoffices were 
discontinued. 

In the spring of 1876, when the Poca- 
hontas and Fonda mail route was es- 
tablished, a postoffice was located at 
the home of C. H. Tollefsrude on sec- 
tion 28, Grant township, and called 
Shirley in honor of Maria G. Shirley, 
his wife, he being appointed post- 
master. In 1879 another postoffice 
was established in Grant township at 
the home of H. H. Felch on section 36, 
(Crummer farm) on the Pocahontas 
and Pomeroy mail route. This office 
was called "Learned," in commemor- 
ation of the place in Colorado where 
he previously resided, and Mr. Felch 
remained in charge of it until the 
spring of 1881 when he removed from 
the county. When this last postoffice 
was established there were only 130 
residents in Grant township, and while 
both were maintained there was not 
another township in the state having 



286 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



so small a population, that enjoyed the 
luxury of two postoffices. 

After the removal of Mr. Felch 
"Learned" postoffice was discontinued. 
Mr. Tollefsrude continued to serve as 
postmaster at Shirley until Dec. 1, 
1881, when Herkimer L. Norton be- 
came his successor, receiving and dis- 
tributing the mail at his home from 
that date until the spring of 1890, 
when this office was also discontinued. 
There was no postoffice in this town- 
ship from that date until Feb. 7, 1891, 
when E. O. Christeson became post- 
master at Rusk. 

On July 12, 1877, M. F. Seeley, who 
had charge of the mail route from 
Fonda to old Rolfe via Pocahontas, re- 
linquished his contract to Samuel Post 
of Palo Alto county and Frank Thomp- 
son served as driver.. 

At old Rolfe in 1876 before the re- 
moval of the county seat, W. D. Mc- 
Ewen was postmaster and the mail 
was carried north on Monday, Wednes- 
day and Friday of each week, and 
south on Tuesday, Thursday and Sat- 
urday. 

In 1865, twelve years previous, ac- 
cording to Colton's map of Iowa, the 
mail routes in this vicinity radiated 
from Fort Dodge and were as follows: 
(1) Fort Dodge to Sioux City via Twin 
Lakes, Sac City, Ida Grove and Cor- 
rectionville; (2) Fort Dodge to Council 
Bluffs via Lake City, Grant City, Den- 
ison and Shelbyville; (3) Fort Dodge to 
Cherokee, a direct line between these 
two points, entering this county near 
the southeast corner of Bellville town- 
ship and leaving it about the center of 
section 7, Cedar township. This route 
passed about four miles north of 
Stormy (now Storm) Lake, and there 
was not a village along it between the 
two points named. West of Cherokee 
it passed through Plymouth, now 
Merrill, and Melbourne, now Hinton. 
Lake City was then the only village in 
Calhoun county, Sioux Rapids in 
Buena Vista county; and West Bend, 



Fern Yalley and Emmetsburg the only 
ones in Palo Alto county, and they 
were on the mail route from Fort 
Dodge to Estherville and Spirit Lake 
via (old) Rolfe. 

THE POCAHONTAS TIMES ESTABLISHED. 

The period now under consideration 
was the one in which, after three un- 
successful ventures, the Pocahontas 
Times was established as the first per- 
manent newspaper in the county. Its 
predecessors were the Pocahontas 
Journal, the Cedarville Herald and 
the Pocahontas Times during the per- 
iod of its publication by M. D. Skinner. 

The Pocahontas Journal was estab- 
lished by W. D. McEwen and J. J. 
Bruce in the year 1869, when the for- 
mer was serving as auditor, clerk of 
the court and county judge, and the 
latter as county superintendent and 
member of the board of supervisors, 
both of whom, after December 1st, 
that year, were residents of old Rolfe. 
The first issue of this paper was printed 
on Tuesday, June 15, 1869, and the 
second one on Friday, July 25th fol- 
lowing, on the press of B. F. Gue at 
Fort Dodge. After the lapse of two 
years, or in July, 1871, W. D. McEwen 
relinquished his editorial interest in 
this paper to Thomas L. MacVey and 
its weekly publication was continued 
by Messrs. Bruce and MacVey until 
February 1st, 1872. . About this date 
the legislature repealed the law pro- 
viding for the publication of the gen- 
eral laws in each county and this left 
them under the necessity of publishing 
the paper at a pecuniary loss or of 
abandoning the enterprise. The paper 
was therefore discontinued. After its 
establishment in 1869 it was made the 
official paper of the county and for ad- 
vertising the sale of the school lands 
and printing the proceedings of the 
board of supervisors and delinquent 
tax list that year received $237.00. In 
1870 and also in 1871 it was the official 
paper of the county and, in addition 
to the other public printing, published 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



287 



the general laws of the 13th (1870) 
General Assembly of Iowa. 

The Cedarville Herald was a small 
weekly published at Fonda by W. S. 
Wright, express agent and postmaster 
at Fonda, during the spring of 1871. 
It was printed at Storm Lake and was 
discontinued after the lapse of a few 
months. 

The Pocahontas Times, about the 
fall of 1872, was established in Fonda 
by M. D. Skinner, and its publication 
as a weekly newspaper was continued 
until about the fall of 1875, when 
it was also discontinued as an unprofit- 
able enterprise. It was made the offi- 
cial paper of the county for the years 
1873 and 1874 and received for the pub- 
lic printing done during those years 
$171 and $420 respectively. In the 
year 1873, by direction of the board of 
supervisors, it published certain state- 
ments of tbe finances for the years 
1866, '67, '68, '69, and '70, and a copy of 
the paper was sent to every taxpayer 
in the county. 

On Dec. 8, 1874, the board of super- 
visors decided to print semi-annually, 
in pamphlet form for distribution 
among the voters of the county, the 
proceedings of the board and the re- 
ports of the auditor and treasurer of 
the county. This contract for the 
year 1875, at the rate of 30 cents per 
square, was given to Messrs. White & 
Son of Fonda, publishers of the 
Northwestern Hawkeye, and they re- 
ceived $132.50 for the public printing 
in this county during that year. 

It is a matter for regret that no files 
of the Pocahontas Journal, Cedarville 
Herald and of the Pocahontas Times 
during the period of its first venture, 
have been preserved for the historian, 
the last ones being destroyed by the 
fire in Fonda Oct. 15, 1883. The little 
pioneer county paper was the one that 
contained the record of the local hap- 
penings, the marriages and divorces, 
the births and deaths, the arrival and 
removal of families, the account of 



those events that denote social and 
material progress and it was read with 
more interest than any other paper. 

The Pocahontas Times, established 
at old Rolfe by W. D. McEwen as edi- 
tor and proprietor, and of which vol- 
ume 1, number 1, was issued Thurs- 
day, April 6, 1876, is the oldest news- 
paper in Pocahontas county that has 
been preserved and its publication 
continued until the present time. 
This paper was first issued as a five 
column weekly, containing four pages 
12i by 19i inches, and its unpreten- 
tious motto was, 

"He who by his biz' would rise, 
Must either bust or advertise." 

In his introduction the editor very 
modestly made his bow to his readers 
in the following words: "In taking 
charge of a newspaper, we fear the 
many difficulties that beset our way, 
especially after having engaged act- 
ively for five years in other business. 
We commence again the publication 
of a newspaper, feeling that Pocahon- 
tas county has been too long neglected 
by reason of the lack of a live one. As 
there is no one disposed to embark in 
this enterprise we have established 
the Pocahontas Times and propose to 
make it a success, if possible. Our 
little sheet is not what we would like 
our first number to have been, but if 
our friends will have patience we will 
soon enlarge it to twice its present 
size. With our long acquaintance 
with the people of the county, we feel 
satisfied that we shall receive a full 
share of support and the Times will be 
devoted to developing the resources of 
Pocahontas county. Since there can 
be no reform without discussion, we 
invite farmers to send us their obser- 
vations in the matter of improve- 
ments, that your neighbors may be ben- 
efited by your experience, your light 
burning none the less brightly while 
lighting another. We propose to 
chronicle faithfully and impartially 
the events of the day, domestic and 



288 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



foreign, in addition to the local item 
that may come under our observation. 
"We shall uphold and advocate the 
principles of the republican party and 
aim to promote truth, justice and 
good will to all." 

The first issue contained the pro- 
ceedings of the board of supervisors at 
their April meeting, (1876) and the 
professional cards of the following 
persons in Pocahontas county: Rev. 
"Walter L. Lyons, Presbyterian, ser- 
vices in the brick school house at old 
Rolfe every other Sunday at 11 
o'clock a. m. Rev. Wm. McCready, 
M. E., alternate Sundays same place 
at 10:30a. m. Rev. A R. Whitfield, 
M. E., in school house at Fonda, alter- 
nate Sabbaths at 11 a. m. W. D. Mc- 
Ewen, attorney at law, Rolfe; Alex- 
ander Younke, attorney, Rolfe; W. 
D. McEwen & Co., dry goods and gro- 
ceries, Rolfe; A. O. G-arlock, real es- 
tate and tax paying agency, Rolfe; J. 
D. Minkler, physician and surgeon, 
Fonda; Wm. Marshall, real estate and 
tax paying agent, Fonda; Joseph Mal- 
lison, notary public and collector, 
Fonda; E. C. Brown, notary public 
and real estate agent, Fonda; John W. 
Gray, dry goods and groceries, Fonda; 
Joseph Mallison, machinery, Fonda; 
Fred Swingle, lumber, coal and grain, 
Fonda; Peter G-. Ibson, blacksmith 
and wagon maker, Fonda; William 
Snell, cheese factory, Fonda; Joseph 
Nimick, proprietor Center House, 
Pocahontas Center. 

On May 11, 1876, the editor and pro- 
prietor of the Times announced an 
improvement that marks a new era in 
its publication. The first three issues, 
owing to defective presswork, looked 
as if they had been printed in a 
foreign language, so that but few 
readers were able to decipher the won- 
derful hieroglyphics produced by the 
ingenuity of the printer. The office 
was replenished with new type, a new 
roller and other improvements, the 
paper was increased from four to eight 



pages, and, as it was decided to issue 
it thereafter in the English language, 
the hope was expressed that attention 
to business and fair dealing would 
merit a liberal support. "Truth 
crushed to earth will rise again," was 
the new motto adopted at this time 
and the printing was very creditable. 
The Fort Dodge Times now observed 
"that it was the most sprightly paper 
ever sent out of the county, an high 
honor to its editor and owner;" and 
the Spirit Lake Beacon, "W. D. Mc- 
Ewen, editor of the Pocahontas Times, 
is a very versatile gentleman, being an 
attorney, a merchant and postmaster, 
which, in addition to the laborious 
duties of a journalist, is business 
enough for one man; he is also at this 
time serving his county, to the satis- 
faction of all concerned, as county 
treasurer and Centennial commis- 
sioner." 

On June 15, 1876, when the editor 
went to the Centennial, the office was 
left to the "tender mercies' of A. O. 
Garlock and Fred J. Ervin. " After 
the issue of Oct. 10, 1876, the place of 
publication was changed from old 
Rolfe to Pocahontas Center. 

On Jan. 1. 1877, Ed. B. Tabor became 
an associate editor of the Pocahontas 
Times. As the successor of Geo. M. 
Dorton, he had previously assisted M. 
I). Skinner in the Times office at 
Fonda from March 1st until August 
1st, 1875. On Nov. 1, 1877, W. D. Mc- 
Ewen, finding that his official duties 
required all of his time and attention, 
relinquished his editorial interest and 
leased the Times outfit to Mr. Tabor, 
who continued to be its sole editor 
during the next two years. . 

"Stick to your aim and you are 
bound to win" was the new motto 
adopted, and two important changes 
were effected during this period. After 
the issue of May 9, 1878, the office of 
publication was moved from Pocahon- 
tas to Fonda and, commencing with 
the issue of May 30th following, which 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



289 



contained a full page description of 
Pocahontas county entitled, "Come 
West," the amount of local printing 
in the home office was increased from 
two to four pages. 

The constant aim of the new editor 
was to furnish his readers a first-class 
local paper and through its columns 
give encouragement to every worthy 
local enterprise. He so identified 
himself to the interests of this com- 



old Rolfe is considering a proposition 
to go into the bee business. He has 
been talking about it with a man who 
lives a little further north and who is 
almost persuaded. A few more Sun- 
days will fetch him. He believes in 
starting with queen bees. The name 
of his bee is Phoebe. " 

Nov. 1. 1879, G-eo. Sanborn, one of 
the pioneer homesteaders of Cedar 
township, purchasing the outfit from 




VIEW OF THE TIMES OFFICE AND POCAHONTAS COUNTY BANK 
ON MAIN STREET, FONDA, IN 1896. 



munity, both personally and through 
the paper, that he found it a real trial 
when, at the end of two years, the 
sale of the Times outfit to another in- 
volved the relinquishment of his edi- 
torial relation to it. He won for him- 
self the reputation of being a "young 
man who was bound to make his mark 
in the editorial profession," a "spicy 
writer," and a "good newspaperman." 
As an illustration of his humor the 
following incident is gleaned from the 
column of locals. "Geo. W. Horton at 



W. D. McEwen, became the editor and 
proprietor of the Pocahontas Times 
and continuing these relations until 
the present time, completes with this 
issue— Oct. 26, 1899— a period of twenty 
years of editorial management and 
ownership of this paper, changing its 
name to Fonda Times Nov. 1, 1897. 

In taking charge of the editorial de- 
partment the new proprietor acknowl- 
edged his "consciousness of the task 
that we have laid upon ourself," and 
expressed the hope that, with the good 



290 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



will and assistance of his many friends, 
he would be able to make it a financial 
success, and at the same time a paper 
of which they might well feel proud. 
"Had we been playing farmer all our 
life we could look for nothing but a 
partial success, if not a total failure 
in our venture; as it is, we hope to 
bring to our assistance such practical 
experience as will materially aid us in 
the discharge of the onerous duties in 
which our present position finds us." 
"A journal devoted to the interests of 
Pocahontas county," was the new 
motto adopted, and it was continued 
until June, 1892, when the further use 
of a motto was regarded as unnecessary. 
The Times office, located at first in 
the-second story of the Fairburn bank 
building at the corner of First and 
Main streets, in 1879 was permanently 
located on the east side of Main street 
in a small frame building on the lot 
where the Times office now stands. 
This building, together with others 
in the vicinity, was entirely consumed 
by the fire of Oct. 15, 1883. It was 
impossible to save either of the presses 
and with the exception of the roll of 
subscribers, a few books and some 
type, the entire outfit of the Times 
was destroyed. The value of the 
building and contents of the office was 
$2,300 and this was a total loss. 

The first issue after the fire, of date 
Oct. 18, 1883, was printed on the press 
of the Manson Journal, Geo. I. and 
Tom D. Long, editors. This fire edi- 
tion marks a change in the size of the 
Times to adapt it to the size of the 
new press then obtained. The pages 
were increased to seven columns, 17x23 
inches and their number reduced to 
four. On March 6, 1884, the paper was 
enlarged to an eight column folio, an 
enlargement that gave its readers 
about one third more reading matter. 
On June 15, 1893, its size and appear- 
ance was again completely changed to 
its present form. The eight column 
folio was replaced by a seven column 



quarto. As the latter has eight pages 
the quantity of matter and the cost of 
conducting the paper were nearly 
doubled by this change. One object 
of this increase was to make it spec- 
ially beneficial to the farmers by add- 
ing an agricultural page edited by 
Hon. James Wilson, a practical and 
successful farmer, who was then sup- 
erintendent of the experiment station 
at the State Agricultural College at 
Ames. In 1889 the old printing press 
was replaced by a new Campbell power 
press. 

These enlargements and improve- 
ments of the Times from time to time 
indicate the constantly increasing 
support that has been given this paper 
by the business men of Fonda and the 
people of this county. They indicate 
also the constant endeavor of the edi- 
tor and proprietor to keep it abreast 
of these rapidly progressing times and 
make it worthy the reputation of be- 
ing not merely the oldest but the best 
newspaper in Pocahontas county. As 
a journal devoted to the interests of 
this county it has been true to its aim. 
Every issue has contained some good 
word for Fonda and vicinity. Be- 
lieving that the town would respond 
promptly to any forward movement 
made by the rural districts, it has very 
wisely refrained from booming the 
town beyond its possibilities by a strict 
adherence to truth and, with an un- 
tiring zeal, has encouraged the settle- 
ment of the country around it with 
the best class of people. About every 
fifth year it has contained a full page 
account of the material progress and 
growth of Fonda or of the county in 
general. Whoever reads these fre- 
quent descriptions of this section of 
country in the files of the Times can- 
not fail to perceive that they have 
prepared the way and naturally devel- 
oped the desire to have this last one 
the best, worthy to be designated the 
Pioneer History of Pocahontas County. 

Although republican in sentiment 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



291 



it has never been under the control of 
any clique or faction. Under no obli- 
gation to others, it has been free to 
adopt its own principles and fearlessly 
to advocate or defend them. That a 
love for fair play is inherent in the 
American people has been recognized 
as a fundamental principle in all mat- 
ters of a public or political nature. As 
an angel of intelligence in the com- 
munity it has been the ally of virtue 



zer, who enrolled 103 persons in Des 
Moines and Lizard townships, which 
then embraced the entire county. 

The census of 1870 was taken by J. 
J. Bruce. He. traveled on horseback 
and had three months from the first 
day of June to complete the canvass. 
The county was then included in four 
townships, Des Moines, Clinton, Liz- 
ard and Powhatan. In Lizard town- 
ship, which included all the residents 



POPULATION OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, 1859-1895. 

TOWNSHIPS 



Bellville 

Cedar 

" Fonda 

Center 

" Pocahontas... 
-Clinton 

" Rolfe 

Colfax 

Des Moines 

Dover 

Grant 

Lake 

" Giimore City. 

Lincoln 

Lizard 

Marshall 

Powhatan 

Sherman 

Swan Lake 

" Laurens 

Washington 

." Havelock 



1859 


1860 


1862 


1867 


1869 


1870 


1873 

237 
322 


1875 

282 
290 


1880 

373 

453 


1885 

456 
443 


1890 

576 
444 












with 


Ce 


dar 
100 


168 
166 


433 

178 
153 


625 
506 






23 


60 


38 


55 


100 
234 


116 
240 


154 

380 


309 
256 
492 


548 
529 
621 


40 


35 


31 


126 


176 


256 


257 
107 
93 

58 


265 
139 
114 

85 


327 
239 
151 
121 

125 


422 
352 

272 
304 

155 


474 

552 
455 
490 

396 


68 


68 


68 


208 


334 


955 


469 


496 


537 
30 


567 
168 


624 
420 








59 


89 


180 


257 
41 


186 
36 


258 

54 

93 

84 


414 
134 
362 

284 


648 
341 
581 
318 
405 



628 
543 
942 
463 
201 
631 
779 
638 
558 
587 
581 
508 
164 
575 
672 
557 
768 
479 
633 
587 
493 
365 



Total 108 103 122 453 6371,446 2,175 2,249 3,713 6,152 9,55312442 



and a foe to crime. It has exerted a 
dominant influence in favor of mor- 
ality and religion during all these 
years, by always advocating the edu- 
cation of the child, the sobriety of the 
individual, the purity of the home and 
the welfare of the church. 
"Like the water we so freely drink, 

And the pure life-giving air, 
Is the home paper, with its precious 
gifts, 
And almost magic charm, 
As it comes to break the monotony 
Of life upon the farm." 

THE CENSUS TAKEN. 

The first census of this county was 
taken in the year 1860 by Chas. Smelt - 



in the south tier of townships, the 
south tier of sections in Lake and 
Lincoln, and the south half of Grant 
and Dover, there were 955 residents, 
in Clinton 55, Powhatan 180, and in 
Des Moines, which included the re- 
mainder of the county, 256, total 1446, 
of whom 785 were males and 661 fe- 
males. At the time this census was 
taken there was no one residing in 
what are now Center and Sherman 
townships, J. C. Strong, Jason M. Rus- 
sell, Jonathan L. Clark, wife and three 
children, all living together on sec. 30 
were the only residents in Washing- 



292 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ton, Alonzo M. Thornton and family, 
on sec. 18, the only ones in Marshall, 
and Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Woodin, Alex- 
ander F. Hubbell and his brother, 
Charles F. Hubbell, all on sec. 24, the 
only ones in Dover township. 

In 1880 there were five census enu- 
merators and the county was divided 
among them as follows: Geo. M. Dor- 
ton, Cedar township; C. G. Perkins, 
Colfax and Bellville; O. I. Strong, 
Des Moines and Powhatan; Henry 
Kelly, Lizard, Lake, Lincoln and Clin- 
ton; and C. II. Tollefsrude, Grant, 
Dover, Sherman, Marshall, Swan Lake 
and Washington townships. 

In 1873, 1875 and 1885 the assessors 
of the several townships made an enu- 
meration which in tabulated form 
with other similar enumerations shows 
that the progress of the settlement of 
the county has been as appears in the 
above exhibit of population. 

CHURCHES ESTABLISHED. 

The only churches that had been or- 
ganized during the previous period 
were the Unity Presbyterian and 
Methodist Episcopal at old Rolfe and 
the Lizard Catholic. During the 
period now under consideration sev- 
eral other churches were organized 
and additional preaching stations were 
established. 

In March, 1870, Rev. T. P. Lenahen 
of Fort Dodge, established Catholic 
services at the home of Wm. Lynch on 
sec. 2, Cedar township, and maintained 
this station until Oct. 20, 1882, when 
the Dover Catholic church being near- 
ly completed, he was succeeded by 
P. J. Carroll who in the fall of 1883 
secured the erection of the Catholic 
church in Fonda and established ser- 
vices in it. 

In 1871 Rev. L. C. Woodward, pastor 
and postmaster at Newell, established 
M. E. services in the school house at 
Fonda where they were maintained 
by others until the fall of 1879 when 
the Fonda M. E. church was erected. 



On March 13, 1873, the Swedish 
Evangelical Lutheran church of Col- 
fax township was organized that suc- 
ceeded in erecting a house of worship 
in 1884. About the same time and 
near the same place the Swedish Evan- 
gelical Mission was established that 
has also erected a house of worship. 

In the spring of 1875 Rev. T. M. 
Lenahen established a Catholic station 
in the school house at Pocahontas and 
a church was built there in 1883. 

On Feb. 4, 1878, the Norwegian 
Evangelical Lutheran church in Grant 
township was organized and in 1894 a 
church building was erected at Rusk. 

In 1878, when Rev. C. W. Clifton 
was pastor of the M. E. church at old 
Rolfe, services were regularly held at 
the school houses in the vicinity of 
the residences of J. C. Strong and 
Philip Hamble in Washington town- 
ship, at the (Ira) Strong school house, 
Powhatan township, and occasionally 
at Coopertown and the Heathman 
school house near where Plover is now 
located. 

In 1879 Rev. Mr, Johnson, a Luth- 
eran minister, held services at old 
Rolfe once a month. 

On Oct. 31, 1880, the Unity Presby- 
terian church of old Rolfe was reor- 
ganized as the Second Presbyterian 
church of Rolfe, in the new town then 
founded, and the present church 
building was erected in 1888. 

HOMESTEADERS. 

By an act of Congress approved 
March 3, 1877, in making final proof of 
homestead entries the party instead 
of being required to go to a distant 
land office as had been previously 
necessary, might appear with his wit- 
nesses before the judge of a court of 
record of the county in which the land 
was situated and there make the final 
proof. 

On August 8, 1877, the following list 
of names was sent to J. W. Wallace, 
clerk of the court by H. H. Griffiths, 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



293 



recorder of the U. S. land office, Des 
Moines, as those of persons who had 
occupied claims for more than five 
years and were ready for final proof: 
Aaron Himan C. J. Johnson 
Wm. E. Gadaw Charles Johnson 
Thos. L. Dean August Johnson 
S. M. Pettit Christopher Hoppy 

Eliza Borjenson John McAuliff 
Gust Peterson Martin McAuliff 
Peter Peterson John P. Anderson 
John Larson Mary Springstuble 
Gustave 01 .^son C. P. Lenngren 
George Guy James B. Lothian 

William Lothian Peter Scherf 
Asa Harris Betsy Nelson 

M. Lahey L. P.- Davidson 

Samuel Gill A. Anderson 

Matthias J. Synsteline Louisa Lieb 

ERA OF BETTER TIMES. 

It was in 1877, the year of the great 
railroad strikes, that there came the 
first indications of the commencement 
of an era of better times. These were 
found in the prospects for a fine crop 
and a foreign demand for breadstuff's 
that created a good and profitable 
market for all the products of the 
farm. More corn was planted that 
year in this county than ever before, 
and, though in planting time the 
farmers were not in the best of spirits, 
yet in the time of harvest their hearts 
were gladdened by a fine crop of small 
grain, the first for several years, and a 
large one of corn. The feeling im- 
mediately began to prevail that about 
three good crops would bring complete 
relief to all who had become embar- 
rassed during the previous era of hard 
times and that this section would 
prove to be as productive as any in the 
country. As there was no debt on the 
county the taxes were low and it was 
pleasing to see the smiles that illumi- 
nated the countenances of our "rural 
princes" in anticipation of better 
times. 

This was the seventh year after the 
settlement of the western part of this 
county,. That which had previously 



been an unoccupied region was now 
dotted with many happy homes sur- 
rounded by luxuriant fields of oats, 
barley, wheat and corn, and, in en- 
closed pastures on every side, there 
were as beautiful cattle fattening upon 
the rich grasses of the prairie as ever 
gladdened the eyes of man. 

The general joy and gladness of the 
new era now ushered in, found oppor- 
tunity for expression in connection 
with the county nominating conven- 
tion that was held at Pocahontas on 
the first day of September that year. 
The attendance at this convention 
was much larger than ever before on 
such occasions in this county. Every 
township was represented by a full 
delegation and many others from all 
parts of the county were also present. 
The Cedar delegation made the trip 
across the country in a wagon drawn 
by four horses, all profusely decorated 
with streamers, and followed by sev- 
eral loads of citizens. The crowd from 
Des Moines township was led by a 
wagon that bore aloft a large banner 
and with that delegation were Messrs. 
Fish and Vaughn, who made things 
lively with their drums. 
1878. 

In the spring of 1878 northwest Iowa 
received a large immigration and many 
new families located in this county, 
among whom were those of A. B. P. 
Wood, W. J. Curkeet and H. H. Fitch, 
all from Darlington, Wis., C- G. Guy- 
ett from Montpelier, Vt., who erected 
a double store building two stories in 
height on the lots occupied by the 
McKee brick block, Fonda; N. B. Post, 
J. F. Pattee and Geo. F. Porter, who 
located on farms, and Dr. G. W. Both- 
well, who located in Fonda in Novem- 
ber previous. Many new buildings 
were erected, every acre of improved 
land was farmed and the demand for 
lands to rent was greater than the 
supply. Another good crop was har- 
vested that included a large acreage 
of flax and wheat and the business out* 



294 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



look of the county was better than 
ever. The farmers began to perceive 
that cattle and hogs brought more 
money into their pockets than any- 
thing else and tbeir best efforts were 
put forth to raise fine stock for the 
market. 

Col. Blanden adds section 26 and 
part of section 24 to his large farm in 
the southeast corner of Bellville town- 
ship, thereby increasing it to 2,760 
acres, and has on hand 50,000 bushels 
of corn, 2,000 tons of hay, 350 fat 
steers, 600 hogs and 250 shorthorns, 
of which one-half are registered thor- 
oughbreds and the others are of a high 
grade. He made this the best stock 
farm in northwest Iowa and better 
stock could not be found anywhere in 
the state. He received for one heifer 
calf this year $350. 

During that fall a number of the 
farmers in the eastern part of this 
county lost some of. their young cattle 
from blackleg, an acute fever or dis- 
ease of the blood that caused nervous 
prostration, hemorrhages, boils and 
carbuncles. The animals were usually 
seized with it at night and died the 
next day. This disease prevails prin- 
cipally in undrained, marshy districts 
and ordinarily affects only calves and 
those under one year. It originates 
spontaneously and in most cases 
proves fatal. The be^t preventive is 
the proper drainage of the land and, 
when it prevails, the feeding once a 
week to each animal of half an ounce 
of nitre in its food. 

CORN USED FOR FUEL. 

During the winter of 1878-9 a great 
deal of corn was used for fuel by the 
farmers in the north part of this 
county. The corn was abundant, the 
price was low, and it made good fuel. 
There was no timber and coal had to 
be hauled long distances. To many 
persons, it seemed wrong to use ari 
article of food for fuel, but to others, 
undfir the circumstances then existing 



this was merely a sentiment that over- 
looked the fact that to warm one's self 
by the fire and to do the same by the 
consumption of fo<d are in the end 
precisely similar effects, and if more 
warmth can be procured by consuming 
in a stove a dollar's worth of corn than 
a dollar's worth of coal it is a legiti- 
mate use of the corn. 

The farmers of this county have 
now learned that if they do not have 
wood and want it, they can grow it. 
A crop of trees can be raised with the 
same certainty and about the same 
labor that it takes to grow a crop of 
corn. On the homestead of A. O. 
G-arlock, section 24, Cedar township, 
the growth attained by the different 
varieties of trees in fifteen years was 
as follows: Cottonwood, 40 feet in 
height and 49 inches in circumference 
two feet from the ground; maple, 45 
inches; elm, 32 inches; Scotch pine, 28 
inches; butternut from the seed in ten 
years, 26 inches; and oak from the 
acorn in ten years, 10 inches. 

It was in the year 1870 that the 
planting of trees in this county began 
as a fixed plan of farming and many of 
the first groves were intended chiefly 
as a means of protection from the hot 
sun in summer and the storms in 
winter. The production of timber for 
its use as fuel has been a secondary 
matter, but the results of that first 
pioneer .work now show what may be 
done upon an intelligent plan and the 
comparative value of different vari- 
eties of trees. This problem of fuel 
has been solved by the increase in 
railway facilities whereby abundant 
supplies of both hard and soft coal are 
now within easy reach of everyone. 
1879. 

In 1879 J. H. Brower of Michigan 
returned to his farm on section 32, 
Dover township, W. S. Fegles and 
others of Des Moines township went to 
Nebraska, Wm. Bell of Bellville to the 
Black Hills Barney Handier to Kan« 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882, 



295 



sas and David Slosson to Washington 
territory. The farmers are in better 
circumstances, having paid many debts 
during the previous winter months. 
The resumption of specie payments 
having been effected in January, prices 
of produce gradually increased after 
that date very much to the satisfaction 
of all. Although this season was one 
of drought the crops in Pocahontas 
county were good and an unusual de- 
gree of activity prevailed in all lines 
of business. 

On September 26th Smith Bros., 
(Thomas and James) of Clinton town- 
ship, delivered to Henry Jarvis of old 
Eolf e sixty-two steers for $1,900. They 
were sold June 20th previous when 
they were weighed and it was found 
that the average gain of each steer 
from that date until the day of deliv- 
ery was 275 pounds. They had not 
been fed any grain or hay but made 
this increase entirely by grazing on 
the native grasses of Pocahontas 
county. On Nov. 23d, W. J. Boyd of 
Colfax received $3.46 per cwt. for a 
load of hogs and in December follow- 
ing Millard Seeley of old Rolfe brought 
three loads of hogs to Fonda and re- 
turned with as many loads of lumber. 

FARM MACHINERY AND MORTGAGES. 

In the spring of 1879 sulky plows 
came into general use in Grant town- 
ship. This incident is suggestive of 
the great improvement in farm ma- 
chinery that was made at this period. 
Two years previous, (1877) the self 
binder was first used in this country, 
the mower and reaper having preceded 
it a few years. The disk harrow, the 
grain drill, two-wheeled cultivator, 
corn planter, hay fork, improved 
thresher and portable farm engine 
were all introduced about this same 
period and there was a great demand 
for them in this new section of country. 
The same is true of the melodeon, or- 
gan and sewing machine in the home. 

At the time of their - introduction 
and for gome years thereafter all of 



these implements were sold at a very 
high price, and the payment for them 
at a future date was usually secured 
by a mortgage bearing a high rate of 
interest. Comparatively few had 
sheds for the protection of their ma- 
chinery when not in use and, by reason 
of the decay and breakage due to the 
effects of exposure to the sun and 
weather, many farmers were unable to 
derive more than half their value be- 
fore they were worn out and also found 
themselves embarrassed by their 
unpaid mortgages. A farmer who was 
a close observer expressed the belief 
that about two thirds of the farm 
mortgages at this period were due to 
the causes just named. But if care- 
lessness kept some hampered with 
debt and their homes unimproved a 
wise economy proved as profitable as 
a good crop. The dealers became more 
cautious about giving credit, the far- 
mers more careful of their implements 
and conservative in their purchases, 
and very soon the condition of both 
was greatly improved. 
1880. 

In 18S0 the settlement of the entire 
county had become so general it was 
divided into the full number of super- 
visor districts and the board of super- 
visors was increased to five members. 

Among the new and comfortable 
houses built this year were those of 
Geo. Fairburn, Fonda; Torkel Larson, 
Grant; Thomas Nolan, Lake; David 
Wallace and N. L. Schoonmaker, Liz- 
ard ; and John Pettit, Swan Lake. Good 
barns were erected by Peter Wendell, 
Bellville, and Perry Nowlen, Des 
Moines. 

The crops of all kinds of grain were 
increasingly large, those of wheat and 
flax averaging in some instances 
twenty-three bushels to the acre. R. 
B. Fish, Des Moines, had 309 bushels 
of Fife wheat from thirteen acres, 
Samuel N. Strong, Powhatan, had 100 
bushels flax -from five acres and Henry 
Jarvis, Des Moines, 1,047 bushels flax 



296 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



from sixty-seven acres. Corn was 
abundant and a great deal of it was 
again used for fuel during the coal 
famine that prevailed that fall and 
winter. 

T!-ie year 1880 was a good one for 
fruit, especially plums and apples. 
Plums had never before been so plenti- 
ful and wherever there were apple 
trees large enough they were loaded 
with beautiful apples that made the 
farmer smile. C. M. Saylor, Lincoln, 
picked tvvo bushels from one of his 
young trees, planted only a few years 
previous. The first barrel of apples 
raised and sold in this county is be- 
lieved to have been the one gathered 
by David Slosson, Des Moines, from 
his young trees and sold to W. 
D. McEwen at old Rolfe in the fall of 
1876. 

1881. 

The year 1881 brought with it many 
important changes. D. W. Edgar, M. 
D., located at Fonda and J. N. McKee 
& Co. became the successors of C. G. 
Guyett in the mercantile business. 
Geo. Fairburn erected the Pocahontas 
County Bank building and furniture 
store, the first brick building in Fonda. 
The Fonda Creamery was built by 
Messrs. Shellito and Froelich for 
Sampson and French, Storm Lake. 
Geo. Brower, merchant at Fonda, 
leased the creamery when completed 
and started a branch store at Poca- 
hontas in care of W. Hodges. G. W. 
Hunt and family located at Fonda 
and on May 12th began the publica- 
tion of the Fonda Gazette. C. II. 
Hinckley and son, of Walnut, pur- 
chased section 17, Cedar township, and 
stocked it with 500 head of cattle, 
many of which were thoroughbreds. 

W. W. Beam, M. D., of Tama county, 
located at the hotel de Ted ford in old 
Rolfe in advance of the new railways, 
in order that he might move as a pio- 
neer to the new railroad town in the 
northeast part of the county as soon 
fts it should be platted. Barney IIan : 



cher and Henry Thomas, who had left 
the county, returned with their fami- 
lies to Powhatan township, W. C. 
Kennedy located on his farm in Clin- 
ton and H. W. Bissell became proprie- 
tor of the Center House at Pocahon- 
tas. 

The citizens of Fonda, desirous of 
having a good flouring mill, at a meet- 
ing held on the 15th of January, ap- 
pointed a special committee, consist- 
ing of Geo. L. Biower, Geo. Fairburn, 
A. B. P. Wood, J. W. Gray, Wm. Bout, 
W. J. Busby, O. A. Langworthy and 
Theodore Dunn, and empowered them 
to offer Pfeiffer Bros, and Weikal of 
Newton, Iowa, $500 as an inducement 
to erect a mill four stories in height 
and supply it with machinery for do- 
ing first-class work. This mill (36x48 
feet and 50 feet high was completed 
and began running Oct. 20, 1881. 
It was provided with an improved en- 
gine of forty horse power and four run 
of stone, one for feed, two for wheat 
in connection with another for mak- 
ing roller process or half patent flour, 
the only grade manufactured at first. 
It had a bin that held 8,000 bushels 
and a capacity for grinding 150 bushels 
of wheat and 150 bushels of corn every 
twelve hours. This mill and its ma- 
chinery was burned Oct. 30, 1893, at 
which time it was owned by Peter 
Monison and leased by Kinney Bros. 
It had changed hands several times 
and proved an unprofitable enterprise 
to all who invested in it. 

In Des Moines township the Brook- 
side creamery was erected on the south 
side of Beaver creek by Edward Ham- 
mond and A. II. Lorimer. This was 
the second creamery established in 
Pocahontas c lunty, and when it is 
remembered that the first creamery 
in northwest Iowa was built at Fort 
Dodge in February 1880, only one year 
previous, the inter* st in this new in- 
dustry becomes apparent. 

On Feb. 17, 1881, the Iowa State 
Fanners' Alliance was organized at 



SECOND PEBIOD, 1870-1882. 



297 



It was provided with an improved en- 
gine of forty horse power and four run 
of stone, one for feed, and two for wheat 
in connection with another for mak- 
ing roller process or half patent flour, 
the only grade manufactured at first. 
It had a bin that held 8,000 bushels 
and a capacity for grinding 150 bushels 
of wheat and 150 bushels of corn every 
twelve hours. This mill and its ma- 
chinery was burned Oct. 30, 1893, at 
which time it was owned by Peter 
Morrison and leased by Kinney Bros. 
It had changed hands several times 
and proved an unprofitable enterprise 
to all who invested in it. 

In Des Moines township the Brook- 
side creamery was erected on the south 
side of Beaver creek by Edward Ham- 
mond and A. H. Lorimer. This was 
the second creamery established in 
Pocahontas county, and when it is 
remembered that the first creamery 
in northv/est Iowa was built at Fort 
Dodge in February 1880, only one year 
previous, the interest in this new in- 
dustry becomes apparent. 

On Feb. 17, 1881, the Iowa State 
Farmers' Alliance was organized at 
the close of the annual meeting of the 
Iowa State Agricultural society at 
Des Moines and L. S. Coffin of Webster 
county and C. F. Clarkson of Polk 
county were chosen president and sec- 
retary respectively. The objects of 
this Alliance were the organization of 
the farmers into local alliances for the 
discussion of their privileges, rights 
and duties, and to unite them in ef- 
forts to promote their mutual inter- 
ests. One of the good things accom- 
plished by this organization was the 
fact that it directed the attention of 
the farmers to the profits arising from 
the dairy industry and led them toco- 
operate in the support of creameries 
in every well settled neighborhood. 

The crops of 1881 were not so large 
as those of 1880, although the acreage 
was larger. The previous good crop 



of flax led many farmers to sow it 
again on the same ground, as they had 
planted corn successively in the same 
fields from the time they raised the 
first crop of it. They now learned 
that this was an unprofitable experi- 
ment. 

The deep snows and long continued 
winter of 1880-81 was followed by a 
season of unusually bad roads. The 
snow did not disappear until the rain 
and floods of April 15th, that washed 
away many of the bridges, and the fre- 
quent rains that followed prevented 
the repair of the roads. Their impass- 
able condition was proverbial in the 
spring and, during the months of Sep- 
tember and October, their condition 
again was such that an empty wagon 
was about as much as a team could 
draw back and forth to town. The 
frequent heavy rains affected unfavor- 
ably some of the growing crops and 
bad roads affected the business inter- 
ests of the county quite considerably. 
The season of 1881 in some measure 
verified the remark of an old Iowa 
farmer who said "that a dry season al- 
ways frightens people but it is a wet 
one that starves them." 

Other arrivals in 1881 were Wm. G. 
Bradley and E. M. Hastings, attorneys, 
who located at Pocahontas, David 
Smeaton who started a lumber yard at 
Fonda, and Henry Goodchild who re. 
turned to Powhatan. On Feb. 16 
Messrs. Joseph and Louis Fuchs of 
Cedar township made a shipment of 
fat cattle, consisting of 86 head, for 
which they received at Fonda $4,988, 
or $58 a head. On Sept. 15th the sec- 
ond telegraph wire was put upon the 
poles of the Illinois Central railway at 
Fonda. 

FIRST DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 

On Aug. 20, 1881, the first demo- 
cratic county convention was held at 
Pocahontas under the name of People's 
Party. It was called to order by T. 
L. MacVey, who served as chairman, 



208 



PIONEER HISTOEY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and J. M. Brown served as secretary. 
The nominations made were as follows: 
G-. H. Tyler, superintendent of the 
Blanden farm, for treasurer; Theo- 
dore Dunn for auditor; Anthony Hu- 
dek for sheriff; Henry Kelly for sup- 
erintendent of schools; T. L. MacVey 
for surveyor and John Brown for cor- 
oner. A central committee was ap- 
pointed for the ensuing year. 

At their county convention held this 
year the republicans adopted the fol- 
lowing resolution: "Whereas the re- 
publicans of the county have for the 
past four years or longer, nominated 
candidates without drawing party 
lines, and the democrats have now or- 
ganized an opposition party, errone- 
ously styling it the "People's Party," 
be it resolved by this convention that 
the call for all future county conven- 
tions be based on the republican vote 
and that we cordially invite to our 
ranks those of all parties who sincerely 
desire the welfare of the county and 
discountenance personal politics." 

At the ensuing general election 
held Oct. 11, 1881, Horatio Pitcher, 
the republican candidate for the legis- 
lature, received only 250 votes while 
his opponent, S. A. Clemens, a demo- 
crat, received 561 votes in this county. 
This exceptional vote was due to the 
fact that Pitcher's nomination was 
the result of a trade whereby Sac and 
Pocahontas counties were in some 
measure disfranchised or prevented 
from having a voice in the representa- 
tive convention. The qualifications 
of the candidates did not enter into 
this contest and it was not affected by 
the organization of a new party in this 
county, for there were cast for the 
state officers that year 561 republican 
and 242 democratic votes, and all the 
republican nominees for the county 
offices were elected. 

NEW RAILROADS. 

The large immigration to northwest 
Iowa and neighboring territory at this 



period gave a new impetus to railroad 
construction and during 1881, Poca- 
hontas county became a paradise for 
railroad surveyors. The .surveys for 
five new railways were made across the 
county and twelve special elections 
were held in the various townships 
crossed by them for the purpose of 
voting a five per cent tax to aid in 
paying the right of way through them. 
Each surveying party usually consisted 
of eight men, two of whom were sur- 
veyors. One of these, running the 
line set the center stakes and the 
other, measuring the depth of the 
cuts and height of the grades, set the 
others. 

TOLEDO & NORTH WESTERN R. R. 

In December 1880, the surveyors of 
the Toledo & North western R. R., a 
branch of the Chicago and North- 
western system, passed through this 
county, entering it on section 1, Clin- 
ton township, and leaving it on section 
19, Swan Lake. On April 12-13, 1881, 
E. C. Ebersole, their attorney, secured 
an appraisement and condemnation of 
the right-of-way across Clinton, Cen- 
ter, Powhatan, Washington and Swan 
Lake townships, Sheriff Joseph Malli- 
son having summoned as the jury of 
appraisers Harvey Knight, O. A. 
Langworthy, W. E. G-arlock, H. L. 
Norton, J. F. Pattee, and O. A. Pease. 
Much of the deep snow of the previous 
winter still remained, and these men 
made this two-days' trip across the 
county in a sled drawn by four horses. 
This road during that year was com- 
pleted from Toledo to Webster City. 
On Jan. 5, 1882, the grading was com- 
pleted to Rolfe Junction and five days 
later the track was laid to that place. 
On Jan. 16th the track was laid to 
Havelock and the first construction 
train arrived there that day. During 
the month of March it was extended 
through Swan Lake township and 
during that year, to Sioux Bapids. 

Louis Carmichael of Tama City had 
the contract for a considerable portion 



SECOND PERIOD, 1870-1882. 



299 



of the grading of this road and did 
all that work in this county. All the 
track was laid, the bridges built and 
depots erected by the railway com- 
pany, the two last under the direction 
of A. L. Galy of Chicago, superinten- 
dent of bridges and buildings. At all 
the stations fine buildings two stories 
in height were erected for depots, the 
upper story being intended as a home 
for the agent and bis family. The 
plastering of all these upper stories 
in the depots from Toledo to Hawar- 
den, which includes all of them in this 
state, was done by Knight Dexter of 
Toledo, who boarded at the home of 
John Fraser, a pioneer of Powhatan, 
while plastering the depot at Rubens, 
but now at Rolfe. The towns of Ru- 
bens, Havelock and Laurens were es- 
tablished along the line of this rail- 
road in this county, and the depots at 
these places were completed in the 
month of March, 1882, when freight 
began to be handled. The trains 
began to carry mail about the first of 
May following. H. G-. Burt was the 
first superintendent of the northern 
Iowa division of this road, and the 
first ticket agents in this county were 
as follows: J. B. Miller at Havelock, 
S. R. Overton at Laurens and T. C. 
Morbeck at Rubens. At Rubens on 
section 1, Center township, the rail- 
way company erected a depot, section 
house, stock yards and side track; but 
after two years, at the request of the 
citizens of the place, the depot was 
moved three miles east to its present 
location in Rolfe. The section house 
was moved at the same time but the 
side track and stock yards were left 
for the convenience of the farmers in 
that vicinity. 

It is worthy of notice that for this 
railroad, the second one to enter this 
county, the company received no pub- 
lic aid whatever, either in the form of 
a land grant from the state or of taxes 
paid by the townships through which 
it passed. In 1881 the state of Iowa 



received a patent from the General 
Land Office for lands granted by an Act 
of Congress approved May 12, 1874, to 
aid in the construction of a railroad 
from a junction with the Sioux City 
and St. Paul railway. This grant 
included 9,202 acres located in the 
northern part of Pocahontas county, 
3,086 in Humboldt, 1,860 in Palo Alto, 
7,902 in Buena Vista, 11,747 in Clay 
and several thousands of acres in other 
adjoining counties; but all of these 
lands were given by the state to the 
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 
Railway Company which did not build 
a road through this county at that 
time. 

DBS MOINES & FORT DODGE R. R. 

In January, 1881, the Des Moines 
and Fort Dodge R. R. Co. expressed an 
intention to extend their line from 
Tara northward along the valley of 
the Des Moines river, or that of the 
west branch of Lizard creek and Poca- 
hontas to some prominent point to be 
designated later, provided seven town- 
ships of this county would vote a 
special five-per-cent tax as an aid to 
its construction. This extension 
would put this county in direct com- 
munication with the coal fields of the 
Des Moines district and, as an induce- 
ment to cross it, special elections were 
held and a tax voted by Center town- 
ship on Feb. 28, 1881, Swan Lake 
March 14th, Clinton May 21st and Des 
Moines May 23d. At the time of the 
survey in May it was decided the 
route should extend from Tara to 
Ruthven, and at their meeting on Sep- 
tember 5, 1881, when the board of sup- 
ervisors levied this tax on Clinton 
and Des Moines townships, they did 
not do so on Center and Swan Lake 
for this railroad. The appraisement 
of the right of way in Clinton on Aug. 
23d and in Des Moines and Powhatan 
townships on Oct. 28th was made by a 
jury summoned by Sheriff Mallison, 
consisting of Robert Struthers, J. P. 
Robinson, Geo. H. Ellis, Wm. Jarvis, 



300 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



C. M. Sayler and O. C. Christopherson. 
The greater part of the grading in this 
county was done by Edward London 
and Messrs. Strong (C. L.) and Mead. 
The track was laid in this county 
about June 1, 1882, and the road was 
completed to Ruthven about July 1st 
following. The officers of the com- 
pany were Charles E. Whitehead, 
president; C. N. Gilmore, superinten- 
dent, and Geo. W. Ogilvie, treasurer. 
J. J. Bruce was their agent to secure 
the right of way through this county. 
This company located stations at Gil- 
more City, Rolfe and Plover and pro- 
vided them with good depots. 

DES MOINES & NORTHWESTERN R. R. 

The survey of the Des Moines & 
Northwestern R. R. was completed 
to Fonda on Aug. 12, 1881, and three 
days later was continued through 
Cedar and Dover townships toward 
Spencer. The grading of this road 
was done by Edward Agnew who em- 
ployed C. Wolcot as his office clerk in 
Fonda. When the graders on Oct. 2, 
1881, reached the limits of the Illinois 
Central track at Fonda they were 
ordered to stop by that company. On 
Jan. 5, 1882, when the track was laid 
to the Chicago & Northwestern R. R. 
at Lohrville the latter company stop- 
ped the workmen and so wearied their 
patience by keeping an engine and two 
cars on the track in approved railroad 
style that they became discouraged 
and disbanded. The right of way 
north of Fonda was appraised on Feb. 
7, 1882, by a jury summoned by Sheriff 
Mallison consisting of Louis Fuchs, 
G. H> Gottfriedt, Wm. Fitzgerald, D. 
M. Woodin, 'John Lemp and G. W. 
Cox. The grading north of Fonda 
was continued for several miles by J. 
H. Ryan, a brother-in-law of the con- 
tractor, in the spring of 1882. 

On Nov. 28, 1882, when the laying of 
the track was completed to Fonda, 
the event was celebrated by a public 
reception and supper to the workmen 
in the town hall by the citizens of 



Fonda. Wm. Marshall, chairman of 
the assembly, in his words of welcome 
expressed the joy and gladness of the 
people of Fonda at the result achieved 
by the completion of this new line of 
railway, connecting the town with the 
principal coal districts of the state. 
After supper Thomas Barrett on be- 
half of the railroad boys among other 
things said, "Citizens of Fonda: We 
have reached your town after a long, 
hard struggle and this is a happy day 
for us as well as for you. The sun 
shone upon us and may it continue to 
shine on you and your fair young city. 
We are here under the lead of our 
noble captain, Mr. Sullivan, who has 
had a hard and a strong pull to pull us 
all together. You have received us 
with open arms and open hearts to a 
most bountiful and enjoyable supper. 
The citizens of Fonda and their grate- 
ful reception will long be remembered 
by the boys of the Wabash, St. Louis 
and Pacific R. R., and on their behalf 
we thank you for your kind regards on 
us bestowed." On Dec. 20, 1882 the 
management of this road provided a 
special excursion to Des Moines and 
over forty citizens of Fonda enjoyed 
the trip. 

Previous to the time this road was 
completed, the price of a car to Chicago 
from Sioux City was $40, but from 
Fonda, which was 100 miles nearer but 
had no railway competition, the price 
was $70. It is now $45. 

On Aug. 29, 1881, at a special elec- 
tion held in Cedar township by a vote 
of 71 to 19 the citizens voted a five 
per cent tax in aid of this road and it 
was levied on Sept. 7th following, but 
the road not having been completed 
to Fonda at the specified time, July 4, 
1882, the board of county supervisors 
on April 6, 1885, declared this tax had 
thereby been forfeited. At the spec- 
ial election held in Dover township 
Aug. 30, 1881, the proposition to aid 
this road by a tax was lost by ' a vote 
of 18 to 41. 



SECOND PEEIOD, 1870-1882. 



301 



This roacl was built by citizens of 
Des Moines, known as the Des 
Moines & Northwestern E. E. Co., but 
when completed it was leased and 
continued a part of the Wabash system 
until Oct. 5, 1887, when it was pur- 
chased by Gen. G. M. Dodge, owner of 
the narrow guage line, Des Moines to 
Boone, and Messrs. J. S. Polk and P. 
M. Hubbell, under whose manage- 
ment it was called the Des Moines, 
Northern & Western E. E. In 
1891 the track was made a standard 
guage. On Jan. 1, 1899, the road 
became a part of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul system and 
later that year it was extended from 
Fonda to Spencer; a new depot was 
built at Fonda north of the Illinois 
Central railroad and a station was es- 
tablished at Varina. 

A track laying machine began to 
lay this track north of Fonda, at the 
rate of two miles a day, on Nov. 13th. 
This machine consisted of a train of 
nine cars suited for hauling and de- 
livering the cross ties, rails and spikes 
for a half day's work, accompanied by 
a gang of sixty workmen, part of 
whom going before it, quickly put the 
ties and rails in place for the advance 
of the train and the others following 
after it rearranged the ties and se- 
curely fastened the rails. This train 
consisted of an engine, three flats for 
ties, two for rails, one for spikes, two 
box cars for the workmen and their 
tools, and a flat car in front provided 
with two long horizontal beams, from 
which eighteen ties were dumped from 
a small truck on the grading for two 
lengths of rails at each movement of 
the machine. This front flat and the 
five following ones containing the 
rails and ties were connected on top 
by a railroad on which moved the 
little truck that conveyed and dumped 
the ties. The rails, two at a time, 
were drawn on rollers located in the 
center of the flat cars and delivered 
on trestles provided with similar rol- 



lers on top. It was an interesting 
sight to witness the quiet, orderly and 
rapid movement of the men and ma- 
terials as the work progressed. 

ST. LOUIS, NEWTON & NORTHWEST- 
ERN R. R. 

In August, 1881, the engineers of 
the St. Louis, Newton and North- 
western E. E. Co. surveyed a line from 
Newton via Tara northwest along the 
west branch of Lizard creek to Poca- 
hontas, thence five miles due west 
along the south line of Sherman town- 
ship, thence southwest across the 
northwest corner of Grant township, 
where it was proposed to locate a sta- 
tion, and thence further westward. 
During that same month five special 
elections were held to vote aid in the 
construction of this road. In Lake, 
Lincoln and Sherman townships the 
citizens were not in favor of the tax, 
and a majority of them voted against 
it, but in Center on Aug. 19th it 
carried 19 to 5, and in Grant on Aug. 
29th it carried 17 to 1. On Sept. 7th 
following the board of county super- 
visors levied this tax on these town- 
ships, but as the road was not built 
the tax was forfeited. 

DUBUQUE & DAKOTA R. R. 

In February, 1882, tlie engineering 
corps of the Dubuque & Dakota E. E. 
Co., surveyed a line clue west from 
Hampton to Cherokee and thence to 
Sioux City. This line crossed Clinton, 
Center, Sherman and Marshall town- 
ships, but the road was not built. 

BOOM IN LAND. 

The effect of these numerous sur- 
veys, the building of three new rail- 
roads into the county and the estab- 
lishment along them of five new and 
promising towns — Eolfe, Havelock, 
Laurens, Gilmore City and Plover- 
had the effect of attracting not merely 
public attention to this county but a 
greatly increased immigration and the 
value of land advanced thirty per cent. 
During 1881 and 1882 hundreds of 
thrifty Tn W t> find Illinois farmers came 



302 PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and bought lands within this county. In response to this petition the 
To them this county presented many board of supervisors submitted this 
special inducements. Its railroad fa- question to the decision of the legal 
cilities were excellent, no bonds had voters of the county at the general 
ever been issued to embarrass it with election held Oct. 11, 1870, with the 
debt, it had a new court house and the result that 123 votes were cast in favor 
crops had been abundant. The great of prohibition and only 25 against it. 
crops of 1882 not only brought a liberal The vote by townships on these two 
reward to the farmers of the entire occasions may be seen in the follow- 
county, but marked an era in the ag- ing table: 

ricultural products of the county that township. for. against. 

had not been exceeded in its previous 1870. 1882. 1870. 1882. 

history. The crop of wheat was pro- Bellville 11 19 23 

lific and of a superior quality; and this Cedar 25 83 22 54 

was true also of the rye, flax and bar- Center 27 19 

ley. Clinton 8 28 2 4 

In the spring of 1882 the first cheese ^f&j ' ^ ; ; ; ; 35 g ± 2 { 

factory in the county was erected by Dover... 6 26 23 

Geo. Heald on Pilot creek, Clinton Grant 6 23 1 

township. He kept forty cows, made Lake 10 12 

two cheeses a day, and each . was Lizard" 1 7 49 

stamped with the day and year on Powhatan." . ....32 32 7 

which it was made. Sherman 8 3 

prohibition. Swan Lake 26 8 

^ T nhm _ „„ Washington 37 4 

On June 27, 1882, occurred the spe- 

cial election known as the "Amend- 123 407 25 246 

ment Campaign," when there were It will be perceived that in 1870 
cast in favor of the constitutional many of the townships were not or- 
amendment, prohibiting the manu- ganized, but Lizard either did not 
facture and sale of intoxicating liquors vote upon this measure or the vote 
as a beverage, in this county 407 votes, was not reported; and in five of the 
and against it 246; majority in favor of townships, Bellville, Des Moines, 
it 161. This was the second time the Dover, Grant and Powhatan, there 
people of Pocahontas county had de- was only one opposing vote. In 1882 
clared themselves in favor of prohib- all of the townships cast a majority in 
iting the sale of intoxicating liquors, favor of the amendment except four, 

At their meeting held June 6, 1870, and the majority inthese was as fol- 
the following petition was presented lows: Bellville, 4; Lake, 2; Lincoln, 12; 
to the board of supervisors: Lizard 42; total, 60. In Marshall no 

election was beld. The majority for 

"To the Honorable Board of Super- prohibition in 1870 was 98 and in 1882, 
visors of Pocahontas county: We, 161. 

the undersigned citizens, being legal The county records show 449 votes, 
voters in said county, would respect- for and 204 against the ammendment. 
, llrr . „ t • v, ' , ', , . , This is due to an erroneous return of 

fully ask your honorable body to sub- the vote in Lizard township as 49 for 
mit chapter 82 of the Acts of the 13th and 7 against , instead of 7 for and 
General Assembly of Iowa (1870), en- 49 against; as it appeared on the tally 
titled, "An act to provide for the pro- sneet - 
hibition of the sale of all wine or beer On Jan. 19, 1883, the supreme court 

in the counties by a vote of the peo- of lo ^ a ri ! led that t^\ prohibitory 
r^in >> \kt t\ ivr tw r^ -r* amendment was invalid by reason of 

pie. -W. D. McEwen, Owen Brom- a clerlcal omisslon or error while it 

ley and others. " was passing through tho legislature. 





A. L. SCHULTZ. 

ROLFE ARGUS, 1894 TO DATE. 



L. E. LANGE. 

LAURENS SUN, 1885 TO DATE. 




MARION BRUCE. 

ROLFE REVEILLE, 1896 TO IE 



A. R. THORNTON. 

ROLFE REVEILLE, 1895 TO DATE. 



EDITORS OF COUNTY NEWSPAPERS. 





W. W. BEAM, M. D. 

ROLFE. 



M. F. PATTERSON, M. D. 

DES MOINES. 




D. W. EDGAR, M. 0. 

FONOA. 



C. R. WHITNEY, M. D. 

FONOA. 



PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



303 



XT. 



Third Period 1833 to 1853 -Period of Growth and Development. 



Pocahontas county indeed is fair; 
Of streams of water lias her share; 
Is rich in limestone, and her soil 
Will bless for aye the plowman's toil. 

What a lovely prospect everywhere lies 
Outspread before the farmer's eyes; 
Truly he has found the beautiful one, 
The fairest land beneath the sun. 




OCAHONTAS county 
in the year 1883 en- 
tered upon an era of 
growth and develop- 
ment that was fol- 
lowed in 1899 by an- 
other year of railroad construction. 
The year preceding (1882) was an 
eventful one because in it Marshall, 
the last of the townships to be organ- 
ized, sought recognition and was 
christened "Laurens." The roll of 
the townships, sixteen in number, was 
then complete and they were dotted 
with a galaxy of six thriving railroad 
towns that clustered around Pocahon- 
tas Center, the new county seat. Four 
Railroads had crossed the borders of 



the county on the south, north and 
east, and they afforded splendid rail- 
road facilities in every direction. The 
laying of these permanent foundations 
for future development was followed 
by an era of constant and uninter- 
rupted growth in population, agri- 
cultural productions and general, 
material prosperity, each succeeding 
year being very much like the one 
preceding. In 1899 this era was fol- 
lowed by another year in which two 
more railroads were constructed 
across the country and two new 
towns, Varina and Hanson, were es- 
tablished. 

In 1883 the public officers were C. H. 
Tollefsrudc, auditor; J. W. Wallace, 



304 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



clerk of the court; W. D. McEwen, 
treasurer; A. L. Thornton, recorder; 
Joseph Mallison, sheriff; J. P. Robin- 
son, superintendent and Wm, Mar- 
shall, surveyor. The board of super- 
visors consisted of J. C. Strong, 
J. J. Bruce, James Mercer, 
Wm. Brownlee and Carl Steinbrink. 

The Pocahontas Times and Rolfe 
Reporter, the only newspapers pub- 
lished in the county, were both ap- 
pointed official papers to do the public 
printing for the county, the latter 
having been established at Rolfe dur- 
ing the preceding year. 

In 1881 the assessed valuation of 
Pocahontas county was $1,700,971; in 
1883 it was $2,104,443, which shows a 
gain in two years of $403,472. Eighty 
schools were in session and the average 
wages of the teachers was $27 a month. 

The year 1883, by reason of its disas- 
ters, passed into history as one of the 
most calamitous on record. Over 140,- 
000 people, of whom 110,000 were resi- 
dents of Java, were killed by volcanic 
eruptions, earthquakes and accidents. 
On Oct. 15, a fire at Fonda destroyed 
the Ellis hotel, Times building and 
others in that vicinity; and that spring 
one-half the business houses in New- 
ell and Pomeroy were also destroyed 
by the same element. 

During 1883 this section of country 
flourished splendidly and land ad- 
vanced rapidly. Its value in Poca- 
hontas and Humboldt counties had 
doubled during the five years, and 
throughout the state during the eight 
years previous. Every town and vil- 
lage was happy in the possession of 
some enterprising men who led their 
fellow citizens in laudable efforts to 
promote the public welfare, and the 
work of improvement progressed rap- 
idly in the rural districts. 

STANDARD TIME ADOPTED. 

On Nov. 18, 1883, Standard Time, 
suggested first by Prof. Abbe of the 
signal service in 1878, was adopted. 
By this system the American conti- 



nent was divided into five time dis- 
tricts, ranging from east to west, each 
district running north and south 
across the continent and named re- 
spectively, Inter Colonial, Eastern, Cen- 
tral, Mountain and Pacific. Pocahontas 
county is in the Central district, which 
includes the territory between the 83d 
and 102d degrees of west longitude, or 
from Columbus, Ohio, to the east 
boundary line of Colorado. The date 
line is in the vicinity of the 180 merid- 
ian, which passes southward through 
the Pacific Ocean. 

1884. 

In May, 1884, Gilmore City was 
platted and in November following 
the name of Laurens township was 
changed to Marshall. The M. E. 
church was built at Rolfe, and at 
Fonda the McKee brick block, the 
new Times building and the brick 
school building. 

On April 24, 1884, the Pocahontas 
Record was established at Pocahontas 
by Port C. Barron, its present editor. 
On Dec. 13, 1884, the Fonda Herald 
was established by E. R. Carroll and 
edited by T. J. Hagerty, but it was 
discontinued in February following. 

At the general election held this 
year it was decide:! to amend the state 
constitution, and the followingchanges 
were effected : (1) The time of hold- 
ing the general election, which had 
previously been in October except in 
presidential elections, was now 
changed to the Tuesday after the first 
Monday in November. (2) The num- 
ber of grand jurors was reduced from 
twelve to five, and provision was made 
for the prosecution of cases without 
the intervention of the grand jury. 
(3) The office of district attorney was 
abolished and that of county attorney 
established. 

A new road law also went into ef- 
fect that provided for the consolida- 
tion of the several districts of a town- 
ship into one road district, and for the 
levy of a one-m-iH tax as a county 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



305 



road fund. 



1885. 



The population of the county that 
on Jan. 1, 1880, numbered 3,713, on 
Jan. 1, 1885, was 6,154, which showed 
a gain of 66 per cent in four L and one- 
half years. The immigration to this 
county in 1885 was above the average. 

On June 15, 1885, the Pocahontas 
County Sun was established at Laurens 
by L. E. Lange, its present editor. 

On May 13, 1885, Alonzo L. Thorn- 
ton, county recorder, died during his 
second term in office and his daughter, 
Miss May E. Thornton, completed it, 
first by appointment and later by 
election. She held the office eighteen 
months and was the first woman, and 
to this date the only onp, to 
hold a public office in this county. 

DRAINAGE OF THE COUNTY. 

Alonzo L. Thornton was a practical 
surveyor and maker of maps. Having 
prepared an excellent map of this 
county he directed the attention of 
the people to the importance and feas- 
ibility of adopting a general system of 
drainage. Commencing in January 
previous to his decease, in order to 
bring this matter intelligently before 
the people, he wrote a number of ar- 
ticles for the Pocahontas Record 
and the Pocahontas Times from 
which the following outline of his 
views has been gleaned. 

"The general distribution of low 
land, often covered with water, has 
given the impression to strangers and 
superficial observers that this whole 
region was one vast bog of cold wet 
land, the difference of level between 
the slough and the corn land being so 
slight, that it was not easy to see how 
the latter could be very good so close 
to those that were apparently worth- 
less. While the surface water re- 
mains upon the' low lands it interferes 
with the drainage of those that are 
higher because there is no outlet 
This fact shows the desirability of a 
general system of drainage. To lower 
the general level of the surface water 
24 inches would materially advance 
the market value of all the land. A 
glance at the map of this county shows 



that all the streams in it flow to the 
south and southeast in nearly direct 
lines, and divide it into eight long, 
narrow strips. These streams are the 
natural outlets of the surface water 
but at present they take weeks and 
months to do what should be com- 
pleted in a few days. 

The track of the Chicago & North- 
western R. R. on the bridge over the 
Little Cedar in Swan Lake township, 
west of Laurens, is 1,330 feet abo\e 
tide water, and this is the highest 
point reached by a railroad in the 
county. The bridge of the Illinois 
Central R. R. over the same stream at 
Fonda is 1237 feet above tide and it is 
12 feet higher than the former one 
above the bed of the stream. These 
data show that there is a fall of 110 
feet in the distance of 20 miles be- 
tween the two railroads, or an average 
of 5J feet per mile. The bridge over 
the Big Cedar, east of Laurens and 
four miles distant from the former 
one, is 1,289 feet above tide. This 
bridge is 41 feet lower than the for- 
mer one and the bed of the stream is 
72 feet higher than at Fonda 18 miles 
distant, which shows a fall of four feet 
per mile. The railroad levels in the 
east part of the county show that four 
feet per mile is the average fall in the 
slopes along Beaver and Pilot creek c . 
and the several branches of the Liz- 
ard. According to the levels of the 
Des Moines Valley R. R., the fall in 
the Des Moines river from Fort Dodge 
to Des Moines, a distance of 80 miles, 
is only 198 feet, an average of 2i feet 
per mile; and the fall in the Cedar 
river from Northwood to Wapello, a 
distance of 203 miles, is 540 feet, or 
only a little more than 2i feet per 
mile. The Des Moines and Cedar riv- 
ers are both swiftly flowing streams 
whenever the water is high. 

The flow of the water in the smaller 
streams in this county is impeded by 
flags, water rushes, cane grass and 
even the coarser kinds of slough grass 
that have so invaded their beds as to 
completely fill them and produce ex- 
tensive sloughs. That which is need- 
ed is a channel sufficiently wide and 
deep to remove the roots of these vege- 
table growths and secure a continuous 
flow of the water. This at first 
thought may seem a difficult and ex- 
pensive thing to do, in view of the 
great width of some of the sloughs 
thereby giving the impression they 
are the result of a large flow of water. 
This is a misapprehension. A ditch 



305 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



six feet wide at the surface, three 
feet at the bottom and twenty four to 
thirty inches deep, cut through the 
entire length of our prairie creeks will 
accomplish this result and render val- 
uable for agricultural purposes thou- 
sands of acres that are at present com- 
paratively worthless. These drains 
would form a suitable outlet for the 
drainage of the slough valleys that 
are found along the divides between 
the streams. The measurement of 
levels indicates that the rise between 
the streams is nearly uniform and 
ranges from 7 to 10 feet a mile, or 
nearly double that of the slopes along 
the streams. The crest of each divide 
is generally much nearer the stream 
on its western side and in consequence 
more slough valleys or undeveloped 
streams are found on their eastern 
slopes and they vary from less than, 
one to four miles in length. Manv of 
these slough valleys need a ditch of 
the same size as the main channels of 
the streams and they should be con- 
structed before anything like a general 
system of drainage can be effected. 
S nee they are also public waterways 
they should be inserted by the county 
as a general improvement for the pub- 
lic good. 

Such a system of drainage would 
provide an outlet but leave the drain- 
age of the present tillable lands to 
private enterprise. The effect of it 
would be beyond computation. It 
would remove the greatest cause of 
discouragement to the farmer, es- 
pecially the uncertainty of crops in 
wet seasons; it would greatly increase 
the productiveness of the soil and we 
would find ourselves at one bound in 
the front rank as an agricultural 
county. We would realize that the 
goose' that lays the golden egg fur 
Pocahontas county is "Drainage." 

Such a ditch can be inserted by a 
double ditching plow at an average 
rate of 100 rods a day or two mi les each 
week, and at a cost ranying from $25 
to $50 a mile. The probable extent of 
the system constructed at the public 
expense would be as follows: 

NAME OF ESTIMATED LENGTH 

STREAM. IN MILES. 

Little Cedar 22 

Big Cedar 32 

East Branch, Cedar 9 

Outlet of Muskrat Lake 9 

South branch, Lizard 22 

West branch. Lizard 29 

Lizard creek , 36 

Pilot " ., 21 



Beaver " 13 

Two branches Pilot creek 10 

Total 203. 

At $50 a mile the cost of 203 miles 
would be $10,150. To this should be 
added the cost of surveys, outlet drains 
beyond the county, superintendence 
and incidentals that cannot well be 
anticipated, estimated at $5,000, mak- 
ing a total if $15 150. Even if it should 
amount to $25,000 it would not be a 
ruinous amount for this county to ex- 
pend in a permanent improvement so 
profitable and so beneficial to the 
people in all parts of the county. Some 
counties are expending the last named 
amount for a substantial court house. 
For this county to erect such a public 
building at this time would be like 
putting a fine stove pipe hat on a man 
whose boots are without heels and 
toes, and whose feet are getting wet 
at every step. Better, we say, to wear 
the old hat and attend to the feet 
first. Protecting them we promote 
our own health, the health of our 
horses, cattle and hogs, and greatly 
increase the annual yield of hay, oats, 
wheat and corn. Our soil when freed 
from surplus surface water is as rich 
and productive as any the sun shines 
upon, and I hope to see the day when 
this county shall not be surpassed in 
productiveness and value of farms, in 
beauty and attractiveness of homes, 
and in the general prosperity and 
happiness of its people by any spot in 
this broad land."* 

Two districts in this county, know.n 
as Drainage Districts No. I and No. 
IT, have had large drains inserted in 
them under the direction of the board 
of county supervisors at the request of 
the citizens living in their vicinity. 

The drain in district No. I is along 
the course of Crooked creek, the south- 
west branch of Pilot creek, and ex- 
tends from the northwest corner of 
section 2, Center township, southward 
to section 11, thence southeast to sec- 
tion 16, Clinton township, and thence 
northwest to a point on the east side 
of the adjoining section No. 8. The 
survey and profile of this drain, made 
by L. C. Thornton, was approved July 
21, 1886. This drain is about seven 
miles in length and was completed by 

*Pocali .ntasTimess Feb. 5,1885. 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



307 



F. M. G-ombar and Geo. O. Pinneo of 
Dover township, "Nov. 1, 1888. It cost 
about $3,000. 

The drain in district No. II is along 
the course of the Little Cedar in Dover 
township, It is two and one-third 
miles long, has a fall of seven feet and 
is located on sections 18, 19, 20 and 29. 
Its depth ranges from two to seven 
feet, its average width at the surface 
is 10 feet and its cost was about $2,000. 
It was constructed in -1894 by Arm- 
stead Bros, of Calhoun county. 

In 1889 the board of supervisors be- 
gan to make an equitable allowance 
for their value to the highways, of tile 
drains constructed by farmers for the 
removal of sloughs along them. The 
first tile drain recognized in this way 
was the one constructed by Wm. Mar- 
shall on sections 21 and 33, Cedar town- 
ship. 

The survey for the two large drains 
in Williams township was made in the 
fall of 1885 and they were constructed 
in 1887 with a large dredging machine 
at a cost of $20,000. In many places 
they are 16 feet wide and 7 feet deep. 

DEMOCRATIC PARTY ORGANIZED. 

The democratic party in Poeohontas 
county was regularly organized during 
the year 1885 under the leadership of 
Thos. L. Kelleher, M. D. s L. E. Lange, 
D. W. Edgar, M. D., and F. E Beers, 
who perceived that at the previous 
general election forty per cent of the 
voters of the~county voted the demo- 
cratic ticket, there having been 775 
votes for Blaine and 494 for Cleveland. 
F. E. Beers of Lake township was ap- 
pointed chairman of the central com- 
mittee for this county and in response 
to his call a democratic county con- 
vention was held at Pocahontas Aug. 
15, 1885, when Thos. L. Kelleher, D. 
D. Day and M. T. Collins were 'ap- 
pointed delegates to the democratic 
state convention held at Cedar Rapids, 
and B. McCartan, I). D. Day and J. 
W. O'Brien delegates to the repre- 
sentative convention held at J'omeroy 



on Oct. 2d that year, when Thos. L. 
Kelleher received the nomination for 
representative from the 78th district 
composed of Pocahontas and Calhoun 
counties. 

On Sept. 7, 1835, a second conven- 
tion was held that year at Pocahontas 
and the following persons were nom- 
inated for the county offices: For 
auditor, T. F. McCartan; treasurer, 
Carl Steinbrink; recorder, to fill va- 
cancy, F. E. Beers; sheriff, C. H. 
Hutchins; superintendent, Frank Dek- 
lotz; surveyor, Wm. Marshall; and cor- 
oner, D. W. Edgar, M. D. At this 
convention F. E. Beers served as chair- 
man and Amandus Zieman as secre- 
tary. 

The call for both of these conven- 
tions was addressed to all who had 
supported or intended to support in 
good faith the platform and nominees 
of the democratic party, and the basis 
of representation was one delegate 
from each township in the county and 
one additional delegate for every ten 
votes cast in 1884 for J. E. Henriques, 
democratic candidate for auditor of 
state. At the latter convention Thos. 
L. Kelleher, J. W. O'Brien and T. J. 
Calligan were elected a county central 
c tmmittee, and the following persons 
were appointed chairmen of the town- 
ship committees: Bellville, H. W. 
Behrens; Center, John Stelpflug; Clin- 
ton, J. T. Hagan; Dover, M. J. Lynch; 
Lizard, M. T. Collins; Marshall, A. 
McLain; Giant, Henry Russell; Cedar, 
William Bott; Colfax, David Spiel- 
man; Lincoln, John Stegge; Lake, 
F. E. Beers; Swan Lake, J. L. 
Hopkins; Sherman, J. W. Carson; 
Powhatan, Wm. Baker; Washington, 
M. E. O'Brien. 

people's party conventions. 
Daring the years 1881 '82, '83 and '84 
county nominating conventions were 
held under the name of the People's 
Party that were usually con- 
vened by Wm. Snell of Cedar town- 
ship. This was a local opposition 



308 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



party composed mainly of democrats 
and independent republicans, who 
did not care to support the nominees 
of the republican party and had no 
direct connection with, or represent- 
ation in the democratic state and 
representative conventions. 

An account of the first People's 
Party convention held in 1881 has 
already been given. At the People's 
Party convention held at Pocahontas 
Sapt. 2, 1882, at which W. H. Hait 
served as chairman and D. W. Hunt 
secretary, M. Crahan was re-nominated 
for recorder and W. H. Hait was nom- 
inated for clerk of -the court. 

On Sept. 8, 1883, the People's party 
held a convention at Pocahontas and 
placed in nomination the following 
persons for the county offices: For 
auditor, T. F. McCartan; treasurer, 
Wm. Brownlee; sheriff, S. H. Gill; sur- 
veyor, C. P. Leithead; superintendent, 
W. F. Bowman. 

On the same day and at the same 
place the democrats held a convention 
and appointed five delegates to repre- 
sent this county in the democratic 
representative convention for the 78th 
district at Fonda Sept. 8, following, 
when L. T. Dan forth of Lake City was 
nominated. This was the only county 
convention held by the democrats this 
year. 

On Oct. 18, 1884, the People's Party 
held their last convention at Poca- 
hontas previous to the organization of 
the democratic party. John Fraser 
served as chairman and S. P. Thomas 
as secretary. The nominations made 
were those of Amandus Zieman for 
recorder and Walter P. Ford for clerk 
of the court. 

Wm Brownlee, nominated for 
county treasurer in 1883, was the only 
successful candidate nominated by the 
People's party during the years 1881 
to 1834. 

1886. 

The year, 1886, was noted for the 
unusual number of labor strikes that 



occurred throughout this country. 
During the five years preceding, com- 
mencing with 1881, they numbered 
each year respectively, 471, 454, 478, 
443 and 645; but in 1886 there were 
1,412, and they involved 9,893 business 
concerns. During the six years named 
they caused a loss of $51,815,165. Of 
these strikes 42 per cent were caused 
by demands on the part of the labor- 
ing men for an increase of wages and 
19 per cent for a reduction of the hours 
of labor. 

The area of public lands disposed of 
in 1886 was 20,974,134 acres, one mil- 
lion more than in 1885 but six millions 
less than in 1884 when more than 
eleven millions were disposed of in 
Dakota alone. The amount of public 
lands disposed of during the five years 
preceding was 100,974,134 acres, an 
area equal to four states like Ken- 
tucky, three like Iowa, more than 
Great Britain and Ireland, or three- 
fourths of France or Germany. 

In 1886 the Iowa and Minnesota tele- 
phone line was established between 
Fonda, Pomeroy, Manson, Pocahontas 
and Rockwell City with central office 
at Pomeroy. The steel harvesting 
machine of William Deering was in- 
troduced. 

The year 1886 was one of severe 
drought throughout the northwest 
and the weather from July 1st to 7th 
was the hottest ever known, In some 
places in Dakota the hot waves swept 
over the fields, blighting the wheat, 
shriveling the corn and other crops, 
and for awhile great uneasiness was 
felt as to the result. Another in- 
tensely hot period was experienced 
from Aug. 20-26, when many ponds 
and lakes in this county became dry 
for the first time in many years; yet 
this was the year in which Iowa be- 
came the greatest corn producing state 
in the union. 

The crops, wherever well cultivated, 
were excellent and never before was 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



309 



there so general realization of the fine 
opportunities presented by this sec- 
tion of the country. Here was an op- 
portunity for production on cheap, 
fertile and convenient lands; an oppor- 
tunity for remunerative labor to all 
who would engage in the development 
of a new and great country. These 
opportunities brought to this section 
the sturdiest and most intelligent of 
the agriculturists of the states further 
east and they constituted a broad and 
sure foundation on which to build 
prosperity. The fact that the area of 
desirable lands available for settle- 
ment in other portions of the west had 
been greatly reduced served to stimu- 
late the movement of population to 
this section. Even the misfortunes of 
large communities in the east and the 
stringency felt there in all kinds of 
industries were also considerations 
that encouraged immigration to this 
section. 

These and similar impulses were so 
strong that it was difficult to find a 
place in any village or even on the 
prairie where their influence was not 
felt. A knowledge of the industrial 
relations of the country and an ac- 
quaintance with the resources of this 
northwestern section were all that 
was necessary to demonstrate its des- 
tiny. Its wonderful productiveness 
and certainty of good crops even in 
the time of drought concentrated upon 
it more than ever before the attention 
of a new class, the capitalists. In the 
previous history of the other new sec- 
tions of this country men of liberal 
means waited until its development 
was an accomplished fact but here they 
came in anticipation of its develop- 
ment. The copious inflow of money 
from many directions marked a new 
era, for it was the evidence of faith in 
its destiny and every dollar meant 
quickened activity. 

CORN RECORD. 

In the fall of 1886, in order to ob- 
tain correct data in regard to the pro- 



ductive power of the soil of this county 
Port C. Barron, editor of the Poca- 
hontas Record, offered two prizes of 
$15 and $10, respectively, for the best 
samples of corn raised on five acres of 
ground. The first prize was won by 
R. C. Jones of Havelock, who gathered 
315 bushels from five acres, an average 
of 63 bushels to the acre. This was 
planted May ll-12th. The second 
prize was accorded Thomas L Dean 
of Lincoln township who on fall plow- 
ing raised 312^ bushels or 62i bushels 
to the acre. Others that reported were 
E. S, Norton, Grant township, 300 
bushels from 5 acres, averaging 60 
bushels; B. C. Boyesen, Sherman town- 
ship, 231 bushels, 39 to the acre; Frank 
J. Sinek, Center township, 346 bushels 
from ten acres; and F.DeKlotz, Center, 
one field of 55 acres that in 1884 on 
breaking yielded an average of 30 
bushels, in 1885 50 bushels and in 1886 
33 bushels to the acre. 
1887. 

The year, 1887, was one of unusual 
activity in railway construction, the 
amount being 12,714 miles against 
3,608 miles in 1885. This unusual ac- 
tivity in railway construction through- 
out this country exerted a potent 
influence on its financial and industrial 
condition. The construction of these 
new railroads furnished special em- 
ployment to a large army of men and 
so increased the mileage of the rail- 
way systems that their maintenance 
and management gave permanent em- 
ployment to 65,000 additional work- 
men. 

The impulse of this general activity 
was felt in this county. Under the 
leadership of Geo. Eairburn who was 
then serving as mayor, the principal 
streets of Fonda were graded and 
covered with gravel, eighty cars, from 
Cherokee; the town was platted for 
drainage and sewerage and a main 
sewer constructed from Main street to 
Cedar creek; and provision was made 
for lighting the streets at night by the 



310 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



erection of a set of street lamps at the 
corners of the principal ones. These 
improvements marked the beg nning 
of a new epoch in the history of Fonda 
and the leading town of Pocahontas 
county began to have the appearance 
of a city. The Fonda creamery, that 
had been closed for a year, was re- 
opened by Ed. L. Beard in May and 
the Presbyterian church was com- 
pleted in October. 

During 1887 an effort was made to 
obtain some facts in regard to the 
amount and value of the railroad busi- 
ness of this county. The data given 
herewith were obtained from the 
agents of the several stations in this 
county by the Fonda Town Lot Co. 

During the year 1886 the shipments 
in car load lots at Fonda were as fol- 
lows: 

ILL. C. WABASH 

Hay 69 480 

Oats 46 144 

Hogs 39 96 

Flax 2 25 

Cattle 19 24 

Corn 14 

Barley 2 8 

Wheat 16 

Straw 1 

Lumber 2 

Emigrant goods 1 

Sundries 54 58 

Total 251 849 

Received 440 260 

Totals 691 1,109 

This shows that in 1886 there were 
forwarded from Fonda 1,100, and re- 
ceived 700, making 1,800 carloads. 

On March 1, 1888, it was found that 
the carload shipments at Fonda for 
the five months preceding that date 
were as follows: 

ILL. CENT. WABASH 

Forw'd Rec'd Forw'd Bec'd 

October 34 57 152 96 

November 31 31 177 135 

December 55 25 128 162 



January 65 
February 127 



32 

39 



100 



105 
103 



312 184 643 601 

Whole number forwarded 955, re- 
ceived 785, total 1.740 carloads. Dur- 
ing the last three months of this 
period cars were not available to do all 
the work as they were needed. If they 
had been available the aggregate 
would have been considerably larger.* 
It will be perceived that the ship- 
ping done during these five months 
lacked only 60 cars of being as great as 
during twelve in 1886. 

Two months later the following sta- 
tistics of the railroad business at 
Fonda and the neighboring towns on 
the Illinois Central R. R. were ob- 
tained for the six months of October, 
November and December, 1887, and 
January, February and March, 1888. 
Rec'd For'd Way Fr't Total 



Man son 365 


709 


74 


1148 


Pomeroy 346 


359 


33 


738 


Newell 306 


503 


72 


881 


Storm L. 407 


446 


95 


948 


Fonda 397 


9S0 


256 


1633 


In the above 


figures 


of the 


Fonda 



stations, the Wabash cars are reduced 
to those of standard size and the way 
freight of all stations to cars of ten 
tons each.f 

The publication of these statistics 
was a surprise,- both to the railway 
officials who perceived the importance 
of Fonda as a shipping station, and to 
the leading citizens of the neighbor- 
ing towns, who did not appreciate the 
fact that Fonda with her population 
of only 600, was so far in the lead of 
her neighbors from this business 
standpoint. 

The amount of shipping clone at the 
several towns in this county during 
the same period of six months from 
Oct. 1, 1887, to March 31, 1888, was 
found to be as follows: 



*Time<, March 1, 1888. 
-(•Times. May 24, 1888. 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899, 



311 



Plover..-. .-. 598 

Gilmore City* 600 

Havelock 1234 

Laurens* 1250 

Rolfe 1362 

Fonda 1633 

Total ' 6,677. t 

It may be fairly estimated that one 
third of the number of cars handled at 
Pomeroy and Manson, 629, are for 
Pocahontas county, and if these be 
added to the above they make the 
number of carloads of shipping for 
Pocahontas county in six months 7,306, 
and for that year about 12,000 to 14,000 
cars. A reasonable estimate of the 
value of the shipping for this county 
for the six months above enumsrated 
would be $1,000,000. At that date, 
which was only seventeen years from 
the time of the first settlements in the 
western half of it, only about one-half 
of the tillable land of this county was 
occupied or under cultivation. To the 
man seeking a profitable farm or a 
good business "location this county 
then as now presented many unusual 
inducements. 

The year of 183S opened with a 
severe blizzard on Jan. 12-13, that pre- 
vailed generally throughout the north- 
western states, and in Dakota caused 
the loss of a number of children re- 
turning from school. 

The season was a good one for flax 
and many farmers in this section real- 
ized from this crop alone a sufficient 
amount of money to pay for the orig- 
inal cost of the. land on which it was 
sown. Henry Hout, southeast of 
Fonda bought that spring 80 acres of 
land for $800 and, putting 75 acres of 
it in flax, threshed therefrom 800 
bushels for which, at $1.10 a bushel, 
he received $880, or $130 more than the 
cost of the land. His neighbor, Adin, 
at the same time threshed 650 bushels 
of flax from 60 acres of newly broken 
prairie and received $615, or $115 more 

♦Estimated. 

fPocahontas Record, Jan. 2A, 1889 



than the cost of the land. 

The hay and other crops were ex- 
cellent and Pocahontas county made 
more substantial growth than during 
any of the previous years. The new 
settlers were good farmers who came 
to found homes and join with their 
predecessors in the general improve- 
ment of the county. Thousands of 
acres of beautiful prairie sod were 
turned for the first time in this county 
and many new houses were erected in 
every direction. 

In Rolfe the Presbyterian church 
was built and also the business house 
of Crahan and McGrath, the first one 
of brick in that city. 

During the following winter there 
prevailed to an unusual extent in 
Cedar, Colfax and Grant townships, 
certain contagious diseases, such as 
measles, scarlet rash and diptheria, 
and several children died from them. 

On May 4, 1887, Arbor Day was ob- 
served at Fonda and 125 shade trees 
were planted on the school grounds, 
Miss Anna E. Brown serving as prin- 
cipal. This was the first year that 
Arbor Day was observed in Iowa, and 
it was done at the recommendation of 
the state superintendent for the pur- 
pose of attracting public attention to 
the law of 1882 which provides that, 
"the board of directors of each town- 
ship and independent district shall 
cause to be set out and properly pro- 
tected twelve or more shade trees on 
each school house site belonging to the 
district, where such number of trees 
are not now growing, and defray the 
expenses of the same from the con- 
tingent fund." 

In June. 1887, Aggie Garlock of 
Rolfe had the honor of being the first 
in the county to receive the certificate 
for having passed a final examination 
with a standing of 90 per cent, on com- 
pleting the eight years course of study 
according to the classification register 
adopted Nov. 9, 1886, by the board of 
supervisors for the district schools of 



312 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the county. 

On'Jan. 26, 1887, the surveyors of 
the Sioux City and Northeastern R. R. 
Co., reached Pocahontas, having en- 
tered the county on section 30 of Dover 
township. In April following, this 
survey was completed from Sioux City 
toBelmond via Kingsley, Alta, Poca- 
hontas and Rolfe. On June 7th fol- 
lowing a special election was held in 
Clinton township and a tax of five 
mills in aid of this railroad was ap- 
proved by a vote of 91 to 54. On June 
28th a similar proposition wbs lost in 
Dover by a vote of 41 to 55, but at a 
second election held Aug. 30th fol- 
lowing, this decision was reversed by 
a vote of 56 to 39. On July 5th Center 
signified approval by a vote of 50 to 43. 
On Sept. 13th, Lincoln approved a tax 
of 2i mills by a vote of 23 to 6. This 
road, howevar, was not built. 

In October, 1887, another route, 
known as the St. Paul and Council 
Bluffs R. R , was surveyed across this 
county. This line passed southwest- 
erly eighty rods east of Plover, three- 
fourths of a mile west of Pocahontas 
and a short distance east of Fonda. 

The practice of dehorning cattle 
was introduced in February, 1887, as a 
result of the experiments made by 
Prof. Henry of the Wisconsin experi- 
ment station. 

1888. . 

On July 5, 1888, the Reveille was es- 
tablished at Rolfe by Messrs.'- J. J. 
Bruce and J. H. Lighter and that town 
had then two weekly newspapers. 

At the general election held in 1888 
the question of restraining stock was 
for the last time submitted to the 
voters of this county by order of the 
board of supervisors. For a number 
of years the "herd law" compelling 
everyone to herd or keep his cattle 
within an enclosure had been in force. 
The object of this submission was to 
see if the people desired a change. For 
the herd law there were cast 1510 votes 
and against it 142. Lizard township 



cast only 38 for and 61 against it, but 
it was the only township that cast a 
majority against it. 

NURSERY OF D. C. WILLIAMS. 

On May 7, 1888, occurred the death 
of D. C. Williams of Washington 
township, his wife having died the 
year previous. Mr. Williams was not 
one of the public officers of this county 
but, as a practical and successful nurs- 
eryman, proved himself a public bene- 
factor by the establishment in 1881 of 
the nurseries in Washington township 
for the special benefit of the people 
who were settling in this new and 
treeless section of country. Inasmuch 
as his own farm was unbroken and 
therefore unsuited for immediate use, 
he leased in 1881 a plot of cultivated 
ground from J. C. Strong on section 
32. Later he planted similar plots on 
his own, now known as the Edwards 
farm, and on that of his son, Frank 
Williams on section 19, now owned by 
John Ryon. At the time of his death 
he had about thirty acres on which 
the young trees were growing as vig- 
orously as any seen anywhere. The 
different varieties, planted each by 
itself, showed their natural shapes and 
habits of growth. Not every variety 
planted did equally well; some that 
were supposed to be hardy proved to 
be unsuited to this climate while 
others were unaffected by the cold of 
winter or the Mat of summer. His 
few years of experience as the first 
nurseryman in this county showed 
that whilst it was of little use to send 
south or very far east for trees to plant 
in this section, yet success in raising 
apple trees was not more doubtful 
than the effort to raise maples, ash 
or butternuts; also that trees lifted in 
the fall, shipped and heeled in over 
winter do better in this latitude than 
those lifted in the spring. After the 
decease of Mr. Williams the nurseries 
were converted into orchards and 
crops of beautiful fruit ranging from 
100 to 300 bushels, have been gathered 



THIRD PERIOD,. 1883-1899. 



313 



from the trees planted by him as the 
years have passed. 

1889. 

In 1889 the Presbyterian and Catho- 
lic churches at Gilmore City were 
built, also the Presbyterian church at 
Plover and the Methodist church at 
Havelock. 

At 9 a. m. April 30, 1889 the church 
bells all over the country rang to cele- 
brate the 100th anniversary of the in- 
auguration of George Washington as 
president of the United States. This 
day was further observed at Fonda as 
arbor day and two special trees were 
planted on the school grounds in mem- 
ory of Washington and LaFayette, 
after the public exercises of the oc- 
casion. 

This was also the first observance of 
"flag day," when our national flag was 
unfurled from our school houses, or 
poles erected in front of them for that 
purpose. This beautiful emblem, un- 
furled before the young in our public 
schools, becomes to them a constant 
lesson in patriotism the good influ- 
ence of which cannot be measured. 
Symbolizing by its colors the principles 
of love, liberty and loyalty and by its 
stars and stripes the union of all the 
states, it stands as a whole for the 
supremacy of law and order without 
which the union itself would be in 
constant jeopardy. 

' 'Give it free to tbe wind 
As a warning and call; 
It stands for humanity, God and 

the right; 
It proclaims all equal in law and 
God's sight. 
Fling it out on the wind 
A source of joy to all. " 
farmers' alliances. 
On March 1, 1887, W. H. Burnett of 
Cedar, and Geo. Watts of Dover, 
through the columns of the Pocahon- 
tas Times, issued a call for a meeting 
of the farmers of Pocahontas county 
at the Pinneo schqqlhouse in Dover 



township — now Varina — on the even- 
ing of March 8th following for the pur- 
pose of organizing a farmers' mutual 
insurance company. In response to 
this call on March 22, 1887, a meeting 
of the farmers in the vicinity was held 
in schoolhouse ~No. 3, Cedar township, 
and a farmers' mutual insurance com- 
pany was organized by the election of 
Geo. Watts president and treasurer, 
R. Wright of Cedar secretary, and the 
following persons as directors for one 
year, namely. W. H. Burnett, S. P. 
Lampman, Geo. O. Pinneo and C. A. 
Sayre. The object of this organiza- 
tion was to provide a cheap and reli- 
able insurance against fire and light- 
ning. A farmer became a member of 
the company by paying a membership 
fee of $1.00 and five cents additional 
for each $1.00 of risk taken on his 
property. The president and secre- 
tary of this organization called a meet- 
ing to be held at the court house on 
June 24, 1887, but no further progress 
was made'at this time. 

On July 21, 1888, the Powhatan 
township farmers' alliance was organ- 
ized by the election of John Fraser 
president, James Henderson vice pres- 
ident, P. G. Hess secretary and Mrs. 
J. Stronzel treasurer. On April 6, 
1889, the Farmers' Alliance at Rolfe, 
No. 882, of which P. H. Bendixon was 
president and J. J. Bruce secretary, 
issued a call for a county convention 
to be held at Pocahontas May 27, 1889, 
for the purpose of organizing a county 
alliance. At this convention there 
were present delegates from Bellville, 
Cedar, Colfax, Dover, Grant, Lake, 
Lincoln, Marshall, Rolfe and Runyan 
(Washington) local alliances. After a 
picnic dinner in the grove the con- 
vention was called to order by P. H. 
Bendixon. C. M. Sayler of Lincoln 
was chosen chairman and M. W. Lin- 
nan of Dover secretary of the conven- 
tion. 

At this meeting it was decided to 
organize a Farmers' Mutual Insurance 



314 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Company to consist of all the local made at this time, 

alliances in the county, each of which At the next annual meeting held at 

should be represented by its president Pocahontas March 26th, 1890, C. M. 

and secretary and one additional rep- Sayler was chosen president, J. J. 

resentative for every ten members Bruce secretary and George Watts 

thereof. A constitution was adopted treasurer. Geo. Henderson, C. 

that provided for the annual meeting M. Sayley, J. J. Bruce, Geo. Watts, 

to be held in the month of June and P. J. Shaw, Wm. Brownlee, Alex. Pet- 



June 29, 1889, was designated for the 
first meeting. 

The object of this organization was 
declared to be to unite the farmers of 
Pocahontas county for the promotion 
of their interests, socially and financi- 



erson, J. W. O'Brien, W. F. Atkinson 
and James Clancy incorporated under 
the laws of Iowa and the officers were 
authorized to solicit memberships. 
After several months spent in this 
work, the oft-expressed wish of the 



ally, regardless of party; and to oppose farmers of this county was realized 
all forms of monopoly as being detri- and the Pocahontas Mutual Fire and 



mental to the best interests of the 
public. Whilst it was not a political 
organization they pledged themselves 
to support for the legislature only 
those men who would best represent 
the farmers' interests in that body. 
They adopted this resolution: "That 
we favor the calling of a convention 
for the nomination of county officers 
based upon the whole vote of the 



Lightning Insurance Association, on 
Jan. 1, 1891, issued its first policy to 
its presiding officer, C. M. Sayler of 
Lincoln township. 

The farmers at this period did so 
much fencing and thereby made neces- 
sary the grading of new highways to 
such an extent that at the request of 
the board of supervisors in 1889, the 
people voted an extra two mill tax for 



county rather than submit to the die- the years 1890, 1891 and 1892 for grad- 
tation of a f ew. " The officers elected ing purposes. 



were William Brownlee of Bellville, 
president, R. N. McCombs vice presi- 
dent, M. W. Linnan, secretary, Wm. 
Bott, treasurer, 

At the first annual meeting held at 
Pocahontas June 29, 1889, there were 
present about twenty-five delegates, 



1890. 
In January, 1890, the La Grippe or 
Russian influenza as a general epi- 
demic spread over this country and 
nearly everybody was more or less 
seriously affected by it. During the 
drought that prevailed in midsummer 



who represented twelve township alii- many of the shallow wells failed and 



ances. Officers for the ensumg year 
were elected as follows: Wm. Brown- 
lee, president; R. N. McCombs, vice 
president; M. W. Linnan, secretary, 
and Wm. Bott, treasurer. Messrs. 
John A. Crummer, W. F. Atkinson 
and J. A. Ryon were appointed dele- 
gates to the annual meeting of "the 
state alliance at Des Moines in Sep- 
tember following. The propriety of 
buying supplies at wholesale, the ap- 



in meeting the demand for deeper ones 
the drill began to be used in place of 
the well auger. This proved to be the 
first of a continuous period of five 
years of drought that was most seri- 
ously felt in 1894. 

The census of 1890 was taken by the 
following enumerators: Capt. Joseph 
Mallison, Cedar and Fonda; N. M. 
Nelson, Bellville and Lizard; J. W. 
Wallace, Center and Sherman; Mrs. 



pointment of a county purchasing Kate H. Melson, Clinton and Rolfe; 
agent and the development of a county Mrs. Jennie Sanquist (now Mrs. Ed. 
mutual insurance company were dig- Hogan), Colfax and Grant; J. S. Smith, 
cussed but, no further progress was Pes Moines arid Powhatan \ Franl? A, 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



315 



Thompson, Dover and Marshall; Ed. 
G. Fargo, Lake and Lincoln; and Ben- 
jamin E. Allen, Laurens, Swan Lake 
and Washington. According to their 
enumeration this county then had a 
population of 9,553 persons, which 
showed a gain of 5,840 in ten years. 
crops or 1890. 
The year of 1890 was another one of 
great material growth and many new 
farm buildings were erected in every 
direction. The following items show 
the excellent character of the crops 
raised that year in this section. In 
Lizard township Wm. Stinson raised 
1,200 bushels of oats from 20 acres, an 
average of 60 bushels to the acre; 
Michael Walsh raised 5,000 bushels of 
oats that averaged 50 bushels, and his 
corn averaged 60 bushels to the acre; 
John Masterson, on the farm of 
Charles Kenning, in 1889 had an aver- 
age of 50 bushels of corn from 115 acres 
and of oats 40 bushels; in 1890 his oats 
averaged 30 bushels and his corn 60 
bnshels. The rental for the land was 
$1.50 an acre. In Bellville, 150 acres 
of corn on the Blanden farm averaged 
65 bushels to the acre. In Grant, H. 
C. Tollefsrude threshed an average of 
15 bushels of flax to the acre where 
the sod had been turned in an old pas- 
ture of 16 acres. In Lincoln, Wm. 
Boog in 1889 bought 50 acres of land 
for $10 an acre, broke and sowed it in 
flax and it brought him $13 an acre; in 
1890 a crop of oats was raised on the 
same land and it brought more money 
than the flax crop of the previous year. 
In Lake, Gerd Elsen in 1890 raised 
4,000 bushels of corn from 100 acres, 
his oats yielded 45 bushels to the acre, 
flax 10 bushels and potatoes 50 bushels. 
His farm of 530 acres bought a few 
years previous for $6.50 and $12 an acre 
had been improved with a good farm 
house and three good barns, and it 
was then estimated to be worth $24 an 
acre, an advance in price that showed 
as a reward for his investment and 
abor upon it in ten years to be $12,130 



independent of the annual income 
from the crops and stock. 

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

On March 22, 1890, the Big Four Dis- 
trict Fair Association was organized 
at Fonda and held its first exhibition 
that fall. On June 12th Laurens, as 
an incorporated town, held its first 
election of officers, a new and large 
school building having been erected 
the previous year. R. F. Beswick, 
having purchased the Fonda creamery 
and provided it with a separator, a 
new Scandinavian invention, started 
it anew and established another one 
in Williams township. The first 
buildings were erected on the county 
farm in Grant township that had been 
purchased the previous year; and to 
the court house were added two fire 
proof vaults and a jail. These vaults 
and jail were built by Joseph Mikesh 
and cost $3,400. 

In 1879 there was a criminal convic- 
tion in this county, and this circum- 
stance led to the observation that 
until that date there had not yet been 
a criminal sent from Pocahontas 
county to the penitentiary. The arrest 
of a criminal in this county was a very 
rare occurrence, and in such cases the 
persons arrested were taken to the 
jails of the neighboring counties, es- 
pecially Emmetsburg, Fort Dodge, 
Sac City and Storm Lake. As the 
number of criminal arrests increased 
with the great increase of population 
during the eighties, in 1890 the sen- 
timent prevailed that Pocahontas 
county should also have a jail Of its 
own. 

COUNTY FARM. 

As early as Jan. 8, 1884, the board of 
supervisors; passed a resolution to buy 
a county farm of not less than 160 
acres of land at a cost not, to exceed 
$2,000 and located within four miles of 
Pocahontas, and authorized the audi- 
tor to solicit bids therefor until their 
next meeting. Two years later the 
farm of Peter Peterson was rented by 



316 PIONEER HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the board and, N. B. Post being em- 
ployed to prepare the specifications 
for a county poor house, bids were so- 
licited therefor; but on June 8th 1888 
the erection of a building.was indefin- 
itely postponed. Nothing further 
seems to have been done until April 3, 
1889, when A. W. McEwen, Swan Nel- 
son and Wm. Fitzgerald were ap- 
pointed a committee to select and 
ascertain the price of a suitable farm 
for the use of the county. On May 
11th following, on their recommenda- 
tion it was decided to purchase the nei 
and ei nwi, section 4, Grant township, 
containing 262 acres for $2,850. The 
house, barn and other outbuildings 
on this farm were erected in 1890 by 
Thomas L. Dean, contractor and build- 
er, and it was rented that year to 
Charles J. Carlson of Center township 
upon the condition that he should pay 
a rent of $240 a year for the farm and 
take proper care of all persons sent to 
it by the board, at the rate of $2.40 a 
week. After two years he was suc- 
ceeded by Charles Kezer, who contin- 
ved in charge of it until the com- 
pletion of the asylum Jan. 5, 1899, a 
period of six years, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Wm. A. Elliott the present 
incumbent, who has charge also of the 
asylum. The latter was built in 1898 
at a cost of $4,500. It is 60x32 feet, two 
stories in height and has 41 rooms. All 
the incurables supported at that time 
by the county at the state asylum in 
Independence were brought here in 
January, 1899. 

At the time Thomas L. Dean was 
building the house on the county farm 
he was justice of the peace for Lincoln 
township, and while he was busy at 
work just after the building was en- 
closed, he was called upon by a couple 
of young Swedes. On learning that 
the object of their errand was to be 
married, he courteously inyited them 
to alight and have the ceremony per? 
formed in the new building, Not wish- 
ing to bave it said "they were mar- 



ried in a poorhouse, " they persistently 
refused all his entreaties and the mat- 
rimonial knot was tied while they sat 
complacently in their buggy. 

This happy couple fared better than 
the one that appeared before Judge 
Lot Thomas at Pocahontas a short 
time previous with an application for 
a divorce, and he denied the request 
of the wife on the very grounds she 
had pleaded, to the effect, "that while 
the throwing of spittoons and dishes 
at each other was rather unpleasant, 
still he did not consider it sufficient 
grounds for a divorce." 
1891. 

On January 1, 1891. the Pocahontas 
County Mutual Fire and Lightning 
Association issued its first policy, and 
on June 21st the Methodist church of 
Havelock was dedic&ted. 

On Feb. 3d the Rolfe Argus, a dem- 
ocratic paper, was established at 
Eolfe by Lawrence J. Anderson, who 
continued its publication until Nov. 
1, 1892, when he sold it to J. A. Faith. 
In March, 1893, this paper was bought 
by M. Crahan and it was edited by 
Wm. Porter until April 4, 1894 and by 
A. L. Shultz to Dec. 1, 1898, when the 
outfit was sold to parties outside the 
county and the subscription list trans- 
ferred to J. H. Lighter, editor and 
proprietor of the Rolfe semi-weekly 
Tribune. 

In 1891 the farmers were favored 
with beautiful weather, fine crops and 
good prices. 

Joseph Fuchs of Cedar township 
in July, 1891, sold Matt Foley five cars 
of fat steers for $5,546, or $59 a head, 
and his brother, Louie Fuchs, on the 
same day also sold him 65 head for 
$5,665, or more than $87 a head, the 
two lots amounting to $11,211. When 
these two brothers arrived at Fonda 
in 1870 they did not have money enough 
to pay for an eighty acre tract of raw 
prairie and after two months the for- 
mer, returning to the place from 
whence they came, worked there as a. 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



317 



farm hand for five more years and sent 
his earnings to his elder brother Louie 
to assist in paying for their first pur- 
chases of land. The annual sales of 
cattle by these men have been in- 
creasing as the years have passed, so 
that those of Joseph alone in 1899 
amounted to nearly $18,000. 

The Fonda creamery, for the first 
time in its history, was kept rnnning 
during the previous winter with the 
patronage of twenty-eight customers, 
and another separator was put in it. 
The receipts of a few of the patrons 
at this time were as follows: For six 
months, J. B. Weaver $203; M. Murphy 
$210; S. C. Swink $221; Patrick Duf- 
field $253; for eight months, David 
Spielman $232 and John Cartridge $278. 

The iron bridges across the Cedar at 
Fonda and the Des Moines river near 
the north line of the county in Des 
Moines township were built in 1891, by 
the Iron Bridge company of Canton, 
Ohio, who had delivered them two 
years previous to that date. These 
were the first, and to this date are the 
only iron bridges built for the use of 
the public in this county. The steel 
bridge of the Illinois Central R. R. at 
Fonda was built in 1890. 

FREE MAIL DELIVERY. 

Congress having passed a law and 
made an appropriation to carry into 
effect the experiment of establishing 
free delivery of the mail in twelve 
small towns, and the Postmaster Gen- 
eral having neglected to name a town 
in Iowa where this experiment might 
be made, Hon. J. P. Dolliver recom- 
mended Fonda; and Fonda enjoyed 
this luxury from May 1, 1891, to June 
30, 1896, a period of five years and two 
months. During this period the mail 
of all persons residing within the in- 
corporation and east of the creek was 
delivered either at their places of bus- 
iness or homes twice a day. Six mail 
boxes were located on the corners of 
the streets and from these the mail 



was also collected twice a day. During 
this period the patronage of the Fonda 
postoffice was greatly increased and 
the plan was highly appreciated by all 
except those whose mail consisted 
largely of drop letters, on each of 
which they had to pay two cents. F- 
H. Covey served as mail carrier during 
nearly all of this period of free deliv- 
ery and Geo. Sanborn was postmaster. 

The demand is now for free rural 
delivery and during the last two years 
the growth of this system, according 
to the report of the Postmaster Gen- 
eral, has been remarkable. Within 
the last two years it is stated, "largely 
by the aid of the people themselves, 
who, in appreciation of the helping 
hand which the government extended 
to them, have met these advances half 
way, it has implanted itself so firmly 
upon postal administration that it can 
no longer be an experiment, but has to 
be dealt with as an established agency 
of progress, awaiting to be determined 
how rapidly it shall be developed." 

Among the advantages accruing 
from this system he names increased 
postal receipts, enhancement of the 
value of farm lands, general improve- 
ment of the condition of the roads 
traversed by the mail carriers, better 
prices for farm products and the edu- 
cational benefits conferred by ready 
access to wholesome literature. 

On Dec. 4, 1899, rural free delivery 
was established in Iowa in the vicinity 
of Waterloo, Edwin S. Geist having 
been appointed mail carrier for a route 
that is 23i miles in length and serves 
a population of 504 persons who occupy 
an area of 26 square miles. 

1892. 
In 1892 the general health of the 
country was excellent and the crops 
were good, yet one million laborers 
were out of employment. This was a 
condition of things that to many 
seemed to be due to the tendency then 



318 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



manifested to organize new political 
parties in the interest of particular 
classes of the people, and those were 
the first to suffer who became the vic- 
tims of leaders whose successful lead- 
ership meant an unstable standard of 
money and a fluctuating currency. 

In May, 1892, Pocahontas and Have- 
lock held their first elections as incor- 
porated towns. At the general elec- 
tion held that fall the voting was 
done for the first time in Iowa in ac- 
cordance with the Australian ballot 
law, the board of supervisors having 
appointed the following persons to 
serve as judges of election in the sev- 
eral townships of this county, viz: 
Bellville, Geo. Loats; Cedar, Ed 
O'Donnell; Clinton, C. P. Leithead; 
Colfax, R. C. Brownell; Des Moines, 
D. D. Day; Grant, L. J. Lieb; Lake, 
J. Donahoe; Lizard, M. O'Shea; Mar- 
shall, Geo. Thomas; Powhatan, Rob- 
ert Swan; Sherman, Albert Wolf; 
Swan Lake, A. B. Ellis; Washington, 
P. L. Christopher. 

In 1892 the Christian church in 
Laurens was built and the German 
Lutheran church in the south part of 
Williams township. 

GOOD ROADS. 

The spring of 1892 was cold and wet. 
On April 13th there occurred a severe 
blizzard that left the reads in an aw- 
ful condition, and during the following 
month there fell 7.9 inches of rain, 
more than twice the usual amount, 
which rendered many of them abso- 
lutely impassable with wheeled con- 
veyances. No other topic was so 
widely discussed as their bad condi- 
tion, and on May 24 th the board of 
supervisors, unable to get to Pocahon- 
tas their usual place of meeting, held 
a special meeting at Rolfe to consider 
what might be done for them. Every- 
body seemed to feel that the excuse 
the old settler in Arkansaw had given 
for not fixing the leaky roof of his 
cabin, because "when it was raining 
he couldn't fix it and when it was dry 



it was good enough," had more of 
comfort in it than they had previously 
realized, for it shed a grateful light on 
the experience of some bad roads; 
"when they are impassable they can't 
be worked and when they are dry they 
are good enough." 

A correspondent at Pocahontas in 
describing the state of things existing 
at that "beleaguered town on the 
prairie," when it could no longer be 
reached by wheel vehicles and they 
resorted to the use of stone-boats, 
wrote as follows: "Two more boat 
loads of flour and groceries arrived in 
town Saturday, May 14, from Rolfe. 
Mr. Hronek, our merchant, is doing 
all he can to supply our wants; he is 
paying fifty cents per hundred pounds 
for hauling from Rolfe. The boats are 
making regular trips to Rolfe and 
Havelock. The great Northeast line 
is in command of Capt. Thomas Travis 
and consists of one iron-clad and two 
barges, and makes connection with all 
points east-and southeast, north and 
northwest. The Great Northern line 
is commanded by Capt. Joseph Mikesh 
and consists of five barges built on the 
latest improved plan. No passengers 
are carried on this line except the pi- 
lots or agents of the firm. Close con- 
nections are made at the bridges and 
the ends of the route."* 

The general consensus of opinion ex- 
pressed at this time was to the effect 
that the spring of the year was the 
golden time to repair the roads, and 
that any plan of repair, that did not 
provide for the complete and speedy 
removal of the surface water from 
their vicinity, did not meet all the re- 
quirements of this section. 

ANTI-MONOPOLY COUNTY ALLIANCE, 
OR POPULIST PARTY, ORGANIZED. 

At a meeting of the farmers and in- 
dependent voters held at Pocahontas 
March 28, 1892, delegates were present 
from Dover, Swan Lake, Washington 
and Center townships. Under the 

*Times, May 19, 1892. 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



319 



auspices of .Mr. Robinson of Marathon 
a county anti-monopoly alliance was 
organized and officers were elected as 
follows: M. W. Linnan, president; 
D. Miller, vice president; J. D. Fitz- 
gerald, secretary and treasurer; D. 
Miller, lecturer; F. M. Starr, chaplain; 
James Eral, steward. 

"The object of this alliance was to 
direct attention to money, transpor- 
tation, trusts and combines— questions 
of vital importance to every farmer. 
Farmers and laborers are the leading 
wealth producers of the nation. In- 
dustry, frugality and foresight are in- 
dispensable conditions of the increase 
of wealth. The farmer possesses these 
qualities. Does he have his share of 
the increase of wealth? The trade 
and commerce of which we so proudly 
boast, the great transportation facili- 
ties, the great mineral wealth, etc., 
are valuable because agriculture has 
called them into being. The farmer 
and the farm are the basis of every 
well ordered state, and the first care of 
such a state will be its agriculture. " 

At the general election held that fall 
210 votes were cast in this county for 
the national and state candidates of 
the Populist party. About the same 
number of votes were cast for J. D. 
Fitzgerald, J. C. Brubaker and John 
Barrett, who, at another convention 
held on Sept. 17th previous had been 
nominated for the county offices of 
clerk of the court, recorder and audi- 
tor respectively. 

1893. 

The year 1893 was rendered memor- 
able by the Columbian Exposition or 
World's Fair at Chicago, May lstjto 
Nov. 1st. The drought of midsummer 
throughout the Mississippi valley was 
so long continued that in the dairy 
districts it became necessary to feed 
the cattle upon the pastures, but the 
wheat, oats and corn were excellent. 

On May 2, 1893, the Fonda Big Four 
Weekly Herald was established at 
Fonda by Fred Ellis. August 15th 



following he sold it to E. E. Fisher 
and on Nov. 9th (1893) its publication 
was discontinued. 

August 1, 1893, the Havelock Item 
was established at Havelock as an in- 
dependent local newspaper by Fred J. 
Pratt and he continued its publication 
eight months. April 1, 1894, it was 
purchased by E. A. Donahoe, and he 
conducted it until Oct. 11, 1897. U. S. 
Vance edited it from that date until 
Oct. 1, 1899, when it was purchased by 
Charles C Johns, its present editor 
and proprietor. 

In 1893 school directors were elected 
for the first time for a term of three 
years, and since that year one-third of 
their number has been elected each 
year, instead of the whole nnmber as 
previously. The township trustees 
began to serve three years in 1879, and 
in 1896 the time of their annual meet- 
ing was changed from the first Monday 
in October to the first Monday in No- 
vember. 

CYCLONE YEAR. 

The year of 1893, has been called the 
"cyclone year," because so many de- 
structive storms occurred throughout 
the United States; and, in this respect, 
it is very vividly remembered by many 
living in this section, inasmuch as dur- 
ing the months of April, May and 
July that year, three severe storms 
passed over small portions of this 
county. 

The first one occurred at 6 o'clock 
p. m., Tuesday, April 11th. The de- 
structive path of this storm was a 
quarter of a mile in width and, com- 
mencing at a point in Sac county 
twelve miles south of Fonda, it ex- 
tended northeast into Colfax and Cen- 
ter townships, crossing the south line 
of this county midway between Fonda 
and Pomeroy. In Williams township, 
Calhoun county, its path was almost 
identical with that of the similar, but 
not so destructive storms of 1878 and 
1886, when, as on this occasion, the 
Jackson school house was either lifted 



320 PIONEER HISTOBY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



from its foundation or completely de- 
stroyed. Twenty persons were in- 
jured and one life was lost, the little 
daughter of John Dilman of Sac 
county, whose house was destroyed. 
Others who suffered the loss of build- 
ings and to whose families the injured 
belonged, were Wm. Garote, Sac 
county; John Nyreen of Garfield, Chris 
Bartels, Henry Nagle, Wm. Helm- 
brecht, Mr. McGuire, E. . Sterling, A. 
J. Pruden, A. Mitchell, O. K. Roc- 
holtz, Garlies Tweddale, Wm. Hutch- 
inson and S. H. Hutchinson of Wil- 
liams, and C. Kimball, Henry Hout 
and Joseph Becker of Butler township, 
Calhoun county; G. W. Ferguson, 
Charles Johnson, Peter Murphy, 
Moody & Davy, Elias Dahl and Mrs. 
Maggie Hoppy of Colfax, Jans Sinek 
and Frank Zieman of Center town- 
ship, Pocahontas county. This storm 
was preceded by a heavy fall of rain 
for twenty minutes. The under- 
ground stone house of John Woods, in 
the southeast corner of Cedar town- 
ship, on this occasion proved a safe 
place of protection to all its inmates; 
and after the storm it became an hos- 
pitable inn to which a number of the 
injured and homeless in that vicinity 
were carried and cared for until they 
got better or a new home had been 
provided for them. 

During the night of Sabbath, May 
21, 1893, a severe wind storm, accom- 
panied with rain and hail, passed in a 
southeasterly direction across portions 
Of Marshall, Sherman, Center and Lin- 
coln townships. Those who sustained 
the loss of barns and outbuildings were 
Mr. Errick of Marshall, Frank Stacy, 
James Eral and Andrew Shades of 
Sherman, John Shimon, Herman 
Schmaing, Martin Eral, Mr. Borden 
and Mrs. Marden (house also) of Center, 
Wm. Boog, Chas. Travis and Ernest 
Peterson (house rebuilt after storm of 
April 11th ult.) of Lincoln township. 
The Jackson school house in Williams 
township, Calhoun county, was de- 



stroyed, making it the second time it 
was wrecked by windstorm this spring, 
and the fourth since its erection in 

1874. 

After six o'clock on the evening of 
July 6, 1893, there crossed the south- 
west corner of this county a storm 
popularly known as the "Pomeroy cy- 
clone," because its greatest work of 
destruction was wrought at that town. 
It destroyed more lives and property 
than any similar visitation to that 
date in our western history. At the 
drama of the world's great fair, then 
in progress on the shores of Lake Mich- 
igan, with its myriad scenes of beauty 
illustrating "the grandest achieve- 
ments of man — his industry, energy 
and the godlike sweep of his majestic 
intellect tbat seemed to be asking for 
other worlds to conquer— all nature 
appeared to be man's slave, chained 
by his imperious will and manifesting 
its power at his bidding; but here na- 
ture asserted her despotic omnipotence 
and in such a way as to cause everyone 
to feel how puny after all is the arm 
of man and idle his boasted power."* 

"All nature seemed in calm repose, 

Upon that summer day, 
No thought of dire disaster rose 

Or of danger on its way. 
The fields of gently waving corn 

Dressed in living green, 
Did the brown earth with grace 
adorn, „ 

A sight for any queen. 
And then, as evening time drew near 

With faces glad and bright, 
The people supped their tea with 
cheer, 

Nor thought of coming fright. 
But look toward the northwest sky! 

See the evil omens come! 
There riseth clouds of blackest dye 

That soon obscure the sun. 
And nearer yet with silent tread 

Then lower, lower still. 
Until each heart is filled with dread 

And minds with terror thrill. 
That peaceful scene has vanished, 
now 

There's hurrying to and fro, 
And many are inquiring how 

They may to safety go. 

*R. M. Wright, at Pomeroy. July 6, 1891. 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



321 



But ere they find a sure retreat 

From wind and hail and rain, 
The awful cyclone bursts complete, 

Protection's sought in vain. 
In time more brief than can be told 

It has passed on its way; 
But what a scene the eyes behold, 

Left there that summer day. 

The homes of Pomeroy low are lain, 

But sadder far than all, 
There's kindred dear among the slain 

The chains of death enthrall. 
What pen can paint that awful sight? 

What tongue can ever tell 
The agony of the coming night, 

The sorrow that befell. 

Three scores of people are found dead 

And others wounded sore, 
Thus on the wires the message dread 

Now flew the country o'er. 
Sympathy filled the hearts of men 

For such a grief untold, 
And gifts were offered freely then; 

May they return a hundred fold. 

Mollie Night. 

The track of this storm was about 
1,000 feet in width and 50 miles in 
length. Commencing at a point three 
miles northwest of Quimby, Cherokee 
county, it passed a little south of east, 
or nearly parallel with the Illinois 
Central railroad, to a short distance 
east of Pomeroy, in Calhoun county. 
That day was a very sultry one 
and the approach of rain was indicated 
by a light colored cloud appearing in 
the west that changed to a darker hue 
as it slowly rose higher and spread 
over the entire western horizon. The 
approach of the terrific windstorm 
was witnessed first by the people liv- 
ing in the bluffs on the west side of 
the Little Sioux river, who saw two 
angry looking clouds approach each 
other from the northwest and south- 
west. The convergence of these clouds 
was witnessed also at Storm Lake and 
Pomeroy. 

At Fonda the sight of light colored, 
capering clouds originating apparently 
overhead and moving swiftly west- 
ward, driven by a strong east wind 
into the face of the storm, suggested 
the probability of a cyclone. About 



5:00 p. m. thunder was first heard and 
it came from the bank of dark clouds 
in the west. About three-quarters of 
an hour later the lightning became 
continuous, the thunder incessant and 
a rumbling roar was heard somewhat 
different from the usual sound of dis- 
tant thunder. At 6:20 there fell a 
heavy rain lasting ten minutes and 
accompanied by a slight fall of hail. 
It was at this time the terrific wind- 
storm passed Over the southwest cor- 
ner of this couoty a half mile south of 
Fonda. To persons living southwest of 
the town who witnessed its approach 
from a position j ust south of its course,. 
as it swept across the country from the 
Hersom school house to Cedar creek, 
it appeared as a dense black cloud with 
a greenish tint extending from above 
close to the ground, heavily charged 
with electricity and rapidly advancing 
with a swiftly rolling, surging and aw- 
fully destructive movement. It was 
a fearful sight to behold, for the air 
was filled with flying debris and the 
wild roar of the storm was one. never 
to be forgotten. When it had passed, 
the fearful evidences of its mighty 
power were seen everywhere along its 
path. Large trees were broken or up- 
rooted and others, standing alone, 
were entirely stripped of their bark, 
leaves and small branches. Houses, 
together with their inmates, barns 
and other outbuildings were lifted 
from their foundations, carried con- 
siderable distances, overturned, ut- 
terly crushed and their fragments 
strewed in every direction. Passing 
through the center of the lake, at 
Storm Lake, it raised the water to the 
height of 100 feet, 

At Pomeroy, in Calhoun county, a 
town of 600 inhabitants, itarrived at 
7 o'clock p, m. having been preceded 
by a gentle rain of five minutes. Here 
its path of total destruction was about 
1,200 feet wide and of partial destruc- 
tion 1,800 feet. In three to five min- 
utes all of the buildings in the south 



322 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



part of that town, which embraced 
nine-tenths of all in it, including about 
one hundred houses, were completely 
demolished and their fragments were 
strewn promiscously in a southeasterly 
direction. Everything was absolutely 
flat on the ground — there was not a 
building nor green tree to be seen, nor 
the movement of any living thing un- 
til after the lapse of several minutes. 
Even the persons and animals that 
were not seriously injured were appar- 
ently stunned by the electric shock. 
Intense darkness prevailed for a short 
time after the tornado that hindered 
the work of immediate rescue and 
precluded the possibility of determin- 
ing to what extent life and property 
had been injured. It also rained and 
hailed terribly. The awful sudden- 
ness and completeness of the change 
of a pretty and prosperous town to a 
desolate waste produced an impression 
upon the minds of those who wit- 
nessed it that will never be forgotten. 
The loss of human life was appalling. 
Four days later the death roll in that 
vicinity contained 48 names, and 105 
other persons were receiving treat- 
ment in the hospital and homes, tem- 
porarily provided for the injured. 

In crossing Cherokee and Buena 
Vista counties the movement of the 
black, whirling electric storm cloud 
was observed principally by those who 
were located south of its course, and it 
was distinctly seen as far south as 
Odebolt. Whilst its general course 
was a straight line it had an undula- 
tory movement, alternately rising and 
falling, that to some extent was be- 
lieved to be due to the ascent of high 
knolls and the obstruction presented 
by groves of large timber. These 
seemed to give it an upward tendency 
that carried it over long stretches 
of intervening and less elevated 
country. 

The storm, after leaving the city of 
Storm Lake, where several large 
buildings were injured,dropped and de- 



stroyed the large new barn of Jesse 
Allee south of Newell that cost $3,000, 
the one on the Gilmore farm occupied 
by Charles Peirie, and all the build- 
ings on the farms of Paul Winter, S. 
V. Moore, Peter Larson, (Mack farm) 
and of Mr. Shumway then occupied by 
a newly married couple. 

About one mile west of the line 
of Pocahontas county the barns of W. 
I. Lane, A. W. Eno and A. J. Ham- 
ilton, and the new and large build- 
ings of John Schlieman were com- 
pletely destroyed and serious injuries 
were sustained by Mrs. John Schlieman, 
three of her children, and by Mr. and 
Mrs. Schlieman, Sr., John's parents. 
The buildings of John McDermott 
were also seriously injured. 

In its path across this county, all 
the buildings were completely de- 
stroyed on the farms of E. I. Sar- 
gent, occupied by E.A.Shirley, of Sam- 
uel T. Hersom, Harry Hersom, on the 
one occupied by Amos H. Gorton, at 
the Hersom schoolhouse, of Mrs. 
Marshall occupied by John Detwiller, 
and on those of P. B. Shirley, G. W. 
Ferguson, Moody & Davy occupied by 
W. I. Webb, of Benjamin Peach and 
Charles G. Perkins. The barns 
were destroyed on the farms of J. H. 
Stafford, Harvey Eaton, Geo. Sanborn 
(occupied by Jarvis Gates) and James 
Mercer. At the home of W. J. Busby 
the windmill was wrested from its 
moorings and left resting on the roof 
of the house. 

It struck the south line of Pocahon- 
tas county first near the old Kephart 
grove and passing east to the crossing 
of the D. M. N. & W. railroad com- 
menced a zigzag movement that was 
continued to Pomeroy. It veered first 
northeast to the residence of P. B. 
Shirley, whose grove and buildings 
were completely destroyed. Here it 
was joined by a smaller twister and 
turned south to the county line where 
the buildings of G. W. Ferguson and 
Joseph Becker, all rebuilt after the 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



323 



April storm, and the outbuildings of 
John Woods were completely de- 
stroyed. From that point it passed 
eastward along the county line, de- 
stroying all the buildings on the farms 
of Moody & Davy (occupied by W. I. 
Webb) Benjamin Peach and August 
Weidaurf ("Chichago Johnson" farm). 
From this place it veered northward 
and destroyed all the buildings and 
grove of Charles G. Perkins, thence 
southeast, destroying the buildings 
and groves of John Dalton and Mrs. 
Fuller, thence east making similar 
havoc of the grove and buildings on 
the farm of W. D. Parker and resi- 
dence of Jacob Foster, at the edge of 
Pomeroy. Here it made a slight cir- 
cular turn to the southeast across the 
residence portion and south part of 
the business blocks of Pomeroy. 
Those that were injured in this 
county were Mrs. John Detwiller, 
Harry Hersom and two children of 
Amos H. Gorton. 

ROLL OF THE DEAD. 

The list of the persons that were 
killed by this storm or died soon after 
from injuries received is as follows, 
the numbers at the right denoting 
their ages. 

POCAHONTAS COUNTY. 

John Detwiller— 29, Mrs. Amos H. 
Gorton — 33, Jessie Gorton— 11, Jennie 
Gorton— 9. 

BUENA VISTA COUNTY. 

W. R. demons, Bernard Johnson. 
Jacob Breecher, Miss Breecher, C. N. 
Totman. 

CHEROKEE COUNTY. 

Mrs. O. M. Lester, Frank Lord, Mrs. 
Molyneaux, Frank Johnson, Marion 
Johnson, Lula Slater, Samuel Burg, 
wife and four children. 

POMEROY AND VICINITY. 

Maria Adams— 67, Wat Arnold— 64, 
Mrs. Sarah Arnold— 66, Mrs. J. F. 
Anderson— 65, Bessie Banks— 14, Ray 
Banks— 8, John Beckley's two child^ 
ren, Grover Black— 8, Black— in- 



fant, E. O. Davy— 31, Ben L. Davy— 20 
Mrs. Katie Davy— 18, Ellen Dahlgren— 
28, Joseph DeMarr— 25, Henry Dill- 
muth— 63, Edward Doyle— 27, Mrs. 1ST. 
Fecht— 38, Olive Frost— 17, Henry 
Geige — 36, Mrs. Henry George — 32, 
August Forche— 38, N. S. Hulett— 72, 
Mrs. N". S. Hulett— 72, Roy Keif er— 18, 
Lena Keifer— 11, Mrs. F. Johnson— 25, 
J. P. Luudgren— 58, Ollie Lundgren — 
12, S. N. Maxwell, Alexander Max- 
well — 14, Herman Mellor — 1, Mrs. 
B. J. Harlowe— 68, August Meyer 
— 17, Henry ISTeiting— 74, Mrs. Neiting 
—64, J. M. O'Brien— 60, Mrs. D. L. 
O'Brien— 24, O'Brien infant, Mrs. 
Agnes Quinlan — 21, Michael Quinlan 
— 1, Silas Rushton— 34, Mrs. Silas 
Rushton — 28, Charles Rushton — 3, 
Betsey Talbot— 68, Nina Thomas— 4, 
A. J. Wilkinson— 65, Mrs. H.Geige-36. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Pocahontas county 4 

Bnena Vista " 5 

Cherokee " 12 

Pomeroy and vicinity 49 

Total 70. 

On the night of July 14th the fol- 
lowing injured persons were taken 
from the temporary hospital at Pom- 
eroy to the Samaritan Home and St. 
Joseph Hospital in Sioux City: J. W. 
Black, Mrs. J. W. Black, three Black 
children, Mrs. Andrew G. Blomberg, 
Evelyn Blomberg, Dina Blomberg Jos- 
eph DeMarr, Edward Doyle, Mr. Fitz- 
gerald, Mrs. Fitzgerald, Frank Forche, 
Arthur Forche, Henry Geige, Jr., Mrs. 
Henry Geige, Mrs. Gilbert, Mrs. Helen 
George, Arthur George, George — baby, 
George Guy, Mrs. George Guy, Addie 
Guy, Thomas Harmon, Emma Har- 
mon, August Helm, Lottie Helm, Roy 
Keifer, John Koklantz, Mrs. Koklantz 
Koklantz— baby, Mrs. A. Lindblad, 
Mrs. Gus Linder, two Linder children, 
Mr. Lull, Mrs. S. N. Maxwell, James 
Mellor, Mrs. James Mellor. Linda Ole- 
son, Jacob Paap, Mrs. Jacob Paap, 
Jesse Pruden, Michael Quinlan, Mrs. 
Silas Rushton, Mary Soderstrom, Mr. 



324 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Thomas, Mrs. Thomas, Henry Wegraffe, 
Total, 49. Edward Doyle died as the 
train arrived at the depot in Sioux 
City, and Joseph DeMar, Mrs. Geige, 
Roy Keifer and Mrs. Rushton a few- 
days later. At the end of two months 
the others had so improved they were 
able to return to their own homes. 

On the day after this storm Gov- 
ernor Boies visited the scene at Pom- 
eroy and issuing a proclamation an- 
nouncing the greatness and appalling 
character of the disaster, called upon 
the citizens of the state to cooperate 
generously in the work of immediate 
relief. This relief work was organized 
by the appointment of the following 
persons as a relief committee, viz: 
Mayor M. F. Stadtmueller of Pom- 
eroy, chairman; Mayor C. A. Whittle- 
sey of Manson; Senator Edgar E. Mack 
of Storm Lake; Messrs. E. C. Steven- 
son of Rockwell City, J. B. Bollard of 
Fonda, J. H. Lowrey, Thomas Miller, 
R. A. Stewart, Ray C. Brownell and 
C. W. Alexander, of Pomeroy. This 
committee on Oct. 12, 1893, reported 
that they had to that date received 
and disbursed $69,761, 23.. 

"Then dawned humanity's bright 
morn, 

Gifts and good cheer were speedily 
borne;» 

And women's hearts were moved to 
show 

Such wealth of love as sisters know. " 
— Addie B. Billington. 

A very beautiful and comforting 
feature of the ministry of relief was 
the part rendered by the women of 
Des Moines. When the appeal of 
Gov. Boies was read, Mrs. John Wy- 
man, a noble hearted woman of that 
city, conceived the idea of organizing 
a circle of ready workers, to go to the 
scene of the disaster supplied with 
sewing machines, materials and all 
necessary accompaniments and thus 
by their personal knowledge render 
gi f ts sent doubly valuable to the needy. 
' This thought, born of a desire to 



comfort the women of Pomeroy by the 
presence of a company of women 
whose hearts and hands were in lively 
co-operation, came as an inspiration", 
and in response to an appeal twenty- 
three women signi&ed their willing- 
ness to render service in this way if 
summoned. 

As soon as C. S. Gilmore, superin- 
tendent of the Rock Island railroad 
heard of this project he very promptly 
placed two cars— a passenger coach 
and baggage car— at Mrs. Wyman's 
disposal, together with a sufficient 
number of cots for sleeping accommo- 
dations during their stay at Pomeroy. 

They arrived at Pomeroy Tuesday 
evening, July, 11th, the fifth day after 
the storm, and, reporting at head- 
quarters for duty they were warmly 
welcomed by officials and citizens and 
the freedom of the village was ac 
corded to them. In three days they 
had accomplished the object of their 
special errand. Two hours previous 
to their departure they were unex- 
pectedly called upon and made 37 
stretchers to be used that evening in 
carrying the injured ones to and from 
the train while making the trip to 
Sioux City. "This work of love for 
humanity's sake, bringing out the best 
that was in their nature, cemented 
friendships never to be forgotten." 

FONDA AND VICINITY. 

On the clay after the storm the pas- 
tor of the Presbyterian church, who 
was one of the first to arrive at the 
scene of destruction where John Det- 
willer lay unconsciously breathing his 
life away, began to solicit voluntary 
offerings for the immediate relief of 
the pressing wants of tbe sufferers in 
the vicinity of Fonda. The next day 
an arrangement was made by the pas- 
tors of the Fonda churches for the ap- 
pointment of a local relief committee 
to consist of a representative from 
each congregation and another to be 
selected by them. The committee 
thus selected consisted of Hon. James 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



325 



Mercer who was chosen chairman, 
Wm. Bott, J. R. Johnson, Ed. O'Don- 
nell and R. F. Beswick who was chosen 
secretary and treasurer. The report 
of this committee rendered Aug. 10, 
1893, showed that in addition to a car- 
load of flour from the Pomeroy relief 
committee and other donations of 
clothing and provisions it received 
and disbursed the following amounts 
of money. 

Individual gifts, Fonda and vi- 
cinity $ 618.24 

From Rolfe 278.52 

" Pocahontas 154.50 

" Laurens 64.09 

' ' County Relief Fund 1250.00 

Total $2,365.26. 

On the day appointed for the appor- 
tionment of this amount among the 
sufferers Alex. McEwen, Alex Peter- 
son and F. A. Thompson, members of 
the board of county supervisors, were 
present to co-operate with the com- 
mittee. 

The following statement of the re- 
lief sent from Rolfe and vicinity was 
made Aug. 3, 1893: 
Rec'd by Mesdames J. Carroll, 
M. W. Coffin, M. Fawcett, 
A. Malcolm and S. A. Car- 
son, solicitors $139.87 

Collection at church 204.05 

Clothing contributed 30.00 

From a friend to relatives in 

Pomeroy 129.90 

Total $503.82. 

The comparative frequency of tor- 
nadoes in different sections of the 
United States may be seen in the fol- 
lowing table prepared by the Signal 
Service Bureau at Washington in 1884 
for the preceding period of ten years. 

Connecticut 40 per cent. 

New York 53 " " 

Iowa..... 58 " " 

Georgia 62 " " 

New Jersey 75 " " 

Missouri 77 " " 

Kansas........ ,.88 " " 

Indiana........ 88 '< " 



This exhibit shows that all sections 
of the country are alike subject to 
them and that the percentage in Iowa 
is much lower than in many other 
states. The two most destructive 
storms in Iowa were those at G-rinnell 
in 1882 and at Pomeroy in 1893, but the 
loss of life and property, appalling as it 
was, is comparatively insignificant to 
the awful wreck at St. Louis, the great 
metropolis of Missouri, when it was 
visited by the storm of May 27, 1896, 
and fully 500 persons perished includ- 
ing fifty school children at Drake, 
Illinois. 

If one hundred men were asked 
which destroys the most property, cy- 
clones or hailstorms, in all probability 
ninety-nine of them would unhesita- 
tingly answer that cyclones are the 
most destructive. So far as loss of 
life is concerned they would be right, 
but the estimated value of the loss 
sustained from a single hailstorm in 
midsummer is usually ten times that 
of all the tornadoes in any state in an 
ordinary year. 

A tornado inspires terror because of 
its fierce destruction of whatever 
comes in its path, but fortunately its 
path is very narrow so that its width, 
on any ordinary map, is correctly in- 
dicated by a mere pencil mark. This 
illustration serves to show that it 
would take a great many years to 
cover a state and that the danger from 
cyclones is vastly exaggerated in the 
popular mind. They make bad work 
when they strike, but they are not 
nearly so liable to strike as many peo- 
ple think. This common misappre- 
hension has grown out of the fact that 
the newspapers publish such graphic 
accounts of tornadoes when they occur. 

The hailstorm does not destroy life, 
but coming at a time when crops are 
maturing, it wipes out the harvest of 
a township, worth one hundred thou- 
sand dollars or more, and the event 
often passes without note or comment. 
In this state, the records of the in" 



326 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



surance companies have established 
the fact that the loss from hail alone 
is five times as great as that from 
tornadoes, fire and lightning com- 
bined. 

1894— MULCT LAW— DROUGHT. 

On March 20, 1894, the Martin mulct 
law was enacted by the legislature of 
Iowa tbat provides for a state tax of 
$600 to be assessed against every one 
engaged in the sale of intoxicating 
liquors except registered pharmacists 
holding permits; and thirty days later 
a consent petition was circulated in 
this county for the establishment of a 
saloon at Fonda. New jury and game 
laws were enacted.The women of Iowa 
were granted the right to vote at any 
election for the purpose of issuing 
bonds for municipal or school purpos- 
es, or for the purpose of increasing a 
tax levy. It was also made unlawful 
to sell or give tobacco or cigarettes to 
minors under sixteen years of age. 

Labor Day, first observed by the 
Knights of Labor in New York City, 
September 5, 1882, was in June, 1894, 
made a legal holiday by our national 
congress. 

The financial depression was deeply 
felt throughout the country and two 
armies of the unemployed were organ- 
ized to march to Washington for the 
purpose of demanding relief from con- 
gress. The army of J. S. Coxey, con- 
sisting of 122 persons, left Massillon, 
Ohio, April 1, 1894, and arrived at 
Washington May 1st, following. At 
this latter date Kelley's industrial ar- 
my, consisting originally of 1300 men 
from the country west of the Missouri 
river, arrived at Des Moines and 
passed down the Des Moines river on 
150 flat-boats constructed for their spe- 
cial use. 

The year of 1894 was one that tried 
men's souls. It opened with a gen- 
eral financial depression that para- 
lyzed every branch of industry and 
caused more business failures than 
any year of that decade. Then the 



repeated midsummer droughts of the 
four previous years had their culmina- 
tion of severity in the long continued 
drought of this year throughout the 
Mississippi Valley, that caused fam- 
ine and want in central and western 
Nebraska, and terminated in terrible 
forest fires in northern Minnesota, 
Wisconsin and Michigan, that were as 
destructive as the cyclones and floods 
of other years, five hundred lives be- 
ing lost by one of them at Hinkley, 
Minnesota. 

The large lakes in Marshall and 
Swan Lake townships, this county, 
became dry for the first time in the 
memory of man, and during the fol- 
lowing summer these lake bottoms 
were planted with corn and other 
cereals. 

Amid the general disappointment 
and gloom, caused by the loss of crops 
from the drought, the people of Poca- 
hontas County were highly favored. 
A couple of light showers passed over 
this section in August that revived 
the pastures and growing crops. Well 
fed thoroughbreds continued to graze 
contentedly upon hill and dale, great 
fields of corn lifted their rejoicing 
beads and the crops, when garnered, 
though not so large in quantity were 
superlatively fine in quality. The 
husbandman perceived anew, and more 
strikingly than ever before, the su- 
periority of this section as regards its 
ability to survive the direful effects 
of long continued drought. 

The cause of this period of drought 
was attributed to the fact that the 
prevailing winds, that usually bring 
the hot air charged with moisture 
from the Gulf of Mexico to this sec- 
tion, were blown against the Rockies 
where they were met by a counter 
current of cold air from the north and 
the barren sides of the old mountains 
were literally flooded, while the air 
that was carried over the Mississippi 
valley lacked moisture. All know the 
effect of cold air on steam, it con- 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899, 



327 



<&enses it. When a cold current of 
;air from the north or northwest 
tcomes in contact with warmer cur- 
rents from the gulf charged with 
imoisture, the latter is condensed and 
<there is a fall of rain. The winds 
'from the gulf, however, do not always 
reach this section direct, but fre- 
quently from the southwest making a 
circuit over Texas, Oklahoma and 
Kansas. If there is moisture in the 
currents of air it may be condensed, 
but if there is none there can be no 
condensation, or fall of rain. This is 
the reason why the rainmakers who, 
at this period in Iowa, Texas and 
other places, endeavoring to produce 
Tain by the use of explosives in mid- 
air, could accomplish nothing when 
circumstances were not favorable. 

The rich soil of this section never 
bakes like the clays of other regions 
and from the time of its first settle- 
ment to this date there has never been 
a failure of the corn crop from any 
cause, least of all from drought. ISTev- 
ertheless the drought had its lessons 
for the observing farmer and one of 
them was, that the capacity of this 
black soil of our prairies to hold moist- 
ure and support plant life in times of 
drought depends to a great extent on 
the fineness of its particles and the 
depth of its cultivation. Its thorough 
pulverization, wherever properly 
drained, increases its capacity to hold 
moisture and lessens the downward 
tendency of the latter from the at- 
mosphere by forming a mulch that 
acts like a blanket of straw. The 
good cultivator, therefore, even in a 
dry season, has the assurance of a 
good crop by reason of the finely pul- 
verized condition of the soil and its 
great fertility. 

It was also observed that the native 
prairie grass did not wilt during the 
drought like the tame grasses, yet the 
latter are much better. The former 
Was a summer grass that came late in 
the spring and turned brown early in 



the fall, while the latter grow early in 
the spring and late in the fall. If 
the tame grasses rest during a mid- 
summer drought a good substitute is 
readily found in winter rye or some 
other rapidly growing crop. 

1895— NEBRASKA RELIEF. 

On February 9, 1895, C. C. Gardner, 
treasurer of the relief committee of 
Sargent, Custer county, Neb., arrived 
in Fonda and after a conference with 
the pastors of the several churches it 
was decided to put forth an effort to 
secure a carload of grain and provis- 
ions for the needy sufferers in the 
drought-stricken district represented 
by him. For this car there were con- 
tributed 330 bushels of corn, of which 
30 had been selected for seed; 47 bush- 
els of oats, 65 sacks of flour, 460 pounds 
of cornmeal, 60 pounds of oatmeal, 200 
pounds of meat, a lot of hay, grocer- 
ies, bedding and clothing, that, in- 
cluding the cash contributed, $93.76, 
was estimated to be worth $400.00. 
This car was loaded February 16, and 
left Fonda six days later, when the 
deficit ($51.72) on a freight bill of 
$112.69 was advanced by Rev. R. E. 
Flickinger, who accompanied it to its 
destination. 

About two weeks later an addition- 
al half car load of grain and provisions 
solicited by C. F. Bockenoogen, was 
contributed by the people in the vi- 
cinity of Laurens, Havelock andRolfe, 
and sent to the same needy district. 

These donations, contributed so 
promptly, were very creditable to the 
people of this section. They spoke 
louder than words of thair generous 
spirit of sympathy and charity, and 
gave publicity to the abundant har- 
vest gathered in this section during 
the previous year. 

The severe drought of 1894 was bro- 
ken by a gentle rain on April 1, 1895, 
and the crops of wheat, barley, oats, 
corn and potatoes that year were im- 
mense. Phil D. Armour and other 
capitalists, of Chicago, built great 



328 



PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



cribs at all the towns in this section 
to receive and hold the large crops of 
corn. 

The year of 1895 was one of gradual 
recovery from the stagnation of the 
previous year, Large wells were sunk 
and a system of water works was con- 
structed at Fonda and Laurens; Eolfe 
having secured a similar improvement 
the previous autumn. 

At the republican representative 
convention that met several times at 
Eolfe in 1895, for the district embrac- 
ing Pocahontas and Humboldt coun- 
ties, there occurred a deadlock that 
finally resulted hi the nomination of 
two republican candidates, Parley 
Finch, of Humboldt, and James Mer- 
cer, of Pocahontas county, both by pe- 
titions filed at Des Moines. This re- 
sult was unexpected and was due to 
the fact that each county having eight 
delegates in the convention, those of 
Humboldt were unwilling to vote for 
any other candidate except Mr. Finch 
and those of Pocahontas, having no 
special preference or instructions for 
any particular candidate, were never- 
theless unwilling to support Mr. Finch 
for a second term, that courtesy hav- 
ing been several times extended to 
candidates representing this district 
but never to any one from tbis county. 
Mr. Mercer was not a candidate, dele- 
gate or even present at this conven- 
tion, and on the last day allowed by 
law, no nomination having been made 
by the convention, a petition was pre- 
pared at Eolfe and sent to Des Moines 
without his previous knowledge, plac- 
ing his name in nomination. He ac- 
cepted the nomination and received 
999 votes in this county, Mr. Finch 82 
and G. W. Core, democrat, 683 Mr. 
Finch was elected by a small majority 
by means of the vote in Humboldt 
county. 

June 11, 1898, the Fonda Eeview, a 
local weekly, democratic paper was es- 
tablished at Fonda by W. O. Lester. 
On October 1st, following, he sold It 



to Fred E. Moore and he continued its 
publication until September 1, 1897, 
when he sold it to John E. Pope, its 
present editor and proprietor. In 
April, 1899, the office of publication 
was moved from the John Forbes store 
building to the new brick block of 
Eoberts & Kenning. 

In July, 1896, the supervisor districts 
of this county were rearranged so that 
there was one at each corner of the 
county consisting of three townships 
each, and one at the center consisting 
of four. 

The township of Lake was divided 
into two election precincts on Septem- 
ber 12, 1894, district "No. 2 consisting 
of the east half of section one, on 
which the west half of Gilmore City 
is located. 

THE SALOON ISSUE. 

On April 2, 1895, the grand jury 
brought in bills of indictment against 
all, in all parts of the county, that 
were then engaged in the illegal sale 
of intoxicating liquors, and on April 
8, 1896, the board of supervisors im- 
posed a tax of $1000 upon the premises 
used for \ that purpose at the first 
named date. On July 30, 1896, Judge 
Thomas at Storm Lake ruled that the 
first consent petition filed in Pocahon- 
tas county was insufficient and grant- 
ed temporary injunctions against all 
the saloons in this county, which were 
located at Fonda and Gilmore City, 
except that of Waldman & Son, Fon- 
da, who were allowed to continue un- 
til the September term of court, when 
his case was set for final hearing. 

In the fall of 1896 the most import- 
ant issue before all the people of this 
county was the re-establishment of 
the mulct saloon, the petition of 1894 
having been declared insufficient. 
This issue was precipitated on this oc- 
casion by an organized effort to se- 
cure a valid consent petition by hav- 
ing it presented for signatures at ev- 
ery polling place in the county on 
November 3d, the da v of tbe general 




ARTHUR W. DAVIS, 

County Superintendent, 1898-99. 

Fonda. 





JOSEPH P. ROBINSON 
County Superintendent 1882-85 



WILLIAM H. HEALY 
Attorney at Law 




REV. P. J. CARROLL 
Pastor Catholic Church, 1882-87 



REV. Z. C. BRADSHAW 
Pastor M. E. Church, 1692-94 



Fonda. 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



329 



election that year. 

The campaign against the success 
of this movement was inaugurated by 
a large union mass meeting held in 
the Presbyterian church of Fonda on 
Sabbath evening, October 11th, when 
Messrs. Orville Lee, O. R. Adams, S. 
E. Barnard, F. R. Brownell and W. 
B. Howell, leaiing business men and 
active christian workers of Sac City 
were present, the first three deliver- 
ing addresses protesting against the 
establishment of the saloon from the 
business standpoint, and the last four 
singing several appropriate quartettes. 
At this meeting the following resolu- 
tion was presented and adopted by an 
almost unanimous rising vote: 

We, citizens of Fonda and vicinity, 
in union mass meeting assembled do 
hereby remind the voters of Pocahon- 
tas county that this has been our ex- 
perience Vith the saloon in Fonda: 
It has brought poverty and sad dis- 
appointment to the home, wrecked in- 
dividual character, jeopardized the in- 
terests of the public school and the 
church and led to the destruction of 
human life. In view of these and 
other considerations that might be> 
enumerated, we earnestly protest 
against the re-establishment of the 
saloon in Fonda, and respectful- 
ly request that all voters who ap- 
preciate the work of the churches, the 
value of a good name and the purity 
of the home, will firmly refuse to sign 
said consent petition whether it be 
presented on the day of election or la- 
ter. We are encouraged to make this 
protest and appeal, for reasons that 
should prevail among the good citizens 
of this county, and because the neigh- 
boring counties of Buena Vista, Sac, 
Calhoun, Humboldt, Kossuth, Clay 
and Greene have refused to give place 
to the open saloon. 

This appeal and protest was re- 
echoed in all parts of the county; but 
a majority of the people had reached 
the conclusion that "while nothing 
good can be said in favor of a saloon, 
we believe an open saloon regulated 
by law is preferable to dives and holes- 
in-the-wall." Under the petition 
then circulated three saloons were es- 



tablished in this county, one at Gil- 
more City and two at Fonda that have 
since been maintained under a mulct 
penalty of $1400 each, a year. In No- 
vember, 1899, another one was estab- 
lished at the new town of Yarina. 

Lest the reader should think, by 
reason of these establishments, the 
water of this section is either defi- 
cient in quantity or lacking in qual- 
ity, we beg leave to add that there has 
not yet been realized any lack of that 
beautiful and healthful beverage, and 
there may be said of it all that John 
B. Gough affirmed when he said: 
"There is no poison in that cup; no 
fiendish spirit dwells beneath those 
crystal drops to lure you and me and 
all of us to ruin; no spectral shadows 
play *upon its waveless surface; no wid- 
ows' groans or orphans' tears rise to 
God from those placid fountains; mis- 
ery, crime, wretchedness, woe and 
want come not within the hallowed 
precincts where cold water reigns su- 
preme. Pure now as when it left its 
native heaven, it gives vigor to youth, 
strength to manhood and solace to old 
age. Cold water is beautiful, bright 
and pure everywhere. In the moon- 
light fountains and sunny rills; in the 
warbling brook and giant river; in the 
hand of beauty or on the lips of man- 
hood — everywhere cold water is beau- 
tiful." 

1897. 

The first declamatory contest be- 
tween the pupils of the various schools 
of this county was held at Fonda 
April 29, 1897. Four schools were rep- 
resented. The participants were Miss 
Jennie Eaton and Weston Martin, 
Fonda; Litta Tumbleson and Grace 
Smith, Havelock; Clara Heathman 
and Margie McEwen, Plover; Robert 
Ainslie and Grace Grove, Rolfe. The 
judges were Prof. Holdoegel, Rev. J. 
A. Cummingsand D.M. Kelleher, Esq., 
who gave the award to the representa- 
tives from Fonda. The teachers pres- 
ent formed a county declamatory as 



330 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



sociation by the election of Prof. Put- Iowa weather and crop service, esti- 
ledge of Eolfe, president, and Prof, mated that during that year 1,800,000 
U. S. Vance of Havelock, secretary, hogs, valued at $15,000,000, died in 
and Eolfe was chosen as the place for Iowa. 

the next contest. The arrangements The annual loss sustained by the 
for this one were undertaken and ravages of this disease has been great 
carried to completion by Prof. A W. in other years, but it was in 1897, that 
Davis, of Fonda. more conspicuously than ever before 

In 1897, this county for the first, or since, the attention of the farmers 
and to this date the only time in its of this county and state was specially 
history, cast a majority for the demo- directed to the causes and cure of this 
cratic state ticket. At the general dread disease by the public experi- 
election held Nov. 2, 1897, Fred E. ments and official tests of that year. 



White, democratic candidate for gov- 
ernor, received 37 votes more than 
Leslie M. Shaw; and John Eatcliff, 
democrat, was elected sheriff by a ma- 



We would not add a word to what has 
been written upon this topic but, in 
view of its great importance to the 
people of this county and for the ben- 



jority of 93. The republican candi- efit of our numerous rural readers, we 



dates however, for senator, represen- 
tative and all the other county offices 
received majorities that ranged from 
72, for M. E. DeWolf for representa- 
tive, to 373 for A. W. Davis for super- 
intendent of schools. Local and per- 
sonal issues were pressed during the 



would put in convenient form for fu- 
ture reference the positive and valu- 
able results of these experiments. 
They may be summarized as follows: 
I. Locality. The disease was most 
prevalent in a belt five counties in 
width, extending north and south 



campaign, but a glance at the major- across the central part of the state, 



ities of the winning republican candi- 
dates indicates that these local issues' 
did not materially affect the result. 
The real cause was manifestly more 
general and in all probability may be 
more correctly attributed to the de- 



west of the west line of Howard and 
Davis counties; and it was least prev- 
alent in the seven northeastern coun- 
ties of the state. The latter is the 
great dairy district of this state and 
the former its greatest section for 



mand for "free silver, "that to a great- corn. The general average of loss 
er or less extent affected other parts throughout this state was 30 per cent, 
of the country at that time. but for the northeastern district it 

hog cholera, its cause and cure, was only 7 per cent and for the entire 
In the spring of 1897, Assessor E. eastern belt of the state embracing 31 
Gibbons, while making the assessment counties, it was only 11 per cent. In 
of Powhatan township, found that the 27 counties on the Missouri slope 
while the whole number of hogs in it was 32 per cent and in the 42 coun- 
that township at that time was 2887, a ties in the central belt it was 40 per 
greater number, namely, 2964, had cent.— J. E. Sage. 
died there from cholera during the II. Experiments. 1. Dr. Salmon, 
previous year. The number of hogs chief of the bureau of animal indus- 
raised was 77 less than the number try, Washington, D. C, at the ex- 
that had died and, at $10 each, the pense of the government made an ex- 
latter represented a loss of $29,640 in periment in Page county with anti- 
one year from this cause to the farm- toxine serum with the result that of 
ers of that township. The estimate several herds containing 278 animals, 
of loss for this county during 1896 was only 39 died of the 214 that were 
40,000 head. J. E, Sage, ch}ef of the treated of which 86 were sick. 83 per 



THIRD PERIOD, 1883-1899. 



331 



cent of the herds treated were saved 
while 85 per cent of those under ob- 
servation, but not treated, died. In 
the eastern half of Page county, under 
the personal direction of Dr. John 
McBirney, the government undertook 
to exterminate the disease by destroy- 
ing the entire herds affected by it and 
remunerating the farmers for the loss 
thus sustained. The disease was thus 
eradicated in two weeks from eight 
townships and eighteen herds number- 
ing 900 head were wiped out of exist- 
ence. This was the most heroic treat- 
ment the disease had yet received and 
the only other place where such an 
experiment was made was in Hick- 
man county Tennessee. 

2. R. P. Dodge, of Atlanta, having 
found a remedy that was effective for 
curing those phases of the disease that 
prevailed in Georgia, came to the offi- 
cials of the Iowa State Agricultural 
society and requested opportunity to 
test his treatment and remedy under 
their observation, that their official 
endorsement might be given it before 
it should be offered for sale in Iowa. 
This proposition was accepted and he 
experimented with three herds on the 
poor farm of Polk county. John Cow- 
nie and Henry Wallace, in their re- 
port thereon, state that "the hogs in 
these herds were affected with lung 
plague, pneumonia or congestion of 
the lungs, commonly called cholera, of 
which the symptoms were weakness, 
staggering walk, dragging the hind 
legs, etc. This disease has hitherto 
baffled all efforts to cure or even con- 
trol it, and the proposed remedy does 
not meet expectation." 

3. Prof. M. Stalker, veterinary at 
the State Agricultural College, Ames, 
summing up the results of experi- 
ments with Dr. Keller's remedy states: 
'•At this stageof the experiment there 
is nothing to warrant the belief that 
any substantial benefit whatever has 
resulted from the treatment. In fact 
those receiving no treatment #re in as 



good condition as those under treat- 
ment. The most scientific doctor of 
the present day cannot give you a 
cure for typhoid fever, pneumonia or 
cholera. An intelligent doctor may 
lessen the mortality from these high- 
ly fatal forms of disease affecting hu- 
man beings, but he does not assume 
to know a specific cure. 

Swine plague and hog cholera prob- 
ably combine more of the symptoms 
of these three diseases than anything 
else. There is little or nothing in 
medical science to justify the belief 
that a hog cholera cure has been or 
will be discovered. Strictly sanitary 
police regulations which will prevent, 
as far as possible, exposure to the in- 
fection will do more to restrict the 
disease than all the remedies com- 
bined. When the public becomes suf- 
ficiently informed on this subject to 
demand, that as adequate provisions 
shall be made for protecting swine 
against exposure, as is now provided 
for preventing the spread of scarlet 
fever in a well regulated citv, its prac- 
tical disappearance will be but a ques- 
tion of a very short time. " 

4. Evan McLennan, Esq., of Brook- 
lyn, Iowa, having hogs afflicted with 
loss of appetite and frequent scouring, 
and remembering that the internal 
constitution of the hog is very similar 
to that of the human being, used 
with good results in every case Cham- 
berlain's Colic Cure by putting a tea- 
spoonful in a quart of boiled sweet 
milk placed alone before them each in 
a separate pen until they drank it. 
This gave immediate relief and ordi- 
narily effected a cure in two days. At 
his request his neighbors, James Grary 
and John C. Gray used the same rem- 
edy with the same result on those sim- 
ilarly affected, but with no avail on 
those affected with symptoms of lung 
trouble. 

5. Frank Baumgartner, of Peotone, 
111., after seventeen years' study of 
the disease, found a cure that proved. 



332 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



effective in his own neighborhood. 
Under the auspices of the general 
freight agent of tbe Chicago, Milwau- 
kee & St. Paul railway in January, 
1891, he operated on a herd Jbelonging 
to Orne Bros., of Dubuque. Claiming 
that what is popularly known as chol- 
era may be produced by irregular feed- 
ing, he placed six sound hogs in a pen 
from which a lot of diseased ones had 
been removed only a few hours previ- 
ous. He declared he would produce 
cholera in three of them and keep 
the remainder free from it, but one of 
the sick ones would be allowed to die 
for the sake of an examination. The 
three that were destined to become 
sick were separated from the others 
by an impassable but open partition 
of narrow boards so they could touch 
each other but might not feed togeth- 
er. Both lots were fed according to 
instructions given, one regularly and 
with a proper diet; the other abund- 
antly but irregularly. At the end of 
twenty days the three former were 
hearty and healthy, but the latter, 
gorging themselves, soon became 
dumpy and a week later were very 
sick. One of them was allowed to die 
and a post mortem examination made 
by Dr. Bauman, a local veterinary, 
revealed the fact it had died of chol- 
era. The other two that became sick 
were cured. This experiment seemed 
to controvert the prevailing conten- 
tion that sound hogs placed in the 
same pen with those infected with 
cholera will contract the disease in 
four to twenty days. Orne Bros, had 
been feeding a herd of sixty-five head 
on the slop from a large hotel. The 
entire herd had become infected and 
thirty-eight had died before his ar- 
rival. The disease was pronounced 
cholera and the owners had no hope 
of saving the remnant of this herd. 
After inspecting the herd he advised 
that five be killed as incurable, prom- 



tended that hog cholera is neither 
contagious nor infectious, but due to 
improper and irregular feeding and 
care. His experiments were repeated 
later with similar success on hogs sim- 
ilarly affected at McGregor, West 
Union, Mason City, Algona, Emmets- 
burg' and other places in this part of 
the state. 

III. Eesults. The report of J. E. 
Sage, locating most of the losses from 
hog cholera in the great corn belt of 
the state is certainly very suggestive 
that corn as an article of diet may be 
conducive to the development of this 
disease. Those farmers who have stu- 
diously avoided an exclusive corn diet 
by feeding also oats, wheat and mid- 
dlings have, as a matter of fact, sus- 
tained the least losses from this cause. 
Anything, however, that weakens the 
system, makes it more susceptible 
to disease. This may be done by feed- 
ing young animals an exclusive corn 
diet, filthy slops, impure drinking wa- 
ter, nesting in damp places and other 
irregularities in regard to their care 
and keeping. 

These experiments show clearly that 
there are two forms of disease com- 
monly called hog cholera, the one af- 
fecting the lungs and the other the 
bowels. The former phase of it may 
prevail in one locality and the latter 
in another. The former may be very 
contagious and the latter not. The 
former may be incurable, and the lat- 
ter both easily cured and prevented. 
Worms also cause sickness and death, 
but a single dose of the right kind of 
medicine will usually bring relief. 

This case is one where "an ounce of 
prevention is worth a pound of cure." 
The best preventives are found in ab- 
solute cleanliness and regularity in 
care and keeping. Some have found 
an effective and satisfactory regulator 
of the bowels in a small dose of wood 
ashes once a fortnight. Others have 



ised to save sixteen and possibly six found that a pile of slack or pulver- 
others. He saved nineteen and con- ized soft coal within their enclosure 



THIRD PERIOD, 18834899. 



333 



has answered the same purpose; while 
others maintain that the following in- 
expensive mixture is a sure proof 
against all stomach troubles common- 
ly called cholera: To one quart each 
of salt and sulphur add four quarts of 
air slacked lime. Mix thoroughly and 
put it in a dry place where it will 'be 
always accessible. 

The conviction has been growing 
that new blood needed to be infused 
into the stock'so susceptible to disease 
and the "razor back" of the south hav- 
ing been comparatively free from its 
attacks, several car loads of them were 
that year brought to this county and 
the results have been quite satisfac- 
tory. Among those who received the 
"razor backs" were H. L. Bruit, B. L. 
Allen and M. E. DeWolf, of Laurens, 
each a car load from Texas; the Ken- 
nedy Bros., Fonda, one car load from 
Arkansas, and the Charlton Bros., of 
Rolfe, two car loads. 
1896. 

On July 1, 1896, the free silver cam- 
paign demanding the free coinage of 
• silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 was in- 
augurated in this country by the nom- 
ination of W. J. Bryan, at Chicago. 

From August 3d to 9th the heat was 
intense, the temperature ranging 
from 94 to 100 in the shade. At St. 
Louis there were 100 prostrations; at 
Chicago 75 prostrations and 22 deaths, 
and in New York City 30 deaths. 

On the afternoon and evening of 
September 22d, 1896, a great republic- 
an rally in the interest of sound mon- 
ey was held in a large tent at FOnda. 
The city was patriotically decorated 
for this occasion and marching clubs 
were present from Rockwell City,Lohr- 
ville, Jolley, Sac City, Newell, Pome- 
roy, Pocahontas and other sections. 
Large delegations were present from 
Storm Lake and other towns west as 
far as Cherokee. The cornet bands 
from Newell and Jolley were present 
/ to co-operate with the one from Fon- 
da. Addresses were delivered by Sen- 



ator W. B, Allison, Congressman J. P 
Dolliver and Hon. John Brennan, of 
Sioux City, The vocal music was fur- 
nished by the McKinley Male Quar- 
tette of Sac City, and the Prairie 
Creek glee club. At seven o'clock in 
the evening the different marching 
clubs, numbering 600 persons all of 
whom were supplied with flambeaux, 
and the three cornet bands formed 
a torch light procession, that marched 
through some of the principal streets 
of the city before going to the tent. 
About 1200 Roman candles had been 
distributed among the different clubs, 
and as they marched the heayens were 
illuminated with brilliant, fiery balls 
of red, white and blue. It was a beau- 
tiful sight to witness and the great- 
ness of this meeting surprised every 
one. It was the largest meeting ever 
held in the county and the grandest 
political demonstration ever made in 
this part of the state. More than six 
thousand people gathered at the tent. 
1898. 

The year 1898 was one of the most 
remarkable in our nation's history. 
It was a year of unrivaled material 
prosperity, and more great achieve- 
ments were crowded into its annals 
than in any other in our nation's his- 
tory. It saw the beginning and end 
of the war with Spain, in Cuba and 
the Philippine Islands, at the close of 
which the United States occupied a 
new position in the world and launched 
upon an era, having new and untried 
responsibilities. 

The crops in this county were among 
the largest ever raised; but during 
that year, ten of the main business 
houses of Laurens, representing $60,000 
worth of property, the flouring mill at 
Rolfe, owned by the Fouch Bros., 
the Plover creamery owned by John 
Carroll, and the principal drying house 
of the tile factory of Straight Bros., 
Fonda, were consumed by fire. 
1899. 

The year 1899, like its predecessor, 



334 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



was one of large crops and good prices. 
The lively impulse of prosperity was 
felt in all parts of this land so that 
every wheel was in motion and every 
man willing to work found employ- 
ment at remunerative wages. So 
great was the activity in railroad con- 
struction that the demand for iron 
caused a great advance in the manu- 
factured product. In this vicinity, 
the Milwaukee road built the exten- 
sion from Fonda to Spencer, and a 
service of one mixed train a day each 
way was established and maintained 
during the ensuing winter months. 
It constructed also the branch from 
Rockwell City to Storm Lake via Sac 
City, and the Illinois Central the line 
from Tara to Omaha via Rockwell 
City. The grading of the Rock Island 
across this county was completed 
from Manson via Pocahontas and Lau- 



rens, and three new towns were es- 
tablished in this county, two of which 
were named Yarina and Palmer. Oth- 
er new towns established this year in 
this vicinity were Albert City, first 
called Manthorp; G-lenora, Hesperia, 
Lavinia, Lytton, Nemaha and North- 
am. So great was the demand for la- 
borers in the construction of these 
roads, that exorbitant prices were in 
many instances offered for workmen, 
and those who responded were re- 
quired to labor seven days in the week. 
The construction of one road north of 
this county had to be postponed one 
year because the material for the iron 
bridges and track could not be ob- 
tained. 

"This land o'ourn still ye's got to be 
A better country than man e'er see; 
I feel my spirit swellin' with a cry 
That seems to say 'Break forth and 
prophesy'." 




BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



335 



XII. 

BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 

"Who o'er the prairies looks abroad, 
And does not see the hand of God 
Preparing them through ages past 
To be the homes of men, who cast 
The seed abroad and reap again 
A rich reward in golden grain!" 

— Leonard Broavn. 



FIRST SE TTLERS. 




ELLVILLE township 
was not the first one 
settled or organized, 
but it is the first one 
in an alphabetical 
list of the townships 
of this county. It is township 90 of 
range 32, the second one from the east 
in the south row of townships. At 
the time of its survey the fact was 
noted that it contained "numerous 
small marshes and a few of consider- 
able size. There are also several 
swamps-, most of them unfit for culti- 
vation, although some of the marshes 
are good for hay as is also the whole 
township. A considerable portion of 
this township is covered with pea vine. 
The surface is generally level, and the 
soil first and second rate." At the 
time of its survey there was not a tree 
to be seen in the township, and the 
surveyor who made these notes, for 
that reason and those stated did not 
regard it a desirable place for settlers 



to locate their homes. Now that the 
swamps and marshes, by means of a 
little drainage, have been made very 
productive, and beautiful farm build- 
ings have been erected all over the 
township, the prejudice of the survey- 
or has vanished. 

The first settlers in this township 
were William Bell and Niels Hanson, 
who in the month of March, 1869, lo- 
cated their homesteads, the former on 
the NWi and the latter, on the NEi 
of section 10. Keturning together to 
Port Dodge in a lumber wagon drawn 
by two yoke of oxen, they hauled the 
lumber for the first cabin, which was 
erected on the homestead of Wm. 
Bell. This structure was a very hum- 
ble one, 10x12 feet square and 5i feet 
high. These two men occupied this 
cabin together until the fall of 1870, 
when Niels Hanson built a sod house 
on his homestead. This sod house 
was sunk two feet in the ground, but 
had a good floor, was plastered inside 



336 



PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and had two windows, one on each 
side at the top of the ground. When 
completed each occupied his own 
cabin, but in the spring of 1871 Han- 
son married Lena Loding, of Port 
Dodge, and then his had two occu- 
pants. 

Others that located in this town- 
ship during the year 1869, were Wm. 
Brownlee, wife and two children, Mr. 
and Mrs. W. B. Dickinson, their son- 
in-law, M. B. Parks and wife, Peter 
Peterson, wife and two sons, Bernard 
Niehouse, Michael Burns, James Ha- 
gan, James O'Kiefe and two sons, 
John and Frederick Johnson, Nelson 
Anderson and Aaron Erickson, Swan 
Nelson, Patrick Enright, Niels An- 
derson, John Lampe and his three 
sons, Henry, F. J. and George Lampe. 
These were followed in 1870 by Mr. 
and Mrs. Charles Kezer, Andrew O. 
Long, wife and two children, W. R. 
Owen, Alonzo Cady, James Bennett, 
Joseph Strong, E. K. Cain, H. W. 
Behrens, Christian Peterson, Fritz 
Weigert and others. 

In the spring of 1870, at a meeting 
of the citizens held at the home of 
Wm Bell, it was decided to ask the 
board of county supervisors to set off 
this township from Lizard and call it 
"Bellville," in memory of the fact 
that Wm. Bell was the first settler to 
erect a cabin in it. On June 6, 1870, 
Bellville township was established by 
the board of county supervisors who 
designated October 11, 1870, as the 
date for their first election and the 
cabin of Wm. Bell as the place to hold 
it. The following board of election 
officers was appointed and the oath 
was administered to them by G-. H. 
Johnson, a justice of the peace from 
Lizard township: Judges, Wm. Bell, 
James Bennett and W. B. Dickinson; 
clerks, M. B. Parks and Joseph Strong. 
Township officers were elected for the 
ensuing year (1871) as follows: Alon- 
zo Cady, Henry Lampe and M. B. 
Parks, trustees: W. B. Dickinson and 



Charles Kezer, justices; Joseph Strong 
and Wm. Bell, constables; W. B. 
Dickinson, clerk; James Bennett, as- 
sessor; E. K. Cain and Charles Kezer, 
road supervisors. 

The first record of a meeting of the 
trustees is of date April 11, 1871, when 
they made a levy of five mills for road 
purposes, and authorized W. B. Dick- 
inson to buy for the township one 
good road scraper, for the care of 
which during that year he should re- 
ceive $5.00. April 13, 1872, he was au- 
thorized to purchase three more 
scrapers but no' additional compensa- 
tion was allowed. The township that 
year was divided into four districts 
and the supervisors were Niels Han- 
son, John Lampe, Charles Kezer and 
John Christmas. The general elec- 
tion, Oct. 14, 1873, was held at the 
residence of Peter Wendell and he 
was elected a justice of the peace and 
township clerk. On April 10, 1874, he 
reported that all the township prop- 
erty, consisting of four scrapers, had 
been burned in a prairie fire that con- 
sumed also the stable and stock of 
Jeremiah Connelly. In 1892 two large 
road graders were purchased from the 
Fleming Manufacturing Co , Fort 
Wayne, Ind., for the sum of $450. 

The second, or general election in 
1871, was held at the residence of W. 
B.. Dickinson, and in 1872 at the school 
house on section 17. From 1874 to 
1885 they were held in school house 
No. 3; from 1886 to 1892 in school house 
No. 8, and since 1893 in No. 5, the 
center school house. 

The assessor's book for the year 1874, 
showed an enrollment of 42 persons in 
the township liable to do military 
duty. The new names that appear 
are those of D. Beneke, L. S. Bivans, 
J. Cady, P. Ellison, Rudolph Beneke, 
Abraham Burgeson, Henry Elsen and 
his two sons Gerd and Charles Elsen, 
John Christmas, August Anderson. 
Alexander Geddes, S. H. Gill, C. H. 
Hallock, A. Himan,J. Hogan, G. Lar- 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



337 



son, A. Gr. Loats, C. P. Lundgren, M. 
and J. McAuliff, M. McAlpin, G. Mil- 
ler, M. McG-rath, Peter Wendell. John 
Larson, C. Peterson, Patrick Quinn, 
D. Eagan, A. Reedland, E. Short, 
C. and A. Stickelberg, A. Zinn and 
Anton Smorkovski. 

This assessor's hook also shows that 
in January, 1874, as many as twenty- 
one persons were allowed timber and 
fruit tree exemptions for plots rang- 
ing from one half an acre to four 
acres. The grove of one acre planted 
by W. B. Dickinson on the SEi Sec. 
14, in the spring of 1869, was tbe first 
one in the township. James O'Kiefe 
in 1871, planted the second one, also 
of one acre, on the NWi Sec. 12. In 
1872 two orchards of one acre each 
were planted by Mrs. Sylvia A. Ben- 
nett, on the NEi Sec. 26, and Anton 
Smorkovski on S Wi Sec. 28; and groves 
by Charles Kezer, John Lampe, Pat- 
rick Quinn and Niels Hanson. In 1873 
nearly every other resident homestead- 
er planted a grove. 

There were perhaps more sod houses 
built in this township than any otber 
during the first two years of its set- 
tlement, 1869 and 1870. The first one 
was built by Philip Myers, on the 
Quinn farm. Others were built by 
John Lampe, A. Himan, Niels Han- 
son, John Johnson, Alexander Geddes, 
Swan Nelson, Peter Wendell, Charles 
Kezer, Wm. Owen, Matt. McAlpin 
and Gus. Peterson. The sod house 
with its low thatched roof of slough 
grass was always a place of danger 
when the prairie fire came sweeping 
along. In the fall of 1871, A. Himan 
and Gus. Peterson lost their houses, 
hay sheds and stacks of hay, wheat, 
beans and buckwheat; and later Peter 
Wendell his house and contents. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Previous to the organization of Bell- 
ville township, the directors of Liz- 
ard township established a school in 
the home of John Lampe and em- 



ployed as teachers E. K. Cain and 
Thomas L. Dean. 

On March 4, 1871, the electors of the 
district township of Bellville held 
their first meeting, W. B. Dickinson 
serving as chairman and E. Iv. Cain 
as secretary. E. K. Cain, Charles Ke- 
zer and Jerry Connelly were elected as 
the first board of directors, each for 
the term of one year. This board or- 
ganized by the election of Charles Ke- 
zer, president; W. B. Dickinson, sec- 
retary and Wm. Bell, treasurer. One 
week later a tax of ten mills was ap- 
proved and levied for school house 
purposes. About the same time there 
was levied a tax of ten mills for the 
teachers' fund and seven mills for the 
contingent. The wages of male and 
female teachers were fixed at $35 and 
$30 a month, respectively. It was al- 
so decided to lease three buildings in 
which to hold a three months' term of 
school during that summer. Two 
buildings were leased, one from Mr. 
Brownlee, located on the SE corner of 
Sec. 29, in which Lucy Van Doren was 
the teacher, and the other from W. 
B. Owen, located at the i stake on the 
west side of Sec. 20, in which he was 
the teacher. These temporary build- 
ings were constructed expressly for 
this purpose and the specifications of 
the first one was as follows: "8x10 
feet square, 6 feet high, boarded up 
and down, board floor, one half win- 
dow, a door hung with hinges, the 
roof to be as tight as boards and bat- 
tens could make it, two desks, one on 
each side each to be li feet wide and 
10 feet long, and three benches; and 
the monthly rental shall be $4.00." 

On September 18, 1871, Jerry Con- 
nelly resigned and James E. iBennett 
was appointed a member of the board 
in his place. The house of Wm. Bell 
was leased and W. K. Owen was ap- 
pointed teacher of this school for three 
months. 

In March, 1872, the electors neglect- 
ed to meet and the members of the 



338 



PIONEER HISTORY OE POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



old board renewed their oath of office. 
Wm. Brownlee was appointed to fill 
the vacancy occasioned by the remov- 
al of E. K. Cain, and he was then 
elected president of the board. The 
wages of the teachers were reduced to 
$25 in summer and $30 in winter. 

On April 27, 1872, the board made 
arrangements with A. D. Moore for 
the erection of four temporary school 
houses 12x16 feet and 8 feet high, for 
$591. For one of these buildings the 
first school house site was purchased 
from Geo. A. Loats (SE corner Sec. 28) 
and for another one they leased a site 
on the NE corner of Sec. 10. Miss 
Emma Parks was the first ' teacher in 
this last building, the others who 
taught that summer being Mattie E. 
Owen and E. D. Bivans. 

In the fall of 1872 the township was 
divided into five sub districts known 
as the O'Kiefe, Lampe, Brownlee, 
Kezer and Bennett districts, and the 
new teachers employed were Lily M. 
Bosworth and T. L. Dean; and during 
the next summer Mrs. E. S. Parks and 
Mrs. Elizabeth Cady. During the 
winter of 1873-4 E. D. Clark taught 
a term in the home of Peter Wendell. 

In 1875 permanent buildings were 
erected in district No. 2 by T. L. Dean, 
and in district No. 3 by H. W. Wilcox. 
In 1880 the term of school was fixed 
at seven months— four in winter and 
three in summer. In 3881 the first 
school house grove was planted by A. 
Erickson for $36. This was the one 
in district No. 6 and it had been 
farmed for several years previous. 
The trees planted were soft maples 
with a row of cotton woods around 
them. In 1883 Charles Kezer planted 
the grove in district No. 8. Later, all 
the other school grounds in this town- 
ship were planted with trees and the 
beautiful groves that now mark the 
school house sites are sources of de- 
light to teachers and pupils, a matter 
of pride to all the citizens of the town- 
ship and objects of beauty that call 



forth the admiration of the traveler. 
The township of Bellville was the first 
in this county to secure a fine grove 
around each of its school buildings 
and until 1897 it enjoyed this honor 
without a rival. It has now new, 
large and brightly painted buildings 
in every district. 

Joy for the sturdy trees! 
Fanned by each fragrant breeze, 

Lovely they stand! 
The songbirds o'er them thrill, 
They shade each tinkling rill, 
They crown each swelling hill, 
Lowly or grand. 
Other teachers who taught in this 
township during the seventies and 
eighties in addition to those already 
named, were J. O'Kiefe ('75), Annie 
Condon, Jason H. Lowrey, Kate Con- 
nelly, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Brownlee (8 
terms), Ida Lowrey (Gill), Emma Low- 
rey (Wilbur), Mrs. S. A. Bennett, C. 
Kreul, E. O. Davy, L. A. Brooks, E. 
S. Parks, Hattie Hallock, Mary Quinn 
(13 years), Patrick Quinn (10 years), 
Maggie Quinn, Martin Quinn, Katie 
Ellis, Agnes Denny, R. Brownlee, 
Maggie Griffin and Ida Wendell. 

The fine condition of the earliest 
records of the board of directors of 
Bellville township and the excellent 
manner in which all the interests re- 
lating to the public schools were man- 
aged merit special commendation and 
suggest that the men who in the early 
days were elected directors were not 
only capable but appreciated the im- 
portance of the trust committed to 
them. The earliest records, in the 
handwriting of W. B. Dickinson, be- 
gin with the very beginning of things 
at the organization of the township, 
are found in a large, well bound vol- 
ume suited for the purpose, and they 
are written in a plain, legible hand 
with a good quality of black ink that 
has not faded with the lapse of years. 
They are remarkable for their fulness 
and minuteness of detail, inasmuch as 
they include complete copies of all 
the contracts made by the board with 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP, 



339 



each teacher, builder and workman, 
the bond of the treasurer and the 
specifications of every building to be 
erected. 

SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

The succession of officers for the 
school board of Bellville township has 
been as follows: 

Presidents: Charles Kezer, '71; 
Wm. Brownlee, Henry Stahl, Charles 
Kezer, '74, 6-7; S. H. Gill, '75; Wm. 
Brownlee, '78, '81, '83; P. Quinn, Swan 
Nelson, 80, '89, '93; A. F. Froid, '82; 
Geo. A. Loats, '84; Henry Lampe, Pat- 
rick Clancy, '86-88; Budolph Beneke, 
'90; Peter Anderson, '91-2, '97; W. E. 
McReynolds, '94-'96; M. Hanson, '98; 
Henry Behrens, '99- 1900. 

Secretaries: W. B. Dickinson, '71; 

A. Cady, '72-4; Charles Kezer, J. W. 
O'Kiefe, T. B. Moore, Charles Kezer, 
'78-86; A. G. Quinn, Wm. Brownlee, 
'88-'92; Peter Long, '93- '96; August 
Johnson, '97- '98; Anton Larson, '99- 
1900. 

Treasurers: Wm. Bell, '71-'72, 
Wm. Brownlee, '73-.'75; James O'Kiefe, 
'76-'81; Swan Nelson, '82- '84; John Lar- 
son, '85-'88; Patrick Clancy, '89-'93; 
Swan Nelson, '94-'99; Charles Schroe- 
der. 

CIVIL OFFICERS. 

Trustees: The following persons 
have rendered service as trustees: 
Alonzo Cady, M. B. Parks and Henry 
Lampe all in 1871; Wm. Brownlee, 
Henry Lampe, '72, '74, '75, '81,-'86; D. 

B. Hallock, Wm. Bell, C. H. Hallock, 
A. O. Long, James O'Kiefe, Alex. 
Geddes, H. W. Behrens, '76-'78, '82- '85, 
'87-'92, '95-1900; Budolph Beneke, '77, 
'89-'94; John P. Peterson, '77-'80, '94- 
1900; Patrick Quinn, '79-93; Gust Pe- 
terson, '80- '82; John Larson, '86, Niels 
Hanson, '87-88; Geo. A. Loats, '93, '95; 
Frank Lampe, '96-1900. 

Clerks: W. B. Dickinson, '71-'72; 
Wm. Brownlee, Peter Wendell, Wm. 
Bell, '75-76; Charles Kezer, '77-'82; 
Frank Lampe, '83 -'86 Andrew Quinn, 



'82 '94; Anthony Larson, Peter Ander- 
son, August Anderson, '97 1900. 

Justices of the Peace: W. B. 
Dickinson, Wm Brownlee, Peter Wen- 
dell, Charles Kezer H. W. Behrens, 
Swan Nelson, '83 '98; Patrick Quinn^ 
Fred Bruns, W. A. Berry, Anthony 
Larson. 

Assessors: James Bennett, '7l-'72; 
A. Cady, L, S. Bivans, Charles Kezer, 
'75- '77; S. H. Gill, '78-'79; A. F. Froid, 
J. P. Peterson, '83- '86; Wm. Gadaw, 
'87- '90; Fred Bruns, '91-'98; John Quinn. 

EMMANUEL GERMAN CHURCH. 

The first and to this date the only 
church organized in Bellville town- 
ship is the Emmanuel German Church 
of the Evangelical Association of 
North America. It was organized 
about the year 1880, and the original 
members were Christ DeWall, John 
DeWall, George DeWall, Albert Loats, 
George Loats, A ugust Munch and their 
families, Maria Schon and Mr. and 
Mrs. John Schon. The first officers 
were John DeWall, Maria Schon and 
George Loats. The officers in 1899 
were Otto Pfeundheiler, Henry West- 
fall and Fred Schlieut, and the adult 
membership was about 36. The meet- 
ings were first held in the Loats school 
house. Their house of worship, lo- 
cated on the SEi Sec. 28, was dedi- 
cated August 15, 1891. It is 28x40 feet,, 
tower 8x8 and 40 feet high, and cost 
$1600. The Sunday school meets ev- 
ery Sabbath, the preaching services 
are held on alternate Sabbaths and 
their present pastor resides at Bock- 
well City. The succession of pastors 
has been as follows: Be v. Mr. Drum- 
hawer (1880), OttoGerard, GerdKnoke 
(3 years), G. Branstats, J. D. Schaible, 

L. Smith, Weverseck, Peter Gert- 

man, Daniel Bikert, Koinig. 

FIRST DEATH AND BIRTH. 

The first death- in Bellville town- 
ship occurred in the spring of 1871, 
when Frederick Johnson, a young 
Swede, died at the age of 23 years. 
He came with his brother, John John- 



340 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



son, who located a homestead oh the 
Si NWi 18, in the year 1869. They 
erected a sod shanty and lived togeth- 
er. This shanty had a roof of slough 
grass that caught fire on two occasions 
when prairie fires swept over that 
section, and twice did they lose all 
they had in it. Fred died of consump- 
tion and was the first one buried in 
the Swedish Mission burying ground 
of Bellville township. The funeral 
service was conducted by John Hamer- 
son, a young Swede residing in Grant 
township. 

Carrie Christmas, daughter of John 
and Mary Christmas, was the first 
child born in this township. She was 
born in February. 1870, became the 
wife of Morton Root, and they are 
now residing at Fort Dodge. Her 
father was a soldier in the civil war. 
In 1869, accompanied by his wife and 
two children, he came to this county 
and located on the N£ NWi Sec. 34, 
Bellville township, and, after secur- 
ing the patent for his homestead, in 
1874, sold it to Saunders S. Assing, Sr.. 
and moved to Fort Dodge. After 
three years he returned to Manson and 
was killed at Rockwell City in October 
1897 while crossing the track of the 
D. M., N. & W. railway in a buggy 
driven by Edward Tullar. 

The second birth in the township 
was that of Huldah, daughter of Mr. 
and Mrs. John Lawson. This event oc- 
curred during the dreadful snowstorm 
of March, 14-16, 1870. Her parents 
were Swedes and, accompanied by 
three children and Philip Myers, in 
the spring of 1869, they came to this 
country and homesteaded the Wi NEi 
Sec. 20, Bellville township. He was a 
successful farmer. His wife died in 
1878 and he died in 1889, leaving a fam- 
ily of five children, all of whom have 
moved from the county. Huldah is 
now married and residing at Fort 
Dodge. 

Nelius M. Nelson, whose birth oc- 
curred May 4, 1870, was the first boy 



born in the township. He is the old- 
est son of Mr. and Mrs. Swan Nelson, 
who are still residents of the old 
homestead. He was, for a few years, 
one of the public school teachers of 
tbis county, and is now in Dakota. 

Bellville township claims the pecul- 
iar distinction of having produced the 
largest baby in the county. It was a 
bouncing boy that weighed twenty- 
two pounds. He first saw the light 
in 1871, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
E. K. Cain, on section 21. In June, 
1869, this family located on section 4 
and one year later on section 21, 
and they lived there until February, 
1872, when they moved to Lincoln 
township where, during a period of 
four years, he filled the two offices of 
assessor and justice of the peace. He 
was a teacher, carpenter and farmer, 
and in 1884 moved to Clayton county. 

The "Bellville giant" is John O'Bri- 
en, the pioneer occupant and owner 
of the Si of Sec. 17. He is a Canadian, 
six feet in height and weighs 260 
pounds. At the age of twenty-five his 
great strength was a surprise to oth- 
ers, and the above nom cle plume was 
accorded to him by his neighbors many 
years ago, when he lifted the side of a 
horse-power, that needed to be mount- 
ed on wheels, that two ordinary men 
were unable to move. 

Lone Rock on the NW Cor. Sec. 33, 
originally about twenty-five feet high, 
was a very prominent landmark in the 
early days. 

The first public road established in 
Bellville townsbip was the one ex- 
tending east and west north of section 
10, known as the Bell & Hanson road. 
It was established in 1870 and was 
surveyed by Oscar I. Strong, deputy 
county surveyor, assisted by Niels 
Hanson as one of the chain carriers. 
This road extended across the county 
and in Lizard, Bellville and Colfax 
townships was located on the section 
lines, in Cedar township it is one-half 
mile further north and passes through 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



341 



the center of the north tier of sec- 
tions. 

BELLVILLE CREAMERY. 

A creamery was established on the 
S Wi Sec. 5, in 1890, by Fred Dilmuth, 
who moved the plant from Grant 
township and managed it in its new 
location two years thereafter. It was 
then purchased by Bernard Fisher and 
Rudolph Beneke, but is now owned by 
the former who is also proprietor of a 
grocery store established at the same 
place. Mr. Fisher, who is a native of 
Germany, in July, 1869, began to oc- 
cupy and improve a homestead on the 
NEi Sec. 8, which he still owns to- 
gether with the Wi SEi Sec. 6 and 
the NWi Sec. 7. He has a large fam- 
ily, all of whom are still at home. 

OTHER EARLY SETTLERS. 

During the seventies many other 
new settlers located in this township, 
among whom were James Sinnott, 
John Larson, Peter Scherf, Ira G. 
Vaughan. Abraham Burgeson, Louis 
Oleson, Henry Lieb, Andrew Carlson, 
Swan and James F. Peterson, S. S. 
Assing, George De Wall, John O'Brien, 
Lander and C, G. Blanden. 

During the eighties there came Geo. 
J. O. and S. O. Peterson, Frank W 
Schuster, Geo. Reining, Jobn W. 
Boog, Peter Anderson, Benjamin 
Loats and many others. 

The following personal notes do not 
include any reference to those whose 
biographies appear in the latter part 
of this volume. 

August Anderson, a native of Swed- 
en, in May, 1872, entered a homestead 
of 80 acres which Claus Hanson in 
June, 1869, had entered but later for- 
feited. He had a wife and two daugh- 
ters when he came and they are still 
residents of the old homestead. 

William Bell, after whom the 
township was named, in 187) added 
to his cabin a good frame house 12x20 
feet and continued to occupy his 
homestead until about the year 1878 
when he wept to the Black Hills' 



region, and in partnership with a 
friend, engaged in mining gold. He 
took an active part in all matters 
relating to the organization of the 
township and the first election in it 
was held in his cabin on section 10. 
During the years 1871-72 he served as 
the first treasurer of the School Board, 
during 1873 74 as a trustee of the 
township and during 1875-76 as the 
township clerk. He was about fifty- 
six years of age and unmarried when 
he left the county. 

James Bennett, in March, 1869, en- 
tered a homestead on NEl Sec. 26, im- 
proved it and died there in August, 
1872. His wife, Sylvia Bennett, se- 
cured the patent for one half of his 
claim, (the other half being declared 
swamp land) and for the adjoining 
claim of Alex. Oleson. In 1876 she 
sold both tracts to Col. Blanden and 
with her family moved to Manson. 
Mr. Bennett was the first assessor of 
Bellville township. 

Abraham Burgeson and his wife 
Eliza, natives of Sweden, came to 
Bellville in 1870 and the latter entered 
as a timber claim the SEi SEi Sec. 
18— 40 acres-but it was forfeited in 
1877. A few days later it was re- 
entered by her husband and in Febru- 
ary, 1893, the patent was issued to 
their son, Alvin Burgeson. They now 
own and occupy the SE^ Sec. 1, Colfax 
township, and have raised a large 
family. 

Michael Burns and James Hagan en- 
tered adjoining homesteads on Sec 10, 
in January, 1870, and lived together 
in the same cabin for several years. 
Then each occupied a cabin on his 
own homestead and the latter farmed 
both farms, while the former worked 
on the railroad. About 1884, Mr. 
Burns married a daughter of Wm. 
Gadaw. He still owns the old home- 
stead and also the one of Wm. Bell on 
which he and his family now reside. 
James Hagan, single-handed and 
alone, still occupies his old homestead, 



342 PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



which was the one originally entered 
by Peter Murphy. 

AlonzoCady, having a wife and two 
children, in March, 1869, entered a 
homestead of 80 acres on Sec. 24. which 
he improved and occupied for a num- 
ber of years. He moved first to Liz- 
ard township and thence to Dakota. 
He was one of the first trustees, the 
second assessor and for three years 
secretary of the school board of the 
township. 

Wm. B. Dickinson and Milton B. 
Parks, his son-in-law, entered home- 
steads on Sec. 14, August 31, 1868. 
These were the first claims entered in 
the township. Owing to the fact they 
did not begin to occupy their claims 
soon enough they were both forfeited, 
but re-entering them in 1872 and 1873, 
they received their patents in 1873 
and 1874, respectively. The former 
was a soldier in the civil war, and 
now resides with his daughter at Gil- 
more City. He was the first secretary 
of the school board, the first justice of 
the peace and first clerk of the town- 
ship. The latter about 1882, moved to 
Havelock and engaged in the drug 
business. After the loss of the store 
by fire he moved to California. He 
was one of the first trustees of the 
township. 

Peter Ellison, of Sweden, accompa- 
nied by his wife, who was a sister of 
John Lawson, in 1873, secured a home- 
stead of 40 acres on the NWi Sec. 20. 
He has added 80 acres to the home- 
stead and still occupies it. Their fam- 
ily consists of three children— Annie, 
who is married, Christine and Ed- 
ward. 

Aaron Erickson, of Sweden, in Sep- 
tember, 1869, entered a homestead on 
Sec. 20, built a cabin on it and the 
next year was joined by his wifo and 
family. In 1872 this claim was relin- 
quished in favor of Martin McAuliff, 
who still owns it, and Erickson bought 
a farm on the SWi- Sec. 18, which he 
still owns and occupies r Be has raised 
a large family, 



William G-adaw, of Germany, accom- 
panied by his wife, two sons and one 
daughter, in 1873 bought the E£ BWi 
Sec. 24, and improved it. Mr. and 
Mrs. Gadaw died several years ago. 
Their sons, William and Ernest, still 
own and occupy the old farm. The 
former was assessor of the township 
during the four years, 1887 to 1890. 
Three daughters were born in this 
county and all three of them are mar- 
ried. The two oldest are living in 
neighboring counties and the young- 
est, married to Michael Burns, lives on 
section 10. 

David B. Hallock, who served as 
one of the trustees of the township in 
1883, came to this county with a large 
family in 1870 and located a home- 
stead on the NWi Sec. 10. He met 
with many discouragements and, when 
his crops were devoured by the grass- 
hoppers a second time in 1874, he 
moved to Lake township, and five 
years later to Kansas. His eldest son, 
Charles H. Hallock, in 1870 located a 
homestead on the NWi Sec. 34, and 
improved it. In April, 1873, his house, 
which had a thatch roof, or was filled 
with hay as a- protection overhead, 
caught fire while he was away from 
home and his wife was outside the 
building. She rushed in to save her 
child, asleep in the cradle. She saved 
the child, but her own clothing caught 
fire and thoughshe extinguished the 
flames in a slough near at hand, she 
died soon after a neighbor came to her 
relief. Charles is now living in Kan- 
sas. 

Niels Hanson, a native of Denmark, 
(born Aug. 24, 1839) came to Bellville 
township with Wm. Bell in March, 
1869, and in June following filed his 
homestead claim for the Wi NEi Sec. 
10, for which he received the patent 
Oct. 30, 1874. Two years later, (1876) 
owing to the frequent and successive 
losses sustained from the ravages of 
the grasshoppers he hist his homestead 
and purchased 40 acres adjoining on, 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



343 



the northeast corner of the same sec- 
tion which he still owns and occupies. 
In 1893 he bought the SEi Sec. 3 ad- 
joining it on the north so that he has 
now a fine farm of 200 acres, improved 
with a beautiful grove, fruit-bearing 
orchard and good buildings. After 
living two years in the sod house and 
twenty-three in its successor, a frame 
12x16 feet, he erected (1894) the large 
and comfortable house he now occu- 
pies. He was one of the first and is 
now the oldest resident of the town- 
ship. His wife, Lena Loding, is a na- 
tive of Norway. Their family has 
consisted of four sons and two daugh- 
ters. Hans, the eldest, in 1894, mar- 
ried Mary Hanson and they live on 
her father's farm on Sec. 8, Colfax 
township. They have a family of two 
children, Minnie and Mabel. Hannah, 
the eldest daughter, in 1893, became 
the wife of Anton Larson and they 
lived on his father's farm in Bellville 
township until the fall of 1899, when 
they became proprietors of the first 
hotel in Palmer. Martin, Niels, Min- 
nie and Edward (18) are at home. Mr. 
Hanson served as a trustee of the 
township during the years 1887-88. 
In August 1899 the new town of 
Palmer, first called Hanson, was lo- 
cated on his farm, and his daughter 
Minnie, who was engaged in teaching 
public school, was appointed post- 
mistress, when the postofflce was es- 
tablished in January, 1900. 

Aaron Himan, a native of Sweden, 
(born May 21, 1835) came to America 
in 1868 and on Aug. 12, 1869, in Illinois, 
married Matilda Solomonson. In 
April, 1870, they came to Bellville 
township and, selecting a homestead 
of 80 acres on N* SWi Sec 2, began its 
improvement by the erection of a sod 
house 10x12 feet, that lasted them 
seven years. They preferred to live in 
this humble dwelling rather than to 
occupy a frame building with a lien 
upon it. In the fall of 1871 the prai- 
rie fire burned everything on the farm 



except this sod house. In 1877 they 
bought a small house and later en- 
larged it, but in 1890 they dispensed 
with it and erected a fine large resi- 
dence that would be a source of pride 
in any community. He has also 
erected a large barn, granary, cribs 
and other outbuildings. In 1883 and 
1890 he secured additions to his farm 
making it now 225 acres. He has been 
a successful stockraiser and aims to 
keep sufficient of it to eat all the pro- 
ceeds of the farm. In comparing the 
present time with former days he sees 
a great contrast. He happened to lo- 
cate his sod house on a high place in 
the center of a slough where there was 
plenty of tall grass for fuel. At that 
time the only things that could be 
raised abundantly were slough grass 
and water, but now these are the 
hardest to find. Their family con- 
sists of three children, Charles W., 
Jennie and Oscar E., who are at home 
on the farm. 

Michael McAlpin and family, of 
Canada, in 1871 located on a home- 
stead on Sec. 8. His wife died in 1872 
and was buried in the Lizard Catho- 
lic cemetery. About 1895, he mar- 
ried again and later moved to Fort 
Dodge, where he now resides. To the 
homestead he added 40 acres on the 
same section and 80 acres on Sec. 17. 
The old homestead is now occupied 
by his son James McAlpin, who mar- 
ried a daughter of Henry Kreul, and 
has a small family. His sisters, Bridg- 
et and Margaret, (the latter married) 
are living together in Minnesota. 
Maria, married to Bernard Kreul, 
liyes at Pocahontas. 

Martin McAuliff, of Canada, in 
April, 1878 secured a homestead 
originally entered by Aaron Erickson 
on section 20 and improved it. He is 
now the owner of a good residence in 
Pomeroy, where he now reside^, and 
320 acres of land i'n Bellville township. 
He came very near winning matri- 
monial honors on one occasion, but 



344 PIONEER HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



induced to change his mind, he is still 
enjoying single blessedness. 

Thomas McAuliff, of Canada, an 
elder brother, in December 1871 se- 
cured the homestead first entered by 
Wm. Brownlee on section 18 and lived 
upon it about eight years. He still 
owns it, but lives in Colorado. 

Philip Myers, accompanied by his 
wife and two sons, in March 1869 en- 
tered a homestead claim on section 
28. After the lapse of some years he 
sold it to Patrick Quinn and moved to 
Kansas. He was a member of the 
112th Illinois infantry during the 
Civil War. 

Bernard Niehouse, of Germany, in 
Oct. 1869, secured a homestead on the 
SWi Sec. 6, which he improved and 
occupied until 1876. His wife, who 
was a sister of Bernard Fisher, died a 
few years ago and he is now living 
with his son-in-law, John Lampe. 

Andrew Norman and family in 1876 
secured a homestead on NWi Sec. 6, 
which he still owns, and his only son. 
John Norman, owns and occupies a 
good farm on section 1. 

James O'Kiefe and his two sons, 
John W. and Daniel O'Kiefe, in Aug- 
ust, 1869, entered and began to im- 
prove three homesteads of 80 acres 
each on the Ni Sec. 12. Daniel mar- 
ried about the year 1877, and his fath- 
er, who was a widower, died at his 
home in 1881. The two brothers soon 
thereafter moved lo Lake township, 
where Daniel still resides, the happy 
owner of 240 acres on Sec. 31. John 
W. is married, lives at Rolfe (1899) 
and still owns the NEi Sec. 12, Bellville 
township. James O'Kiefe at the 
time of his death and for five years 
previous, was treasurer of the school 
board of Bellville township, and John 
W. was secretary in 1876. 

William R. Owen, of Canada, in 
April, 1870, entered a homestead 
claim on the SWi Sec. 18, and occu- 
pied it till 1873, when he moved to 
Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he and his. 



family still reside. His successor, 
Samuel H. Gill, secured the patent 
for this homestead and was occupying 
it in 1878, when he sustained the loss 
of all his buildings and also of his 
wife by the cyclone of April 21st, that 
year. 

Gustave Peterson, a native of Swed- 
en (b. 1841) and wife (Solomonson) 
came to Pocahontas county in 1870 
with Aaron Himan, his brother in- 
law, and located a homestead on the 
SiNWi Sec. 2, Bellville township. 
They built a sod house and occupied 
it till 1871 when they bought and 
moved to the SiSWi Sec. 35, Lincoln 
township where they still reside. 
They still own the old homestead 
and an additional eighty acres adjoin- 
ing it on the same section. They are 
now in good circumstances, and have 
a family of five children; Henry, Al- 
bert, Ida, Minnie and Paul. 

Swan Peterson, a native of Sweden, 
on May 26, 1876 entered the EiSWi, 
Sec 36, 80 acres, as a timber claim. 
This land had originally been entered 
by F. Carlson in 1868, and by Johanna 
Peterson in 1871 as a homestead, and 
the latter occupied it several years. 

Peter Peterson, a native of Den- 
mark (b. 1827), in 1871 secured a home- 
stead of eighty acres on the SiSWi 
Sec. 2, which he improved and occu- 
pied until the time of his death in 
1893. His first wife died in the old 
country leaving one son George, and 
his second wife died in 1890 leaving 
two sons John P. and Christian Peter- 
son. These three sons are now living 
in Bellville township and all of them 
own good farms. 

George Peterson (b. 1843, Denmark) 
married Augusta, daughter of Frede- 
rick Weigert, and they have a family 
of small children. They are the 
owners and occupants of 280 acres on 
sections 10 and 15. He came to this 
country in 1883. 

John P. Peterson homesteaded the 
NW*SWi Sec, 12 which had previous- 





SWAN NELSON 
County Supervisor J 885-90. 



MRS. SWAN NELSON 





CHARLES KEZER MRS. CHARLES KEZER 

Bellville Township. 




.* 



' ,. . 




1^1 






BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



]y been entered successively by Ira G. 
Vaughn, Andrew C. Williamson, and 
James F. Peterson (no realative). 
After improving this property he sold 
it and is now the owner and occu- 
pant of the old homestead on section 
2. In 1880 he married Maggie, a 
daughter of James Nelson and they 
nave a small family. He is now serv- 
ing his tenth year as a trustee of the 
township and was assessor from 1883 
to 1886. 

Christian Peterson (b. 1855, Den- 
mark) is the owner and occupant of 
the NEi Sec. 14. About 1880 he mar- 
ried a daughter of Hans Markeson 
who, coming with wife, two sons and 
four daughters, homesteaded and 
until 1897 occupied the NiNWi Sec. 
12. Christian's wife died in 1892 
leaving a family of Ave small children. 
He came to Bellville in 1870. 

Eudolph Beneke, (b. Feb'y 23, 1850) 
of Bellville township, (Manson P. O.) 
is a native of Germany. His parents 
were Henry and Mary Beneke, and at 
the age of 18, in 1868, he came to 
America with his elder brother, Died- 
eric,' who now resides in Lincoln town- 
ship. They located first in Scott 
county, Iowa, and in 1871 Budolph 
visited Pocahontas county and bought 
80 acres on the SWi Sec. 4, Bellville 
township. In 1875 he returned, lo- 
cated upon this land, began the work 
of its improvement and has lived upon 
it ever since. He first built a small 
house but in 1880 and again in 1887, as 
his family and farm grew larger, he 
enlarged it so that it is now one of 
the largest houses in the township. 
The other improvements consist of a 
large barn built in 1881, a cow barn 
and a number of other smaller build- 
ings. The beautiful grove, so nicely 
arranged around the house as to give 
it a picturesque view, was planted in 
1875 and .'76. In 1882 he planted an 
acre with plum, crab and apple trees 
and they are now in good bearing con- 
dition, 



Mr. Beneke is a good illustration of a 
successful German farmer. He be- 
lieves in investing the annual income 
of the farm in farm lands, and seems 
to have a special faculty for accumu- 
lating rural real estate. The record 
of his additional purchases has been 
as follows: In 1882, 141 acres; 1885, 
40 acres; 1887, 80 acres; 1890, 120 acres; 
1893, 40 acres; and in 1897 sells 75 acres 
and buys 320 acres, making him the 
present owner of 746 acres. He be- 
lieves in cropping and raising stock 
together; he is not a large feeder, but 
keeps about 25 cows for dairy purposes. 
He keeps a careful eye on everything 
and nothing is allowed to go to waste. 
He believes in doing business on the 
cash basis and has been unwilling to 
go in debt. He has carefully avoided 
the payment of high rates of interest 
and the worry of mortgages. 

On January 1, 1877, after a residence 
of two years in this country, he mar- 
ried Annie Smorkovski, (b. Dec. 4, 
1855) a daughter of Anton and Barbara 
Smorkovski. Their family consists of 
five boys and three girls, all of whom 
are at home and at, work on the farm, 
namely: Henry, (b. Jan. 24, 1878), 
Rudolph, (b. Sept. 18, 1879), Barbara, 
(b. March 18, 1881), Earnest August, 
(b. Aug. 30, 1882), Anton, (b. Nov. 28, 
1884). Anna Sophia (b. Aug. 16, 1886) 
Mary, (b. April 16, 1888) and Frank 
(b. July 9, 1893). Mr. Beneke served 
as a trustee of the township six years 
—1889-1894, and was president of the 
school board in 1890. 

WILLIAM BROWNLEE. 

William Brownlee, (b. March 1, 1838), 
of Pomeroy, was a resident of Bell- 
ville township from the spring of 1869 
until the fall of 1892, with the excep- 
tion of the two years he served as 
county treasurer, 1884- '85, when he 
and his family lived at Pocahontas. 
He is a native of Welland county, 
Canada, and the son of Thomas and 
Sarah Brownlee, both of whom were 
of Scotch-Irish descent, and came 



346 PIONEEK HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



from the county of Armaugh, Ireland. 
On Nov. 3, 1861, he married Elizabeth 
H. Owen and one year later, coming 
to the United States, they located in 
Walworth county Wis. During a res- 
idence of six years at this place he 
found employment most of the time 
as a stage driver. In 1869, with a fam- 
ily of two children, they came to Po- 
cahontas county, Iowa, and located on 
a homestead on Sec. 18, Bellville town- 
ship. After three years they bought 
another farm on Sec. 8, which they 
improved and occupied until the time 
of their removal to Pomeroy in 1892. 

Mr. Brownlee was very highly hon- 
ored by the citizens of Bellville, who 
recognized his excellent qualities of 
head and heart. He was enabled to 
render many years of efficient service 
in all the township offices that a good 
citizen is expected to fill. He was a 
trustee in 1872, clerk in 1873, a justice 
of the peace five years, president of 
the school board four years, secretary 
of it five years and treasurer of the 
school fund three years. He was also 
the first citizen of Bellville township 
to enjoy the honor of a seat on the 
board of county supervisors (1876-1883). 
On Jan. 7, 1884, after eight years of 
efficient service, he resigned his posi- 
tion as a member of this board, that 
he might accept the more responsible 
office of county treasurer, to which he 
had been elected the previous fall. 

His estimable wife was one of the 
most efficient and popular of the early 
teachers of Bellville, and she joined 
with her # husband in making their 
home one of the most hospitable and 
entertaining in that section. Their 
home was situated a short distance 
south of the South branch of Lizard 
creek and also near the largest lake in 
the township. This locality proved to 
be a favorite camping ground for the 
roving bands of Indians that annually 
frequented this section for the pur- 
pose of hunting and trapping in the 
days of its early settlement. These 



Indian bands were neighborly neigh 
bors, but everybody was glad when 
they left the community, for they 
were professional beggars of a treach- 
erous character. The early settler, in 
the interest of peace and to get them to 
leave the premises as soon as possible, 
usually felt it was better to give them 
all they wanted, so that many times 
the larder- was emptied in meeting 
their demands.* 

Tneir family consisted of eight chil- 
dren, three of whom are dead. Will- 
iam Allen (single) is engaged in the 
grain and seed business at St. Paul; 
BertO., married to Harriet Swisher, 
is clerking in a store at Mallard; Bern 
B. married to Mabel Joslyn, is located 
on a farm in Calhoun county; Mary F. 
and Howard Lee are still at home. 

Charles Kezer, (b. March 8, 1835) one 
of the pioneers of Bellville township, 
is a native of New Hampshire, and 
the names of his parents were Graham 
and Elvira Kezer. In 1856 he came to 
Illinois and on August 12, 1862, at 
Galva, Henry county, enlisted as a 
member of the 112th 111. regiment. 
Seven days later he married Sarah 
Jane Smith, (b. April 23, 1841) of Stark 
county, 111. After one year and two 
months of service he was transferred 
to the invalid corps and two months 
later was discharged for general de- 
bility. His father-in-law and one of 
his sons wishing him to go with them 
to the army, on January 25, 1865, he 
re-enlisted as a member of Co. G, of 
the same regiment. On April 4, 1865, 
at Goldsborough, N. C, he was de- 
tailed as an orderly and in J une was 
transferred to the 65th 111. regiment. 
He was discharged July 13, 1865. 
That fall he and his father-in-law and 
their families came to Book Grove, 
north of Webster City, where they 
spent the winter, and then located in 
Clear Lake township, Hamilton coun- 
ty, which they helped to organize. In 
the spring of 1870, he and his fam 
*See page 154, 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



347 



ily of two children came to Bellville 
township and located on a homestead 
on the SEi Sec. 28. In 1873 and 1875 
he experienced the loss of his crops by 
the grasshoppers, and in 1881 two 
of his daughters from cerebral men- 
ingitis. In 1884 he moved to Sec. 
22, Lincoln township; in 1893 became 
superintendent of the county poor 
farm and six years later moved to an- 
other farm in that vicinity. Mr. Ke- 
zer assisted in the organization of 
Bellville township in 1870. He was 
chosen president of the school board at 
the time of its organization in 1871 
and filled that position again in 1874, 
'76-77. He was assessor four years, 
1874-77; township clerk six years, 1877 
-82; and secretary of the school board 
ten years, 1875 and 1878-86. Mr. and 
Mrs. Kezer have won the confidence 
and esteem of their neighbors wher- 
ever they have lived. Of their family 
six children are still living. Edmund 
M., on Nov. 5, 1895, married Elizabeth, 
a daughter of John and Elizabeth 
Boyd; they reside at Butland, where 
he is engaged in blacksmithing, and 
have one child, Joyce Pearl. Anna 
Elvira, on Nov. 28, 1895, married Ar- 
thur Irwin, and they reside in New 
Hampshire. Julia Winifred, Sarah 
Jane, Franklin G. and Charles Samuel 
are at home. 

SWAN NELSON. 

Two of the hardy pioneers who 
achieved a marked success on the 
farm in Pocahontas county, after a 
residence of thirty years on the old 
homestead on section 34, Bellville 
township, in the fall of 1899 moved to 
Manson to occupy a large and beauti- 
ful mansion especially designed and 
constructed by them with all modern 
appliances for their comfort and hap- 
piness. From the sod house to the 
mansion, is the worthy record of Mr. 
and Mrs. Swan Nelson. While many 
have been successful on the farm few 
have done better than they. Arriv- 
ing in this country in 1869, empty- 



handed but willing to <: gowest" and 
find a place where they were 
needed, by industry and the practice 
of economy they have become the 
happy possessors of a fine farm of 280 
acres of land as productive and valu- 
able as any in Bellville township. 
They improved it with fine buildings 
protected by a beautiful grove, and 
stocked it with the best of stock. 
Everything about the premises was so 
conveniently arranged and kept in 
such excellent order that labor was a 
source of pleasure as well as profit. 
The results, without including any 
reference to the many years of public 
service rendered in the township and 
county, are a good illustration of 
what may be achieved by patience 
and perseverance. 

Swan Nelson (b. Sept. 30, 1843) is a 
native of Sandby.of Kristianstads Pan 
Sweden. Leaving the "home where 
his cradle had been rocked and the 
country where his forefathers had 
been dedicated back to dust," on the 
4th day of May, 1869, at the age of 26 
years, he arrived in Bellville town- 
ship on June 5th following, and be- 
gan to occupy as a homestead the Si 
SEi Sec. 34,-80 acres — for which the 
entry was made Nov. 6, 1869, and the 
patent issued February 15, 1876. He 
did not cross "the pond" alone, but in 
company with a few friends, two of 
whom became his neighbors in Cal- 
houn county for several years, and an- 
other was the lady to whom he was 
engaged to be married, who heartily 
seconded his proposal to found a home 
in this "great west land of which he 
had heard so much." 

Some of their experiences in gain- 
ing an introduction to the fertile 
prairies of Pocahontas county were 
characteristic of the lot of many of 
the early pioneers that preceded the 
construction of the railroad. After a 
long and tiresome journey, arriving at 
Moline, 111., where a sister and broth- 
er-in-law (Peterson) lived, they found 



348 



PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



they had left a month previous to se- 
cure a homestead in Northwest Iowa. 
They felt they must follow, and 
passed to Dubuque on a steamboat. 
Hitherto on their journey, by the aid 
of interpreters, they had experienced 
no trouble in making known their 
wants in the Swede language, but now 
they were left to their own resources. 
After considerable trouble with the 
agent they finally succeeded in get- 
ting tickets for Iowa Falls, the west- 
ern terminus of the train service of 
the Illinois Central at that time, and 
arrived there toward evening. When 
they stepped from that train they did 
not know how or when they could con- 
tinue their journey, but seeing that 
the track was laid as far as they could 
see toward the setting sun, they de- 
cided to remain at the depot and get 
aboard the first train going westward. 
At nine o'clock, however, they were 
given to understand they could not re- 
main longer in the depot, and in order 
that a train might not leave without 
their knowledge, they selected as a 
resting place for that night, a pleas- 
ant evening in June, the shelter af- 
forded by an oak tree that stood near 
the station. The next morning they 
boarded a train facing westward and 
when Mr. Nelson handed the con- 
ductor $7.50 for their fares they had 
only one dime left to complete their 
journey. At Fort Dodge they were 
comforted by meeting a former ac- 
quaintance who knew also their friend, 
Mr. Peterson, and his location in 
Calhoun county. The next morning, 
accompanied by this friend and hav- 
ing a loaf of bread for lunch, they set 
out on foot for Peterson's home. The 
wind was blowing from the west bring- 
ing an occasional shower, and they 
found this, the longest and most 
wearisome walk they had ever under, 
taken. When they arrived at Yates- 
ville in the afternoon the young lady 
was completely exhausted and re- 
mained with a family by the nam^ of 



Hay, while the men completed the 
journey to Peterson's sod house five 
miles further west. The next day, 
Peterson, with a wagon drawn by two 
yoke of oxen, returned with the men 
to Fort Dodge for their trunks and 
Mr. Nelson signified his intention to 
become a citizen of the United States. 
He found immediate employment in 
the construction of the new railroad, 
but inasmuch as it rained about four 
days in the week, the income was not 
very large. 

In the month of August, having se- 
lected their homestead, they con- 
cluded to get married. As there was 
no minister or justice of the peace in 
that vicinity, Mr. Peterson took the 
couple to Fort Dodge in the lumber 
wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen. A 
license was procured and the clerk 
sending them to a little house in 
which the judge lived, the latter 
"caused them to join hands and then, 
putting a very solemn look on his 
face, said something which the young 
people did not understand but which 
they believed was good and effective, 
since it held them together as man 
and wife ever since. " 

The wagon was then loaded with 
some lumber, eight sacks of flour and 
some groceries, and everything went 
smoothly on their return until they 
arrived near the place where Barnum 
is now located, and there although 
Peterson was on one side of the wag- 
on and Nelson on the other driving 
the oxen, they stuck fast in the mid- 
dle of a large slough. The latter car- 
ried his bride to the farther shore and 
then assisted Peterson to carry over 
the flour and lumber. After a long 
struggle they succeeded in bringing 
out the oxen and wagon. When they 
came to the next bad slough they 
were unwilling to risk an effort to 
pull through it, so they carried again 
most of the load over it, the groom 
carrying his bride a second time. 
When they reached home it was long 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



349 



after the hour of midnight, and both 
were well satisfied that this was a 
rather hard country through which to 
make a wedding tour. The next 
spring they built a little sod house on 
the homestead and moved into it May 
2, 1870. 

Mr. Nelson became a citizen of the 
United States in the fall of 1874, and 
on January 1, 1877, as assessor, he be- 
gan an efficient official career in Bell- 
ville township that was continuous 
from that date until the time of his 
retirement from the farm in 1899— a 
period of twenty-two years. He was 
a member of the school board many 
years, was president of it three years, 
1880 '89 and '93, and treasurer of the 
school fund nine years, 1883-85 and 
1894-99. He was a justice of the peace 
sixteen years, 1883-98, and a member 
of the board of County Supervisors 
six years, 1885-1890. 

In all his official acts he has mani- 
fested an integrity of purpose that 
has won for him the confidence and 
esteem of his fellow citizens, and the 
orderly arrangement of everything at 
his home found its expression in an 
honest effort to proceed according to 
law in the administration of every 
public trust committed to him. He 
never sold any grain, but fed it to 
cattle and hogs, and much of his sue 
cess as a farmer is to be attributed to 
a careful observance of this funda- 
mental principle of agricultural pros- 
perity. After a few years of hard 
labor and successful achievement he 
has retired from the farm with well 
earned laurels to spend the rest of his 
days in cOmfort and luxury. 

On August 22, 1869, he married Celia 
Nelson, (b. Sept. 6, 1835) a native of 
Sweden, and their family has consist- 
ed of three sons and one daughter— 
Nelius Moonat (b. May 4, 1870), August 
Leonard (b. Oct. 8, 1871), Mollie, So- 
phia and Axel Emil, who on Jan. 4, 
1899 married Selma Christina Petrie, 
now occupies the old home on the 



farm and has one son born December 
28, 1899. 

Mr. Nelson has been a loyal republi- 
can, a practical prohibitionist and a 
faithful member of the Swede church 
in Manson. 

Betsey Nelson, a native of Sweden, 
came to this country in 1871, and 
homesteaded the SEi SWi Sec. 34. 
She built a sod house and lived on her 
homestead until she received the pat- 
ent for it and then sold it to Elias 
Swanson, a brother-in-law. She is a 
sister of Swan Nelson and her first 
husband died in Sweden. She is now 
the wife of Peter Peterson, of Cal- 
houn county, and they live in Manson. 

Mr. and Mrs. James Nelson, of Den- 
mark, came to this country in 1877 
and bought the farm of Fred Weigert, 
on Sec. 4, Bellville township. Their 
family consisted of one son, Rasmus, 
and two daughters, Maggie and Car- 
rie. Rasmus in 1889, married Mary 
Hanson, and they now own and occu- 
py his father's farm. Maggie became 
the wife of John P. Peterson and Car- 
rie the wife of Charles Kelso, a car- 
penter, and they reside at Palmer. 

Nils Anderson, a native of Sweden, 
(b. 1836) on Sept. 5, 1869, entered a 
homestead of 80 acres on the SI Sec. 
18 and secured the patent for it June 
15, 1875. In 1869 he built a small 
frame house and occupied it alone 
that year. In 1870 his wife arrived 
with their family of five children— 
Turina, Christina, August, Euphemia 
and Emma, the last then four years 
of age. In 1876 his wife, Kizer Olsen, 
died, and two years later he married 
Emma Olsen, (no relative of Kizer) of 
Sioux City. They continued to occu- 
py the old homestead till the spring 
of 1896, when they moved to Pomeroy. 
Turina Henricks, the eldest, (b. March 
30, 1850, d. May 2, 1899) was a step- 
daughter of Mr. Anderson, and in 
1875 became the wife of Frank Peter- 
son, of Colfax township; Christina in 
1872, married John A. Johnson, of 



350 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Colfax; August Anderson (single) is 
mining gold in Colorado; Euphemia 
in 1895, married Mis Walleen and 
they reside in the state of "Washing- 
ton; Emma in 1887, married Wm. 
Johnson, and they reside in Colorado; 
Betka, a native of Pocahontas county, 
is still residing with her parents. 
Nils Anderson was a good farmer and 
for many years has been an active 
member and liberal supporter of the 
Swedish Mission church of Colfax 
township. 

Peter Anderson, (b. Oct. 17, 1856) 
the pioneer owner and occupant of 
the SEi Sec. 7, is a native of Sweden 
and a son of Frank B. Anderson, of 
Grant township. He came to Poca- 
hontas county in 1880 and lived three 
years with his father. In 1886 he 
married Christine Youngren, also a 
native of Sweden, (b. Oct 4, 1862) and 
since that date they have lived on 
their present farm. Their family 
consists of seven children — Ida, Oscar, 
Elmer, Frederick, John, Nellie and 
May. Mr. Anderson was township 
clerk in 1896, and president of the 
school board three years, 1891-92 and 
1897. 

Heilert W. Behrens (b. Nov. 1827) 
is a native of Germany, where, in the 
spring of 1852, he married Marie Hed- 
den (b. 1827) and in May, 1870, they 
and their two sons, Frederic and Hen- 
ry, arrived in Pocahontas county. 
After a residence of three months in 
Lizard, they bought and began to im- 
prove the NWi Sec. 32, 160 acres, 
Bellville township. A few years later 
additional purchases were made until 
they owned 500 acres. Subsequently 
he sold 400 acres constituting the 
home farm, to his second son, Henry 
B., and made investments in real es- 
tate in Pomeroy. His wife died in 
August, 1892, and is buried at Pom- 
eroy. In 1893 he married Mrs. Jose- 
phine Dibbert, but secured a divorce 
in January, 1897. He served two 
years as a justice of the peace and 



seven years as a trustee of Bellville 
township. He has returned to Ger- 
many twice during his residence in 
this country and now resides on the 
farm with his son. He has been an 
ardent democrat and an active mem- 
ber of the German Evangelical church 
of Pomeroy. His family consists of 
two daughters who died young in Ger- 
many, and two sons. 

(1) Frederic W. Behrens (b. 1866) 
in 1888 married Eliza Neetting and 
they located first at London, Iowa, 
where in partnership with his broth- 
er-in-law, they owned and operated a 
creamery for several years. After 
short residences in Ft. Wayne, Mich- 
igan and Ohio, they are now owning 
and operating a creamery in Missouri, 
and have a family of four children- 
Emma, Anna, Lily and Frederic. 
Two others died young. 

(2) Henry B. Behrens, (b. 1868) the 
present owner of his father's farm, in 
1888 married Annie Albright, and they 
erected a fine barn 56x70 feet, and 
■a large addition to the old home, 
which is protected by a beautiful , 
grove. Their family (one child died 
young) consists of four children- 
Minnie, Marie, Elizabeth and William. 

Mr. Behrens is a very highly re 
spected citizen and has served as trus- 
tee of Bellville township ten years. 
During the past sixteen years he has 
served as organist for the German 
Evangelical church of Pomeroy. Dur- 
ing the first three years of this period 
he missed only three Sabbaths, and as 
a grateful recognition of this unusual 
fidelity received in 1886 a gold watch. 
He has also served several years as 
collector of the church funds. 

Maurice Clancy, of Canada, visiting 
this county in 1874, bought 240 acres 
of land on Sec. 29, Bellville township. 
In 1875 he and his wife (Catherine 
Crowley) and their two sons, John and 
Patrick Clancy (and wife) came to 
this county, settled on this land and 
began the work of its improvement. 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



351 



Maurice and his wife were both na- 
tives of Ireland. He died in 1889 at 
the age of 75 years and his wife in 1891 
at the age of 70 years; and both were 
buried in the Catholic cemetery at 
Pomeroy. Their family consisted of 
four sons and two daughters, two of 
whom settled in Canada. Michael 
was drowned in Lake Winnepeg, at 
the age of 26 years, while engaged as 
a surveyor in Dakota. John bought a 
portion of his father's farm in Bell- 
ville township, occupied it two years 
and then going further west, sold it 
to his brother Patrick, three years 
later. 

Patrick Clancy (b. 1845) is now the 
owner and occupant of his father's 
(Maurice) farm in Bellville township. 
He has increased its size to 360 acres 
and provided it with fine improve- 
ments. He is a native of Canada and 
married there in 1872 Elizabeth Mc- 
Alpin, a sister of Mrs. John O'Brien. 
He is a sturdy, hard working man, a 
successful farmer and a highly es- 
teemed citizen. He was treasurer of 
the township school fund five years, 
1889-93. His family consists of fiva 
children— Michael, Catherine (a teach- 
er) Mary, John, Bridget A. and Thom- 
as Michael. 

Patrick Enright (b. 1833, Ireland) 
came to America in 1857 with a couple 
of his brothers and, locating with 
them in Canada, married there Cecilia 
Flynn, in 1861. In 1869 they came to 
Pocahontas county and located on a 
homestead of 80 acres in Bellville 
township, Wi SE1 Sec. 12, which they 
improved and increased by purchase 
to 160 acres. His wife died in 1876 and 
his death occurred Oct. 28, 1898, after 
a residence of 29 years on the old 
homestead. He was a good farmer 
and both he and his wife are grate 
fully remembered as good citizens and 
good neighbors. Both are buried in 
the Lizard Catholic cemetery. Their 
family consisted of five children. 

(1) Thomas Enright, the eldest, 



(b. July 3, 1863, Canada) is the pres- 
ent owner and occupant of the old 
homestead. On April 12, 1893, he 
married Mary E., (native of Canada) 
eldest daughter of Patrick Quinn, and 
they have a family of two children, 
Thomas Joseph and Rose Mary. Mr. 
and Mrs. Enright have rendered long 
and efficient service as public school 
teachers, and their portraits may be 
seen in the group for Lizard township 
and vicinity. 

(2) John Enright, (b. 1865, Can.) on 
Sept. 23, 1896, married Margaret Mas- 
terson. (b. Dec. 26, 1872, 111.) and they 
located first on a farm of tbeir own in 
Lizard township, but in 1898 moved to 
Clinton township, where she died Dec. 
29, 1899, leaving an infant son. 

(3) James Enright (b. 1867,) is trav- 
eling in the west. 

(4) Mary A., in 1891 married John 
F. Quinn, and they reside on a farm 
in Bellville. 

(5) Cecilia in 1892 married Patrick 
A. Quinn, and they reside at Pomeroy. 

John G. Lampe (b. 1806 ?) is a na- 
tive of Germany, and coming to this 
country in his youth, located first near 
Galena, 111., where he married Cathe- 
rine Nundar. After a few years they 
moved to Potosi, Wis. , where they re- 
mained until the fall of 1868, when 
they came to Pocahontas county with 
a family of four children — Henry, 
George, Mary and Frank— and located 
on a farm in Lizard township. Soon 
afterward he and his two sons, Henry 
and George, and also his son-in-law, 
E. K. Cain, located each a homestead 
on sections 4 and 6, Bellville township, 
for which their claims were filed June 
12, 1869. When they began to break 
the prairie sod on these homesteads 
the only other residents of the town- 
ship were Wm. Bell, Niels Hanson 
and Philip Myers. The sod house on 
the homestead was their humble hab- 
itation during the year 1869. The 
next year Mr. Lampe and his son-in- 
law, E. Iv. Cain, built a frame shanty 



352 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



on the line between their adjoining 
claims and both families occupied it. 
At the time this building was de- 
stroyed by the tornado of April 21, 
1878, it was owned by Aultman & Tay- 
lor Co. and was vacant. Mrs. Lampe 
died in April, 1873, at the age of 74 
years, and was buried in the Catholic 
cemetery at Pomeroy. Mr. Lampe is 
still living with his son, Henry Lampe. 
He is the oldest inhabitant in the 
township and, according to the date 
usually assigned for his birth, 1806, he 
is probably the oldest inhabitant in 
the county. His three sons, Henry, 
George and Frank, have fine farms ad- 
joining each other, improved with 
large and beautiful buildings and they 
are rated among the most prosperous 
farmers of the township. 

(1) Henry B. Lampe (b. Sept. 14, 
1845,) on Nov. 12, 1872, married Joanna 
Kreul, and they are residing on the 
homestead he selected in 1868. His 
farm contains 240 acres and is finely 
improved. Their family consisted of 
thirteen children, four of whom died 
young. John Lampe, his son, May 6, 
1896, married Christina Niehous, and 
they live in Lincoln township; Mary, 
on May 18, 1897, married John Schwa- 
dy and they also live in Lincoln town- 
ship; William, Kate, Gertrude, George, 
Maggie, Minnie and Edward are at 
home. 

(2) George Lampe is also occupy- 
ing the homestead on section 4, that 
he selected in the fall of 1868, but it 
has been enlarged to 200 acres. His 
family consists of six children— Anna, 
Mary, Kate, Lizzie, Henry and Rose, 
one having died in childhood. 

(3) Mary Lampe in 1869, while they 
lived in Lizard township, married 
Elisha K. Cain. They located first on 
the homestead in Bellville, and in the 
cabin of Mr. Lampe, that same year, 
he taught the. first school in the town- 
ship. Their family consisted of thir- 
teen children and they now reside in 
Minnesota. 



(4) Frank Lampe married Kate 
Condon and they are located on the 
NEi of section 9, Bellville township. 
They were the first to occupy and im- 
prove this land and are now in very 
prosperous circumstances. 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Lungren, 
(b. 1853) owners and occupants of a 
farm of 240 acres on Sec. 2, are natives 
of Sweden. During the second year 
after their marriage they came to 
this country and secured as a home- 
stead the N* NWi Sec. 2— 80 acres— 
Bellville township, which they have 
finely improved and increased by two 
additional tracts of 80 acres each. 
They are now in good circumstances 
and have raised a family of eight chil- 
dren. Hildah, the eldest, in 1896 mar- 
ried Alfred Olson, and they reside in 
Grant township. Ellen, the third 
daughter, married Charles Olson and 
they also reside in Grant township, 
where they own a farm of eighty acres. 
Clara, Jennie, Martin, John, Albert 
and Mollie are still at home. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lungren are members of the 
Swedish Lutheran church of Colfax 
township. 

John O'Brien, (b. March 31, 1849,) 
owner and occupant of the Si Sec. 17, 
(90-32), 360 acres, is a native of Can- 
ada, and married there Bridget Mc- 
Auliff, <b. 1854) on Feb'y 3, 1879. One 
month later they located on their 
present farm and began the work of 
its improvement. He is a man of 
large stature and the possessor of 
great muscular strength, which he • 
has always endeavored to use for some 
good purpose. He is a man of noble 
principles, pacific in spirit, a consist- 
ent member of the Catholic church 
and highly respected by all who know 
him. He has raised a family of ten 
children, all of whom are at home, 
namely, William, Mary, Jane, Rich- 
ard, John, Margareta, Thima. Thom- 
as Michael, Anna Winnifred, Eliza- 
beth Catherine, Alice, Martin Edward 
and George Emmet. 



BELLVILLE township. 



353 



Patrick Quinn (b. March 25, 1825,) 
is a native of Ireland, and when quite 
young came with his parents to the 
province of Ontario, Canada. Here 
he grew to manhood and on April 15, 
1856, married Bridget Guilteman (b. 
1834), also a native of Ireland. After 
marriage they engaged in farming in 
that timber district until the year 
1872, when, with a family of ten chil- 
dren — Andrew, Thomas, Bridget, Pat- 
rick, John, James, Martin, Michael 
and Maggie, they came to this' coun- 
ty and bought the homestead of 
Philip Myers, on Wi NWi Sec. 28, 
Bellville township. On their arrival 
they found a little shanty 12x14 feet. 
The first work of improvement was 
its enlargement so as to meet the 
wants of his rapidly growing family. 
Four acres of forest trees and one of 
fruit trees were planted that very 
soon developed into a shady grove and 
a fruit-bearing orchard; but the long 
continued drought of 1894-95 caused 
the loss of some varieties of trees 
and injured others. As a farmer Mr. 
Quinn has been eminently successful. 
He has made six additional purchases 
of land on the adjoining sections as 
the years have passed, so that he is 
now the possessor of 720 acres. The 
fine improvements erected at the old 
home consist of a large, two-story 
dwelling house built in 1884, a cow 
barn 52x82 feet, a large horse barn and 
another one for sheep, a large pig 
house and another one for poultry, a 
machinery hall, three granaries and 
two double corn cribs. He aims to se- 
cure a thorough cultivation of the 
soil, the application of all available 
manures and a proper rotation of 
crops. He has been a large and suc- 
cessful feeder of cattle, hogs and 
sheep. He has been accustomed to 
change the strain of his stock nearly 
every year, often paying high prices 
for what he wants, and has a decided 
preference for the Shorthorns, Poland- 
Chinas and Cotswolds. During the 



twenty-seven years of his residence in 
this section he has never seen a fail- 
ure of crops on the farm. 

A family of fourteen children has 
grown up around him and, taking a 
laudable interest in extending to them 
the opportunities for receiving a good 
education, he has had the unusual 
pleasure of seeing as many as seven of 
them, as they became old enough, en- 
gage in teaching public school. The 
family consists of eleven sons and 
three daughters. 

(1) Andrew G. Quinn in Nov., 1888, 
married Eva Howe, of Illinois, and 
they own and occupy a farm of 240 
acres in Colfax township, They have 
a family of five children— Mary B., 
Edward, Francis, George and Gene- 
vieve Ann. He was township clerk 
and secretary of the school board of 
Bellville township in 1887. (2) Mary 
E., married April 12, 1893, Thomas 
Enright. She taught school thirteen 
years previous to her marriage. They 
live on Sec. 12, and have two children, 
Thomas and Kose. (3) Thomas B. 
Quinn Nov. 27, 1896, married Gene- 
vieve Whaley and they reside in Tex- 
as.- (4) Bridget C. is at home. (5) 
Patrick A. Quinn Dec. 6, 1892, mar- 
ried Cecilia Enright and they own a 
farm of 160 acres in Bellville town- 
ship. They reside at Pomeroy, where 
he is engaged as a teacher and carpen- 
ter. Their only child died young. 
(6) John F. Quinn in Feb'y, 1891, 
married Mary Enright. They own 
and occupy a farm of 160 acres in Bell- 
ville township, which they have im- 
proved with good buildings and a fine 
grove. They have three children- 
Mary E., George J. and Cecilia F. (7) 
James D. Quinn Nov, 24, 1896, mar- 
ried Mary Campbell. They own a 
farm of 160 acres in Sherman town- 
ship which they were the first to oc- 
cupy and improve. (8) Martin B. 
Quinn completed the business course 
in Highland Park college in 1892 and 
is now in a railroad office in Arkansas. 



354 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Michael, Maggie A., Joseph, Paul, Ed- 
ward and Walter (twins) are at home 
when not pursuing their studies or 
engaged in teaching. 

Patrick Quinn was president of the 
school board in 1879, justice of the 
peace two years, 1885-86, and a trustee 
of the township fifteen years, 1879-93. 

Andrew Reedland, a native of Swed- 
en, in 1873 with wife and three child- 
ren came to Bellville township and 
homesteaded the SiSEi Sec. 32. He 
iiu proved and occupied this home un- 
til about 1889 when he moved to Col- 
fax township and a few years later to 
Kansas. 

John O. Schon, who on September 
23, 1886 was killed by Otto Otten, 
came to this township about 1876 and 
located on section 23. He and his 
wife came from Illinois empty handed 
but in ten years through careful and 
economical management he was the 
owner of 200 acres of land on which 
he erected a good residence. He was 
one of the original members and sup- 
porters of the Emmanuel German 
church of Bellville township.. His 
brother' M. B. Schon is the owner and 
occupant of the N4 of section 19. His 
murder was effected by shooting 
through a window while seated at the 
supper table and it was wholly un- 
provoked. Otten was a young Ger- 
man, a neighbor and intimate friend 
of the family. When arrested, he 
confessed his guilt and received a 
sentence of imprisonment for life in 
the penitentiary at Anamosa. 

Joseph Strong in January 1871 se- 
cured the homestead claim forfeited 
by Isaac Tappee on section 34. He 
was a young man, a brother of Mrs. 
John Christmas with whom he made 
his home. After a few years he sold 
his homestead to Swan Nelson and 
went to Colorado. 

Erederick Weigert, a native of Ger- 
many, in the fall of 1870, accompanied 
by his wife, Mary, and two children, 
Herman and Augusta, secured a 



homestead on section 4 which he im- 
proved. After seven years he sold it 
to James, the father of Erasmus Nel- 
son its present owner, and bought the 
farm of A. Cady on section 24 which 
he still owns. Later he increased the 
size of this farm and finely improved 
it. In the spring of 1897 he and his 
wife, aged 73 and 65 years respectively, 
moved to Manson where they now re- 
side. Their family consisted of two 
sons and one daughter. Herman, the 
eldest, 'in 1888 married Louisa Wei- 
gert (no relative) and bought the SWi 
Sec. 16, Lake township which he has 
improved and still occupies. Augusta 
in 1884 became the wife of George, a 
son of Peter Peterson and they reside 
on section 10, Bellville township, 
where they have a large farm. Frede 
rick Jr., in 1897 married Maria Kelso 
and they occupy his father's farm in 
Bellville township. 

Peter Wendell (b. April 7, 1842) is 
the son of Peter and Caroline Wendell 
both of whom died at Cincinnati, 
Ohio, six months after his birth, from 
the terrible scourge of cholera that 
visited that and many other cities of 
this land at that time. An elder 
brother is still living in Ohio. In his 
childhood and youth he was cared for 
by his Uncle John Rice, and at the 
age of ten came with him to Iowa. 
At Guttenberg, August 2, 1862, at the 
age of eighteen years, he enlisted for 
three years as a member of Co. D. 27th 
Regiment Iowa Infantry. This com- 
pany was irst sent to guard Fort 
Snelling against the Indians in Min- 
nesota and remained one year in the 
frontier service under Gen. A. J. 
Smith. Then, becoming a part of the 
16th Army Corps under Gen. Sherman, 
he passed through the states of Ar- 
kansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and 
Alabama; and participated in eighteen 
battles including those at Pleasant 
Hill, Little Rock, Tupelo, Old Town 
Creek, Nashville and Holly Springs. 
At Town Creek he was severely 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



355 



Wounded, the ball passing through 
the left lung and fracturing five ribs. 
His comrades drew a silk handker- 
chief through the wound and he sur- 
vived. He received an honorable 
discharge at Memphis, Tenn. May 25, 
1865. 

On Nov. 25, 1865 he married Ame- 
lia Munch, widow of Christoff See- 
mans, who died soon after his return 
from the war. They first located at 
Guttenberg, Iowa, where he found 
employment as a butcher. After six 
months they moved to Cassville, Wis., 
three years later to Dyersville, Iowa, 
and in the spring of 1871 to the home- 
stead on section 22, Belleville town- 
ship, on which they still reside. It in- 
cluded 120 acres which was all on that 
section that was not listed as swamp 
land, and it had previously been en- 
tered by Fred B. Olson and Thomas 
Faherty. He is now the owner of 200 
acres and the fine improvements 
erect-ed thereon have called forth the 
admiration of many observers. He 
takes a commendable pride in the 
neatness and order of his farm and 
all its appurtenances. His house 
looks home-like, and his barns, sheds 
and stables are conveniently arranged 
for the, care of a large number of 
cattle and horses. An unfailing sup- 
ply of water is furnished by a d%ep 
well and windmill. The water, after 
passing through the milk tank, finds 
its way into the stock yards where the 
cattle and hogs, even in the pastures, 
may quench their thirst at any hour 
of the day. Long racks for hay en- 
circle the yards so that all the cattle 
can be supplied with food on the 
arrival of the first storm. All the 
buildings are encircled with a dense 
grove, that breaks the fierceness of 
the winter's storm and provides a cool 
retreat from the summer's heat. The 
buildings are located on a plat of 
ground that is elevated considerably 
above the surrounding country so 
that they can be easily seen at a 



distance of four or six miles. The 
Shorthorn is his favorite and he aims 
to keep enough of them to eat all the 
grain raised on the farm. He served 
as township clerk in 1871 and later as 
a justice of the peace. 

The family of Mr. Wendell consisted 
of seven children, one of whom, Ed- 
ward died at the age of 19 in April 
1888. William in 1887 married Folena 
Schon and resides at Fonda, where 
during the ten years previous to 
March 1, 1900, in partnership with 
his brother George, he was pro- 
prietor of a meat market. He has a 
family of five children, Harrison, 
Clarence, Gilroy, Pearl and Adelia. 
George, in 1896, married Lizzie Griffin, 
resides at Fonda and has one 
child, Albert married Anna Wendell 
and lives at Marietta, Ohio. Lillie 
married Charles Kennedy and he is 
proprietor of a barber shop at Gilmore 
City. Ida has achieved a high<degree 
of merit as a teacher in the public 
schools of the county. Emma, in 
1898, married Benjamin Kidd and 
they live on a farm in Lake township. 

More of the early settlers of this 
and the adjoining township of Colfax 
came from Sweden than from any 
other country, although Denmark, 
Germany, Ireland and Bohemia were 
also represented. That the Swedes 
naturally become attached to the 
"old homestead" and nourish finely 
when transplanted, with their own 
approval, in this soil and climate is 
apparent to any one who makes a tour 
of these townships and sees their cul- 
tivated fields, improved farms, beau- 
tiful homes and well furnished church- 
es. They did not disdain the humble 
and uncertain comforts of the sod 
house, when these were the best this 
section afforded, and when it became 
possible to enjoy more of the comforts 
of life they have adapted themselves 
to the new order of things by enlarg- 
ing and beautifying their homes and 



356 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



adding many additional acres to the 
old homestead. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

William Brownlee, of Bellville, was 
county treasurer during the two years, 
1884-85. The township has been rep- 
resented on the board of county su- 
pervisors by Wm. Brownlee, eight 
years, 1876-1883; and by Swan Nelson 
six years, 1885-1890. 

PALMER. 

In August, 1899, the Rock Island 
railway company having completed 
the survey of their line through this 
county, bought of Niels Hanson twen- 
ty-five acres on the northeast corner 
of section 10, for a town site, seven 
miles north and three west of Man- 
son. This place was called Hanson, 
in honor of Mr. Hanson, who as a pio- 
neer owner and occupant, had im- 
proved and cultivated it for so many 
years, but about the first of December 
following, owing to the similarity of 
that name to Manson, it was changed 
to Palmer. The site of the town was 
surveyed and platted by Fred A. Mal- 
colm, of Rolfe. The postoffice was 
opened at the hotel with Miss Minnie 
Hanson as postmistress, on January 3, 
1900. At that date a number of build- 
ings had been erected and several 
firms were doing business. Dr. J. T. 
Kessing and wife, the latter a phar- 
macist, opened a drug store as the 
first place of business. The second 
was the lumber office of the Wheeler 
Lumber Co., under the local manage- 
ment of Martin A. Hanson. The first 
building erected "was the bank and 
real estate building of Morris W. 
Fitz. A little later the hotel of Lar- 
son & Co. was completed, also the 
hardware store of Olsen Bros. & Co., 
and the blacksmith shop of Joseph 
Abrahamsen. At this time most of 
the grading in this county had been 
completed, but the laying of the track 
had not commenced. 

THE BLANDEN STOCK FARM. 

The largest farm in this county and 



probably the largest in North- 
west Iowa, is located in the southeast 
corner of Bellville township and 
known as the Blanden Farm. In 1876 
Gen. Leander Blanden, of Fort Dodge, 
purchased section 25 from Henry 
Steckelburg, and other lands from 
others (unimproved) as follows: The 
SEi Sec. 23, SWi Sec. 24, the SEi and 
Ni of Sec. 26 and all of Sec. 35. Soon 
afterward he bought section 36 in 
Bellville, and section 31 adjoining it 
in Lizard township, making a farm of 
3,460 acres of choice land located prin- 
cipally on five adjoining sections. 

The buildings are conveniently lo- 
cated on the SEi Sec. 25 and consist 
of a large high barn 56x200 feet, built 
upon a wall 8 feet high, a horse barn 
35x56 feet, cribs that hold 70,000 bush- 
els of corn, 1200 feet of cattle-sheds ar- 
ranged in the form of an 'enclosure, 
an elevated tank that holds 1,150 bar- 
rels of water and supplies the various 
feed yards with a good supply of. pure 
water, a steam feed mill that grinds 
1,000 bushels of ear corn a day, a 16,000 
bu. elevator and several other build- 
ings. The supply of water is from an 
artesian well sunk in 1880, to a depth 
of 1,285 feet, and its quantity is suffi- 
cient for a city of 10,000 inhabitants. 
The complete system of waterworks 
connected with it includes more than 
a mile of underground pipes. The 
feed yards and other arrangements for 
the care of stock are all on a very 
large scale. South of the barn are 
four large yards separated from each 
other by feed racks, 580 feet long con- 
structed with heavy cedar posts and 
plank well framed together. This 
rack, which is ten feet wide, has 
a tight bottom two. and one-half feet 
above the ground, that provides under- 
neath it healthful quarters for 1500 
hogs. On the south side it is open its 
entire length, but on the north it is 
sheltered with planking to the ground. 
Hay and grain are fed from this rack 
with ease awd economy. The horse 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



357 



barn is used only for stabling the 
work horses and mules that are 
in use on the farm. The base- 
ment of the large barn is divided by 
alleys with stalls on each side, so that 
in hauling from it the team is driven 
from side to side through double doors. 
When the barn was completed and for 
many years afterward these stalls 
were filled with 300 head of the finest 
thoroughbred and high grade Short- 
horn cattle in this country, their 
weight ranging from 100 to 2,100 
pounds and their value from $50 to 
$1000 each. Over this basement the 
barn is floored with plank throughout 
and has room for storing 600 tons of 
hay. The arrangements for storing 
the hay are novel and labor-saving. 
The hoisting apparatus is so arranged 
that a load of hay may be laid in any 
part of the mow from a wagon stand- 
ing at either end of the barn, and 
in hauling grain or hay into it, where 
the floor is not used for storage, no 
difficuty is experienced in turning 
the team and wagon even with the 
hayrack. ' When the barn is full 
the hay is dropped to the basement 
through long wooden tubes that ex- 
tend nearly to the top of the barn. 
The work of hauiing hay for the large 
number of cattle sheltered in this 
barn is no small chore, yet these are 
but a portion of the stock on the farm. 
In 1899 there were 800 head of fat 
cattle and 500 head of stock hogs 
(Poland-China) on the farm over win- 
• ter. During the year 1880 as many as 
60 thoroughbred bulls were sold to the 
farmers in that vicinity, a fact that 
tells of the excellent character of the 
stock and the public service rendered 
the farmers in this new section of 
country by the establishment in it of 
so fine a herd. One of the many fine 
animals on this farm was the 2d Duke 
of Moscow, bred in Kentucky, five 
years old in 1879 and weighed 2700 
pounds. This animal won many pre- 
miums at state and county fail's and 



had been taught to pose like a statue, 
for hours at a time when on exhibi- 
tion, the only movement made being 
an occasional wink of the eye. In 
1881 there was one cow on the farm 
that was 17 years old. In the Ameri- 
can Herd Book she was listed as Dover 
Second, and she furnished $17,000 
worth of blooded stock for the market. 
During recent years the tendency has 1 
been to raise fat rather than fancy 
stock. 

The first dwelling house erected, 
burned in the spring of 1881, and the 
present building, a two-story frame 
30x40 feet, was built that year on the 
old site, a beautiful situation upon a 
commanding elevation. This is the 
home of the superintendent, and the 
southwest room on the first floor is 
used as his office. The first superin- 
tendent of this farm was H. G. Tyler, 
who in 1881, when the people's party 
was organized in this county, became 
its first candidate for the office of 
county treasurer and received 369 of 
the 826 votes cast for that office. In 
1887 he was succeeded by Wm. A. 
Berry, the present superintendent, 
who is a step-son of Gen. Blanden. 

As a home for the large force of 
teamsters, millers and other work- 
men on this large farm, another build- 
ing has been provided, called the 
"barracks," that has a general sitting 
and reading room for them on the 
first floor and lodging rooms on the 
second. Newspapers and writing ma- 
terial are liberally provided and the 
occupants pass the long winter even- 
ings here with pleasure and profit. 

The rules of the place, though not 
harsh, are imperative and are observed 
with clock-like regularity. In the 
early days ten thousand acres of wild 
prairie grass were available for pas- 
turage at a mere trifle, and the cost of 
making hay was only sixty cents a 
ton. The rule in regard to pasturage 
read as follows: "To each two hun- 
dred head of cattle put one pony and 



358 



PIONEEB HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



a boy. When turned out in the spring 
the lot should be properly branded, 
boy, pony and all. It is well to 
salt the whole outfit three times each 
week." 

The home on this farm, with its 
numerous buildings and busy scenes 
of activity, has the air of a small 
town, especially at those seasons of 
'the year when grain and hay are har ■ 
vested or stock is marketed. The 
stock on this farm annually consumes 
about 1,500 tons of hay and 75,000 
bushels of grain. In addition to those 
on the farm many teams of the neigh- 
boring farmers are seen here weighing 
and unloading corn and oats, attract- 
ed thither by the liberal prices offered 
for the delivery of the grain. The ar- 
tesian well which was sunk 200 feet 
through solid rock, cost $5,000, and 
the other improvements on the farm 
$15,000. 

On completion of the C. E. I. & P. 
E. E. a private switch and stock 
yards was provided for the use of 
the' farm. 

Gen. Blanden volunteered under 
Lincoln's call in 1862, remained in 
active service until the war closed 
and was promoted in regular order 
until given command of his regiment, 
the 95th Illinois. In Dec. 1864 he 
was given command of the 2d Brigade, 
3d Division of the Army of the Ten- 
nessee, and remained its commanding 
officer from that date through its long 
campaign after Hood, until its dis- 
bandment. He was mustered out 
with his regiment in Aug. 1865 when 
"the war was over" Brevet Brigadier 
General. After the war he 
engaged in banking at Port 
Dodge, where he still re- 
sides. His farm is about three miles 
north of Manson and the enterprise 
manifested by him in raising fine and 
fat stock has been a general benefit to 
the farmers of this section, by inspir- 
ing an ambition to raise the best 
grades of cattle, hogs and horses, and 



by furnishing on a large scale, a mod- 
el of the conveniences needed for 
their successful management. 
"Gen. Blanden is neither a tinker, a 

tailor 
Nor a boy who wabbles at the plow; 
But a banker, a real granger, 
And a tiptop judge of a cow. " 

SIGNS OF PROGRESS. 

Although the history of this town- 
ship does not begin so early as some of 
the others, it covers the period of pro- 
gress in harvesting machines. In 1869 
the hay in this township was cut with 
a scythe, and in 1870 and 1871 the 
crops of wheat and small grain were 
cut with cradles, with the exception 
that in the latter year the crop of Wm. 
Brownlee was cut with with a Mc- 
Cormick hand raking machine. In 
1872 Peter Peterson of Calhoun county 
cut considerable hay for the farmers 
in the south part of the township with 
a mower and their small grain with a 
Buckeye dropper. In 1894 the per- 
fected thresher with feeder, blower 
and weighing apparatus was intro- 
duced. 

TORNADO OF APRIL 21,' 1878. 

On the evening of Easter Sabbath, 
April 21, 1878, a storm of unprecedent- 
ed violence, coming up the Maple Eiv- 
er valley to the vicinity of Storm Lake, 
where two persons were killed, and 
then changing its course southeast to 
a point in Calhoun county five miles 
south of Fonda, passed thence north-. 
east across Williams township, the 
southeast corner of Coif ax and sections 
18, 8 and 4 of Bellville. Its destruct- 
ive path was about eighty rods wide 
in the last named townships. 

In Williams township the new house 
of John Duhin was completely de- 
stroyed and its six inmates, which in- 
cluded John Murphy, a neighbor, were 
seriously injured. The house of L, 
Wizard and outbuildings of several 
others in the vicinity were also de- 
stroyed. 

In Colfax township it destroyed all 
the buildings on the farm of Gad C. 



BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 



359 



Lowrey, on Sec. 26. The house was 
occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
Trenary and Charles F. Pearce, their 
farm hand. Mr. Trenary was injured 
about the head, his wife was carried 
about ten rods without injury, but 
Pearce was killed. He was the son of 
Henry Pearce and was in his 21st year. 
At the farm of George Wallace, on 
Sec. 13, all the buildings were de- 
stroyed. The house was lifted, over- 
turned and reduced to fragments. 
When the storm struck it the last rec- 
ollection of Mrs. Wallace was, that 
she was trying to keep the hot cook 
stove from injuring her daughter Eva. 
When she recovered consciousness she 
and her two daughters were lying in 
the public road and Eva's face was 
badly burned. Her own injuries crip- 
pled her for life. 

In Bellville township, the house of 
Samuel H. Gill, on Sec. 18, was on the 
east or opposite side of the road from 
that of George Wallace. Mr. and 
Mrs. Gill and their two children were 
at home, After the heavy fall of rain 
and hail, Mr. Gill standing on the 
porch and looking southwest saw a 
whirl descend from a cloud and others 
from its edges join it until, like a long 
black tail to the cloud above, it ex- 
tended to the ground beneath. In 
the distance at first it did not seem 
larger than a man's hand, but as it 
drew nearer it rapidly grew larger. 
He saw it pass over Lowrey 's farm 
two miles distant, but as he had nev- 
er heard of a tornado in this section 
he did not think of seeking any other 
shelter than that afforded by his 
home. As he entered it his wife saw 
the roof lifted from one of the out 
buildings, the next, instant the win- 
dows on the east side of the house 



were forced in by the awf ul pressure 
of the air, the roof was lifted and the 
west side of the kitchen addition fall- 
ing on Mr. Gill rendered him pros- 
trate but not unconscious. The build- 
ing was then lifted and overturned in 
a northwesterly direction. Mrs. Gill, 
who had grasped a hand of each of 
her two little girls, aged four and five 
years respectively, maintained her 
hold of them, and while one of them 
was slightly she was so seriously in- 
jured that she died four days later. 

The whirlwind, when it struck these 
places, was carrying a great mass of 
mud and water that covered every- 
thing and gave to the injured victims, 
whose blood was oozing from their 
wounds, a very pitiable and heart- 
sickening aspect. 

The buildings of A. O. Long, on Sec. 
8, two miles distant, were destroyed 
and three horses were killed; fortu- 
nately none of the family Were at 
home. A vacant house on the farm of 
John Lampe, on Sec. 4, was also de- 
stroyed. Pieces of siding from Gill's 
house were carried twelve miles north- 
east. This was the first storm of this 
kind experienced by the early settlers 
of Northwest Iowa. 

On October 15th, following, another 
heavy rain accompanied with a severe 
wind storm, visited this section. In 
Sac county several buildings were de- 
stroyed that had been rebuilt after 
the storm of April 21st. The Jack- 
son school house in Williams town- 
ship was completely demolished and 
its fragments strewn over the prairie. 
The cane-mill of J. P. Jackson was 
carried some distance and badly 
wrecked. After this event every 
ominous black cloud was watched with 
dread and distrust. 



360 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



XIII. 



eED£R TOWNSHIP. 

The rose may bloom for England, 

The lily for France unfold; 
Ireland may honor the shamrock, 

Scotland," her thistle bold: 
But the shield of this great Republic, 

The glory of the West 
Shall bear a stalk of the tasseled corn, 

Of all our wealth the best. 

—Edna D. Proctor. 




!HE early settlement 
of Cedar township 
and Fonda was co- 
incident with the 
construction of the 
first railroad in the 
county and has already been noted for 
the years 1868 to 1870.* 

On August 11, 1869, J. S. Howell and 
others residing in the southwest part 
of the county, presented a petition to 
the board of county supervisors, rep- 
resenting that there were 150 inhab- 
itants in townships 90, ranges 33 and 
34, (now Colfax and Cedar) and the Si 
of townships 91, rauges 33 and 34, (now 
Grant and Dover) that they lived a 
longdistance from any voting place 
and asking that a civil township em- 
bracing this territory be established. 
This petition was met by a remon- 
strance signed by John D tinker] y and 



others, who affirmed that there were 
very few legal voters in the southwest 
part of the county and the organiza- 
tion of a new township was inadvisa- 
ble. At the time set for the consid- 
eration of these petitions no one ap- 
peared and no action was taken. 

On June 6, 1870, in response to a pe- 
tition signed by. John A. Hay and oth- 
ers for the organization of a new 
township comprising the territory in 
T. 90, R. 34, Cedar township, was es- 
tablished (including T. 90, R. 33, and 
34) and arrangements were made for 
the first election to be held in Marvin 
(now called Fonda) on Oct. 11, 1870, 
by the appointment of H. R. Skinner, 
R. C. Stewart and B. F. Osburn, judg- 
es, and Capt. Joseph Mallison and A . 
W. Creed, clerks. At the time of the 
election the oath was administered to 
these election officers by A. H. Van 

»See pp. 218-252. 




Fonda and Vicinity. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



361 



Valkenberg, a justice of the peace of 
Lizard township. Elijah Chase, Har- 
vey A. Hay and R. C. Stewart were 
elected township trustees, George San- 
born and George Spragg, justices of 
the peace, George Gearhart and E. 
Shreve, constables, Wm. Sanborn, P. 
F. Bennett and E. B. Clark, road su- 
pervisors, Sidney E. Wright, township 
clerk, and Capt. Jos. Mallison, assessor. 

At this first election the sale of in- 
toxicating liquors was voted upon 
with the result that of the 47 ballots 
cast, 25 were for prohibition and 22 
against it. 

The whole number of votes cast at 
this first election was 48, and by 
the following persons: S. N. Alford, 
Pelatiah F. Bennett. Charles Breslin, 
Elijaji Chase. E. B. Clark, A. G. and 
A. W. Creed, T.J. Curtis, J.B.Chapin, 
E. Champion, Amos Dart, Charles E. 
Flint, Geo. W. Gearhart, Robert Grif- 
fin, Ephraim, Abram O. and Wm. 
Erastus Garlock, Harvey W., Joseph 
and John A. Hay, Geo. W. Hathaway, 
Wm. Lawler, John Lemp, Gad C. 
Lowrey, Wm. Marshall, Capt. Joseph 
Mallison, Edward Mellan, R. T. Mills, 
H. McGiven, B. F. Osburn, J. R. Per- 
ry, Henry Pallersells, Wm. Richards, 
Eden Shreves, Horace K. and Charles 
M. Skinner, J. F. Stevens, Geo. and 
Wm. Sanborn, David Spielman, R. C. 
Stewart, KnuteTisdale, L. D. Turner, 
Geo. H. and Sidney E. Wright, Geo. 
W. and John M. Wood. Others who 
were registered but did not vote were 
Wm. and John Abbott, John and 
Childs O. Brown, Wm. Carney, John 
Dunkerly, John Kruchten, Nicholas 
Keefer and Andrew Norem. The reg- 
istration was made by Philip Russell, 
clerk of Lizard township. He missed 
Wm. Lynch, M. Byrne and C. G. Per- 
kins, and they were absent at the 
time of the first election. 

The first meeting of the trustees 
was held in Mill's hall, Marvin, Jan. 
11, 1871. Messrs. Hay and Stewart 
were present and approved the bonds 



of Capt. Mallison as assessor, and Wm. 
Sanborn as supervisor, Messrs. J. F, 
Stevens and Charles G. Perkins were 
appointed supervisors in the place of 
Messrs. Bennett and Clark,, and the 
district of the latter included what is 
now Colfax township. Geo. Sanborn 
was appointed township clerk and R. 
C. Stewart a justice of the peace in 
place of Geo. Spragg. 

The succession of civil officers has 
been as follows: 

Trustees: R. C. Stewart, 1871; H. 
W. Hay, 1871; Elijah Chase, 1871-73; 

B. McCartan, 1872; John E. N. Welsh, 
Wm. Richards, Wm. Marshall, Geo. E. 
Thompson, 1873; David Spielman. 
Wm. Bott, 1874, '84-85; O. C. Evans, J. 
H. Warwick, W. E. Garlock, Joseph 

C. Stevens, Chas. H. Whitney, 1875-78, 
'80-82, '96-98; J. O. Sullivan, 1876-79; 
Geo. M. Wood, M. Byrne, Louie Fuchs, 
1878-82; John Lemp, 1879-80; Patrick 
Shea, 1881-83; '98-1900; Patrick Kearns, 
1883-90; A. V. Sargent, 1883-97; Robert 
W. Russell, 1886-91; Wm. J. Busby, 
1891-96: John H. Stream, 1892-95; S. T. 
Hersom, 1897-1900; S. S. Martin, 1899- 
1900. 

Justices of the Peace: Geo. San- 
born, 1871-73; R. C. Stewart, Wm. 
Marshall, 1872-74, '78-79, '83-88; Geo. M. 
Dorton, 1873-79; Geo. Spragg, 1875-76; 
W. G. Buswell, A. B. P. Wood, 1880- 
86; Theo. Dunn, 1880-82; R. Wright, 
1887-90, '97-98; J. W. Gray, 1887-88; A. 
G. Wood, 1889-92, Wm. A. Henderson,' 
1889-91; J. B. Sargent, 1891-94; James 
Mercer, Capt. Jos. Mallison, 1893-1900; 
S. S. Martin, 1893-94; Z. C. Bradshaw, 
1895-96; Alex. Dunn, 1895-1900. 

Clerks: Geo. Sanborn, 1871; H. W, 
Hay, A. O. Garlock, Wm. Snell, Capt. 
Jos. Mallison, 1875, '86; Patrick Shea, 
R. J. Griffin, T. F. McCartan, James 
Mercer, 1879-82, '87-88; T. S. Brown, 
1883-84; A. G. Wood, J. B. Sargent, 
1889-92; J. R. Johnson, 1893-1900. 

Assessors: Capt. Jos. Mallison, 
1871-72; J. R, Johnson, Wm. Snell J. 
P, Robinson, Patrick Shea, John A 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Hay, G. H. Gottfriedt, 1877-78, '83-86, 
'89-90, '95-1900; Fred Lieb, 1879; N. B. 
Post, 1880-81; Joseph Hawkins, 1882; J. 

E. Sargent, 1887-88; D. J. Bailey, 1891- 
'92; John Kennedy, 1893-94. 

Presidents of the school board: 
Gad C. Lowrey, 1871; T. J. Curtis, B. 
McCartan, A. W. Dart, 1874, '79; M. 
Byrne, 1875, '86; James N. Mallison, 
M- J. Lynch, S. T. Hersom, Wm. Bott, 
Fred Lieb, Joseph Hawkins, John 
Lemp, J. B. Sargent, W. E. Garlock, 
Wm. Snell, G. H. Gottfreidt, John A. 
Thompson, 1889, '91-92; Geo. Lufkin, 
Joseph Hawkins, John Cartlidge, 
1894-95; W. E. Post, 1896-98; W. I. 
Shetterly, 1899-1900. 

SECRETAXiY; A. O. Garlock, 1871-72; 
B- F. Osburn, Geo. M. Dorton, 1874-75; 
M, Byrne, 1876-77; M. J. Lynch, S. T. 
Hersom, 1879, '83-85; Eugene Evans, 
1880^82; T. F. McCartan, John Oakley, 
1886.87; John J. McCartan, 1888-89; 
James Mercer, 1890-1900. 

Treasurers or school funds; B, 

F. Osburn, 1871; Wm. Marshall, Eben 
M. Busby, B- McCartan, Geo. San- 
born, G. H. Gottfriedt, C. H. Whit- 
ney, 1877-78; Wm. Marshall, 1879-81; 
T. J. Curtis, 1882-86; M. Byrne, 1887-89; 
Louie Fuchs, 1890-1900. 

FIRST SCHOOLS. 

The first school in Cedar township 
was taught at Sunk Grove in the fall 
and winter of 1869 by Mary Skinner 
(daughter of Horace) in the log house 
of John Dunkerly on the SWi Sec, 
6, and included the children 
of Elijah Chase, Horace and Charles 
Skinner, Geo. Spragg and Pelatiah 
Bennett, a neighboring trapper in 
Buena Vista county. 

In the fall of 1870, when this part 
of the county still belonged to Lizard 
township, there were four schools 
established namely, at Fonda, Sunk 
Grove, and the homes of Wm. Lynch 
and A. O. Garlock. The one at Fonda 
began about the first of Decem- 
ber and was taught by Edward Calli- 
gap(a §on of the director for this, dis- 



trict) in a small building that stood 
on the ground now occupied by the 
McKee brick block. The pupils were 
Lizzie and Jennie Bott (Mrs. J. B. 
Bollard), John and Steve Slater, Alice 
Skinner, Rosa Hay, Mary Wood 
(Adams) and Ed. Ibsen. The school 
building for the fall of 1871 was 
located on the corner now occupied 
by the Roberts & Kenning brick block. 

The school at Sunk Grove in 1870 
was taught by Robert Griffin in the 
home of Mrs. Rachel Hartwell, his 
sister, who as a widow had taken a 
homestesd on Sec, 6 known as the 
Burnett property and now owned by 
Henry Voss. Cyrus, Fannie, George, 
Harry and James Thompson, Alfreta 
Converse and Thomas Chase were 
among the pupils that year. " The 
school at the home of Wm. Lynch 
(Sec. 2) was taught by Mary Ann Cal- 
ligan and it was attended by the 
children of Wm. Lynch, John Keef , 
and Julius F. Stevens. The next 
year (1871) this school was transferred 
to the Woolworth home. The school 
at the home of A, O. Garlock, a few 
rods west of his father's, in 1870 was 
taught by Mrs. L. D. Turner and in^ 
eluded the children in the families of 
Ephraim Garlock, David Spielman, 
James Little and Joseph Fells. 

CEDAR SCHOOL BOARD. 

The first meeting of the elector.-; of 
the district township of Cedar was 
held in Marvin, March 4, 1871, B. F. 
Osburn served as chairman and Geo. 
Sanborn as secretary. Messrs. Gad C. 
Lowrey, Capt. Jos. Mallison and B. F. 
Osburn were elected as the first school 
directors of the township which then 
embraced Colfax as sub-district No. 
2. On March 11th a second meeting 
of the electors was held in the store 
of John A. Hay. It was decided to 
erect only temporary schoolhouses that 
year, their number and location to be 
left to the board of directors; a tax of 
ten (10) mills was approved for tlie 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



36£ 



building fund and one (1) mill for the 
library fund. 

On March 20, 1871 the board of di- 
rectors met at the home of Gad C. 
Lowrey (Sec. 26, Colfax) and organized 
by the election of Gad C. Lowrey as 
president and A. O. Garlock as secre- 
tary. The board then proceeded in a 
body to Lizard township for the pur- 
pose of securing a division of the 
assets and liabilities of the school 
funds of that township to which this 
one had previously belonged. Not 
meeting with success they met the 
Lizard board a second time on April 
1st in the Miller schoolhouse, but 
found that board unwilling to make 
any division of the funds. 

On April 8th arrangements were 
made for the purchase of the Lockey 
house for $140, the renting of a room 
in Marvin and another in the home of 
G. C. Lowrey, and for the ensuing 
summer term the following teachers 
were employed: Ida D. Lowrey, Mary 
A. Osburn, Mrs. Mary E. Mallison, 
Mrs. R. J. Griffith and W. W. Rath- 
bun. John A. Hay was appointed di- 
rector in place of B. F. Osburn and 
the latter was appointed treasurer of 
the school fund. Two weeks later 
arrangements were made to purchase 
a building of Levi Garlock for Sec. 25 
and the erection of two temporary 
buildings by John A. Hay for sections 
3 and 8. For the winter of 1871-72 G. 
C. Lowrey was authorized to arrange 
for two schools in bis district, Colfax, 
and engage the teachers for them. In 
Cedar the teachers employed were J. 
P. Robinson, Marvin, W. W. Rath- 
bun (Sec 3), Mrs. Mary E. Mallison 
(Sec. 8), and Mrs. Mary J. Wilbur (Sec. 
2-5). 

On March 18, 1872 Colfax, having 
been set off from Cedar, was accorded 
$106.00 of the school funds in the 
hands of the treasurer; Cedar was 
divided into eight sub-districts and 
arrangements were made with A. D. 
M0Qr§ for t^e erection of t^ree schoo}- 



houses at a cost of $525 each in dis- 
tricts No. 2, 5 and 7. For their better 
protection lightning rods were put on 
those on sections 3 and 8 at a cost of 
$23.50 each and a few months later on 
those in districts No. 2 and 5 at a cost 
of $52.00. It was decided to pay 
$30.00 a month to all the teachers un- 
til New Years and $35.00 a month, 
after that date, to all that were first- 
class. 

The settlement of this section pro- 
gressed rapidly in 1872 and the work 
of organizing the sub-districts of 
Cedar township was nearly completed 
that year. The records of that year 
are in the handwriting of A. O. Gar- 
lock, cover twenty-two pages and 
show that fifteen meetings were held 
by the board of directors. The new 
teachers employed in 1872 were Ce- 
cilia Keef, Mrs. R. P. Thompson, 
Mrs. Maggie Sanborn, Mrs. Ann R. 
Curtis, Geo. Hathaway, Geo. M. Dor- 
ton, (in house of T. J. Curtis), Eliza 
Hay, Frank Gregg, Miss N, Herrick, 
Mrs. A. W. Creed and Mrs. R. T. 
Hartwell in the home of G. A. Wool^ 
worth, now Mrs. J. B. Weaver on 
Sec. 12, 

In the spring of 1873 arrangements 
were made with J. D. Gould for the 
erection of three school buildings iji 
sub-districts No. 1, 3 and 8 for $635.00 
each, and with A. O. Garlock for qne 
in Marvin (Fonda) for $1,400. This 
proved a year of -'hard times;" njatters 
did not run smoothly. The president 
of the board was unwilling to sign 
the contracts after they had been ap- 
proved and he was politely asked to 
resign. The secretary also resigned 
about the same time and as many as, 
four other persons were successively 
appointed and served in that capacity 
for a short time during that year, 
namely; R. F, Osburn, Geo. Fairburn, 
Geo, M, Dorton and W. E. Garlock. 
Before the completion of his contract 
Gould transferred, ft £q L, T, gwezy, 
Of Newell, 



&64 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



A few years later there are a num- 
ber of pages in the volume containing 
the early records of this township 
that are not signed by the secretary 
or any other member of the board, and 
the reader wonders .what pioneer 
scribe may have left traces of his 
handiwork in the writing upon them 
until, fumbling them oyer several 
times, he finally discovers a name very 
modestly written on the margin at 
the top of one of them. 

The annual report of the secretary 
for the year ending Sept. 19, 1871 
shows 82 pupils enrolled in 5 schools 
and for 1872, 105 pupils in 8 schools. 
In 1876, five years from the date of 
organization, there were 125 pupils en- 
rolled, Fonda having 31, the largest 
number, and there were eight good 
frame schoolhouses each supplied 
with a fine library and apparatus 
valued at $75. The sites for the 
schoolhouses in this township' were 
surveyed by Wm. Marshall and the 
persons who assisted him were M. J. 
Lynch (1) M. Byrne (2) Elijah Chase (3) 
Jacob Spielman (5) W. E. Garlock (6) 
and Charles Whitney (7 and 8). Fonda 
became an independent district in 
1880. In 1882 the unsold school lands 
of Sec, 16 were appraised at eight and 
ten dollars an acre and those remain- 
ing May 1888 were appraised at six 
and eight dollars an acre. 

Only a few sod houses were built in 
Cedar township, the arrival of the 
railway, bringing suitable building 
materials, removing their necessity. 
Those that are remembered were built 
byE. Chase, Robert J. Griffin, Pel 
Bennett, Geo. Spragg Jos. C. Stev- 
ens, Charles Skinner and John Wood. 

On May 4, 1884, the trustees, con- 
sisting of Wm. Bott, Patrick Kearns 
and A. Y. Sargent, were first organ- 
ized as a board of health. On Feb. 17, 
1894, an order was issued that all per- 
sons in the township over one year 
should be vaccinated and that all pu- 
pils not vaccinated before March 1st 



that year, should be excluded from 
the public schools. 

MARVIN — FONDA. 

Marvin was the name first given to 
the station and express office, and Ce- 
darville to the the postoffice in Cedar 
township. The use of these two 
names was the occasion of consider- 
able confusion to the public and, in 
the railway service, the two names 
Marvin and Manson, were so nearly 
alike that the one was often taken for 
the other, so that goods intended for 
these two stations were often missent. 
In 1874 Messrs. A. O. Garlock and Geo. 
Fairburn concluded to take the P. O. 
directory and select a new name that 
was not common in the west. Both 
were pleased with ' 'Fonda," which 
appeared but once in the directory, as 
the name of a town in western New 
York. In response to petitions sent 
the P. O. department, the railway and 
express companies, the new name, 
"Fonda," was adopted. The selection 
was a good one for its euphony and 
brevity, and it was eminently appro- 
priate for this section of country in 
the early day, since it is derived from 
a Latin word that signifies a fountain; 
although a more recent derivation 
from the Spanish language makes it 
mean a hotel. 

FONDA. 

"My country 'tis of thee 
Sweet land of liberty, 
Of thee I sing." 

Fonda is situated near the center of 
section 27, Cedar township, in the 
southwestern part of Pocahontas coun- 
ty. It has two main lines of railway, 
the Illinois Central and Chicago, Mil- 
waukee & St. Paul, that extend east 
and west, north and south. It is 115 
miles northwest of Des Moines, 409 
miles west of Chicago, 101 miles east 
of Sioux City, and all passenger trains 
stop at this place. 

It has always been an attractive 
trading center, not merely for a great 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



365 



part of this county, but to many of 
the people living in the adjoining 
counties of Calhoun, Sac and Buena 
Vista. It has enjoyed hitherto the 
best railroad facilities of any town in 
this vicinity and these, in connection 



and Iowa Falls Town Lot & Land Uo. , 
who had then become the owners of 
the unsold portions of the town site 
and surrounding section. 

The 5th addition included blocks 
25 to 30, located in the east part of 



with the enterprise of her citizens and the town, and was made May 5, 



natural resources of this section, have 
tended to promote a constant growth 
and substantial development of busi- 
ness interests. Fonda very soon be- 
came and has hitherto maintained the 
position of being the principal city of 
Pocahontas county in numbers and 
wealth, educational and religious 
privileges. 



by the Fonda Town Lot and Improve- 
ment Co., who succeeded the former 
land company in the ownership of 
their lands on section 27. Their last 
addition, made May 25, 1893, and 
called the 9th addition, includes blocks 
35 to 37 on out lots 2 and 3,north 
of Sixth street. 
The Busby addition was platted and 



The section of land (27) on which a copy thereof filed for record October 



Fonda is situated belongs to the odd 
numbers that were included in the 
railway grant. The first deed of it 
was entitled, "A Grant of Land made 
by the United States to the State of 
Iowa in alternate sections, approved 
by Congress May 15, 1856, to aid in the 
construction of certain railroads in 
the State of Iowa." The second 
one, "The State of Iowa, a Grant to 
the Dubuque & Pacific Railroad, ap- 
proved by an act of the General As- 
sembly, July 14, 1856, to aid in build- 
ing said railroad." The third trans- 
fer, filed September 10, 1870, is the 
deed of the Dubuque & Sioux City R. 
R. Co. to John I. Blair, of Blairstown. 
N. J., the contractor and builder of 
the railroad. On the same day there- 
was filed another deed entitled, "A 
Deed of Dedication, by John I. Blair 
and Anna, his wife, to the Public." 
This last included all the streets and 
alleys of the first plat of the town, 
which he called "Marvin, "in honor of 



5, 1886, by Wm. J. and Louisa A. Bus- 
by. Two of the streets were called 
Robbie and Offle, after the names of 
his two oldest sons. On July 26, 1888 r 
the plat of a second addition was filed 
and the two additional streets were 
named Georgie and Willeben, after 
the names of two other sons. 

The plat of the Robinson addition, 
comprising out-lots 1 to 5 north of the 
Illinois Central railway and west of 
Cedar creek was filed by J. P. Robin- 
son Aug. 14, 1890. 

The arrangement of Fonda is that 
of a square lying principally north of 
the railroad and east of Cedar creek } 
and the compact form of the city has 
tended greatly to economize the work 
of its improvement. In 1887, its main 
streets were covered with gravel from 
Cherokee and the first provision was 
made for lighting them at night with 
kerosene street lamps. 

The Fonda Town Lot and Improve- 
ment Co. was organized March 29, 



Marvin Hewitt, superintendent of the 1888, and the incorporators were Hon, 



Illinois Central railroad. It included 
twelve blocks that extended from the 
railroad northward to Fourth street, 
south of the Presbyterian church. 

The first addition to Marvin con- 
sisted of a triangular plot of ground 
north of the railroad and west of Vine 
street, Oct. 7, 1872, by the Sioux City 



A. O. Garlock, Geo. Fairburn, J. N. 
McKee, A. S. Wood, Dr. M. F. Patter- 
son and W. H. Given. Since its or- 
ganization Geo. Fairburn has been 
the president and A. S. Wood the sec- 
retary and treasurer. Their original 
purchase included nearly 500 acres 
around Fonda, and although some of 



Uq PIONEER HtSTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the stock has changed hands the com- 
pany is still in existence. The special 
aim and object of this company has 
been to promote the growth and de- 
velopment of Fonda by all the means 
that money, activity and thought may 
indicate. At the time of the estab- 
lishment of the Big Four fair a con- 
cession was made equal to half the 
value of the land enclosed, and a sim- 
ilar concession was made for the brick 
and tile works. It still stands ready 
to donate lands for sites for factories 
and kindred objects. 

FIRST TOWN ELECTION. 

On December 26, 1878, the people of 
Fonda by a vote of 26 to 19 decided to 
become an incorporated town. On 
January 7, 1879, Theodore Dunn, Geo. 
L. Brower, Capt. Joseph Mallison and 
O. A. Langworthy, commissioners, is- 
sued a notice to the qualified electors 
of the corporation of Fonda to meet 
at Guyett's hall on Friday, January 
14, 1879, for the purpose of holding 
their first election. On this date Capt. 
Joseph Mallison was elected mayor; 
Ed. B. Tabor, recorder; Geo. Fairburn, 
Geo. L. Brower, Theo. Dunn, W. J. 
Busby and Peter G. Ibson, council- 
men — all to hold office until the ensu- 
ing spring election. Their first meet- 
ing was held Feb'y 1, 1879, pursuant 
to the call of the mayor; all the mem- 
bers were present and after passing 
several ordinances relating to the 
boundaries of the incorporation, the 
salaries of the mayor, recorder and 
marshal, they appointed Geo. L. 
Brower, treasurer, E. C. Brown, street 
commissioner, and C. G. Guyett, mar- 
shal. Three days later they met 
again and passed ordinances relating 
to taxing dogs, restraining stock and 
granting licenses in certain cases. 

On Monday, March 3, 1879, a new 
set of officers was elected as follows: 
John W. Gray, mayor;. Ed. B. Tabor, 
recorder; and for councilmen A. C. 
Knight (1), P. G. Ibson (1), Geo. Fair- 
burn (2), Geo. M. Dorton (2), Geo. L. 



Brower (3), and F. Millard (3). The 
casting of lots to determine who 
should have the one, two and three 
year terms, resulted as indicated by 
the numbers opposite each name. 

At their first meeting held March 
6, 1879, they appointed Geo. L. Brow- 
er, treasurer; E. C. Brown, street 
commissioner, and Mark A. Haven, 
marshal. On March 18, 1879, the first 
saloon license was granted to H. Max- 
well, who presented a petition signed 
by 23 electors. After the lapse of a 
month this license was surrendered 
and a similar one was issued to Hen- 
ry C. Stevens. 

SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Mayors: Capt. Jos. Mallison and J. 
W. Gray both in 1879; Theo. Dunn, 
Geo. Sanborn, Geo. Fairburn, '82-83; 
Capt. Jos. Mallison. John C. Stevens, 
Robt. W. Russell, Geo. Fairburn, 
'87-88; Mark A. Haven '89-92; A. G. 
Wood, '93-94; Capt. Jos. Mallison' 95-96; 
F. W. Swearingen, Edward R. Ellis, 
'98-99; S. E. Leece, 1900. 

Recorder: Ed. B. Tabor, 1879-80; 
J. W. Gray, '81-83; Abram Burson, '84- 
85; A. S. Wood, '86-92; R. F. Beswick, 
(appointed Sept , '92); Wm. H. Healy, 
'93; M. G. Coleman, '94-1900. 

Councilmen: Geo. Fairburn, '79-80; 
Geo. Brower, '79-82; Theo.„Dunn, '79; 
W. J. Busby, '79; T. G. Ibson, '79; A. 
C. Knight, '79; Geo. M. Dorton, '79-80; 
F. Millard, '79-80; G. W. Bothwell, '80- 
82: J. N. McClellan, '81-83, '87; Geo. H. 
Ellis, '81; O. A. Langworthy, '81-83; 
Wm. Snell, '81; G. Pfeifier, '82-86; J. 
N. McKee, '82-96; Fred Swingle, '83- 
85; Geo. Fairburn. '84; Ed. O'Donnell, 
'84-86; N. B. Post, '84-85, '87-90; T. F. 
Kelleher, M. D., '85; M. A. Haven, '86- 
88; W. J. Redfield, Fred Haffele, Geo. 
Sanborn, '87; D. W. Edgar, M. D.. '87- 
97; J. D. Carpenter, '88-89; Abram Bur- 
son, '89-97; J. B. Bollard, '90-95; J. P. 
Robinson, '90-92; G. R. Reniff, '91-96; 
R. F. Beswick, '93-1900; L. S. Straight, 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



367 



'96-1900; John Forbes, '97-99; Thos. L. 
Kennedy, '97-1900; G. H. Fitch, '98- 
1900; Geo. G. Craft, '98-1900; Fred J. 
Kenning, 1900-. 

THE CEMETERY. 

On July 12, 1875, Wm. Marshall was 
appointed to survey a plat of six acres 
for a township cemetery, on lands be- 
longing to the Sioux City & Iowa Falls 
Town Lot and Land Co. Some diffi- 
culty was experienced in gaining pos- 
session of this land, and, during the 
•next two years it was appraised by 
three different sets of appraisers, all of 
whom appraised it at $10.00 an acre. 

In 1879, $20.00 were offered an attor- 
ney in Fort Dodge to obtain a deed for 
it. The first deed for the sale of a lot 
in it was issued March 18, 1889, to G. 
W. Bothwell, M. D., and twenty-five 
others were issued that year. The 
price of the lots now ranges from five 
to twelve dollars. The first person 
buried in this cemetery was Ebenezer 
M. Busby, who was killed August 23, 
1873, by the accidental discharge of 
his own gun while hunting with 
friends from Dubuque. 

The next persons buried here were 
Georgie Fairburn, who died of mem- 
braneous croup in his second year, 
June 26, 1874, and Jane Ann, eldest 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Mar- 
shall, who died of diphtheria July 2, 
1874. 

A few years ago, through the leader- 
ship of the Fonda Belief Corps, the 
cemetery was very much improved in 
appearance, and upon four lots set 
apart for that purpose, the base has 
been constructed for a soldiers' mon- 
ument. 

The cemetery belongs to the town- 
ship, and is managed by the trustees 
who, to secure its improvement and 
care, for a number of years past, have 
annually levied a small tax upon the 
taxable property of the township out- 
side of the incorporation. During re- 
cent years individuals and societies in 
the city have generously co-operated 



in the work of its improvement, and 
negotiations are now pending that 
may result in a recognition of the city 
in its management. The township 
clerk is the agent of the trustees in 
all matters relating to its use and he 
employs a custodian who gives it his 
personal care and attention. These 
persons at present are J. B. Johnson 
and Henry Bakker. 

FONDA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIS- 
TRICT. 

The petition for the independent 
school district of Fonda was present- 
ed to the directors of Cedar township 
and approved on March 9, 1880. Two 
days later at a special meeting of the 
Cedar township Board this action was 
reconsidered and reversed because the 
petition for the independent district 
included with sections 27, 28, 33 and 
34, its present territory, also all of sec- 
tions 15, 16, 21 and 22 for the purpose 
of taxation. The difficulties that im- 
mediately arose were not settled until 
November 18, 1880, when the school 
board of the independent district 
which consisted of Wm. Bott, Geo. 
Fairburn and A. B. P. Wood, Esq., 
ceded back to the township all of the 
territory included in the four last 
named sections. Previous to this date. 
Wm. Bott had served as president of 
the school board of the independent 
district. By this righteous re-transfer 
Wm. Bott, because he lived in the 
territory relinquished to the town- 
ship, forfeited his place as a member 
of the town board and the honor of 
serving longer as its first president. 
These vacancies were filled by the 
election of C. D. Lucas, a member of 
the board, and Geo. Fairburn, its pres- 
ident. The present school grounds 
were purchased in 1882 and the first 
four rooms of the present brick school 
building (38x62 feet) were built in 1884. 
Since that date two additional rooms 
have been added on the north side of 
this building and a kindergarten has 
been erected a short distance from it. 



368 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



During this last year an additional 
room has been rented on Main street 
and arrangements are now in progress 
for the erection of a portion of a fine 
building this year (1900) that will 
eventually replace the present one. 

FONDA SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

Presidents of the Board: Wm. 
Bott, 1880; Geo. Fairburn, Geo. San- 
born '81, '89; J. N. McClellan, '82-83; J. 
N. McKee, '84-88; J. P. Robinson, '90- 
91; D. W. Edgar, M. D., J. B. Bollard, 
'93-94; Geo. Sanborn, '95-1900. Others 
who have served as members of this 
board are A.B. P. Wood, '80-87; C. D. 
Lucas, W. J. Busby, '81-84: J. D. Car- 
penter, '85-91; Fred Haflele, '89-91; W. 
F. Bridges, '90-92; A. W. Sargent, '92- 
93; A. Burson, '93-95, 1900; E. S. Hor- 
naday, '93-94; Geo. H. Fitch, Charles 
A. Alexander, '94-00; Ed. R. Ellis,-J. 
H. Coleman, '94-00; W. J. Redfield, '95- 
00; P. C. Toy, '96-98. 

The board consisted of three mem- 
bers until 1889, when it was increased 
to six, but in 1898 under the new law, 
it was reduced to five. The board for 
the year 1900 consists of Geo. Sanborn, 
C. A. Alexander, J. H. Coleman, W. 
J. Redfield and Abram Burson. 

Secretaries: A. B. P. Wood, '80- 
87; A. G. Wood, '88-90; J. D. Carpenter, 
'91; J. P. Robinson, '92-93; M. G. Cole- 
man, '94-95; John Kennedy, '96-00. 

Treasurers: Geo. Fairburn, '80, 
Geo. L. Brower, '81-82; J. W. Gray, '82- 
86; A. S. Wood, '87-95; Geo. Hughes, 
John Forbes, '97-99; John Kennedy, 
1900. 

FONDA TEACHERS. 

Principals: Lois A. Wood, '80, '82; 
Louisa B. Pfeiffer, '81; J. M. Sprouls, 
H. E. Howe,, Minnie F. Bryan, Anna 
E. Brown, '85-87; De Etta Ferron, '88- 
89; A. W. Sargent, Daniel Swindler, 
Alva Pressnell, Walker DeWitt, '93- 
94; Frank B. Kessling, Arthur W. 
Davis, '95-96; W. P. Johnson, R. B. 
Crone, '98; D. E. Barnes, '99-00. 

The assistant teachers have been 
Belle Tucker, (Covey) '80-83; Louisa B. 



Pfeiffer, Jennie Lucas, Minnie Rey- 
ner, Cena Benton, Lou DeGraffe, Em- 
ma Pfeiffer, Mrs. Spitzbarth, Maude 
Fuller, '88-89, '91-95; Nellie R. Swingle, 
'88-91; Viola Booton, '89-91; Mabel Lu- 
cas, Jennie E. Crawford, (Robinson) 
Maude Carpenter, Franc DeGraffe, '93- 
94, '96-00; Mattie McCullom, A. Y, 
Copley, Effie Hawkins, Maude Sargent, 
Maude Ellis, Lillian Filmer, Mabel 
Creglow, Nellie Mercer, Edith M. Aid- 
rich, Mary Young, '95-00; Sarah Mc- 
Donald, '96-98; Olive Gruver, '96-97, 
'99-00; Stena Hansen, '96-00; Nellie 
Golder, Adda B. Detwiler, '97-00; 
Maude E. Beale, '97-00; Lulu Griffith, 
Margaret Berry, '99-00; Charlotte 
Davis. 

Since 1896 several persons have been 
employed as supernumerary teachers, 
or assistants to the principal, namely. 
Lena Mercer, Mertie Eaton, Lulu San- 
born and D. B. Churchill; and in 1898, 
Miss Nellie Liscomb as instructor in 
vocal music. 

PIONEER TEACHERS OF FONDA. 

During the period that preceded 
the organization of the independent 
district the school year consisted 
of a summer term of three and a win- 
ter term of four months. The 
teachers that taught the school in the 
Fonda district during this period so 
far as can now be recalled, were as 
follows: Edward M. Calligan the 
winter term commencing about Dec. 
1, 1870; Wm. W. Rathbun, J. P. Rob- 
inson, winter term '71-72; Naomi Her- 
rick (first wife of F. G. Thornton), 
Mrs. Rachel Hartwell, Agnes J. Fair- 
burn (Mrs. M. Bell), winter term until 
February 1, 1874 and it was completed 
by Fred' W. Swingle; George Sanborn, 
winter term 1874-75,-18 pupils en- 
rolled; Mrs. Nellie R. Swingle, sum- 
mer and winter terms of 1875, '76-77; 
Cyrus A. Bryant, summer of 1878 and 
had 22 pupils enrolled; Lois A. Wood 
(Hubbell) and Affa Wood; winter term 
1878-79, there being two schools part 
of the time; Mrs. Nellie R. Swingle, 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP, 



369 



principal and Mrs. Mary E. Mallison, 
assistant, summer and winter terms 
1879-80. 

Prof. Charles Ellison, a graduate of 
the Missouri State Normal and his 
wife, Mrs. Susan Ellison, a graduate 
of the Normal School at Oswego, N. 
Y., located at Fonda in May 1877. 
The latter taught a term in the E. P. 
Thompson district and from Sept. 3 
to Nov. 2 they conducted a normal 
training school at Fonda that was at- 
tended by 43 students. 

From Nov. 5 to 14, 1877 inclusive, a 
teachers' institute was held that closed 
with a fine public exhibition on the 
evening of Nov. 14, 1877. 

FONDA GRADUATES. 

The graduates of the Fonda public 
schools are as follows: 

Class of 1894: Gus T. Swenson, L. 
R. Wright, Ada Hawkins, (Bond) Rena 
Carlton, (Harris) Lena Mercer and 
Minnie Haffele— 6. 

Class of 1896: John C. Bridges, 
Roy Carpenter, Aaron Evans — 3. 

Class of 1897: Jennie M. Eaton, 
Edith Busby, Myrtle Hawkins, Nellie 
Sargent, Flo Carpenter, Olive Martin, 
May Mercer, J. Weston Martin, Frank 
Whitney, Thomas Farrell, Will Hor- 
nor and Charles Griffith — 12. 

Class of 1898: Ernestine Lang- 
worthy, (Swearingen) Mamie Russell, 
Albert Burson and Roy Stafford— 4. 

Class of 1899: Alta Brown, Grace 
D. Bradshaw, Cora Eaton, Delphia 
Gottfriedt, Alfhild Frykberg, Cora 
Mercer, Mae Fitch, Mabel Miller, 
Ethel Gilson, Dollie Neal, Yida Grif- 
fith, Abbie Davis, Janie Fitzgerald, 
Anna Murphy and Chester Moffltt — 15. 
Total, 40. 

THE FONDA HIGH SCHOOL. 

The attendance of pupils in the 
public schools of Fonda has gradually 
increased, so that the enrollment for 
April, 1900, was 374. The course of 
study has been revised and enlarged 
from time to time so that those com- 
pleting it now are admitted to mem- 



bership in the freshman class in the 
various colleges of the state. In the 
last revision, published in 1899, more 
prominence than before was given .to 
the elective system, which allows each 
pupil to choose the studies he desires 
to take, only a limited number of the 
common branches being compulsory. 
Under this system the development of 
the pupil is along those lines of study 
for which he has a special preference 
or capacity, and the privilege of grad- 
uation is not denied anyone because he 
fails to make a specified grade in any 
particular study. 

The method of grading during the 
last four years, commonly called the 
High School Course of Study, is that 
of assigning to each branch or subject 
a certain number of , credits, on the 
basis of two credits for the work of 
each term. When a pupil receives a 
hundred credits he is given an intel- 
ligible and honest diploma of gradu- 
ation that contains a list of the par- 
ticular subjects completed and their 
respective value. 

In 1896 the school was the recipient 
of a collection of one hundred mineral 
specimens from the Smithsonian In- 
stitute, Washington, D. C, and in 
November, 1899, a donation of fifty dol- 
lars was received from Geo. W. Schee, 
of Primghar, to be invested in new 
books for the library, which now con- 
tains 300 volumes; 

In the four annual declamatory con- 
tests held in this county since March 
21, 1897, the" representatives of the 
Fonda High School have won the larg- 
est share of the medals, always se- 
curing at least one and on two occa- 
sions both of them. The successful 
contestants from Fonda have been, 
Jennie Eaton and J. Weston Martin 
at Fonda, in 1897; Abbie Davis at 
Rolfe. in 1898; Cora Mercer at Have- 
lock, in 1899; Florence Conroy and 
Mae V. Wright at Pocahontas, in 1900. 

LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL. 

The early pioneers of Fonda recog- 



&o Pioneer history Oe pocahontas county, iowa. 



nized the fact that a stable founda- 
tion was essential to the permanency 
of any institution, and if, at any time 
after some great achievement, there 
arose any doubt in regard to their 
ability to hold it, they did not hesi- 
tate to make it doubly sure by taking 
it before the General Assembly of 
Iowa and asking that honorable body 
to put upon it the stamp of its legis- 
lative approval. 

The first instance of this sort oc- 
curred March 26, 1880, when an act of 
the General Assembly of Iowa was ap- 
proved, that approved the action of 
the Cedar township school board of 
date March 9, 1880, establishing the 
Independent district of Fonda with 
eight full sections of land. This ac- 
tion of the school board had been re- 
considered and reversed by it two days 
after it had been taken. By this leg- 
islative enactment the Independent 
district of Fonda was also declared 
"'to have all the rights, powers and 
privileges of independent districts and 
all its acts are declared valid and in 
force." 

On March 14, 1884, an act of the 20th 
General Assembly was approved, en- 
titled "An act to legalize the incor- 
poration of the town of Fonda." This 
act was as follows: 

Whereas, in incorporating the town 
of Fonda, in the county of Pocahontas 
and state of Iowa, under and by virtue 
of Chapter Ten of Title Four of the 
code, a certitied copy of all papers and 
record entries relating to the matter 
was not properly filed as required by 
said chapter, and 

Whereas, The law in regard to the 
incorporation of towns was in all oth- 
er respects fully complied with and 
officers were elected, * ordinances 
passed and official acts done as though 
said incorporation was legal, now 
therefore, 

Be it Enacted by the General 
Assembly of the State of Iowa: 

Sec 1. That the incorporation of 
said town of Fonda be and the same is 
hereby legalized as fully and com- 
pletely as if all the requirements of 
the law relating to the incorporation 



of towns had been strictly complied 
with. 

Sec. 2. That all elections held by 
said incorporated town, and all ordi- 
nances passed by the council of said 
incorporated town and all the official 
acts done by the several officers of said 
town are hereby legalized and declared 
to be 'as valid and binding as though 
the law had been strictly complied 
with in the incorporation of said 
town. 

Approved March 14, 1884. 

RAILWAY AGENTS. 

Illinois Central: When the Iowa 
Falls & Sioux City railroad track wa's 
laid it remained under the control of 
the construction company from July 

4, to Oct. 1, 1870, and during this pre- 
liminary period the passenger and 
freight traffic, that was handled at 
Fonda by the daily construction trains, 
was managed by Capt. E. W. Stets- 
man, their agent at Newell, who 
served both stations by coming to 
Fonda on one train and returning to 
Newell on the next. 

Since the establishment of the reg- 
ular train service by the Illinois Cen- 
tral R. R. Co., the succession of the 
agents has been as follows: George 
Fairburn. Oct. 1, 1870 to Nov. 1, 1877, 
7 years; John W. Gray, '77 to July 1, '79; 
R. M. Harrison, '79 to June 15, '82; A. S. 
Wood, '82 to Sept. 15, '84; Thomas J. 
Murphy, '84 to May 25, '86; E. T. Dyer, 
'86-Nov. 10, '86; C. J. Canterbury, '86- 
Feb. 25, '89; F. B.Deitrick, '89-May 1, 
'93; B. Woodward, '93— Jan. 
10, '94; F. B. Deitrick, '94-May 15, '94; 

5. A. Metcalf, '94— Sept. 17, '97; R. M. 
Harrison, '97-00. 

O M. & St. Paul: This railroad 
was surveyed and constructed by the 
Des Moines & Northwestern Ry. Co., 
leased by the Wabash, St. Louis & Pa- 
cific Co. as soon as completed, in 1887 
resumed its original name, in 1891 it 
was called the Des Moines, Northern 
& Western and on Jan. 1, 1899, the 
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. The 
The succession of the agents has been 
as follows: Renselaer Wright, Nov. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP, 



371 



28, 1882-Mayl, '84; O. D. Orton, one 
month; H. E. Jones, '84-Feb. 20, '86; 
J. F. Linthurst, '86-March 1, '88; Geo. 
W. Powers, '88-May I, '90; E. S. Hor- 
naday, '90-March 20, '91; P. E. Stew- 
art, '91-Oct. 1, '92; E. S. Hornaday, 
'92- Jan. 29, '95; C. H. Crooks, '95-July 
25-'98; R. F. Weeks, '98-00. 

FONDA POSTMASTERS. 

W. S. Wright, Cedarville. Oct. 15, 
'70, to May 1,1871. 

John Hay, Cedarville; May 1, '71-73. 

E. O. Wilder, Fonda, May '73-75. 

J. W. Gray, Fonda, May, '75, to Apr. 
1, 1883. 

Ed. O'Donnell, Fonda, April 1 '83, 
to Oct. 15, '89. 

Geo. Sanborn, Fonda, Oct. 15, '89, to 
Sept. 1, '96. 

Wm. H. Healy, Sept. 1, '96, to Feb. 
7, '98. 

Joseph Mallison, Fonda, Feb. 7, 98—. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The first Protestant minister locat- 
ed at Fonda was Rev. Henry Brown, 
who came early in the spring 
of 1871, and the only room he could 
find for himself and wife was in the 
depot, then in charge of Mr. Fairburn. 
This was his first appointment and he 
had to live on a very meager salary. 
He endeavored to supplement his sal- 
ary by doing various kinds of work, 
such as mixing mortar, handling lum- 
ber, etc., and his wife co-operated by 
taking boarders. In 1885, this pio- 
neer missionary of Fonda was the 
honored pastor of the M. E. charge at 
Odebolt and was growing in popular- 
ity in the church. 

In the fall of 1871, religious serv- 
ices were conducted at Fonda by Rev. 
L. C. Woodward, who, locating at 
Newell the previous fall, erected a 
one-story building that served as a 
parsonage and postoffice for the town. 
As a pastor he served on alternate 
Sabbaths Fonda and Newell, the lat- 
ter also as postmaster. In 1872, he 
was succeeded by Adam Holmes, who 
is remembered as a house to house 



missionary, that usually traveled on 
foot. In 1873 he established religious 
services in the schoolhouse at Sunk 
Grove. He resigned this field that he 
might accept the principalship of the 
seminary at Epworth. 

In 1873 he was succeeded by Rev. 
Charles W. Clifton, who is said to have 
been the first minister to serve Newell 
and Fonda an entire year. The grass- 
hoppers had visited this section the 
previous year destroying everything 
within their reach, and he received 
only $350 of the $400 promised him on 
his entire circuit. He came to this 
field almost destitute of clothing and, 
having no overcoat, protected himself 
while driving across the country dur- 
ing the cold weather, with bed-quilts 
until the arrival of a box of clothing 
about the holidays from friends in the 
eastern part of the state. He found 
encouragement in the fact he was lay- 
ing foundations for the church of the 
future and he was animated with the 
desire to lay them well even if they 
cost him considerable personal sacri- 
fice. He established religious serv- 
ices at the Way (Prairie Creek) school- 
house, and is now a resident of Sher- 
man township. 

He was succeeded by Rev. J. S. R. 
Field, Rev. Mr. Ely and Rev. O. S. 
Bryan. All of these ministers lived 
at Newell and served Fonda on alter- 
nate Sabbaths. 

Rev. A. J. Whitfield, who was ap- 
pointed by Bishop Stephen M. Merrill 
at the conference held at Fort Dodge, 
September, 1875, was their successor at 
Newell and Fonda^ and he was re- 
appointed to this field by Bishop Ran- 
dolph S. Foster, at LeMars in October, 
1876. The local records begin with 
his ministry and by reason of its 
greater length and the records left be- 
hind him, the impression made by 
him was deeper and mow lasting than 
that of any of his predecessors, so that 
some have even accorded to this 
worthy man the credit of "founding 



372 Pioneer history of Pocahontas county, iowa. 



the Methodist Episcopal church in 
these parts."* 

The earliest local records are for the 
year 1876 and show that the following 
persons were then the officers of the 
church: A. J. Whitfield, preacher in 
charge; J. B. White, local preacher; 
Charles Ellison, Theo. Dodge, A. F. 
Hubbell, Thos. Reamer, C. M. Saylor, 
W. P. Bush and Orlando O. Brown, 
stewards; Theo. Dodge, A. F. Hubbell, 
C. M. Saylor, C. D. Lucas, Charles H. 
Whitney, Geo. Fairburn and Harvey 
W. Hay, trustees; A. F. Hubbell and 
C. M. Saylor, leaders; O. O. Brown 
and Prof. C. Ellison, Sunday school 
superintendents. 

The charge at Fonda in 1877 con 
sisted-&f four classes as follows: 

No. 1. Mr. and Mrs. Winfield Ald- 
;ich, A. W. Dart, Mr. and Mrs. Theo. 
Dodge, Harriet Evans, Mr. and Mrs. 
Charles Ellison, Leba Gorham, Mr. 
and Mrs. James Little and their 
daughter Mary, Mary Mallison, Mr. 
and Mrs. Fred Swingle, George, Eva- 
line and Cyrus Thompson. Mr. and 
Mrs. C. H. Whitney, Sarah aad George 
Wilson, J. B., Nancy and Florence 
White and Mary Whitfield. 

No. 2. Alexander F. Hubbell, Mr. 
and Mrs. A. T. Omtvedt and Mr, and 
Mrs. David Terry. 

No. 3. Mr. and Mrs. Herkimer L. 
Norton, Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Saylor 
and Geo. W. Smith. 

No. 4. Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Bush, 
Mr. and Mrs. John R. Baker, O. O. 
Brown, Mary Bennett, Orville and 
Louisa Barrett, Caleb Flint, Etta 
Johnson and Anna J. Thayer. 

The church was incorporated Nov. 
21, 1877, by J. B. White, Theodore 
Dodge, Charles Ellison, H. W. Hay, 
Geo. Fairburn, Fred Swingle and C. 
H. Whitney, trustees; and R. L. Ken- 
yon, C. B. Thompson and A. W. Dart. 
The present church building, located 
on the corner of Main and Third 
streets, was completed and dedicated 
*Aid Society Cook Book page 9. 



Nov. 14, 1880, by Presiding Elder J. C. 
R. Layton, assisted by P. E. Grippin, 
of Cedar Falls, and the new pastor in 
charge, Rev. J. S. Zeigler. The build- 
ing cost $1800, of which $230 was 
raised by the Ladies' Aid Society. On 
the day following the dedication the 
district conference met in this build- 
ing and continued in session three 
days. Until the erection of this build- 
ing the services were held in the 
schoolhouse. The first parsonage was 
built in 1878 and it rendered service 
until 1896, when it was replaced by 
the erection of the present cozy and 
comfortable building. 

The M. E. church in Fonda was the 
first church building erected in Poca- 
hontas county, the Lizard Catholic 
church built in 1871, being just across 
the line in Webster county. It has 
been supplied by a succession of capa- 
ble and efficient pastors, under whose 
faithful ministry the congregation 
has made a steady and substantial 
growth and exerted a wide influence 
for good. 

The successors of Mr. Whitfield in 
the pastorate have been: Rev. R. L. 
Kenyon, commencing Oct. 1, 1877, and 
also residing at Newell; H. G. Mc- 
Bride, Oct. 1,1878, second resident pas- 
tor; O. H. P. Faus, J. S. Ziegler, 
(child died Nov. 14, 1880), O. H. P. 
Faus, C. B, Winter, two years, 1882-83; 
J. G. Henderson, '84; J. H. Snow, G. 
H. Hastings, John Hamerson, two 
years, '88-89; W. H. Flint, A. A. Mar- 
cy, Z. C. Bradshaw, two years, '92-93; 
S. H. Middlekauff, S. G. Jones, two 
years, '95-96; J. J. Gardner, three 
years, Oct. 1, '97— Oct. 1, 1900. 

At a baptismal service held June 9, 
1876, at Cedar creek, Amos W. Dart, 
David and Emma Terry, Felix and 
Mary Parrish and Sarah Reamer were 
baptized by immersion, Rev. C. B. 
Winter officiating; and on Sept. 3 
1876, Elder T. M. Williams baptized 
Mr. and Mrs. Christ M. Saylor, Thom- 
as and Ritta Reamer, George W. 





REV. THOS. M. LENIHAN, 
Catholic. 



REV. J. F. BRENNAN, 
Catholic. 








JOSEPH FUCHS. 



MRS. JOSEPH FUCHS. 



FONDA AND VICINITY. 




rev. d. f. McCaffrey. 

Catholic. 



DR. T. J. DOWER. 




WILLIAM FITZGERALD. MICHAEL W. LINNAN. 

FONDA AND VICINITY. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



373 



Smith, Herkimer L. Norton, Mr. and 
Mrs. Daniel Jackson. 

In 1879 a Ladies' Aid Society was 
organized under the leadership of Mrs. 
Joseph Mallison and Mrs. Geo. L. 
Brower, and they were chosen presi- 
dent and vice-president, respectviely, 
for that year. The next year this or- 
der was reversed and Mrs. Brower 
served two years as president. Her 
successors in that office have been 
Mrs. Nellie R. Swingle, Mrs. G. W. 
Bothwell, Mrs. C. D. Lucas, Mrs. R. 
C. Potter and Mrs. Sarah A. Clarke. 
Mrs. Clarke has served in this capac- 
ity since 1892, and she is now assisted 
in the administration of its affairs hy 
Mrs. Rebecca Burson, secretary, and 
Mrs. Anna Edgar, treasurer. From the 
time of its organization this society 
has been very helpful in the work of 
the church. 

In January 1881, Rev. J. S. Zeigler 
resorted to an expedient that attract- 
ed public attention and aptly illus- 
trated the resourcefulness of the cir- 
cuit rider in the early days. When 
the deep snows came he neither had a 
sleigh nor money to buy one. Going 
to the lumber yard lie obtained a 
board li inches in thickness, and in a 
few hours cut and adjusted it to his 
buggy in such a way, with his own 
hands, as to take the place of wheels: 
and in this unpretentious vehicle met 
his appointments in the rural districts 
during the remainder of the sleighing 
season. 

The circuit rider felt that he bad an 
i mportant work and must meet his en- 
gagements regardless of the biting 
winds and deep snows. When j things 
went wrong he endeavored to right 
them cheerfully, and if from any 
cause his traveling outfit was rendered 
useless he immediately improvised an- 
other. No one ever saw these faith- 
ful, self-sacrificing servants of tbe 
church disconcerted. They were pa- 
tient, persevering and always ready to 
assist a neighbor in every possible 



way. Only a meager salary was prom- 
ised them, they seldom received the 
full amount of it. and a considerable 
portion of what they did receive came 
in the form of donations of corn, po- 
tatoes, turkey's and other truck from 
the farm and garden. They were held 
in much higher esteem, however, as 
good judges of a horse, than many of 
the preachers of the present day. 
This was due to the fact they were de- 
pendent upon the horse for their loco- 
motive power. 

Preachers were not very numerous 
in those early days and that some of 
the frontier churches used a good deal 
of ingenuity to secure the best man 
for their particular field, appears in 
the following form of request for one, 
credited to a good old colored brother 
in the church at Alexandria Valley, 
Ga. : ''Send us a bishop for a preach- 
er. If you can't send us a bishop, 
then send a sliding elder; if you can't 
send us a sliding elder send us a sta- 
tionary preacher; if you can't send him 
send us a circus rider; if you can't 
spare him send us a locus preacher; if 
you can't spare us a locus preacher, 
then send us an exhauster." That 
settled it, and he got a preacher. 

FONDA AND DOVER CATHOLIC CHURCH- 
ES. 

In the early settlement of this sec- 
tion a large number of Catholic fami- 
lies located a few miles north and 
others a few miles south of Fonda. 
In March, 1870, services were estab- 
lished for them by Rev. T. M. Lena- 
hen, of Fort Dodge, first at the home 
of Wm. Lynch and, after its erection, 
at the McCartan schoolhouse, four 
miles north of Fonda. He continued 
in charge of this station until the fall 
of 1882, a period of twelve years. Un- 
der his nurturing care the congrega- 
tion became too large for the school- 
house, and his work closed with the 
dedication of the Dover church in 
October, 1882, when Rev., P. J. Carroll 
became his successor. 

When they began to discuss the pro- 
priety of building a church, the Cath- 
olic families living south of Fonda 
very earnestly insisted that it should 
be located in Fonda, but they were 
outnumbered by those who lived in 
Dover township who preferred a loca- 
tion more convenient to their homes. 
During the next year after the erec- 
tion of the Dover church the families 
living south of Fonda found that with 
the co-operation of the people in the 
town they were able to build another 



374 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



house of worship and, commencing it 
in the fall of 1883, completed the 
church in Fonda early in 1884 at a cost 
of $2,000. Regular services were es- 
tablished in it by Rev. P. J. Carroll, 
who then located in Fonda and served 
the two churches on alternate Sab- 
baths until Oct. 1, 1887, when he was 
succeeded in the pastorate by Rev. D. 
F. McCaffrey, who remained in charge 
of them until Oct. 1, 1895. The par- 
ish was then divided, Rev. J. F. Bren- 
nan became pastor of St. Mary's 
church in Fonda, Rev. Stephen But- 
ler pastor of St. Columba's church in 
Dover, and both of these men are still 
rendering a very acceptable service to 
their respective congregations. The 
parsonage in Dover was built in 1896 
and in Fonda in 1885. 

In 1896 the church in Fonda was en- 
larged by an addition of forty feet to 
the west end of it and the construc- 
tion of a gallery in the east end, and 
these enlargements have doubled its 
seating capacity. It is now (32x80 ft.) 
one of the largest churches in the 
county. In 1898 the parsonage was 
also enlarged and greatly improved in 
its appearance. A brick pavement 
was laid in front and the grounds ad- 
joining were graded and planted with 
evergreens. These buildings have a 
fine location fronting eastward on 
Main street, and their handsome ap- 
pearance is very creditable to the pas- 
tor and people to whom they belong. 

The pioneers who united to form 
the Catholic organization that built 
these two churches were principally 
those belonging to the families of Bar- 
nard McCartan, Win. Lynch, Patrick 
Kearns, Louie and Joseph Fuchs, M. 
Byrne, Patrick, John, William, and 
Daniel Fitzgerald, Jeremiah Sullivan. 
Louisa Lieb, Theodore and Edward 
Lilly, Patrick Shea, John Garvey, 
Bernard and John Reilly, Frank Far- 
rell, John Dooley, M. W. Linnan, 
•Matthew and Timothy Carey, Ter- 



rence and John Mullen, Terrence 
Murphy and T. H. McLaughlin. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The Presbyterian church of Fonda 
was organized in McKee's Hall Sab- 
bath morning, June 20, 1886. In re- 
sponse to the request of a number of 
the citizens of Fonda and vicinity for 
the organization of a Presbyterian 
church, a committee of the Presbytery 
of Fort Dodge, consisting of Rev. T. 
S. Bailey, sy nodical missionary, and 
and Rev. S. C. Head, of Pomeroy, met 
a congregation in the same place on 
the previous day and it was decided 
to effect an organization on the fol- 
lowing day. The meeting on Sabbath 
was conducted by Rev. ' T. S. Bailey, 
and the following persons presenting 
themselves were duly organized as the 
First Presbyterian church of Fonda, 
namely: Mr. and Mrs. G. Pfeiffer and 
their daughter Emma, James Darling, 
Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Darling, Al- 
exander F., Miss F. M. and Mrs. F. 
M. Hubbell, Mr. and Mrs. Simon P. 
Boyd, Mrs. Esther O. Smeaton, 
Mrs. James Mercer, Mrs. Ursula Stev- 
ens and Wm. Bott. To these on the 
following Sabbath were added Mrs. 
Adele Curkeet and Miss Rebecca 
Pfeiffer. 

The rotary system of the eldership 
was adopted and Messrs. James Dar- 
ling, S. P. Boyd and Godfrey Pfeiffer 
were elected for one, two and three 
years respectively. Alex. F. Hubbell, 
and Charles S. Darling were chosen 
deacons for a term of three years, and 
a board of five trustees was elected, 
consisting of Geo. Fairburn, president; 
A. B. P. Wood, treasurer, and J. D 
Carpenter, each for one year, in con- 
nection with the two deacons. 

Rev. R. E. Flickinger, of Walnut 
on August 8 and 22, 1886, served this 
congregation in McKee's Hall, and lo- 
cating at Fonda Oct. 1, 1886, entered 
upon the pastorate that has contin- 
ued without interruption until tfte. 
present time, 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



375 



On March 18, 1888, the term of the 
ruling elders was increased from three 
to five years and four additional ones 
were elected. Those who have served 
as elders are James Darling, until his 
decease Nov. 19, 1887; Godfrey Pfeiffer, 



Dec. 7, 1894; Joseph Hawkins, 1888 to 
1898, Alanson Post, 1838 to 1899; John 
B. Mackey, 1893 to 1895; C. S. Darling, 
1893 to date; Hon. James Mercer and 
Samuel S. Martin, both from Oct. 2, 
1897 to date. 




PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, FONDA. 



until his removal to Parkston, S. D., 
Sept. 15, 1889; S. P. Boyd, until his re- 
moval to Pomeroy in 1895; Edward L. 
Beard, 1888 to 1890; Alex. F. Hubbell, 
1888 until his decease at Oexl^r Falls, 



Only three persons have held the of^ 
flee of deacon, namely, Charles S, 
Darling, from the time of organiza- 
tion until the present time; Alex. F, 
Hubbell and Hon, James Mercer, the 



376 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



last since August 10, 1897. 

The succession of trustees has been 
A. B. P. Wood, treasurer, until the 
time of his decease Nov. 8, 1887; Geo. 
Fairburn, president, and J. D. Car- 
penter both until 1889; James Mercer, 
treasurer, 1887 to date; Wm. Bott, 
president, since 1890; Alanson Post, 
1891 to 1897; S. S. Martin and Wm. F. 
Bridges, both from 1895 to date; R. F. 
Beswick and Harvey Eaton, 1899 to 
date. 

The Sunday school was organized 
July 4, 1886, with thirty members and 
the officers for the first nine months 
were James Darling, superintendent; 
Godfrey Pfeiffer, assistant superin- 
tendent; Lois A. Wood, secretary; A. 
F. Hubbell, treasurer, and 'Rebecca 
Pfeiffer, librarian. Miss Emma Pfeif- 
fer served as chorister and Mrs. A. 
Curkeet as organist, furnishing the 
organ. On Dec. 26, 1886, when the 
constitution and by-laws were adopt- 
ed the term of office of all the officers 
of the Sunday school was increased 
from three months to one year and the 
last Sabbath of March was designated 
as the date for the annual election. 
A. F. Hubbell served as superintend- 
ent April 1, 1887 to 1894; Joseph Hawk- 
ins, 1894 to 1897, and Charles S. Dar- 
ling since 1897. 

The Ladies' Aid Society was organ- 
ized June 30, 1886, by the election of 
Mrs. Esther O. Smeaton, president; 
Mrs. G. Pfeiffer, vice-president; Lois 
A. Wood, secretary, and Mrs. Geo-. 
Fairburn, treasurer. Mrs. Smeaton 
served two years as president, and her 
successors have been Mrs. G. Pfeiffer, 
Mrs. Frank P. McKee, Mrs. James 
Potter, Mrs. A. S. Wood, Mrs. A. R. 
Wolgamot, Mrs. Ed, Ellis, Mrs. John 
C. Stevens, Mrs. E A. Fuller, '95-98, 
and Mrs. H. A. Chapman. This so- 
ciety contributed $200 toward the 
erection of the church edifice, $100 for 
its improvement in 1894, $100 toward 
the erection of the parsonage and al- 
together, during the fourteen years of 



its existence, about $1650 to supple- 
ment the regular work of the church. 

The Endeavor Society was organ- 
ized January 2, 1894, when Miss Maude 
Sargent was chosen president; John 
Kennedy, vice-president; Maude Ellis, 
secretary, and Lovern Pest, treasurer. 
During the two preceding years, 
though not formally organized, yet 
through leaders appointed each week 
by the pastor, the young people had 
regularly conducted a half-hour serv- 
ice each Sabbath evening. The offi- 
cers are elected for a term of six 
months and those who have been 
chosen to serve as successors of its 
first president have been Louis A. 
Rothe, '95-96; Miss Alice Davis, '97; 
Louis A. Rothe, '98; R. B. Crone and 
Wm. H. Bridges in '99 and Miss Min- 
nie Haffele in 1900. The first meet- 
ing of the Juniors was held Dec. 19, 
1897, and they were organized on the 
following Sabbath, Miss Minnie Haff- 
ele serving as organist and as assistant 
for a few months and afterwards as 
superintendent,. Mrs. Walter Forbes 
haying resigned. 

Mrs. A. Curkeet, Maude Ellis, Lou- 
rinda Haffele (Roberts) and Minnie 
Haffele (since 1891) as organists for the 
Church, and Lovern Post for the Sun- 
day School have rendered a service so 
admirable and valuable as to be long 
and gratefully remembered. 

The services, were held in the public 
school building until Oct. 9, 1887, 
when a house of worship was com- 
pleted and dedicated at a cost of $3,- 
600. It consists of a main part 32x52 
feet with pulpit extension at the rear 
and a tower 64 feet in height, in front. 
The style of architecture is Gothic 
and all the windows are filled with 
cathedral or art glass. In 1894 it was 
repainted and tastefully decorated. 
It is a gem of beauty and very con- 
venient for use. It was the first Pres- 
byterian church built in Pocahontas 
county, although a Presbyterian or- 
ganization had been effected in the 




w 



REPRESENTATIVES OF PIONEER FAMILIES, FONDA AND VICINITY. 




CHILDREN'S CHORUS, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, FONDA, JUNE 20, U 
Rev. R. E. Flickinger, Pastor, Miss Minnie Haffele, Organist. 




MAY, CORA, EFFIE, CILENA AND NELLIE MERCER, Teachers, Fonda. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



317 



northeast part of the county as early 
as 1859, and the services regularly 
maintained from that date. The hot 
air furnace inserted in this building 
in August, 1887, is believed to have 
been the first one put in any church 
or private home in this county. 

In 1893 a large and handsome manse 
was built on the lots adjoining the 
church, at a cost of $2,200. These two 
buildings are located on an elevated 
plot of ground, on the west side of 
Main and north of Fourth streets, 
that is midway between the Meth- 
odist and Catholic churches, and, hav- 
ing a row of shade trees around them, 
they are certainly "beautiful for situ- 
ation " 

The organ was presented by Mrs. 
Geo. Fairburn, Christmas, 1887, and 
the communion set by Mrs. F. M. 
ITubbell in 1890 To the latter Miss 
F. M. Hubbell, her daughter, added 
two cups and plates in 1898. On July 
4, 1896, a legacy of $200 was received 
from the estate of Alex. F. Hubbell, 
that removed the last arrearages on 
the manse, and in 1899 a legacy of 
$50 was received during the life of 
the testator. This was from Joseph 
Chapman, an aged and highly re- 
spected member of the church, who 
had made provision for its payment, 
in a will dated Jan, 26, 1S97. 

The Presbytery of Fort Dodge met 
in this church Sept. 10-12, 1895, and 
the Ladies' Home and Foreign Mis- 
sionary Societies of the presbytery 
held their annual meeting at the same 
time, occupying the Methodist church. 
A local home and foreign missionary 
society among the ladies of this 
church was organized at this time by 
the election of Mrs. H. A. Chapman, 
president; Mrs. R. E. Flickinger, sec- 
retary and treasurer. During the last 
two years (1898-99) this Ladies' society 
has made an annual contribution of 
$30 to the home and foreign mission- 
ary funds of the church. 



In the spring of 1887 Mrs. Flickin- 
ger secured the attendance of a num- 
ber of little children to form an infant 
class in the Sunday School, and she 
has continued in charge of this de- 
partment of the Sunday School until 
the present time, a period of thirteen 
years. On the day of dedication the 
communion table was presented by 
this class. 

The memory recalls many blessed 
associations in connection with the 
efforts to achieve what has been ac- 
complished by this people. For a 
number of years the singing of the 
congregation was led by an efficient 
choir of more than a dozen good 
voices. The fine concerts annually 
held at the time of the pastor's anni- 
versary, Easter, Children's Day and on 
the first Sabbath of the new year, be- 
came a special and very attractive 
feature of the services during this 
prosperous period. The work of prep- 
aration for them was highly educa- 
cational and enabled the pastor to be- 
come intimately acquainted with the 
youngest of the children. The un- 
usual crowds that have of ttimes vainly 
sought admission to the church on 
these occasions, have repeatedly il= 
lustrated the. fact that the work of 
home talent properly trained, is more 
highly appreciated than that which 
comes from abroad. On these occa- 
sions the choir, young people and 
children have been arranged, each in 
a separate and also all in full choruses, 
that filled the sanctuary with their 
joyous outbursts of sacred song. A 
view of the children's chorus, as they 
appeared at one of their rehearsals in 
1898, numbering thirty-five voices, 
may be seen on another page. 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH, FONDA. 

The organization of the Christian 
church, l^onda, was the result of the 
evangelistic labors of Rev. H. M. 
Elliott who effectd it in McKee's 
hall Nov. 5, 1893 with eighteon mem- 



m PIONEEB HISTOBY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



bers as follows: Charles Alexander 
and his mother, Mrs. Abigail Alexan- 
der, Mr. and Mrs. Squire F. Hornor, 
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bakker, Mr. and 
Mrs. A. C. Tigner, Mrs. Jennie Lang- 
worthy, Mrs. J. D. Carpenter, Mrs. 
Lou Hornaday, Mrs. Elizabeth Fastle, 
Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Hair, Anna P., 
Cora S., William and Ellis Hornor. 
Messrs. S. F. Hornor, Henry Bakker 
and A. C. Tigner were elected elders; 
Charles A. Alexander and Henry Bak- 
ker, deacons; Mrs. Lou Hornaday dea- 
coness; Cora S. Hornor, clerk; S. F. 
Hornor, E. S. Hornaday and C. A. 
Alexander, trustees. 

The succession of pastors lias been 
as follows: Bev. H. M. Elliott from 
date of organization until August 
1894; Rev. F. E. Butterfield from Nov. 
'94 to March '95; Bev. A. J. Marshall 
'95; Bev. G. L. Brokaw, in 1896; 
Rev. L. E Huntley, 1897-98 and Bev. 
W. S. Lemmon, the present pastor, 
Since February 1899. 

In the spring of '95 a tabernacle, as a 
place for worship, was built on the 
east side of Franklin street and after 
the lapse of a year it was moved to its 
present location at the corner of Seer 
ond and King streets. During the 
two preceding years the meetings were 
held successively in a room of The 
Times building, the public school and 
lilntergarten buildings. 

On Jan. 5, 1894 a Christian Endeav- 
or Society was organized by the eleo* 
tion of Mrs, F. E, Bailey, president; 
E. S. Hornaday, vice-president; Mrs, 
0. A. Harding, recording and Anna 
Hornor, corresponding secretary and 
treasurer. Others that have served 
as president of the society have been 
Anna Hornor, Mrs. L. E. Huntley 
1896-97, Mrs. Jennie Langworthy, 
William Hornor and Harry E. Hornor. 
The Sunday School was organized in 
January 1891 and the succession of 
of superintendents has been Bev. H. 
M. Elliott, Charles A. Alexander, E. 
S. Hornaday, Mrs. Hattie Brown, F. 



W. Swearingen, Esq., Henry Bakker, 
Mrs. Lena Bolfe and Mrs. 0. W. 
Dresser. 

On. Jan. 19, 1894 a Ladies' Auxiliary 
Society was organized by the election 
of Mrs. Jennie Langworthy president, 
Mrs. E. S. Hornaday vice-president, 
Mrs. A. S. Wood secretary and Mrs. G. 
Dorton treasurer. Mrs. Langworthy 
served four successive years as presi- 
dent and her successors have been Mrs. 
A. S. Wood and Mrs. M. O. Byland. 
The earnings of this society have been 
about $750. 

The succession of organists has been 
Anna Hornor, Ernestine *Langworthy 
(Swearingen) and Anna Beardsley. 
men's christian union. 

During the month of May 1897 the 
pastors of the three protestant 
churches in Fonda, Bev. S. G. Jones, 
L. E. Huntley and B. E. Plickinger 
and their respective congregations 
united in their mid-week and Sabbath 
evening services. On the 5th of June 
a large tent was erected on the public 
school grounds and evangelistic ser- 
vices were held every evening for a 
period of four weeks. During the 
first week the local pastors were proy-. 
identialy assisted by Evangelists P. G. 
Stevens and L. F. Burnett, who repre- 
presented the colportage work of the. 
Moody Bible Institute, Chicago. Dur^ 
ing the next three weeks the meetings 
were in charge of Evangelist W- A- 
Sunday and his assistant F. F. Oliver, 
who, on the Sabbath afternoons of 
June 20th and 2~th, held special meet* 
ingsfor men only in the tent. 

As a result of these meetings about 
one hundred persons were added to 
the membership of the churches 
and on Sabbath, July 4th, the next 
day after the departure of the evan- 
gelists, another men's meeting was 
held in the tent for the purpose of 
organizing an association similar to 
the Y. M. C. A. After devotional 
exercises conducted by Bev. S. G. 
Jones* J. B. Bollard was requested to 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



379 



preside, C. A. Alexander to serve as 
secretary and thirty-seven persons 
signified their willingness to assist in 
the support of a men's organization. 
Odd Fellows' Hall was chosen as the 
place for subsequent meetings and 
three weeks later a more permanent 
organization was effected by the elec- 
tion of Wm. J. Redtield, president for 
six months and the appointment of 
A. W. Davis, L. A. Rothe and Wm. 
H. Bridges a committee who, on the 
following Sabbath submitted a con- 
stitution that was adopted. The ob- 
ject of this association was to pro- 
mote the physical, social, intellectual 
and spiritual nature of men. During 
the summer of 1898 E. O. Ellis became 
secretary, the meetings were trans- 
ferred to the Tabernacle and on Dec. 
25th a new constitution was adopted 
and signed by twenty-one mem- 
bers. The Men's Christian Union was 
the name adopted at this time. The 
Sabbath afternoon meetings were 
maintained until Oct. 9, 1899 when, 
owing to the removal of a number of 
the leaders and a general lack of in- 
terest, they were discontinued. 

BAPTIST SERVICES. 

Rev. Charles Perkins, a Baptist min- 
ister, in 1870 came to the home of ais 
son, Charles G-. Perkins, soon after his 
s,ettlenient op sectiop 32, Colfax, then 
a part of Cedar township, and that 
fall ip a, terppqrary schoolhouse op 
section 3, held the first; public serv? 
ices ip Butlep towpshjp. Pis first 
wife, Apmzipa Oushipiip, a lady uf 
Puritan descent, dlod Dec. 32, 1M2, 
and was burled at Pomeroy, Two 
years later he married Mrs Elizabeth 
Blckwell and they lived in Fonda 1874 
to 1876. During all these years he en- 
deavored to maintain appointments 
in the schoolhouses in the vicinity of 
Konda, and during the summer of 
1878, while living again at the home 
of his son, held services on alternate 
Sabbath afternoons in (ho Fonda 
schoolhouse. The next year he re- 



turned to Paris, Maine, where he died 
July 6, 1892, in his 78th year. 

THE FONDA BIBLE SOCIETY. 

When the Pocahontas County Bible 
Society held its 19th annual meeting 
at Rolfe, Feb. 5, 1889, Rev. R. E. 
Flickinger, who was present, and Rev. 
John Hamerson, pastor of the M. E. 
church, Fonda, were appointed a com- 
mittee to organize an auxiliary so- 
ciety at Fonda. A union service hav- 
ing this object" in view, was held in 
the Presbyterian church, Fonda, on 
Sabbath evening, Feb. 24, 1889, and 
the following persons, by the payment 
of the annual membership fee of one 
dollar each, were enrolled as pros- 
pective members, namely: Alex. F. 
Hubbell, Joseph Hawkins, C. H. Whit- 
ney, C. D. Lucas, Rev. John Hamer- 
son, Rev. R. E. Flickinger, Amos Dart, 
Mrs. James Mercer, Mrs. Geo. Fair- 
burn, Mrs. J. W. Southworth, Mis. 
(Conductor) Henze, Mrs. John Stream, 
Ella Post, Augusta Ave, Geo. Sanborn, 
C. J. and' IV. K Hutchinson, IT. B. 
Deitric'-: ^.1 Wm. Watson. I: iring 
the ntui I'ew clays the names of Mrs. 
Frank P. JMcKee, R. C. Totter, G. I; 
P.eniff, A. R Wolgamot, J. N Vcllee. 
Geo A. Powers, J. B. Bollard, Chat;. 
II. Post and Joseph Chapman were 
added to this list, making 28 members 
and a fund of C30.68 for ihe purchase 
of books, 

Qu March 4, 18-9, the organization 
was completed by tl;o adoptiop of a 

constitution and the uieotimi of Htii* 
oers as follows Ale;;. F, lUihhPlh 
president; Rev. .Juan niimorsun. viae* 
proaident; Rev. R. E. Flickinger, boo* 
raiary; and Charles H. Post, U'GUSllJ'M'i 
the other members of the executive 
committee chosen at the close ot the 
union service being C. D. Lucas, Anius 
Dart and Joseph Hawkins. On the 
recommendation of Rev. John Hood, 
state superintendent, the society be^ 
came an auxiliary to the American 
Bible Society, and the latter added a 
grant of $80 worth or Blbkn when a 



380 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



draft of that amount was sent with 
the first order for books. When the 
books were received they were placed 
for sale at the stores of Bollard & 
Brown and A. B. Wolgamot; and 
Joseph Hawkins and Amos Dart were 
appointed local agents to visit fami- 
lies and direct the distribution of 
Bibles and Testaments when needed. 
This organization has been a source 
of great convenience and value to this 
community, by placing the various 
publications of the American Bible 
Society within easy reach of all; and 
all the religious organizations of the 
community have been the recipients 
of one or more donations of Bibles. 
The last annual report shows that the 
value of the books thus given to socie- 
ties and individuals since its organiza- 
tion eleven years ago, amount to $73.64 
and that the balance of the grant 
of $30.00 from the parent society in 
J889 was returned to it in March 1900. 
The value of the bibles sold and dis- 
tributed through this local agency 
amounts to $281.20. The value of 
those on hand is $48.00 and it has a 
credit of $29.58 for books, in the book 
account of the parent society. The 
books are kept for sale at the Palace 
pharmacy of H. A. Daubenberger, 
where bibles' may be purchased in the 
English, German. Swedish and Dan- 
ish languages. 

In 1892 the constitution was amen- 
ded so as to provide that the pastors 
of the Methodist and Presbyterian 
churches in Fonda shall be ex-offlcio 
members of executive committee and 
in 1895 this courtesy was extended to 
the Christian church. A. F. Hubbell 
served as president 1889-94, Hon. 
James Mercer '94-96,F. W. Swearingen 
Esq., 1897, Z. C. Bradshaw Esq., '98-99 
and Samuel S. Martin 1900. Kev. R. E. 
Flickinger has served as secretary, 
since the date of its organization and 
most of the time as treasurer also. 
Charles A. Alexander has been treas- 
urer since 1898. 



FONDA POST G. A. E. 

The organization of a Post of the 
G. A. R. at Fonda is credited to the 
leadership of Capt. Jos. Mallison and 
Comrade F. Rubendall. At the sug- 
gestion of the latter the former visit- 
ed the Post at Manson and became a 
member of it. He then circulated a 
petition for a Post' at Fonda and, 
sending it to Des Moines, headquarters 
for this state, a charter was granted 
and a Post, No. 383. was established 
March 6, 1885, with twenty-one mem- 
bers. Of these original members four 
have died— B. F. Osburn, John W. 
Bailey, A. F. Hubbell and Wm. Gil- 
son; four have been discharged by 
card, viz: A. J. Hamilton, W. P. 
Bush, A. F. Burdick and A. C. Blake- 
slee; seven of them are members at 
present: S. H. Trade, J. H. Haven, 
Geo. Sanborn, Jos. Mallison, Wm. 
Fitzgerald, C. H. Whitney and D. M. 
Woodin; the others were Geo. W. 
Covey, E. M. Tollefsrude, Philander 
Pike, G. W. Bothwell, M. Carpenter 
and Sylvanus Hersom. 

The first officers of the Post were: 
Capt. Jos. Mallison, commander; A. 
F. Hubbell, S. F.; Geo. W. Covey, T. 
Y.;G. W. Bothwell, M. D., surgeon; 
E. M. Tollefsrude, Q. M.; M. Carpen- 
ter, O. D.; W. P. Bush, O. G.; J. H. 
Haven, chaplain; Geo. Sanborn, Adj't; 
Wm. Fitzgerald, Serg'b Maj.; D. M. 
Woodin, Q. M. Sergt. 

The Post was mustered by Captain 
Rothrock, of Manson, and the whole 
number enrolled has been 68. Other 
members who have diod in addition 
to tbose already named are Martin 
V. B. Welsh, John Callahan, Thomas 
Higgins and John C. Nichols. The 
Post now consists of twenty-two mem- 
bers and meets on the second Tuesday 
and last Saturday of each month. The 
succession of commanders has been as 
follows: Capt. Jos. Mallison, '85; W. 
P. Bush, Geo. Sanborn, '87-88; J. R. 
Johnson, Wm- A. Henderson, Frank 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



381 



Rubendall. J. W. Bailey, Capt. Jos. 
Mallison, '93-95; Alex. Dunn, '96-97; 
. Charles G. Perkins, '98-1900. 

The succession of adjutants has 
been: Geo. Sanborn, '85; Capt. Jos. 
Mallison, '86-87, '89-92; J. W. Bailey, 
'88: Alex. Dunn, '93-94; Hon. James 
Mercer, '95; Capt. Jos. Mallison, '97- 
1900. The other officers for 1900 are 
C. E. Hunter, Sr. V.; J. H. Haven, 
Jr. V.; Alex. Dunn, Q. M.; J. R. John- 
son, O. D ; David Steiner, O. G.; P. R. 
Chamberlain, Serg't; C. H. "Whitney, 
chaplain. 

THE WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS. 

The Woman's Relief Corps of Fon- 
da was organized in December, .1891, 
with eighteen charter members as 
follows: Mesdames Lucy Johnson, 
Louresta E. Sanborn, Dora Craft, 
Elizabeth Bailey, Harriet Evans, 
Lou Hornaday, May Spielman, Annie 
Bush, Mary Haven, Mary Bailey, Mary 
Rubendall, Folena Wendell, Alma 
Vore, Louisa Whitney, S. H. Mallison, 
Laura Shaw, Miss Hattie Henderson 
and Miss Ina Newland. 

The object of this organization is to 
assist the G. A. R. Post in the care of 
sick Union veterans, their widows and 
orphans and to perpetuate, the mem- 
ory of the unknown dead. In Dec- 
ember 1896, this corps appropriated 
$20 of their funds for the erection of a 
monument to the unknown dead. Later 
three lots were purchased in the Fon- 
da cemetery, a substantial rock foun- 
dation was built and the ground 
neatly terraced around it Many cit- 
izens have kindly donated labor and 
materials for this object and the ex- 
pectation is indulged that a suitable 
monument will be erected in the near 
future. 

The succession of those who have 
served as presidents of the Corps is as 
follows: Mrs. Lou Hornaday, '92; Mrs. 
Julia Wilkinson, three months; Mrs. 
Geo. Sanborn, April 1, '93-Dec. 31, '94; 



Mrs. Jos. Mallison, '95-96; Mrs. Geo. 
Sanborn, Mrs. Mary Haven, (died May 
2, 1900) Mrs. Lucy J. Johnson, '99-1900. 

SONS OF VETERANS. 

On May 2, 1888, a camp of the Sons 
of Veterans was mustered at Fonda 
by C. H. Knox, of Manson, and it was 
called Fairburn Camp, No. 147. The 
first officers were Wm. H. Henderson, 
Capt.; W. B. McClellan, 1st Lieut.; R. 
H. Robinson, 2d Lieut.; F. Bailey, 
Sergt.; Wallace Haven, Q. M. On the 
30th of May following, Geo. Fairburn 
presented this camp with a large and 
beautiful flag, having their name and 
number inscribed upon it, and said 
"Boys, be as good citizens as your 
fathers were soldiers, and you will 
be as they were, an honor to your 
country." This organization was 
maintained for a number of years. At 
present they meet only on Memorial 
and Decoration days. 

I. O. G. T. OF FONDA. 

On Saturday evening Dec. 18, 1880, 
the first lodge of the Independent Or- 
der of Good Templars was organized 
at Fonda by C. C. Coyle, District Dep- 
uty, with thirty-one charter mem- 
bers as follows: Capt. Jos. Mallison, 
W. O; Mrs. Nellie R. Swingle, W. V.; 
A. M. Shellito, R. S.; Geo. Metcalf. 
F. S.; Miss Belle Tucker (Covey), 
Treas.; Rev. J. S. Zeigler, Chaplain; 
Wm. Hull, Marshall; Jennie Lucas, 
(Say lor) A. M.; Lois A. Wood, (Hub- 
bell) R. H. S.; Mrs. R. F. Hull, L. H- 
S.; Affa Wood, Asst. Sec; Minnie 
Tucker, (Weaver) I. G.; Lawrence 
Johnson, O. G. ; C. W. Trusdale, Lodge 
Deputy; A. J. and Belinda Norem, 
Mrs. Theo. and Frank Dodge, S. S. 
and Gilbert Tucker, C. D. McCulloch, 
Thos. Kennedy, Roderick Guyett, R. 
F., Ellen (Brown) and Emma Hull 
(Wood), Abram G. Wood, Rebecca 
Busby, Olive Whitney and L. Trus* 
dale. 

This organization was started under 
very favorable auspices and the hope 



382 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



was indulged that it would live, 
flourish and become one of the sub- 
stantial lodges of the state, for there 
seemed to be as many more persons 
ready to join it as soon as their names 
could be acted upon. By the fire of 
Oct. 15, 1883, their hall, charter and 
records were burned and the lodge 
lapsed. 

On March 10th and 11th, 1886, two 
meetings were held in the Methodist 
church and a new lodge, number 150, 
was organized with forty-one mem- 
bers as follows: Godfrey Pfeiffer, (C. 
T.), and daughter Emma (I. G.), Mrs. 
E. (V. T) and Nellie (A. S.) Hyatt, 
Harvey W. (chaplain) and Wm. Hay, 
Mrs. Fred Haffele (Sec), Mrs. A. B. 
P. and Louis A (F S.), Wood (Hub- 
bell), Charles H. (Treas.), and Ella 
Post, C. D. and Mabel (D. M.) Lucas 
(Bush), James J. Trude (O. G.), Anna 
Brown (R. H. S.), Mr. (P. W. C. T.), 
and Mrs. Prince B. and Arthur Gif- 
ford, Mrs. L. A. (Geo.) Sanborn, Mr. 
and Mrs. Fred Swingle, Mr. and Mrs. 
Geo. H. Ellis, Dr. G. W. and Gertie 
Bothwell, Charles H., William and 
Mamie Whitney, A.. W. Dart, S. W. 
Norton, W. A. Karr, Mabel McKee 
(Robinson), Kate Roberts (Plumb), 
Wm. H. and Susie Hutchinson, Mrs. 
Wm., Willie and Charles Hocking. 
One week later others were received 
who were also enrolled as charter 
members as follows: Francis Faus 
(W. M.), Frank Opperman, William 
Hocking, Jennie Lucas (Saylor), Beo- 
ca Pfeiffer (Osburn), Nellie Hull 
(Newell). Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Boyd and 
Guy S. Robinson. 

This organization has had its seasons 
of drought and refreshing, but has 
been maintained until the present 
time. It is worthy of notice that of 
these charter members Mrs. L. A. San- 
born is the only one identified with it 
at present. She has continued to at- 
tend the meetings and look after the 
interests of this organization with a 
punctuality and interest that has 



never lagged. To her prudent coun- 
sel and unfailing enthusiasm in its 
work more than to any other may be 
attributed its stability and much of 
its excellent moral influence. She has 
filled nearly all the offices of the local 
lodge many times and during those 
periods when the attendance and 
membership were small she has been 
ready to take additional responsibili- 
ties in order t© insure its maintenance. 
When the Juvenile Temple was or- 
ganized Nov. 20, 1890, she became 
sponsor for its maintenance and suc- 
cess also. Every year her home has 
been the recognized headquarters for 
all necessary supplies for tnese two 
organizations, and the most popular 
place for their lawn socials, or social 
gatherings during the winter evenings. 

The succession of Chief Templars 
has been Godfrey Pfeiffer and Harvey 
W. Hay in 1886; R. W. Russell and 
Mrs. B. F. Osburn in '87; N. M. Per- 
ry and L. R. Wright in '88; Frank 
Eaton, Rev. John Hamerson Oct - 
Dec. '89; Oscar Eaton, J. B. Sargent 
Oct. '90-July '93; Irwin Davidson, 
Wm. H. Bridges, Oct.-Dec. '94; Rob- 
ert Busby, L. R. Wright, Gus T. 
Swenson and Alice Davis, in '95; J. C. 
Slinker, in '96; Weston Martin, '97-98; 
Agnes McGeary, Josephine Maulsby 
and Bertha Neal in '99, and Harry 
Hornor, in 1900. 

Those who have been elected to the 
office of secretary are Mrs. Fred Haff- 
ele, Mrs. R. Wright, in '86; Becca 
Pfeiffer, Mabel Lucas, Maggie Olkjer, 
in '87; Mrs. N. M. Perry and Matie L. 
Turner, in '88; Mrs. Matie Pruden 
and Heppie Tucker, in '89; Maude 
Carpenter, Ella Bollard and Maude 
Kay, in '90; Clara Cartlidge and Cora 
Shutt, in '91; Maggie Eaton, '92; Lulu 
Sanborn and Ed. C. Rathbun, in '93; 
Wm. Hunt and Gus T. Swenson, in 
'94; Edith Busby and Mamie Russell, 
in '95; Wm Hornor, Nellie Sargent 
and Mae Fitcb. in '96; Lulu Sanborn, 
in '97; Nellie Sargent and Bert Brown, 



OEDAB TOWNSHIP, 



iifaS 



in '98; Mabel Miller, Eber Hornor and 
Albert Burson, in '99, and Agnes Mc- 
Geary, in 1900. 

The Lodge Deputy at present is Gus 
T. Swenson, and through the interest 
developed by bim a lodge of 37 mem- 
bers was organized at Varina, March 
10, 1900. 

The Juvenile Temple was organized 
by Mrs. Lloyd, of Des Moines, Nov. 20, 
1890, with about twenty members, 
and Mrs. L. A. Sanborn was chosen 
superintendent. With the exception 
of the year 1895, when Mrs. Maggie 
Eaton was superintendent, Mrs. San- 
born served in this capacity from the 
date of organization until the end of 
1899— a period of eight years. Mrs. 
Mabel Bush is her successor. It meets 
in the I. O. G. T. hall every Friday 
afternoon at four o'clock. 

FRATERNITY OF ANCIENT FREE AND 
ACCEPTED MASONS. 

Symbol Lodge No. 432, A. F. & A. 
M., was established at Fonda by a dis- 
pensation granted by the Grand Lodge 
of Iowa, Nov. 10, 1882, and the first 
meeting under the dispensation was 
held Nov. 22, 1882. A charter was 
granted June 6, 1883, when there were 
twelve members from whom the first 
officers were chosen as follows: D. 
W. Edgar, W. M.; Wm. Marshall, S. 
W.; B. F. Osburn, J. W.; J. N. McKee, 
Treas.; Geo. Fairburn, Sec; M. A. 
Haven, S. D ; J. N. McClellan, J. D.; 
C. G. Perkins, S. S. and Theron A. 
Snell, Tyler. The other charter mem- 
bers were Rev. Charles Perkins and J. 
N. McClellan. The first one made a 
Mason was J. H. Coleman, Jan. 17. 
1883, and the first one raised was W. 
L. Haven, April 4, 1883. There have 
been 62 members initiated, 44 admit- 
ted on demit, 61 raised and the pres- 
ent membership is 57. Seven have 
died, viz: Rev. Charles Perkins, B. 
F. Osburn, O. A. Langworthy, Wm. 
Marshall, A. F. Hubbell, John Cart- 
lidge and Henry Zeigler. The succes- 
sion of Worshipful Masters is as fol- 



lows: D. W. Edgar, M. D., '82-84; J. 
N. McClellan, '85-86; M. A. Haven, D. 
W. Edgar, J. N. McClellan, M. A. Ha- 
ven, J. N. McClellan, D. M. Woodin, 
'92-93; J.N. McClellan, A. G. Wood, 
M. G. Coleman, '96-98; A. S. Wood, 
'99-1900. 

The officers for the year 1900 are as 
follows: A. S. Wood, W. M.; C. R, 
Whitney, S. W.; W. S. Adams, J. W.; 
R. F. Beswick, Treas.; J. II Coleman, 
Sec; J. B. Sargent; S. D; Thomas 
Jackson, J. D.; A. L. Roberts. S. S.; 
J. J. McDermott, Tyler. The com- 
mittee on finance is M. G. Coleman, 
Jos. Mallison and John Forbes The 
lodge meets Wednesday eyening on 
or before the full moon of each month. 

ORDER OF EASTERN STAR. 

The Golden Cord chapter No. 187, 
of the Eastern Star was instituted at 
Fonda Jan. 7, 1896, with seventeen 
members, by Mrs. Jennie A. Rule, 
Grand Matron for the state of Iowa. 
The first officers chosen were Mrs. 
Susie H. Mallison, W. M.; M. G. Cole- 
man, W. P.; Mrs. Heppie L. Toy, A. 
M.;Dr. C. H. Whitney, Sec; Mrs. 
Anna Hughes, Treas.; Mrs. Jennie 
Robinson, Con.; Mrs. Camilla Metcalf, 
Asst. Con. The persons chosen to 
represent the five points of the star 
were Maude Hughes, Ada; Maude 
Marshall, Ruth; Mrs. Victoria Cole- 
man, Martha; Mrs. Rose Beswick, 
Esther; Mrs. Ann Cartlidge, Electa. 
Sixty-three persons have been en- 
rolled as members and the present 
membership is forty-five. The succes- 
sion of Worthy Matrons has been: 
Mrs. Mallison, '96-97; Mrs. Anna Ed- 
gar, "98; Mrs. Victoria Coleman, '99; 
Mrs. Jennie Robinson, 1900; and of 
secretaries, Dr. C. R. Whitney, '96; 
Mrs. Emma Coleman, '97-99; Mrs. An- 
na Edgar, 1900. 

This organization is very closely re- 
lated to the Masonic fraternity and 
its object is to co-operate with it in 
its beneficent efforts for the welfare 



384 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of the wives, daughters, mothers, wid- 
ows and sisters of Master Masons. 

ODD FELLOWS. 

The Fonda Lodge I. O. O. F. No. 
203, was instituted Dec. 14, 1885, and 
the first officers were: E. W. Russell, 
N. G; J. W. Spitzbarth, V. G.; W. J. 
Redfield, Sec; W. J. Busby, F. S.; G. 
R. Reniff, Treas. This organization 
lias now about sixty members and is 
in an excellent financial condition. 
It meets every Monday evening and 
their hall is over the hardware store 
in the McKee brick block. The offi- 
cers are elected for a term of six 
months and the succession of Noble 
Grands has been: R. W. Russell, J. 
W. Spitzbarth, W. J. Redfield, W. J. 
Busby, G. R. Reniff, J. D. Carpenter, 
J. B. Bollard, C. A. Reed, R, D. Bol- 
lard, J. B. Sargent, F. W. Kloxin, J. 
H. Stream, H. W. Heston, Frank P. 
McKee, John Kennedy, Wm, Wendell, 
Geo. Sanborn, Jos. Mallison, R. 
Wright, P. C. Toy, Wm. Wilde, Geo. 
S. Wendell, C. E. Mayo, J. F. Blair, 
ELIbson, John Thompson, John Ken- 
nedy, Wm. Keneen and Rev. Z. C. 
Bradshaw. The secretaries have been: 
W. J. Redfield, W. J. Busby, R. 
Wright and Wm. Wilde, the last 
since 1895. 

IOWA LEGION OF HONOR. 

The Fonda Lodge of the Iowa 
Legion of Honor was organized Feb- 
ruary 24, 1880, with twelve members, 
and the officers were Geo. Fairburn, 
Pres.; James F. Mallison, V. P.; Ed B. 
Tabor, Sec; C. G. Guyett, F. S.;Theo. 
Dunn, Treas.; Joseph Mallison, C. D. 
Lucas, W. H. Clemens, G. H. Thomp- 
son and P. G. Ibson. The trustees 
chosen were: G. W. Bothwell, C. D. 
Lucas and Joseph Mallison. This is 
the oldest fraternal insurance organ- 
ization in Fonda, and it meets ordi- 
narily only once a year. The present 
membership is twenty and the officers 
are Capt. Jos. Mallison, President; 
Geo. Sanborn, Secretary, G. R. Reniff, 
Financial Secretary and Treasurer. 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. 

The Cedar Lodge of the Knights of 
Pythias (No 311) was organized at 
Fonda, December 8, 1891, with four- 
teen members, by district deputy J. P 
Lawton, of Newell, assisted by the 
Newell and Manson Lodges. The 
first officers according to their rank 
were; F. B. Deitrick, J. W. Redfield, 
E. A. Fuller, F. P. McKee, G. H. 
Fitch, J. H. Stream, J. D. Carpenter, 
Joseph Mallison, Geo. Selzer and J. 
Clancy. The Lodge meets in their 
hall every Thursday evening and the 
present officers are F. W. Fitch, J. M. 
Thorpe, G. C. Weber, R. Wright, L. 
S. Straight, S; W. Maulsby, W. J. 
Redfield, C. C. Stevens, F. B. Dunn 
and W. J. Busby. 

MODERN WOODMEN. 

The Fonda Camp No. 3242, of the 
Modern Woodmen of America was in- 
stituted September, 30, 1895, with 
twenty-three members. The first of- 
ficers were Peter Kurvink, Y. C. ; W. 
J. Redfield, W. A.; G. A. Straight, 
Treas.: and C. A. Alexander, Clerk. 
The camp meets on the second and 
fourth Friday of each month, and it 
has now an enrollment of eighty- 
eight members. The officers are 
elected annually. The succession of 
venerable consuls has been, Peter 
Kurvink, '95; W. J. Redfield, L. S. 
Straight, J. D. Carpenter, H. C. 
Beardsley and J.'D. Wurtsbaugh Esq. 
The secretaries have been C. A. Alex- 
ander, '95, R. Wright, '96-99, A. W. 
Sargent and C. A. Alexander, in 1900; 
and the treasurers, G. H. Straight, 
A. W. Phillips and Geo. H. Fitch. 

KNIGHTS OF THE MACCABEES. 

The Fonda Tent, No 81, of the 
Knights of the Maccabees was insti- 
tuted March 4, 1898, with twenty 
members. The first officers were Roy 
Carpenter, Commander; A. Sauter, 
Lieut. Com.; E. J. Chingren, Sergt. ; 
L. R. Wright, R. K. andF. K.; Paul 
SwensOn, Chap.; W. M. Elliott, M. A. 
Charles Hardy, M. G. ; Frank Barker, 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP 



385 



Sec.; Geo. Elliott, Sent.; Wm. Hen- 
richs, P.; and Dr. Charles Whitney, 
Med. Examiner. The tent has now 
about sixty members and meets on 
the first and third Thursday of each 
month. L. R. Wright continues to 
perform the duties of secretary and 
the succession of commanders has 
been, Roy Carpenter, '98, John W. 
Rock, '99, and P. D. Wilds, 1900. 

MODERN BROTHERHOOD OF AMERICA. 

The Fonda Lodge No. 408, of the 
Modern Brotherhood of America, was 
organized January 23, 1899, With fif- 
teen members and the first officers 
were T. A. Thompson, Pres.; W. S. 
Brown, V. P.; Grant Bayne, Sec: and 
Treas.; W. E. Wykoff, Con.;M. Mauls- 
by, Chap,; Elmer Adams and Claude 
Simpson. The enrollment at present 
is fifty-seven, which includes both 
men and women, T. A. Thompson is 
president and Matie L. Bailey is 
secretary and treasurer. 

CATHOLIC ORDER OF FORESTERS. 

St. Mary's Court, No 1071 of the 
Catholic Order of Foresters was in- 
stituted at Fonda, February 21, 1900, 
with thirty-two members. The offi- 
cers chosen at this time were, J. R. 
Mullen, C. R.; J. F. Howe, V. C. R. 
Arthur McCartan, P. C. R.; H. A 
Daubenberger, R. Sec; C. F. Linnan 
F. S.; John McCafferty, John O'Brien 
and Wm. Bradford, Trustees; Carl 
O'Donnell, 1. S.; J. W. Clancy, O. S. 
Dr. T. J. Dower, M. E.; John Tolan 
Treas.; and Rev. J. F. Brennan 
Chap. The object of this organiza- 
tion is to promote friendship, unity 
and christian charity among its mem- 
bers. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT AND WATER WORKS 

The Hose Company No. 1, of Fonda, 
was organized June 27, 1895 with 
twerrty-three members as follows: G. 
R. Reniff (Chief), A. G. Wood (Asst. 
Chief), C. M. Carroll (Capt.), F. J. 
Kenning (Treas.), H. C. Dorton, A. J. 
Sauter, Wm. Dunn, George Wendell, 
Guy S. Robinson, George Kinney, 



Grant and Ellwood Newland, Frank 
R. Judd,B. K. Hawkins.C. S. Nichols, 
Ed. O'Donnell, L. S. Straight, Al. 
Ehline, James Thompson, John Howe, 
Fred Spielman, Verne Harris, and B. 
Fox. Others that have become 
members since the organization are 
P. L. Shanley, George Sanborn, Jr., 
Wm. Roberts, Peter Murphey, Earl 
Ellis, George Fastle and F. H. Bond. 
The annual election of officers is held 
on the second Tuesday in May. Mr. 
Reniff continued to serve as chief un- 
til May 1900 when he was succeeded 
by Ed. O'Donnell, who became assist- 
ant chief in the spring of 1896 and 
captain also in May 1898, when these 
two offices were united. At present 
A.J. Sauter is captain, P. L. Shanley, 
secretary and Mr. Kenning is still 
serving as treasurer. 

The first call to service was onSept. 
6, 1895 when the building of R. E. 
Rosa was on fire, the second was Ken- 
nedy's elevator Dec 26, '95, and the 
third the fire in the Presbyterian 
church Jan. 6, 1896. The whole num- 
ber of calls to which they have res- 
ponded has been twenty-seven, of 
which the principal ones were the 
burning of the tile sheds 
of Straight Brothers' and Ray- 
mond's house in 1898, the corn cribs 
near the Kennedy elevator in 1899 and 
the Kelley restaurant at the corner of 
Main and Second streets in January 
and March 1900. The first engineer 
was Peter Kurvink and he was suc- 
ceeded by G. C. Weber in April 1896. 

The town well was sunk and the 
water tank erected in 1895. An addi- 
tional well that serves the purpose of 
a reservoir or a supply tank was com- 
pleted in March 1900. The city has 
now a very complete and satisfactory 
system of water works. The water 
is excellent and its supply is so abund- 
ant that it meets all the wants of the 
city and also of the two railways that 
intersect each other at this place. 



386 Pioneer history of pocahontas county, iowa. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF POCAHON- 
TAS COUNTY. 

The establishment of the Big Four 
District Fair Association, at Fonda, 
was the outgrowth of a number of 
propositions and efforts to establish 
similar organizations in other parts of 
the county during the preceding dec- 
ade. 

As early as April, 1879, a proposition 
was made through the columns of the 
Times to organize an Agricultural so- 
ciety by the people of Pocahontas, 
Sac, Calhoun, and Buena Vista coun- 
ties. 

During January and February 1883 
several articles appeared in the col- 
umns of the Times advocating the 
organization of a County Agricultural 
Society, and on March 17, 1883, a pub- 
lic meeting, attended by twenty-five 
persons, was held in the school house 
atRolfe, for that purpose. Articles 
of incorporation were read and ap- 
proved. James J. Bruce, who served 
as chairman of the meeting, tendered 
a donation of forty acres of land near 
Rolfe to the society, and then they 
adjourned to meet at Pocahontas Cen- 
ter on April 11th following. 

On March 31, 1883, a similar meet- 
ing of the citizens in the vicinity was 
held at Pocahontas and the articles of 
incorporation adopted at this meeting 
were published in the next issue of the 
Times over the signatures of Oscar I. 
Strong, A. L. Thornton, O. A. Pease, 
J.H. Heaton, Noah Morrison, M. F. 
Patterson, M. D., W. J. Cullen, W. G. 
Bradley, Samuel Lyons, W. C. Rals- 
ton, Louis Brodsky, C. M. Hunt, W. 
H. Hodges, J. W. Wallace, E M. 
Hastings and J. F. Harlan. 

On April 10th, 1883, those represent- 
ing this organization met again at the 
Bissell House, pursuant to previous 
adjournment, George Sanborn, serv- 
ing as chairman and J. F. Harlan as 
secretary. At this meeting a letter 
from Warrick Price was read in which 
he offered to donate to this Society, 



known as the Agricultural Society 
of Pocahontas county, ten acres of 
land at Pocahontas and to sell ten 
acres more for the same purpose at a 
very reasonable rate. An executive 
committee, consisting of one man 
from each township in the county, 
was appointed to solicit stock as fol- 
lows: John Fraser, Powhatan; J. 
Hughes, Swan Lake; Peter Wendell, 
Bellville;D. C. Williams, Washington; 
W. J. O'Brien, Sherman; CM. Saylor, 
Lincoln; J. P. Welch, Center; P. H. 
Bendixon, Clinton; A. F. Hubbell, 
Dover; A. L. Thornton and Rufus 
Green, Laurens; H. C. Tollefsrude, 
Grant; Carl Steinbrink, Lizard; A. G. 
Maxwell, Colfax; Robert Struthers, 
Des Moines; Horace Chipman, Lake, 
and Wm, Marshall, Cedar. 

At the next meeting of this society, 
held in the Court House May 19, 
1883, officers for the first year were 
elected as follows: C. M. Saylor, Pres- 
ident; John Fraser, Vice President; 
George Sanborn, Secretary and J. F. 
Harlan, Treasurer. A board of direc- 
tors, consisting of one member from 
each township, was elected, and a 
committee of four members was ap- 
pointed to prepare a constitution and 
series of by-laws for adoption at the 
next meeting. 

On November 10, 1883, this society 
held an annual meeting at Pocahon- 
tas, and elected officers for the ensu- 
ing year, which were the same as be- 
fore, except that A. G. Maxwell be- 
came secretary in place of George 
Sanborn. The meeting adjourned un- 
til January 12, 1881 and then this so- 
ciety also went into "inocuous desue- 
tude " 

BIG FOUR DISTRICT FAIR. 

In May 1888 the public agitation of 
a Fair Association was renewed by 
the businessmen of Fonda, and they 
issued a call for a meeting in Mckee's 
Hall, on Saturday May 12, 1888, for 
the purpose of effecting an organiza- 
tion that should embrace Pocahontas 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP 



387 



and the three other counties that are 
contiguous to Fonda. 

In response to this call no meeting 
was held until Saturday afternoon, 
March 15, 1890. On this date there 
was a large attendance of representa- 
tive farmers and stock raisers from 
Pocahontas and the three adjoining 
counties, and the meeting was organ- 
ized by the selection of Wm. J. Bus- 
by, chairman, and A. G. Wood Esq., 
secretary. A committee was appoint- 
ed to prepaie articles of incorporation 
and by-laws, another to solicit stock 
at ten dollars a share and a third one 
to report the best site available for an 
agricultural fair. 

On March 31, 1890 the first meeting 
of the stockholders was held in Mc- 
Kee's Hall, N. B. Post serving as 
chairman. The Big Four District 
Fair Association was organized by the 
adoption of articles of incorporation, 
and on April 8th, officers were elected 
for one year, as follows: J. N. McLel- 
lan, President; Hon. James Mercer, 
Vice President; A. G. Wood, Secreta- 
ry, and A. S. Wood , Treasurer. Ten 
directors were chosen as follows; J. J 
Allee (Newell), Foster Blackington 
(Pomeroy), Col. Phil Schaller (Sac 
City), Abram Burson, Wm. Bott, J. B. 
Bollard, J N. McKee, E. Kay, M. W. 
Linnan and Charles A. Zeigler. 

On April 17th, 37 acres of : land, lo- 
cated west of Main street and south of 
the railroad, were purchased for $1850 
and on May 30th, stock to the amount 
of $1,500 having been subscribed, ar- 
rangements were made for holding 
the first agricultural fair, in Pocahon- 
tas county, September 23 to 26, 1890. 

The work of improvement advanced 
rapidly so that at the time of the first 
exhibition the grounds were enclosed 
with a good fence, floral hall and an 
amphitheater seating one thousand 
persons had been erected, a half mile 
track had been completed in the most 
approved style for the display of fast 
horses, and comfortable accommoda- 



tions had been provided for a large 
number of all kinds of stock raised on 
the farm. The cost of these improve- 
ments was $4,071. 

At the first exhibition there were 
more than a hundred entries of horses 
and swine, and nearly as many of cat- 
tle. This liberal patronage was a 
source of gratification and encourage- 
ment to all who were interested in the 
enterprise and a similar exhibition 
has been held every year since that 
date. As indicated by its name and 
the representatives on its board of 
directors, this Big Four District Fair, 
has received the liberal patronage of 
the greater portion of the four count- 
ies that have Fonda as their geograph- 
ical center and most convenient trad- 
ing point. The track has proved to 
be one of the finest and most attract- 
ive in the state, so that a large num- 
ber of the best trotting horses in it 
have participated in the races, at 
every exhibition. The grounds and 
buildings are very convenient of access 
both from the town and railway sta- 
tions, and many that have had the op- 
portunity of inspecting those in other 
localities have pronounced these as 
fine as any in northwest Iowa. 

The following items relating to the 
finances of this association have been 
gleaned from the annual statements 
that have appeared in the local pa-* 
pers. 

1890 1895 1897 1899 
Gate Rec"ts $1228 $1295 $1669 $1988 
Privegs. etc. 952 995 829 1605 
State approps. 200 200 200 

Total Rects. 2280 2390 2698 3793. 
Shares sold 3490 548 

Premiums 1614 1794* 2103 2177 
Attractions 75 265 206 

Improv'mts. 3170 212 870 

Expenses 518 341 504 

Debt and Int. 453 296 781 

^Includes expenses 

This exhibit shows that the associa- 
tion has added considerable improve- 
ments and made substantial financial 



388 PIONEER HISTORY Of POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



progress during the last five years. 
The amount due on the grounds has 
been reduced to $1,100. Of the pre- 
miums the amount paid for speed du- 
.ring the last three years, 1897, '98 and 
'99, has been $1,445, $1,317 and $1,565 
respectively. The gate receipts on 
Thursday September 1, 1898, were 
over $1,300 and it was estimated that 
nearly 7000 persons were present that 
day, which was the largest attendance 
until that date. The special attrac- 
tions that day were an oratorical con- 
test in which George M, Allee, of 
Newell won a two years' scholarship 
in the college at Strcator, 111., 
base ball games, bicycle races and a 
balloon ascension that owing to some 
unforeseen cause did not prove a suc- 
cess. 

A special program of interest to the 
public has always been provided for 
the first day of the fair, and the sec- 
ond one has from the first been desig- 
nated as "old soldier's day," because 
on that day free admission is accorded 
to every one of them. This is a recog- 
nition they have greatly appreciated 
and when they have formed and 
marched to the grounds in a body 
their numbers have surprised those 
who have witnessed the procession. In 
1890 a campfire was held in the even- 
ing, and Col. Phil Schaller, of Sac 
County was master of ceremonies. 

During the last few years there has 
been a growing tendency to attract 
the attention of the public to the 
county fairs in this section, by afford- 
ing the people the opportunity to wit- 
ness abnormal feats, such as a man. 
leaping from an ascending balloon or a 
horse diving from an elevated plat- 
form into a tank filled with water, etc. 
This suggests a demand for sensation 
or something to awaken astonishment 
rather than that education which 
should be the aim and object of an 
agricultural fair. The fact that our 
most successful farmers almost with- 



out exception, the agricultural press 
of this state and all good people in 
every community now boldly express 
their disapproval of spending money 
for these sensational and foolhardy 
performances, and protest against all 
midway attractions at our county 
fairs, because of their immoral tend- 
encies, is one of the better signs of the 
times, and indicates that a reaction- 
ary movement has already commen- 
ced that has for its object, the promo- 
tion of the educational idea that 
fends to enrich and the suppression of 
the sensational and immoral that 
always impoverishes. 

The succession of officers of the Big 
Four District Fair Association has 
been as follows: 

presidents: J. N. McLellan, 1890, 
M. F. Patterson M. D. '91-92, Emmet 
Kay '93-97, Thomas L Kennedy ; 98- 
1900. 

vice presidents: Hon. James 
Mercer 1890. N. B. Post '91, Elias 
Shutt '92, Capt. Jos. Mallison '93, Wm. 
Bott '94-96, Dr. D. W. Edgar '97, A. S. 
Wood '98-1900. 

secretaries: A. G. Wood Esq 1890 
and '93, Capt Jos. Mallison '91-92 and 
'94-96, R. Wright '97-00; F. Thornton. 

treasurers: A. S. Wood 1890-92, 
Geo. E. Hughes '93-94, P. C. Toy '95-96, . 
G. R. Reniff '97-98, Geo E. Hughes '99 
-1900. 

The present board of directors (1900) 
consists of Harvey Eaton, D. W. 
Edgar M. D., Charles S.J)arling, Hon. 
James Mercer, G.. R. Reniff, E. Kay, 
J. P. Mullen, Charles G. Perkins, Jos. 
Fuchs and Wm. Bott. 

FONDA BRICK AND TILE WORKS. 

The most important manufacturing 
establishment at Fonda, is the Brick 
and Tile Factory, of the Straight 
Bros., located west of the city water 
works. Early in the summer of 1894, 
Lee S. Straight and his father, both 
of El Paso, 111 , visited this section of 
the state in search of a suitable loca- 




JOHN D. CARPENTER, Merchant. FRANK WHITE, County Supervisor. 




MR. AND MRS. DAVID C. LUCAS, MABEL (BUSH), EBEN, 
JENNIE (SAYLOR), AND HOWARD. 



FONDA AND VICINITY. 




FONDA BRICK AND TILE WORKS, STRAIGHT BROS., Proprs. 1895. 




RESIDENCE OF WM. H. HAIT, OLD ROLFE, IN 1900. 

This building, erected by Mr. Hait in 1867, is believed to be the first frame dwelling built 
in- Pocahontas County. He sawed the frame lumber and sheathing at Old Rolfe, and hauled 
the siding, flooring and shingles from Fort Dodge. The carpenters were Thomas L. MacVey 
and W. D. McEwen. Mr. Hait, who appears in the rocker in front of it, still (1904) 
occupies it. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



389 



tion for such a plant. They examin- 
ed the clay at Fonda, and in several 
other localities. Two months later 
LeeS. Straight and Guy H. Straight, 
his brother, the two men who com- 
pose the present firm, returned to 
Fonda, and receiving from the town 
council the promise of a certain con- 
cession relating to the payment of 
taxes during the first ten years and an- 
other from the Town Lot and Land 
Company, consisting of a grant of five 
acres of land valued at $500, on the 
purchase of as many more by them, 
they decided i&» locate at this place 
and signed an agreement to erect a 
brick and tile factory that should 
cost not less than $8,000 and manufac- 
ture 50,000 brick or tile the first year 
and afterwards one million annually. 

About November 1, 1894, these two 
men, accompanied with their families, 
located in Fonda and began the work 
of constructing the buildings. The 
first kiln, containing 15,000 tile was 
burned April 1, 1895. The buildings 
erected together with their machine- 
ry, all of which is of the latest and 
most improved style, cost $16,000, or 
double the amount that was at first 
contemplated. 

The buildings consist of an engine 
room 28x30 feet, a clay house 40x60 
feet, an inclined track from it to the 
clay pit, a press room, 28x30 feet, three 
dry houses, one 18x170 feet, one two 
stories 36x120 feet and a third one 
three stories 36x150 feet, three kilns 
and an office. 

The engine is of 100 horse power, the 
boiler 125 horse power and they are 
firmly set in solid masonry. An inex- 
haustible supply of water is furnished 
by a well 220 feet deep. 

All the work, as far as possible is 
done by machinery and the amount of 
manual labor required is small when 
compared with the old style of manu- 
facture, nevertheless profitable em- 
ployment is now given to as many as 
twenty-five workmen. The r^w iv.a- 



terial in the form of crude clay enter- 
ing at one end of the factory and pas- 
sing through the processes of drying, 
grinding, screening, mixing, pressing, 
and cutting comes forth at the other 
end of it a perfect brick or tile. It is 
an interesting operation to all who 
witness it because, from the time the 
clay in the pit is lodged upon the car 
on the inclined track, all the various 
processes are accomplished with uni- 
form effect by machinery that is ad- 
mirably adapted for that special 
purpose. 

The car on the inclined track when 
loaded ascends to the top of the clay- 
house in response to the movement 
of a small lever and there, striking a 
trip, the bottom of the car opens and 
the clay falls upon a carrier that con- 
veys it to the grinding machines. 

These are so constructed as to 
throw out all large gravel and the 
ground clay, after passing through 
two screens with very fine meshes, is 
carried to the mixers. For these pro- 
cesses the clay must be so dry it will 
not stick to the machinery. In the 
mixer the clay is moistened with 
water according to the judgment of 
the man in charge of this operation, 
The wet mixed clay drops into the 
press on the ground floor and there it 
is forced into smooth, shiny strips for 
brick, or long, hollow tubes for tile. 

The smooth glossy surface is pro- 
duced by a jet of steam as it emerges 
from the mouth of the huge press. 
The long strips or tubes then pass 
over the cutting table where they are 
automatically cut into exact lengths 
for brick or tile. 

Four men are required to receive 
the product as it comes from the cut- 
ting table and place it on the little 
trucks that convey it to the dry 
houses. In one of the dry houses 
there are five tracks supplied with 
eighty trucks that hold each 640 brick 
or altogether enough of brick or tile 
for one kiln. When a dry house has 



390 



PIONEEB HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



been filled the building is closed and 
the exhaust steam from the engine be- 
ing turned in through 17,000 feet of 
gas pipe laid underneath the floor, the 
temperature within is raised to 130 or 
140 degrees, and in forty-eight hours 
the brick or tile are ready for the kiln. 
They are conveyed thither by the lit- 
tle trucks and these when empty re- 
turn on a -side track to the cutting 
machine for another load. Wben a 
kiln has been filled its doors are sealed, 
the fire is applied and in three to four 
days the finished product is brought 
forth and placed, either on the rail- 
road cars that await their load on a 
special side track, or in tiers within 
the yards to supply the local trade. 

A spur from the main track of the 
C. M. & St. P. E. R. extends into the 
yards, and on it the cars of coal for 
the engine are run to the coal shed 
and those for shipment are loaded 
with the products of the factory. The 
brick and tile manufactured are of 
the best quality and they are shipped 
in every direction within a radius of 
seventy-five miles. The effort to sup- 
ply the demand hitherto lias kept the 
works running at their full capacity. 

All the buildings of this plant were 

erected and all of its machinery was 
selected and put in position by the 
Straight Bros., fligrnselves. These 
facts show that they are expert ma^ 
chinists and buildeis as well as piapu^ 
facturers, During the five years the 
factory has been in operation they 
nave manufactured fifty to seventy* 
five kilns of brick (45,000 each) or tile 
(10,000 to 20,000 each.) annually and 
given employment to twenty-five 
workmen. On October 20, 1898 one of 
the dry houses was destroyed by fire 
but it was immediately rebuilt. The 
proprietors have given this enterprise 
their undivided attention and have 
spared no pains or expense necessary 
to make their goods of the best quali- 
ty. The confidence they have won 



and the success they have achieved 
have been well merited. 

THE FONDA CREAMERY COMPANY. 

If we consider the number of men 
employed, the people interested and 
the amount of money put in circula- 
tion, the manufacturing interest at 
Fonda, next in importance to the 
Brick and Tile works, is the one rep- 
resented by the Fonda Creamery Co., 
of which R. F. Beswick has been the 
principal proprietor and manager 
since the fall of 1889, when the com- 
pany was organized. The task this 
company undertook at that date was 
to make a success of an industrv of 
great importance to this community 
but which had proven very unprofit- 
able to its predecessors. The accom- 
plishment of this difficult task for 
more than ten.years, has revealed a 
business sagacity and courage that have 
been able to meet and successfully 
cope with difficulties previously in- 
surmountable. 

The Fonda Creamery was built in 
1881 by Sampson and French, of Storm 
Lake, who leased it when completed 
to Geo. L. Brower, a general merchant 
at Fonda. As this was the first 
creamery built in this section, as 
many as ten teams were employed tq 
collect the milk for it and they were 
distributed as follows: Two in the 
country around Pocahontas, three 
around Pomeroy, apd fiye in tt}e ylpin^ 
ity of Fonda. During the first year 
of its operation Mr- Brower sustained 
a logs of $Moq, and It was attributed 
to the fact there was a continuous do* 
cllne In the price of butter throughout 
that entire year. During the previa 
ous year there had been a constant 
advance in its price and this long 
continued upward tendency had the 
effect of stimulating not only the 
erection of many new creameries in 
different parts of the country, 
but the manufacture in the cities of 
cheap imitations of butter called but- 
terine and oleomargarine. The ex- 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP.. 



391 



tensive sale of these bogus articles, 
before they were properly restrained 
by law, had the effect of demoralizing 
the market for the genuine product. 

During the next three years this 
creamery was operated with serious 
loss by Michael Crahan, who in 1882 
became the successor to all the busi- 
ness interests of Geo. L. Brower at 
Fonda. During this period the fact 
was realized that the method of test- 
ing the cream was very defective, 
worked constant injustice to the pro- 
prietors of creameries and in many 
instances involved them in heavy 
losses. 

The creamery after remaining 
closed for two years was reopened in 
the spring of 1887 by Edward L. Beard 
who continued to operate it until 
Nov. 1, 1889 when it was again aban- 
doned as an unprofitable enterprise. 

The Fonda Creamery Company took 
possession of the Fonda creamery in 
the fall of 1889, on a lease for five 
years. Under this lease the old machin- 
ery was replaced by that which was 
new and improved, and a centrifugal 
separator was introduced to sepaiate 
the cream from the milk. Soon after 
it was opened in the spring of 1890 
another creamery was established and 
put in successful operation jn Wil-i 
liams township, Calhoun county, 
About that same time a butter fac-i 
tory and storage plant fpr butter, 
eggs and dressed poultry was estab- 
lished In connection with the office 
which is in Fonda. In the fall of that 
year the Fonda Creamery, together 
with ten acres of land on which the 
buildings are located, was purchased 
and in 1891 another separator was in- 
serted. In 1897 the business of this firm 
was further extended by the establish' 
ment of a creamery at Sulphur 
Springs, and in 1898 by the purchase 
of the creamery in Douglas township, 
Sac county. These various industries 
have afforded constant employment 



to sixteen men during the summer 
and twenty-five during the winter. 

It is a well established fact that the 
creameries conducted on the Cooley 
cream gathering system once proved 
the most successful of any in the 
country and paid the largest net prof- 
it to the dairymen. The introduc- 
tion of the separator however was an 
improvement that increased their 
profit from 25 to 40 per cent. 

In 1891 Iowa's dairy products were 
$33,746,100, which is $500,000 more 
than all the gold produced in the 
United States that year. In 1892 the 
railroad earnings in the state of Iowa 
were $37,405,171, and the dairy pro- 
ducts of the state that year rivaled 
that amount. In 1896 the dairy pro- 
duct of Iowa was $42,000,000, which 
was twice the amount of the silver 
product of the entire country that 
year. 

The fact that this is a great dairy 
country is becoming clearer every 
decade. All agree that the soil is un- 
rivaled either in richness or the va- 
riety of the grains and grasses it will 
produce, but all have not realized its 
great value and importance as a dairy 
district. The following facts c mnec- 
ted with the development of the busi-, 
ness of the Fonda Creamery Company 
serve to illustrate this truth and also 
the great value of the creams 
ery industry to this community. 

On balancing their books for their 
first eight months, May I to Dec. 31, 
1890, they found they had paid the 
patrons of the Fonda Creamery $9,011 
for milk. During the year 1895, the 
first one after the period of long con- 
tinued drought the amounts paid to 
some of their patrons by this compa- 
ny for milk was as follows: 
Henry Rix $460 

Mrs. B. McCartan 290 

Henry Meyer 354 

H. Helmbrecht 272 

D. Focke 332 

W. S. Ycung 210 



392 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Christ Meyer 
A. Samuelson 
S. Barron 
Henry Becker 
Pat Duffle 
John Holyer 



312 
258 
265 
252 
250 
246 



John Lemp during the six months 
preceding January 31, 1896, delivered 
at the creamery from fifteen cows 49, 
159 pounds of milk and received $260. 
Deducting the cost of hauling it four 
miles, $48, his net receipts were $212 
or an average of more than $14 for 
each cow for the six months. 

Many others received amounts very 
nearly as large. The money realized 
from the dairy interest is not only 
put into immediate circulation at 
home but is distributed over the 
whole year and thus affords the pat- 
rons of the creamery a constant in- 
come, one that is not dependent on 
special crops or the grain market. 

During the year 1898 the shipments 
of this firm from Fonda were forty 
car loads, an average of one car load a 
week for most of the time. When it 
is known that the value of a single 
car load is often $1,500 the aggregate 
of the business done in a single year is 
perceived. During that winter the 
amount paid for live turkeys alone 
delivered at their office in one week 
was $3,000. The business done in 
eggs has also at times been im- 
mense, larger than that of any firm 
in the neighboring counties The 
prices paid for eggs and live poultry 
have attracted shipments to this place 
from many points within a radius of 
fifty miles and two places in South 
Dakota. 

When R. F. Beswick came as a 
stranger from Manchester to Fonda, 
in 1889, by persons occupying positions 
of great honor in this state, he was 
commended to the con tidence of the 
people of this community as a man 
whose word was as good as his bond, 
honest and honorable in all his deal- 
ings, and one who by close applica- 



tion had already won the enviable 
reputation of having achieved success 
in all his previous business under- 
takings. As year after year has pass- 
ed the people of this community have 
had ample opportunity of witnessing 
how well, as a man of affairs, he has 
sustained these high elements of 
character. The task before him 
has been a hard one, but by close ap- 
plication and a constant effort to 
make the industry he represents a 
source of financial profit to every one 
of his patrons, he has proven equal to 
it. Determined to do a safe rather 
than a large business, so that neither 
he nor his patrons should suffer by 
sudden reverses, he has studiously 
avoided engaging in any local rival- 
ries and maintained his business 
month after month and year after 
year, on the principles of economy, 
justice and honor; and by so doing has 
developed the dairy and poultry in- 
dustries in this community to such an 
extent that they have become of lead- 
ing importance to the people of a 
large section of country. 

THE NORTHERN TELEPHONE COMPANY, 

In January 1899, a few public spirit- 
ed men in Fonda formed an associa- 
tion for precuniary profit and the pro- 
motion of the public welfare, and 
they have already accomplished a 
work that has made Fonda the center 
of another important business inter- 
est that embraces Pocahontas and the 
neighboring counties. This associa- 
tion consists of Geo. Sanborn, A. L. 
Roberts, A. S. Wood, R. F. Beswick, 
M. G. Coleman, Lee S. Straight, John 
Forbes, Thos. L. Kennedy and Geo. H. 
Fitch, all of Fonda, Iowa, who became 
a corporate body April 3, 1899, as the 
Northern Telephone Company. 

The objects of this corporation are 
to obtain telephone exchange fran- 
chises, to build, purchase, acquire and 
operate telepbone exchanges and lines 
in Iowa. 

About July 1, 1886, the Iowa and 



CEDAR TOWHSHIP. 



m 



Minnesota Telephone Company estab- 
lished the first telephone connection 
between Newell, Fonda, Pomeroy, 
Manson, Eockwell City and Pocahon- 
tas with a central office at Pomeroy; 
on November 20, 1897, the Jeffer- 
son Telephone Company established 
an office at the Anderson Drug Com- 
pany's store, Fonda and located three 
local instruments; and in 1899 the 
Central Telephone Company extended 
a line from Fonda to Rusk and Poca- 
hontas. It remained, however for the 
Northern Telephone Company to pop- 
ularize the use of the telephone as a 
great public convenience in the offices 
and homes of the people in Fonda and 
in several of the towns in this section. 

The invention of the telephone is of 
recent date and its great value to the 
commercial world is suggested by the 
rapidity with which it has come into 
popular use. In 1861 Philip Reis, of 
Germany, found that variations in 
an electric current, caused by a vibra- 
ting membrane, could be reproduced, 
and in this way transmitted musical 
sounds and even words, but his ap- 
paratus was very imperfect. At the 
Centennial in 1876 A. Graham Bell 
first presented at a public exposition, 
a practical telephone in which the vi- 
brations were received and communi- 
cated by means of an iron diaphragm in 
thafield of a magnet. Later Thomas A. 
Edison produced a vibratory current 
by means of an induction coil and a 
block of carbon; and Blake, a platinum 
transmitter. In 1892 a long distance 
telephone was erected between Chica- 
go and the principal cities of the east. 

At the regular annual municipal 
election, held in Fonda, March 27, 
1899, a telephone exchange franchise 
was granted this company for a period 
of twenty-five years. Under this fran- 
chise the telephone company was ac- 
corded the right to erect, maintain 
and operate upon such streets, al- 
leys and public highways of Fonda, as 
may be necessary to furnish commu- 



nication to the public, the poles, wires 
and fixtures necessary to supply to the 
citizens thereof communication by 
telephone or other electric signals. 
And in consideration of this franchise 
the telephone company grants to the 
town of Fonda, the free use of its 
poles for the purpose of fire alarm 
connections and the free use of 
two phones in such places as the 
Town Council may designate. 

This company was organized by the 
election of Geo. Sanborn, President; 
A. S. Wood, Vice President; M. G. 
Coleman, Secretary; and R. F. Bes- 
wick, Treasurer. Before the close of 
the year 1899 the force of workmen 
employed by this company had loca- 
ted ninety-five instruments in Fonda 
and extended their lines to Varina, 
Laurens, Lilly, Rusk, Newell, Sulphur 
Springs, Storm Lake, Alta and Nema- 
ha. 

At Storm Lake the automa= 
tic exchange and instruments con- 
nected with it, that were not entirely 
satisfactory, have been replaced by a 
more serviceable switch board and 125 
local instruments. Other towns that 
have since been reached are Rolfe, 
Gilmore City, Havelock, Plover, Palm* 
er, Pocahontas and Rockwell City. 

It is the aim and purpose of this 
company to reach every point of inter* 
est in each township of this county* 
connect them with each other and 
with the towns in the neighbor* 
ing counties, either by means of their 
own lines or those of other indepen* 
dent companies. 

The instruments used by this Com 3 
pany are the best manufactured and 
give universal satisfaction. On all 
the toll lines a metallic circuit is used 
and no expense is spared in the effort 
to secure the best of materials and 
service in every department of theif 
work. 

At their annual meeting, held on 
the first Monday in May, 1900, the di- 
rectors chosen for the ensuing year, 



394 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



were: A. 8. Roberts, John Forbes, L. 
S. Straight, Geo. Sanborn and A. S. 
Wood, who organized by the election 
of A. L. Roberts, president; L. S. 
Straight, vice president; M. G. Cole- 
man, secretary, and R. F. Beswick, 
treasurer. Lee S. Straight was ap- 
pointed manager and superintendent 
of construction and the original capi- 
tal stock of $10,000,divided into shares 
of $50 each, was increased to $20,000. 

THE NORTHWESTERN HAWKEYE. 

A copy of the Northwestern Hawk- 
eye was recently handed us by Thos. 
Slater, of Cedar township. This 
seems to be the only copy of that pa- 
per that has been preserved and it is 
therefore an interesting relic. It is 
dated Fonda, Iowa, Thursday, May 
27. 1875, and is No. 11 of the third 
volume, which indicates that this 
paper was established about March 20, 
1873. It was published by J. D. White 
& Son and it was the official paper of 
this county for the year 1875. It was 
designed to be a local republican pa- 
per devoted to the interests of Poca- 
hontas county and the benefit of its 
inhabitants. 

The particular item of interest that 
led to the preservation of this copy is 
the account it contains of the mar- 
riage of Thomas Slater and Mrs. Mary 
McFadden on May 26, 1875, when the 
senior editor of the paper, who was a 
local preacher of the M. E. church, at 
his own home in Fonda, "started 
these two young people on the journey 
of life together with the express wish 
that peace and prosperity may be 
their portion." 

Of the other items of interest in 
this old paper we note the following: 
A Sunday School was organized at the 
Osburn schoolhouse, two miles east of 
Fonda, May 23, 1875, by the election 
of O. F. Wilson, Supt.; Mrs. David 
Spielman, Asst. Supt.; George Gar- 
lock, Sec; Mrs. B. F. Osburn, Lib.; 
B. F. Osburn, Treas, and Mrs. E. Gar- 
lock, chorister. 



The grasshoppers in Kansas, re-in- 
forced by a horde of buffalo gnats that 
attacked the cattle, were making sad 
havoc of every green thing in Kansas. 
They had penetrated to the heart 
of Kansas City and though millions of 
them had been destroyed by means of 
trenches they were moving northward 
like a vast army. 

The advertisements indicate that 
the following persons were doing 
business at Fonda at this time: 
Remtsma & Swingle, lumber and 
coal; Wm. Snell, cheese factory; E. 
Mullen, proprietor of Fonda Hotel; 
E. J. Griffin and T. J. Curtis are con- 
tractors and builders; Joseph Malli- 
son has a collecting agency and sells 
farm machinery; Wm. Marshall and 
C. E. Brown are real estate agents; 
Hughes & Son(S. & G. E.)and John W 
Gray are general merchants and Dr. 
C. F. Wilson is a veterinary surgeon. 

At this date the town lots in this 
county were assessed as follows: In" 
Lombard, a new town platted on the 
SWi Sec. 32 Laurens (now Marshall) 
township, $1 each; in (old) Rolfe and 
Pocahontas $2.50 to $10; and in Fonda 
(still listed as Marvin), $30 to $75. 

HISTORIC INCIDENTS. 

Fonda is charmingly located in a 
section of country that is rich in good 
farming lands which are cultivated by 
a class of thrifty farmers who are 
rapidly accumulating money and mak- 
ing improvements in the way of com- 
fortable homes. It is the oldest and 
largest town in the county and has 
now a population of 1200 enterprising 
inhabitants. Among its special ad- 
vantages are its fine churches, schools, 
excellent facilities for trade, good 
water, healthful climate and highly 
productive soil all around it, 

In 1876 Cedar township for the first 
time took the lead in the county by 
casting the largest republican vote 
which was 70 for Hayes and 34 for 
Tilden. 

In 1880, ten years after the town 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



395 



was founded, the population of Fonda 
was 168. In 1885 it was 433, in 1890, 
625 and in 1895, 942. 

The first wedding in Fonda was the 
marriage of Marion D. Skinner and 
Clara Hawkins July 25,1873 at the hotel 
kept by her father where the Toy 
bank now stands and Rev. R. J. 
Griffin was the officiating clergyman. 

The first sidewalk in Fonda was 
laid in May 1876 and it extended from 
the depot to Ibson's blacksmith shop 
on the northwest corner of Main and 
Second streets. 

In 1888 Main street was established 
and opened south of the 1. C. R. R. 
and in 1892 it was extended from the 
Catholic church to* the north line of 
the section. 

On Oct. 15, 1883 & fire destroyed 
some of the best business blocks on 
the east side of Main street including 
the Ellis hotel, Times building, Guy- 
ett store buildings, then owned by J. 
N. McKee'& Co., and others represent- 
ing a loss of $33,000, but in a short 
time the former wooden structures 
were replaced by splendid brick build- 
ings that have been an ornament to 
the town and a credit to her enter- 
prising citizens. 

On Aug. 25, 1891 another fire des- 
troyed the drug store of J. B. Bollard, 
the clothing store of Malloy & Red- 
den, the new brick building of F. M. 
Conroy and a number of smaller ones 
on the west side of Main street that 
involved a loss of $17,000. These also 
have been replaced with larger and 
more substantial buildings. 

On June 15, 1897, a curfew ordin- 
ance was adopted for the purpose of 
keeping the children under seventeen 
years of age from the streets, alleys 
and public grounds of the city after 
certain hours of the night. This 
ordinance has been enforced since its 
adoption and with excellent results. 

On March 6, 1900, twenty-six women 
cast their ballots at the school elec- 
tion held in Fonda. This was the 



first time they voted in Fonda and, 
casting 18 ballots for the proposition 
to bond the town for the erection of a 
new schoolhouse and ten against it, 
their vote gave a majority of four for 
the bond proposition that otherwise 
by reason of a slight misunderstand- 
ing, would have been lost by four 
votes. 

The first Sunday school in the 
Thompson school district was organ- 
ized in 1876. by Harvey W. Hay and 
Charles E. Whitney. In 1885 and '86, 
it was reorganized and John Cartlidge 
and Wm. H. Henderson were elected 
successively superintendents. In 1897 
it was reorganized by the election of 
William M. Cathcart superintendent 
and he has maintained it until the 
present time. 

tornado or 1882. 

On Saturday June 17, 1882, the citi- 
zens of Fonda, had a magnificent view 
of one of those whirlwinds, or funnel 
shaped clouds called a tornado or cy- 
clone. It formed near the western 
line of Cedar Township, at the close 
of a sultry day, and moving eastward 
completely destroyed the vacant 
house and other buildings on the 
homestead of J. P. Robinson on ni sw £ 
section 20. The houses and furniture 
of Harry and Adelbert Bailey and of 
Renselaer Wright on the same sec-' 
tion were also destroyed. At the 
home of Joseph Kennedy, on section 
21, the house was carried from its 
foundation and the barn destroyed. 
It passed thence north eastward to the 
home of Louis Fuchs, on section 12, 
where its appetite was satisfied by the 
almost total destruction of his house, 
barn, stable and granary, and the 
snapping of the trees in the grove, 
some of which were one foot thick, as 
if they were pipestems. 

The only one injured was Adelbert 
Bailey, who was struck on the foot by 
a piece of flying timber. At the home 
of R. Wright the building occupied 
had been provided with only a tempo- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



rary floor, and on this the family was 
left unhurt when the building was 
carried away. 

The destructive part of this, the 
second tornado to visit this county, 
was about five miles in length, all 
within Cedar township. As the 
whirling, seething cloud passed over 
the open prairie north of Fonda and 
less than a mile from it, all who dared 
venture out beheld a sight so sublime 
and awe inspiring as never to be for- 
gotten. Virgil had in mind such a 
scene when he wrote: 

Aeolus hurled his spear against the 

mountainous surface, 
And the wild howling winds rush 

forth pell mell at the orifice,- 
The east wind, the north wind and 

stormy northwest together 
Scour over the earth and inaugurate 

dreadful bad weather. 

That same evening heavy storms 
prevailed in several portions of this 
and other states, the most destructive 
one passing through Grinnell, where a 
large number of buildings were des- 
troyed and many lives lost, 

SUNK GROVE. 

Sunk Grove, an island of eighty 
acres, principally on the ne i of sec- 
tion 7 and covered with a fine grove of 
timber that previous to the arrival of 
the I. C. railway was the only supply 
of fuel and building material in this 
section, was the first place of interest 
and attracted near it the first settlers 
in Cedar township, in 1868. 

At this early date there were many 
trees growing around its outer edge 
that during most of the year stood in 
water to the depth of one or more feet. 
The appearance of large oak trees 
standing in the water, gave the im- 
pression that the ground where they 
stood had sunk after they began to 
grow, and for this reason it was called 
"Sunk Grove." 

In the spring of the year the island 
is surrounded by a lake, 'that on the 
south and east sides of it is from 30 to 
50 rods wide, and on the north and 



west is from 100 to 200 rods in width. 
This depression is lowest at the 
north west corner of the island where 
it is widest. At this place it was 
never known to become dry until the 
latter part of 1894. During recent 
years the entire depression around the 
island, embracing nearly three hun- 
dred acres of land, has been covered 
with an unusually luxuriant growth 
of native grasses, beautiful to the eye 
but of no real value to the owners, 
either for hay or pasture, by reason of 
the marshy condition of the ground. 
The outlet for this lake or marsh is 
eastward to the Cedar, and when it is 
drained several hundreds of acres of 
the richest and most productive land 
in the county will be redeemed. 

This grove was the only one of nat- 
ural timber in the west half of this 
county. The water around it protect- 
ed the timber from the prairie fires 
and it had a fine growth of oak, hack- 
berry, basswood, cottonwood, and 
other trees of which the last large 
ones were removed in 1870. The island 
is now owned and occupied by J. M. 
Borders, whose cozy cottage, surround- 
by young timber, is located on its 
highest point. 

FONDA IN 1900. 

The leading business interests at 
Fonda and those now representing 
them may be briefly summarized as 
follows: 

attorneys: Z. C. Bradshaw since 
'94; F. Hamilton Bond, since '95; J. D. 
Wurtzbaugh, since '98; Edward Fair- 
burn since '99, Wm. H. Healy since'85. 

banks: The Pocahontas County 
Bank was established by Geo. Fair- 
burn, its present proprietor, in 1870; 
the first brick building was erected in 
'81 and in '85 it was enlarged. It is the 
oldest bank in the county. A. S. 
Wood is cashier, C. A. Alexander 
and Edward H. Fairburn, assistants. 
The Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. was 
established in 1886 by James F. 



CEDAB TOWNSHIP. 



397 



Toy, of Storm Lake. L. A. Bothe is 
cashier, Chas. Harrold assistant. 

barbers: Geo. G. Craft since 1887; 
also an auctioneer and proprietor of a 
dog and pony show since 1891. Mauls- 
by Bros., (I. W. and M. S.) since 1894. 
Mitchell & Elliott successors of W. A. 
Elliott. 

book-keepebs: Walter S. Adams, 
since 1895. Charles A. Alexander, since 
1891; Melvin Boyer and Bay E. Wilde. 

blacksmiths: Garrett B.Beniff, since 
September 1, 1885 when his shop was 
built. He was a partner with J. W. 
Spitzbarth 1886-88, and purchased an 
additional shop in 1896 of Arthur 
Hamilton and placed it in care of A. 
W. Jones, one of his workmen since 
1895. Edward Ibson, since 1896 and 
as a partner with his brother, Peter 
G. Ibson. since 1873. Ackley Bros, 
successors to Fagan Bros, in 1900. 

brick and tile works: Straight 
Bros. (Lee S. and Guy H.) 

butter manufacturer: Fonda 
Creamery Company, B. F. Beswick, 
proprietor since 1889. 

carpet weaver: Alphonso O. 
Brown since 1887. 

city engineer: G. C. Weber. 

cigar manufacturer: Frank L. 
Covey, since 1877. 

CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS: A. J. 

Sauter, James Thompson, Charles 
Nichols, J, E. Brown, H. W. Bailey 
Calvin Brackney. 

clerks; Geo. Bush, since 1887; J. 
B. Sargent, since 1892; Eli P. Griffith, 
since 1895; Vernon Harris, since 1893; 
Lucius Langworthy, Jos. M. Thorpe 
and George Fastle. 

clothing: Woodhouse & Blizzard 
since '95, in Eaton block (built in '98) 
since '99, H. A. Blizzard, manager. 

chophouses; F. O. and S. H. Van- 
Hoosier, since 1898; and J. W. Sargent. 

dress makers: Mrs. Mark Haven, 
Lily and Bose Steiner, Mrs. Marion 
Young, Sara Morton, Hannah Olkjer, 
Ina Gilson, Dollie and Mamie Wykoff. 

draymen: Wm. B. Neal, since 18- 



85, Fred Spielman, since 'C4, Mrs, M. 
Doyle', since '91, Jackson Howe, man- 
ager; Claude Simpson and Marion 
Young. 

druggists: C. C. Patty since 1894; 
Anderson (Elijah) Drug Co., since 18- 
96; and H. A. Daubenberger, success- 
or of J. B. Bollard, in the Bott brick 
block in 1899. 

furniture dealers: B. Wright & 
Co. successors of Geo. Fairburn, in his 
brick block in '87. (2) Albert B. 
Maulsby since '99 . 

general merchants: J. P. Bobin- 
son since 1886, now in Times building. 
J. D. Carpenter since '93 in McKee 
block built in '84; and in hardware '83- 
89 as a member of the firm of Car- 
penter & Bussell, Boy, his son, a part- 
ner in 1900. John Forbes since 
'94, successor of Borman & Sargent in 
Hughes building. The Thornton 
(Frank G.) Mercantile Co. in '98 suc- 
cessors to Crahan & Linnan. J. W. 
Bock since '98, and in his own brick 
block in '99. TolenBros., John and 
James. 

grain dealers: Kennedy Bros. 
(Thomas, John and Alexander) since 
'97 and as Bedfield & Kennedy, since 
'93. Elevator first built by N. B. Post 
in 1890. They also deal in live stock, 
buggies and implements. (2) Warren 
Grain Co. D. V. Bighdenour, manager 
since 1895. (3) Frank J. Turner, suc- 
cessor to Eolfe Bros, since 1897, 
elevator built in 1894 by N. B. Post. 

HARDWARE AND HARNESS DEALERS: 

A. L. Boberts & F. L. Kenning, suc- 
cessors of Fred Haffele in 1893, erected 
present brick block in 1899, Wm. D. 
Carroll harness maker. Fitch Bros. 
(Geo. H. and Fred W.) successors of 
J. H. Potter & Son in McKee block in 
1893. 

hotels: Curley (Ewing) House, 
built in 1885, by Mrs. E. F. Hull, C. A. 
Ladd & J. E. Odiet, managers since 
1898; Washington house, built by 
G. W. Sargent in 1892, Bobert B. Bob- 
bins, manager, since 1899. Fonda ho^ 



398 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tel, Thomas Murphy proprietor since 
1893. Central house, Mrs. Engelbert 
Keeler, proprietor and manager since 
1893. 

implements: Mullen, Mayo & Co. 
successors in 1899 of Turner (Frank) & 
Charles Mayo; and Kennedy Bros. 

insurance: M. G. Coleman, since 
1892, also '77-78; city recorder and 
secretary of Northern Telephone Co., 
Capt. Joseph Mallison since 1875. Wm 
H. Healy Esq., Ed. R. Ellis, L. A. 
Rothe and Z. C. Bradshaw. 

janitor or public schools: John 
Dooley since 1889. 

lumber dealers: J. & W. C. Shull, 
successors of Geo. Fairburn in 1887, J. 
J. McCartan, manager. (2) Wood- 
ford & Wheeler successors of N. B. 
Post in 1890, since which date Wm. 
Wilde has been the manager. (3) Lee 
& Jameson who in '95 became the suc- 
cessors of Henry Dorton, the present 
manager. 

liverymen. A. J. Hamilton, in 
'94 successor of A. E. Sargent who 
erected buildings in 1893,; Frank Mul- 
len, since 1898; and John Mackey in 
1900, successor to Geo. P. Selzer at the 
Kay barn. 

MARBLE AND GRANITE WORKS! L. A. 

Raymond, since 1898. 

MASONS AND PLASTERERS. Jacob 

Spielman, E. O. Ellis, Wm. E. Wykoff 
and Frank Ceperly. 

meat markets: W. J. Redfield at 
the "Palace," since 1898; Henry 
Travis, successor of Wendell Bros, in 
1900. 

milkman: Seth F. Tucker since 
1888. 

milliners: Mrs. Charles Say res 
since 1891; Mrs. D.J. Barkalow, since 
1899; Miss Katie Kearns, Mrs. E. Kay. 

music teachers: Minnie Haffele, 
Mrs. C. R. Whitney, Anna Zerwas and 
Olive Myers. 

newspapers: The Fonda Times, 
called Pocahontas Times, until June 
14, 1894, Geo. Sanborn editor and 
proprietor since 1879, brick building 



erected in 1884. The Fonda Review, 
W. S. Clark editor, since May 1, 1900. 
painters. Wallace Haven, H. E. 
Sargent, A. W. Sargent, Albert and 
Everett L. Gilson, P. R. Chamber- 
lin and Howard Lockie. 

PASTORS OF THE CHURCHES: Meth- 

odist (built 1880) Rev. J. J. Gardner 
since 1897, Catholic (1884) Rev. J. F. 
Brennan since 1895; Presbyterian (18- 
87) Rev. R. E. FlickiDger since 1886; 
Christian (1900) Rev. W. S. Lemmon. 
photographer: M. J. Silvers, suc- 
cessor of B. K. Hawkins, in 1898. 

post master: Capt. Joseph Mal- 
lison. 

physicians: D. W. Edgar,since '81; 
C. R. Whitney, since '94; T. J. Dower, 
and D. J. Barkalow since '99; and M. 
G. Simpson, veterinary since '97. 

railway agents :R. M. Harrison I. 
C; E. E. Nance, and R. Wright, C. M. 
&S. P. 

real estate. Mallison & Ellis 
(Joseph and Ed R.) since 1894; Kay & 
Hughes (Emmet and Geo. E.) since 
1898; Jordan & Linnan (John E. and 
C. F.) since 1899; and Bradshaw & 
Chingren (Rev. Z. C. and E. J.)in 1900. 

restaurants; J. R. Johnson since 
1897; E. J. Maulsby; and Joseph Hud- 
son. 

street sprinkler; Ed O'Donnell. 

shoemakers. Hart Roberts, since 
1883 making fine shoes a specialty; 
Wm. W. Rathbun since 1886. 

tailors: Swen J. Swenson since 
'92 and Al Ehline since '89, both em- 
ploying from two to four tailors. 

TELEPHONE OPERATOR. Louise 

Spelling. 

traveling salesmen: Geo. Riley 
and F. M. Conroy. 

wagon maker: Abram F. DeGraff 
since 1891. 

avell drillers: W. H. Osterman, 
since 1894; Elmer and William Evans. 

PERSONAL SKETCHES. 

Of the residents of Cedar township 
there s_eerns a special propriety tJ^at 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



399 



the sketches of the following persons 
be included in this chapter. 

Beard Edward L., who had charge 
of the Fonda creamery 1887 to '89, is a 
native of Indiana (b. 1848), came to 
Winnesheik county, Iowa, in 1853, 
and married there Mary S. Adams, 
in 1878. During their residence in 
Fonda, he rendered efficient service as 
an elder of the Presbyterian church. 
After his return to Decorah, he con- 
tinued in the creamery business with 
the Beard Bros., until 1896, when he 
became proprietor of the creamery at 
Coster, Butler Co., and in 1898 also of 
the Colfax and Star creameries in 
Grundy Co. His estimable wife after 
three years of poor health died in 1891 
leaving three children, Gertrude, Bes- 
sie and William Edward. 

Beswick Robert Frederick, manager 
and principal proprietor of the inter- 
ests represented by the Fonda Cream- 
ery Co., was born in the city of York, 
England, September 11, 1854. After 
pursuing an elementary course of 
study in the public schools of Leeds, 
he spent two years, in an academy, 
and one year as a teacher, in one of 
the government schools. 

In 1876, at the age of twenty two, 
he came to America, bought a farm at 
Newell, Iowa, and engaged in farm- 
ing. Two years later he learned the 
creamery business, and finally located 
at Manchester, where, on September 
11, 1887, he married Rosetta J. daugh- 
ter of W. B. Ellis, a successful and 
prosperous farmer of that place. He 
has been a resident of Fonda and pro- 
prietor of the creamery since Nov. 1, 
1889. 

In the management of his business 
interests he is thoroughly systematic 
and methodical. He reposes implicit 
confidence in his workmen and gives 
them to understand that he expects 
them to do all their work in the best 
manner whether he is present or ab- 
sent. He studiously endeavors to 
avoid the use of borrowed capital and 



prefers to do a safe rather than a large 
business. All his business transac- 
tions are kept on a cash basis. By 
careful observance of these principles 
he was enabled to continue with a 
small margin of profit during the hard 
years preceding 1896, and to enlarge 
his business considerably in 1897. He 
has been an active and an influential 
member of the city council since 1893. 
Unselfish, conservative and farseeing, 
he is regarded as "one of the best 
workers for the town that ever occu- 
pied a chair on the council." His 
wife died July 25, 1897, leaving two 
children, Robbie and Bessie. 

Bott William, a resident of Fonda 
and vicinity since 1870, was born in 
Stratton, Rutland county, England, 
December 18, 1827, and he was the 
son of Robert and Charlotte (Bains) 
Bott. His father was the overseer of 
the estate of Sir Gilbert Ethcort. In 
1850 he came to America and spent the 
first two years on a farm at Syracuse, 
New York. He then engaged as fore- 
man in laying railroad track and re- 
sided successively at Danville, (Cana- 
da), Cincinnati, TerraHaute, and 
Shelby ville (111.). At this place, April 
17, 1859, he married Susan, daughter of 
Joseph and Elizabeth Sapp, and soon 
afterwards moved to Lichfield. In 
1869) he located at Iowa Falls, and 
superintended the laying of the I. C. 
railroad from Iowa Falls to Storm 
Lake. As the railroad advanced his 
family moved to Webster City, Fort 
Dodge and Fonda, arriving at Fonda, 
in August 1870. He found a home for 
his family at first in the unfinished 
depot, and when he was compelled to 
leave it about the middle of October, 
some of his workmen built him a 
house in one day. He continued in 
the employ of the railroad company 
until 1879 and among others laid the 
track on the road from Judd to Le- 
high and on the Webster City and 
Crooked creek railway. As late as 
July 1886 this veteran track-layer was 



400 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



called to Webster City, to superintend 
the laying of ten miles of new track 
for a mining company. 

His farm of 240 acres on section 21, 
Cedar township was purchased in 1870 
for $5 an acre. In 1874 he moved upon 
it and began the work of its improve- 
ment. During a residence of twenty 
years on the farm he improved it 
with fine buildings, fences and groves. 
In 1894 he returned to Fonda, where 
his wife died, May 13, 1895, in her 74th 
year. Their family consisted of five 
children three of whom died young. 
Jennie, wife of Joseph B. Bollard, and 
Lizzie reside in Fonda, the latter 
with her father. 

Wm. Bott is one of the few men, 
still living, who have had the oppor- 
tunity of witnessing the growth of 
Fonda and of taking an active part in 
promoting the best interests of the 
town and community. When he came 
to this place in the springof 1870, the 
town site was a wild prairie without 
roads, houses or trees. Only two small 
temporary buildings had been erected, 
one a blacksmith shop, by Peter Ibson 
and the other a grocery by Jacob Sil- 
bar. Intoxicating liquors were kept 
in the latter, and Mr. Bott having 
about seventy-five men in his employ, 
notified Silbar not to sell any of them 
to his men. Silbar, affirming his right 
to sell to who ever paid him for the 
drinks, was advised to be careful or 
the men would carry his outfit away. 
That evening a number of the men 
gathered about his building, lifted it 
and were in the act of carrying it 
to Cedar creek, when Mr. Bott inter- 
fered and prevailed upon them to de- 
sist from their purpose. 

Wm. Bott was a member of the 
board of county supervisors, six years, 
1880-82 and 1886-88, and served as its 
chairman in 1881 and '87. He has 
been president of the board of trustees 
of the Presbyterian church, of Fonda, 
since 1890. Although of a happy and 
contented state of mind he has never 



been a loiterer, but always an indus- 
trious and hard worker. His long ex- 
perience as a foreman is suggestive of 
his superior tact and ability in man- 
aging others. He has been a success- 
ful farmer. On the farm he was careful 
neither to go in debt nor sell a bushel 
of grain. He raised hogs and cattle 
successfully by providing for them 
suitable buildings and giving them 
his constant, personal attention. He 
endeavored to keep the fences and 
buildings in the very best shape and 
enjoyed what some are pleased to call 
"good luck." In addition to his farm 
and home he also owns a valuable 
brick block in the business portion of 
Fonda. 

Bothwell George W., M. D. now a. 
resident of Fairbanks, was a resident 
of Fonda,from November 1, 1877, until 
1888. He practiced medicine and, du- 
ring the latter part of this period, had 
an interest in a drug store. His 
mother Mariah A. (Muir) and son 
George H. began to reside with him 
in Fonda in 1878, and on October 22nd 
that year, he married Ida Dodge, of 
Fonda. This ceremony was perform- 
ed by Rev. H. G. McBride, and it 
seems to have been the first one in 
Fonda, by a resident pastor of the M. 
E. church. His son, a very exemplary 
young man, after preparing himself 
for college in the Guthrie county 
high school at Panora, received a se- 
rious stroke on his head while at 
work during the summer vacation, 
that caused a slight derangement of 
his -mind, and he was killed by a 
freight train one mile east of Fonda, 
September 10, 1887, in his 19th year. 
Both of his parents were natives of 
Scotland, and in 1843 came to Toronto 
Canada, where his father (John) died 
a few years later. In 1860 his 
mother and family moved to Fondu- 
lac, Wis., and threo of her sons enlist- 
ed in the civil war. She was one of 
God's noble women and passed to her 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



401 



reward at Fairbanks, August 27, 1893, 
in her 81st year. 

Bradshaw Zenas Condit Rev., a res- 
ident of Fonda, since Oct. 1, 1892, was 
born near G-randville, Indiana, Sep- 
tember, 26, 1840. In March 1846 be 
came with bis parents to a farm in 
Cedar county, Iowa, making the 
journey in a two horse wagon. In the 
fall of 1859 his father was elected 
sheriff, and in January 1860 moved to 
Tipton. At the age of nineteen, Ze- 
nas that year entered the Tipton 
Union School, and after two years 
Cornell College, where he remained 
until the close of the fall term of 1865. 
March 27, 1866, he married Angeline 
Spitler, and continued in the work of 
teaching most of the time until Nov- 
ember 1870, when he moved to Webster 
City and began the study of law. In 
1872 he began tbe practice of law at 
Belmond, Wright county. In the fall 
of 1879 he was elected auditor of that 
county and moved to Clarion, where 
their first and only child, Grace De- 
Ette, was born March 9, 1881. He con- 
tinued to reside there untilOct.l 1886. 
He became a member of the M. E. 
church in February 1858, was 
ordained a deacon at Spirit Lake, Sep- 
tember 28, 1884, and an elder at Algo- 
na, September 29, 1886. He was pas- 
tor of the M. E. church in Luverne 
and Goldfleld, each one year; in Lake 
Mills, Sioux Rapids, Ashton and Fon- 
da, each two years. Since the close of 
his pastorate at Fonda, October 1, 18- 
94, he has been engaged in the prac- 
tice of law. His aim in life has been 
to be a faithful citizen and a devoted 
christian. 

Brower George L. was a resident of 
Fonda from January 1, 1878, until the 
spring of 1883, when he moved to 
Rockwell City, where he established 
the Security bank. At the time he 
located in Fonda, he opened a general 
store and, one month later, purchas- 
ed the entire stock of general mer- 



chandise owned by W. H. Clemens. 
January 1, 1881, he opened a branch 
store and restaurant at Pocahontas, 
in charge of W. Hodges, and leased 
the Fonda creamery when it was com- 
pleted that spring. All of these busi- 
ness interests at Fonda and Pocahon- 
tas were relinquished in the spring of 
1883. He took an active part in all 
the arrangements connected with the 
incorporation of Fonda. He was ap- 
pointed one of the commissioners to 
hold the first municipal election, was 
the first to hold the office of town 
treasurer, was a member of the first 
town council and continued to serve in 
that capacity five years, 1879 to 1882. 

He married Ella J. daughter of 
James and Jean Busby, and their 
family consisted of five children two 
of whom died in childhood, and Har- 
ry, in his tenth year, December 15, 
1895. For several years he and his 
family have resided in Des Moines and 
Chicago, in order to secure the best 
educational advantages for their two 
daughters, Aileen and Imogene, and 
in July 1899 they went to Paris, that 
Aileen, who possesses a voice of unusual 
sweetness and power, and who has al- 
ready become a very accomplished 
singer, might pursue advanced studies 
in music for a couple of years. 

As a man he is gentle and good na- 
tured, never in a hurry but always 
planning some new venture and carry- 
ing to a successful issue large business 
interests. At Rockwell City there 
has been accorded to him the honor- 
able title, "Brower tbe Builder," be- 
cause, "he has built more houses and 
large business blocks in that city than 
any other man. " He has also been 
the inventor of a set of building blocks 
that are greatly coveted by the 
children all over the land. He is a 
man well equipped for business, has 
the faculty of developing large results 
from small beginnings, knows how to 
make a profitable use of every thing 
that comes into his possession and 



402 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



seems to be uniformly successful in 
all his enterprises. 

Busby(Plunkett)Jean Mrs. who died 
at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. 
Peter Kiene, in Dubuque, May. 1, 18- 
98, was a pioneer resident of Fonda, 
and a beautiful monument in this 
cemetery marks her last earthly rest- 
ing place. She was a native of Scot- 
land, and after her marriage to James 
Busby, came to America and located 
first in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., 
and afterwards in Chicago, where he 
died, July 6, 1855, at the age of 55 
years. That fall, with a family of 
seven children, she moved to Dubu- 
que, remained there until the spring 
of 1872, when, accompanied by four 
children, she moved to Fonda. Her 
two sons, William J. and Ebenezer, 
had preceded her and they had erect- 
ed, as a home for herself and family, 
the house now owned and occupied by 
Geo. H. Ellis, on the northeast cor- 
ner of block ten. Ebenezer, on his ar- 
rival in the fall of 1870, engaged in 
the mercantile business in which he 
was joined by his brother William J. 
in the spring of 1871, and this part- 
nership continued until the acciden- 
tal death of the former August 23, 
1873. After the settlement of her 
children in homes of their own, Jean 
resided most of the time with her 
daughter Mrs. Geo. L. Brower. Her 
family consisted of Elizabeth J. mar- 
ried to George Butterfield, Plumas Co. 
Cal.; Matilda, married to C. D. Lucas, 
Cherokee, Robert A. married to Eliza- 
beth Borland who survives him at 
Dubuque; Mary A. married to Prof. 
C. Bayless, Dubuque; William J. mar- 
ried to Louisa A. Price, Fonda; Car- 
rie A. married to Peter Kiene, Dubu- 
que; Ebenezer M. who was the first 
one interred in the Fonda cemetery; 
Ella J. married to George L. Brower, 
Rockwell City; and Rebecca who re- 
sides with her sister, Mary A. at Du- 
buque. The true nobility of mother- 
hood has seldem been better illustra- 



ted than in the patient, beautiful life 
of Jean Busby. It can be truly said 
of her, that her children arise up and 
call her blessed. 

Busby William J. came to Fonda, in 
the spring of 1871 and first engaged in 
the mercantile business in partner- 
ship with his brother Ebenezer. He 
entered, as a homestead, the ni ne i 
section 8, Williams township, but 
sold his interest in it to C. D. Lucas. 
After the death of his brother in 1873, 
he bought a farm of 280 acres on the 
east half of section 34,Cedar township, 
on which he has continued to reside 
since 1875. He was the first to occu- 
py this farm and has made all the im- 
provements upon it. 

He usually keeps a flock of sheep 
and in the fall of 1899, received three 
head from the herd at Ontario, Can., 
that was accorded the highest award 
at the World's Fair in 1893. They are 
of the Lincolnshire breed and one of 
them, weighing 276 pounds, yielded a 
clip of twenty pounds in 1900. It is 
believed that these are the finest 
sheep in Pocahontas county. 

In 1876 and 1894-98 he kept a meat 
market in Fonda. On Nov. 1, 1877, in 
partnership with Edward Price, as 
the firm of Price & Busby, he opened 
a general store at Pomeroy, known as 
the "Cheap Corner." These business 
enterprises were carried on in connec- 
tion with the work on the farm. By 
his uniform courtesy and honesty he 
won the favor of the public and se- 
cured the patronage of the best peo- 
ple. He has taken a considerable 
interest in the progress and develop- 
ment of Fonda. At the first munici- 
pal election in 1879 he was chosen a 
member of the first town council. He 
was a member of the township school 
board from 1881 to 1884, and a trustee 
1881-96. His brother, Ebenezer, was 
treasurer of the township school fund 
in 1873, until the time of his death. 

May 20, 1874, he married Louisa A., 
daughter of Edward and Elizabeth 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



403 



Price. Their family has consisted of 
ten children, namely: Robert A., 
who graduated at the Bayless Busi- 
ness College, Dubuque, in 1897, and 
has since been in the employ of the 
I. C. R. R. Co. at Fort Dodge; Theo- 
philus Price, who is in the employ of 
the same company on the Omaha divi- 
sion; Edith May, who graduated from 
the Fonda High School in 1897 and 
has since been engaged in teaching; 
G-eorge E., Elizabeth Jean, a Fonda 
High School graduate in 1900; Carrie 
Mann, WiliebemE., who died in child- 
hood; Lourena L., Harrison W., and 
Charlotte. 

Chase Elijah, his wife Elizabeth 
and five children, Marquis, Alfretta, 
Converse, Frederick and Thomas, the 
last about two and the first about 
seventeen years of age, located on Sec. 
6, Cedar township Aug. 9, 1868. They 
came from Buchanan county with an 
outfit that consisted of four loaded 
wagons drawn by fourteen yoke of 
oxen, and ten head of cattle. They 
were accompanied from the same 
place by Geo. Spragg, a brother of 
Mrs. Chase, whose outfit consisted of 
two wagons drawn by four yoke of 
oxen, and four head of cattle. These 
were the first settlers in Cedar town- 
ship and they located on the same 
section. Their experience in making 
the trip from Independence to Sunk 
Grove was one that was not uncom- 
mon in those days, especially in wet 
seasons. At this date the railroad ex- 
tended only to Iowa Falls and the 
trails west of Fort Dodge extended 
only to the settlements along Liz- 
ard creek. The sloughs were full of 
water and so soft that frequently the 
mud would be seen shoving in front 
of the wagon. All of the oxen, eight- 
een yoke, were sometimes required to 
draw a single wagon across a bad 
slough and, in such cases, a half day 
would be consumed in crossing it. 
During the first two years of their 
residence at Sunk Grove all their sup- 



plies were obtained from Carroll, Jef- 
ferson and Fort Dodge. In the spring 
of 1869 Marquis Chase made a trip to 
Fort Dodge for a load of supplies, and 
while there was overtaken by a heavy 
rain. The wagon was drawn by four 
yoke of oxen, and on his return, in 
the effort to cross the head of Purga- 
tory slough a short distance northeast 
of the place where Pomeroy is now lo- 
cated, the front yoke of oxen mired in 
the mud and the others, moving on 
them, the entire eight head of cattle 
were lost by drowning. The youthful 
driver, then only eighteen years of 
age, was compelled to stay over night 
with the load and the next day walked 
home, a distance of eighteen miles, to 
obtain a larger number of oxen and 
assistance to extricate the wagon with 
its load. 

Elijah and his family in 1878 moved 
to Buena Vista county, but returned 
in 1881. He died in 1895 and his wife, 
Jan. 15, 1898, the latter at the home 
of her son William, near Wadena, 
Minnesota. His family consisted of 
ten children, namely: Marquis, in 
Dover township; Alfretta, wife of 
Joseph Logan; Converse, Frederick, 
Thomas, Eunice, wife of Thompson 
Gilman; Frank, Joseph, Adrian and 
William. 

Geo. Spragg married Miss Osburn, a 
niece of J. W. Wallace, and, after a 
residence of twelve years in the coun- 
ty, moved to Nebraska. 

Bridges William Franklin, a resi- 
dent of Fonda since 1888, was born 
near Brighton, Canada, August 14, 
1847. He is a son of Rev. John (d.1883) 
and Sarah (Hazlewood, d. 1879) 
Bridges both of whom were natives 
of Buckinghamshire, near London 
England, where they married and 
lived until 1826, when, with a family 
of four children, they came to Canada, 
making the trip across the ocean in 
forty-four days. His father spent for- 
ty years in the ministry of the Bap- 
tist church and, while visiting his, 



404 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



son on the farm, held services at the 
Prairie Creek school house, and at 
other places in the vicinity in Sac and 
Calhoun counties. In 1852 the family 
moved to Bristol, Dane county, Wis., 
a settlement on the frontier that af- 
forded very few facilities for an edu- 
cation. Here William F. grew to 
manhood and, on March 7, 1871, mar- 
ried Elvira M. Wood, of York, Wis. 
In 1872, by purchasing the right of 
another, who had held it four years, 
for $1000, and making a new entry he 
secured a homestead of eighty acres 
on the nw i section 6 Williams town- 
ship, four miles south west of Fonda, 
and located on it. A little later he 
made additional purchases on the 
same section that increased his farm 
to 240 acres. The improvements put 
on this farm were for many years the 
finest in all that section. The large 
bank barn built in 1885 at a cost of 
$1500, was lifted from its foundation 
and badly wrecked by the great hail 
storm of May 27, 1899. From 1891 to 
'93 he owned the Central House and, 
from 1893 to '95, was engaged in the 
implement business at Fonda. About 
this date he purchased another farm 
of 110 acres in Dallas county. He 
also owns one vacant lot and two good 
residences in Fonda. 

Commencing with a capital of $300, 
which he possessed at the time he lo- 
cated on the homestead, his accumula- 
tions indicate he has been a success- 
ful farmer and that farming is { profit- 
able. During all the years that he 
lived on the farm he kept all the hogs 
and cattle the farm would support 
and did not haul over 200 bushels of 
grain to town. When the grasshop- 
pers robbed him of his crops during 
the seventies, he did not become dis- 
couraged but practiced a closer econo- 
my and sought other means of income. 
In Williams township he was a school 
director four years and treasurer of 
the school fund, seven. He was a mem- 
ber of the Feada school board three 



years, 1890-92, and has been a trustee 
of the Presbyterian church since 1895. 

His family consists of two sons; 
William Henry, a graduate of the 
Iowa State Normal, at Cedar Falls, in 
1899, and principal of the public 
schools at Bagley; and John Clinton, 
who graduated at the State Normal 
in 1900. 

Brown Eiisha C, resident of Fonda 
and vicinity from 1875 to 1888, on Sep- 
tember 27, 1864 entered the si sei sec- 
tion 34, Des Moines township, as a 
homestead, and occupied it until his 
removal to Fonda. He served one 
term as county recorder, 1867-68, hav- 
ing been elected without opposition. 
He was a mormon, or latter day 
saint, and frequently held religious 
services in the community where 
he resided. In 1878, assisted by 
a man called Lambert he held a series 
of special services at (old) Rolfe, Poca- 
hontas and Fonda. During his last 
year at Fonda, he was janitor of the 
public school. 

Brown Orlando (b. June 8, 1821) is 
one of the earliest settlers in this sec- 
tion, having located on a homestead 
of eighty acres on the n i se I section 
8, Williams township, in 1869. He 
came from the farm to Fonda in 1888. 
He is a native of Washington Co , N. 
Y., and his parents were Nathan and 
Laura (Babcock) Brown. , In 1840 he 
located at Prairieville, now Wauke- 
sha, Wis., where on August 24, 1845, 
he married Be ana Bacon (b. June 15 
1829) and they continued to reside 
there until 1853, when they moved to 
Fondulac; fifteen years later, or in 
1868, they moved to Alden, Iowa, and 
the next year to the homestead on 
the frontier. On the occasion of the 
50th anniversary of their wedding, 
August 24, 1895, he and his faithful 
wife were pleasantly surprised by the 
appropriateness and completeness 
of the arrangements made at the 
home of their daughter, Mrs. G-. R. 
Reniff, for the celebration of that 




John C. William H. 

TO. F. BRIDGES AND FAMILY 




MR. AND MRS. EDWARD ELLIS AND THEIR DAUGHTER MAUDE 

Fonda and Vicinity t 




MR, AND MRS. GARRITT R. RENIFF AND THEIR PARENTS 
Fonda and Vicinity, 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



40E 



event, and they received the congrat- 
ulations of many of their former 
neighbors and friends. During all 
the years of their pioneer life they 
have been highly respected for their 
useful and beautiful lives. 

Their family has consisted of seven 
children: Lyman W. in 1871 married 
Charlotte Carman and now resides 
at Camp Douglass, Wis. Nathan Lo- 
renzo, in December 1871, married Em- 
ma Norton, who with four children, 
survives him in South Dakota. The 
third died in childhood. James Ed- 
win, July 30, 1879, married Hattie 
Young, of Wis. and in 1883 they locat- 
ed in Fonda, where he has since been 
engaged as a carpenter; their family 
consists of three children, Alta who 
graduated from the Fonda high 
school in 1899, Orley and "tfalma. Al- 
phonso O. a carpet weaver in Fonda, 
in 1896 married Mrs. Matie Hinman 
and they have one child, George Gar- 
rett, she two by her former husband. 
Addison E., a teacher, Grant City, on 
September 27, 1888, married Emma 
Everhart and they have two children, 
Allie E. and Ethel May. Ella, the 
youngest, December 22, 1891, became 
the wife of Garrett E. Eeniff, Fonda. 

Byrne Matthew (b. 1847), resident of 
Fonda, is a native of Roscommon Co., 
Ireland, and in May 1867 came to 
Baltimore, Md., where, in Dec. 1868 
he married Mary Lynch, of Dubuque. 
They continued to reside there until 
Feb. 15, 1870, when he entered and 
began to occupy as a homestead the 
wi nwi Sec. 4, Cedar township. He 
received the patent for the land May 
15, 1876 and, improving it with good 
buildings and groves, has purchased, 
from time to time, additional tracts 
so that he is now the owner of 600 
acres in that vicinity. He is recog- 
nized as one of the leading and most 
successful raisers of fat cattle in Ced- 
ar township. He has been a trustee 
of the township, and served as treas- 
urer of the school fund three years, 



1887-89. He continued to reside on 
the farm until 1894, when he moved 
to Fonda in order to secure better 
facilities for the education of his 
family, but has continued to give his 
personal attention to the care of the 
stock on that portion of the farm that 
is now devoted to the feeding of 
cattle. 

The success achieved on the farm 
by Matthew Byrne is very suggestive 
and encouraging. He came to the 
homestead empty handed, never re- 
ceived a dollar from the old country, 
experienced all the hardships of pio- 
neer life during the 70's but, possess- 
ing a genius for hard work, like the 
instinct of the quiet beaver, he has 
given a splendid practical answer to 
the question, "Does the farm pay?" 
His policy has been to raise and feed 
all the stock, especially cattle, for 
which he had pasturage in the sum- 
mer and protection in winter, and to 
invest the profits in more land. This 
is exhibited in the record of his pur- 
chases which were as follows: the 
homestead of 80 acres in 1870; 80 acres 
more in '78; 40 acres in '80; 80 acres in 
'88; 80 acres in '89; 80 acres in '90; 160 
acres in '91; and the home in Fonda in 
1894. His sales of stock in 1899 
amounted to $16,000 and he has now 
170 head of fine cattle fattening in his 
large pasture of 240 acres, 160 of which 
is hog-tight. The old adage "pa- 
tience and perseverance will per- 
form great wonders, " has its fulfill- 
ment in these facts. 

His first wife died July 28, 1889, 
leaving a family of ten children. 
James, in 1899, married Mary Carey 
and resides in Omaha; Katie gradu- 
ated at the Iowa Business College, Des 
Moines in 1898 and has since lived in 
that city; William died in 1898 at the 
age of 23 years; the others are Thomas, 
Alice, Mary, Elizabeth, a teacher, 
Parnell, Maggie and Matthias. On 
May 3, 1894 he married Mary, daughter 
of William and Margaret Lynch, no 



406 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



relative of his first wife, and their 
family consists of two children, Em- 
met and Leroy, the latter born Jan. 1, 
1900. 

Carpenter John Daniel, senior mem- 
ber of the firm of Carpenter & Son, 
Fonda, was born May 10, 1852, at 
Goshen, Ind. Here he received his 
education and grew to manhood, In 
1864 he located at Panora, Iowa, 
where he found employment as a tin- 
ner. October 15, 1873, he married 
Minnie, a daughter of William and 
Maria Townsend, of that place, and 
they continued to reside there until 
1883, when the firm of which he was 
a member, Docksteader & Carpenter, 
brought their stock of hardware to 
Fonda and began to occupy a room in 
the new brick block erected by J. N. 
McKee & Co. After the lapse of a 
year, Robert W. Russell, of Jones 
County, purchased the interest of his 
partner and the new firm of Carpen- 
ter & Russell continued until 1889. 
During the next two years he was 
manager of the lumber yard of Wood- 
ford & Wheeler Co. 

In 1893, after a residence of six 
months in Bancroft, he resumed 
business in Fonda as a grocer, and 
while he dealt in groceries exclusively 
he was favored with the largest pat- 
ronage of any one in that line of busi- 
ness. With the increase of trade dry- 
goods were added in 1897, and in 1900 
the business was still further enlarged 
under the name of Carpenter & Son, 
by the additional use of an adjoining 
store room. His beautiful residence 
on Second street was built in 1895. 
By careful attention to all the details 
of his business and his manifest integ- 
rity of purpose he has gained the re- 
spect and confidence of all who 
have ever dealt with him. He is a 
representative of our best citizenship 
and lends a helping hand to every- 
thing that is calculated to promote 
the welfare of Fonda and vicinity. 

He was a member of the city coun- 



cil during the two years 1888-89, a 
member of the city school board seven 
years, 1885-91 and secretary of it dur- 
ing 1891. 

His famiiy consists of three child- 
ren: Maude, June 6, 1894 became the 
wife of William Finnicum, who, since 
1884 has been a conductor on the rail- 
road from Fonda to Des Moines; they 
now reside at Des Moines and have 
two children, Ross and Ruth. Roy, a 
Fonda graduate in 1896, on Jan. 4,1900 
married Mae Flint, of Fairfield, Neb., 
and at the same date became a part- 
ner in the general store of his father. 
Florence, the youngest, graduated at 
Fonda, with the class of 1897. 

Cartlidge John, president of the 
Cedar township school board during 
1894-95, was a native of England and 
at the age of twenty came to Vinton, 
Iowa, where on February 14, 1873, he 
married Anna Eliza Goodwin. He en- 
gaged in farming in that vicinity for 
a few years and in the spring of 1884, 
came to Cedar township, where, he 
died September 9, 1897, in his 46th 
year, and his wife, October 31, 1899, in 
her 63rd year. They left one daugh- 
ter, Clara, who, July 26, 1896, married 
William Mclntyre; and an adopted 
daughter Mary, who resides in Fonda 
with her aunt Sarah Morton, who 
made her home with this family dur- 
ing their residence in this county. 
He was a good farmer, a highly respec- 
ted citizen and, while living on the 
farms of non-resident owners, enjoyed 
their confidence to such an extent as 
to be appointed their local agent. 

Conroy Frank Marion, (b. Oct. 30, 
1861), resident of Fonda, is a native of 
Tyrone, Ireland, and came to America 
in 1867, with his parents, Thomas and 
Bridget, who located first in Wiscon- 
sin but six months later on a farm in* 
Black Hawk county, Iowa. In the 
fall of 1871 they located on a farm 
near Pomeroy and a few years later on 
an other one near Jolley where Thom- 
as died October 14, 1890. On Septem- 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



407 



ber 5, 1882, Frank M. married Jennie 
M. Cahill of Fort Dodge, and they re- 
sided near Jolley, until March 1891, 
when they moved to Fonda, erected a 
two story brick block on the west 
side of Main Street and established a 
fine meat market and restaurant. 
When this building was destroyed by 
the fire of '91, they moved to their farm 
on section 30 Dover township, but af- 
ter two years returned to Fonda, kept 
a general store for two years and dur- 
ing this period built the fine residence 
on Franklin street that he has since 
occupied. He is the owner of several 
farms in this and Calhoun counties, 
and is now engaged as a traveling 
salesman for the manufacturers of the 
Champion mowers and harvesters. 
His family consists of two daughters, 
Florence M., who received a medal in 
the county declamatory contest at 
Pocahontas in 1900; and Cecil, who is 
now nine years of age. 

Covey Frank Holley, cigar maker 
and retailer, Fonda, was born in 
Duchess county, N. Y., Nov. 22, 1851. 
He grew to manhood at Hudson, 
where he learned the cigar manufac- 
turing business, and, afterwards for 
several years, found employment in 
the principal cities of the east, as a 
cigar maker. In 1877 he came to Fon- 
da and continued to manufacture 
cigars until 1898 when his retail trade, 
commenced in 1894, began to occupy 
his whole time and attention. April 
22, 1884 he married Mary Belle Tuck- 
er and they have one son living, 
Harry, now in his 11th year. 

At an early age he began to partici- 
pate in various amateur plays on the 
stage and soon after his location in 
Fonda, he had thirteen of the "old 
timers" join with him in rendering, 
"Among the Breakers." It was the 
principal event of that season and by 
reason of the admirable manner in 
which he represented a negro charac- 
ter called "Scud" he has been gener- 
ally known by that name ever since. 



His elder brother, George Covey, 
a carpenter and his wife came to Fon- 
da in 1876 and remained until 1887 
when they returned to New York. 

Dart Amos Wilson, in February 18- 
71, became one of the pioneer home- 
steaders of Cedar township, (e£ nei 
section 8) and was a resident of Fonda 
from 1876 to 1896, when he married 
Amy Smith and moved to Rolfe. He 
assisted in the organization of Cedar 
township, was the first of its citizens 
to perform the duties of constable and 
held that office for twenty years. In 
1884 he was appointed deputy collect- 
or of this county, and held that office 
for eleven years. He was a native of 
Vermont and at the age of fifteen, in 
1830, went to Cresscott, Canada, and 
four years later to Rochester, N. Y. 
Here he learned 4 the painters' art in a 
chair factory. In 1850 he went to 
California, eleven years later 
to Boise City, returned to Vermont 
in 1869 and two years later came to 
Pocahontas county. His first wife 
Caroline Hays died in 1849, leaving 
two daughters, both of whom married 
and had children, but are now dead. 
In 1871 he married Mercy, widow of 
James Logan and she, as an invalid, 
died in 1895. He died September 29, 
1899 in his 85th year. During his 
early life he became addicted to in- 
temperate habits and they greatly an- 
noyed him in his later years. During 
his residence on the homestead he be- 
came an active member of the M. E. 
church and a few years later was ap- 
pointed the local agent of the Poca- 
hontas county Bible society. His ex- 
hortations in religious meetings 
were earnest and often deeply impres- 
sive. One who heard him conduct a 
service in the Warner school house in 
May 1881 was induced to express 
his remarks in poetic form and the 
opening lines are as follows: 

"I am the door; come knock and I will 

open, 
None ever sought for entrance here 



PIONEEE HISTOBY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, tOWA. 



in vain; 
Come boldly forward, this shall be thy 

token, 
The Lamb was slain. 

t am the vine; come and I will engraft 
thee, 

A faithful off-shoot from the pa- 
rent tree; 

I'll nourish, cherish and at last re- 
ceive thee i 

To bloom eternally." 

— Shabbona, in The Times, June 9, 

1881. 

Davis Arthur W. came to this 
county in the fall of 1895 and served 
two years as principal of the public 
schools in Fonda. His excellent 
work in the school room and in the 
teachers' institutes brought him into 
such favorable notice over the county 
that in the fall of 1897, he was elected 
to fill the office of County Superin- 
tendent. At this election he received 
121 votes more than any other candi- 
date on the winning ticket in this 
county, and a majority of 373 over his 
opponent. His administration of the 
educational interests of this county 
was vigorous, impartial and exception- 
ally fine. Although he is still pursu- 
ing his education, he has already de- 
veloped considerable ease and grace as 
an orator and, on several important 
public occasions, addressed large as- 
semblages of the people in different 
parts of this county. He possesses the 
genius of tireless energy, the genius 
that achieves, and has a bright future 
before him. 

He was born in Fayette county, in 
the early seventies, received his pre- 
paratory education in the high school 
at Fayette, and, as a Bachelor of 
Science, graduated at the college in 
that place in 1893. During his college 
course he worked on the farm and 
taught school to meet his expenses. 
At the time of his graduation he was 
elected principal of the public schools 
at Montour, and a little later accep- 
ted a similar position at Eock Eapids, 
where he continued until he located 
at Fonda in 1895. He is now pursuing 



a two years' course of legal studies in 
the Iowa State University at Iowa 
City. 

Dunn Alexander, a justice of the 
peace in Cedar township since 1895, 
was born in Manahan county, Ireland, 
in May 1832, and in 1857 married there 
Margaret Mills. In March 1860, with 
wife and two children, he came to 
this country and located on a farm 
near Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1864 he en- 
listed as a member of Co. D. 153rd 
Ohio Volunteers and participated in 
several skirmishes with the confed- 
erates along the railroads in Virginia 
and at Chambersburg, Pa. In 1872 he 
located in Cass Co., Iowa, in 1882 
on section 20 Williams township, and 
in 1893 on his present farm in Cedar 
township, which he was the first to 
occupy and improve. Few men have 
been more highly honored by their re- 
election to the office of Justice of the 
Peace than Squire Dunn. He filled 
tbis office three terms, or six years, in 
Cass county, two terms in Calhoun 
county, and is now serving his third 
term in Cedar township. 

His first wife died near Cincinnati, 
November 20, 1870, leaving three 
children: Mary Elizabeth, proprietor 
of a hotel at Elkhorn, Colorado; Alex- 
ander, who is engaged in the Cripple 
Creek gold region; and John, who in 
1897 graduated in the law department 
of the Colorado State University at 
Denver. In 1871 he married Mrs. 
Josephine Crozier, of Claremont, Ohio, 
and the children of this union still 
living are, Mary, wife of Charles 
"Wood, Frank, Thomas, Arthur, Char- 
les and Clarence. 

Dorton George Madison (b. July 
4, 1836— d. September 2, 1880) in the 
spring of 1871, accompanied by wife 
and seven children,located on a home- 
stead of eighty acres ni nei section 32, 
known later as the Smeaton farm, in 
Cedar township. He planted the 
beautiful maple grove, that now sur- 
rounds the buildings, and remained 




FONDA AND VICINITY. 



$» 



— 9 M 



cy 





i?t 



GU~ Harvey Eaten ^fiS?**®^** * * 



J).M:"W6oc)trv <? 





1 



| Henry Sckoeuteh!/ ^^iw^\.^. } MrsWMJJ^V 



FONDA AND VICINITY. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



409 



there until December 1878, when he 
moved to Fonda and conducted a 
flour and feed store in connection with 
a collection agency, until the time of 
his decease. He taught school in his 
youth and two terms in the Hersom 
district. He was elected Justice of 
the Peace in the fall of 1872, and held 
that office three successive terms. He 
was one of the census enumerators in 
1880 and a member of the town coun- 
cil in 1879-80. 

After the death of his father in In- 
diana, he came with his mother to 
Ottumwa, Iowa, and on April 19, 1859, 
married Mary Kerlin, of Chilicothe. 
After two years they moved to Adams 
county, and three years later, to Mar- 
shall county, where they remained 
until the time of settlement on the 
homestead. His family consisted of 
seven children all of whom, and their 
mother, are still living except Alice F. 
who Sept. 12, 1889, married John W. 
Willis, a hardwareman, of Chadron, 
Neb., and died Nov. '93; Perry, in 1892, 
married Dora Hughes, resides in the 
State of Washington, and has one 
child, Guy: Anna, in 1888, married 
Clarence Harding, a general agent for 
the D. M. Osborne Implement Co., re- 
sides at Dubuque, and has three child- 
ren, Chauncey, Fern and Marie. Don- 
na, in 1885, married Charles Roberts, 
a blacksmith, lives at Jolley, and has 
four children, Frank, Haydee, Charles 
and George: Henry, manager of the 
Lee & Jenkins lumber yard, at Fonda, 
married Catherine Fitzgerald and has 
one child, Veronica; Theresa, in 1887 
married Charles Nichols, a carpenter 
Fonda, and has three children, Glad- 
dis, Glenwood and Clark; John, the 
youngest, is an employee of the North- 
ern Telephone Co. 

Eaton Harvey (b. Dec. 6, 1846),own- 
er and occupant of the se£ Sec. 28, 
Cedar township, came to Pocahontas 
county with wife and one child 
June 1, 1871, and secured a homestead 
on the nei Sec. 36, Dover township. 



The first improvements consisted of a 
board shanty, 12x14 feet, a stable and 
some breaking; and these were located 
according to some breaking previously 
done by one who was a practical 
surveyor. Wishing to know exactly 
where his homestead was, he then had 
it surveyed by the county survey- 
or and was surprised to find that his 
buildings were along the center of 
the highway and that a considerable 
portion of his breaking was on 
three adjoining farms, two of which 
were in Grant township. 

He has been very successful as a 
farmer, and is now the owner of 640 
acres of land (160 acres in Nebras- 
ka) and a two story brick block in 
Fonda. He believes he worked harder 
and endured more hardships to secure 
the homestead than any of the sub- 
sequent purchases. In 1873, when 
the grasshoppers robbed him of every- 
thing on the homestead, he took his 
family in a prairie schooner to Sac 
City, erected a cabin for their com- 
fort, worked on the railroad till spring 
and then traded the cabin for a cow. 

Both of his farms are finely improv- 
ed and the buildings are kept neatly 
painted. The house on the home- 
stead was built in 1887 and he con- 
tinued to live there until 1893 when he 
bought and moved to the farm of A. 
B. P. Wood, near Fonda, for the better 
education of his large and industrious 
family. 

In 1898, he built a two story brick 
building on the West side of Main 
street, Fonda, known as the Eaton 
block and later bought another store 
on the same street. Few men have 
met with better success on the farm 
and it has been achieved by attend- 
ing strictly to it. 

He has been the owner of some of 
the finest specimens of cattle, hogs 
and horses ever brought to this vicin- 
ity and has paid fancy prices for 
some of them. He has shown a pref* 



4ld PIONEER HISTORY OF iWAIIONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

erence for the Shorthorn and Gallo- W. Norton and died in 1896 leaving 

Way cattle, and for the English two children, Ray and Viola. Mary 

draught horses. Jeanette married George Diclcsonj 

He is ;i native of Cataraugus Co., N. Superintendent of the Boone Co. coal 
v., where his father, Hamilton mines at Incline, and has five child- 1 
Eaton, died in L847j the next year ren, Pearl, [rene, Aipheus, Leveta 
after his birth, leaving four sons and and Royal. Minnie Myrtle married 
one daughter, namely: Henry, resi* in 1896 Charles Cheney, a farmer neat 
dent Of Ripon, Wis.; Mary and Al- Newell, and lias one child, Ethel, 
bert, both dead; William and Harvey, Jennie M, a Fonda graduate in L897) 
residents of Fonda., in 1S4S his and Ezra Albert are at home, 
mother, Ruth, became the wife of Edgar David William, M. D. (b> 
Warner Gorton who died in Green August 24, L845), resident of Fonda 
Lake county, Wis., in 1886 leaving two since April 2, issi, is the oldest, res- 
children, Nancy married to William ident physician in Pocahontas county. 
Sweet, and Amos 11. Gorton whose He is a native of Wisconsin and the 
wife and two children were killed in son of William and Charlotte (Tibbals) 
the cyclone of 'SKI, also a. resident of Edgar, with whom he remained on 
Fonda. After the death of her second the farm until be was 23 years of 
husband she made her home with age. in September 1868, be came to 
Harvey and died in L893 in her Waverly, Iowa, where he taught 
78th year. Harvey came to Buchanan school and studied. medicine two and 
county, Iowa, in 1867, the next year one half years under Dr. J. G. Smith, 
married Mary B. Thompson, of lude- In the fall of 1871, he entered Rush 
pendence, and three years later came Medical College, Chicago, and gradu- 
to Pocahontas county. His family ated March 17, 1874, having spent a 
consists of eleven children: Almira, a portion of the intervening time on 
teacher, and Adelia together had the farm and m teaclringseleet school, 
charge of a grocery store in Sionx He located first at Monroe, Wiscon- 
City two years and in Fonda one year; sin, but after six months went to 
Jennie, married to John W. McCul- Dayton, where he remained until 
loch, Pomeroy; Amos, Cora, a graduate November 1, 1889, when he came to 
from the Fonda schools in '99 and a Gowrie, Iowa, and live months later to 
teacher; Jessie, Martha, Wallace, Fonda, 
Pearl, Gertie S. and Harry. Hecameto this community very 

Baton William H. (b. Jan. 19, L841, highly commended, and during his 
N. Y.) in 1859 married Hannah Bar- long residence in it, he has been held 
rett in Green Lake county, Wis,, and in high esteem as a physician, has en- 
engaged in farming there until 1880 joyed a very lucrative practice and 
when, with a family of eight children proved himself a public spirited citi- 
he came to Dover township, and eight, zen. He was an efficient member of 
years later to Fonda. His familycon- the town oouncil eleven years, "S7-!»7, 
aists of eight, children: Francis II. a member of the school board a iiiiin- 
Fonda, married Alma Cullen who died her of years and president Of it. in 18- 
in 1888 leaving one son, Roy; and 92. He is now the owner of an im- 
inl893 he married Maggie Olkjer, proved farm of UK) acres in Calhoun 
w'ho has one child, Lee. William Os- County, and several valuable proper- 
car married Anna Olkjer, lives at ties in Fonda. 

Sioux Rapids and has t wo children, September I, 1890 he married Anna 

Cecil and Kay. Lucy died in her 23rd Lourinda Dixon, then teaching school 

year. Ruth Viola married Stephen in this vicinity; and their family con- 



cedar towns mi*. 



411 



slsts of two children, David Dixon, 
and Mary Charlotte. 

Ellis Gilbert II. (b. Sept. 21, 1821), 
resident ofFonda since 1879, is a native 
of Canton, Oxford county, Maine. In 
1843 be married Phoebe W. Griffith, 
(b. March 20, 1819) and lived there un- 
til 1851, when he moved to Boone Co., 
Ill , where he remained until 1879. 
The period of his active life was spent 
on the farm and he owned a good one, 
near Fonda, until 1890. He has been 
a total abstainer, an earnest advocate 
of prohibition and was a member of 
the Fonda town council, in 1881. His 
estimable wife died December 1(5,1888. 

He raised a family of four sons and 
one daughter, three of whom were 
born in Maine and the others in Illi- 
nois. 1. ElishaOsro (b. Feb. 4, 1845), 
a mason and plasterer, on July 3, 18(57, 
married Elvira Leach, of Manchester, 
111., came to Fonda, in 1879, and raised 
a family consisting of Frederick, a 
printer, resident of Los Angeles, Cal., 
where October 11, 1896, he married 
Kittic Griffon; Lulu. June 19, 1896, 
married Fred J. Kenning a hardware- 
man, Fonda, and they have two child- 
ren Grace and Mabel; Earl, Jesse, 
Glenn, Florence and Mazie. 2. Ed- 
ward It. (b. June 14, 1848) resident of 
Fonda since 1875 and Mayor two years 
1898-99, on Nov. 15, 1871, married 
Sophia Riford (b. Aug. 8, 1848) at 
Waukesha, Wis., and she died Jan. 15, 
1898, leaving one daughter, Maude, a 
teacher. 3. Frank R. a farmer, in 
1879 married Alice Comstock, re- 
sides in California and has three 
children. 4. George It. a farmer, in 
1891, married Mary Murray and has 
three children, Gilbert, Rozclla, and 
Frank. 5, Augusta Leon Nov. II, 
1882, married William Chiquet, a 
printer of Fort Dodge, where she 
died January 8, 1900, leaving three 
children, Luzerne, Flossie and Gilbert. 

Evans Orange C. (b.1826) with wife 
and six children came to Cedar town- 
ship in 1872 and, in view of the fact he 



had been a soldier in the civil war, se- 
cured a homestead of 160 acres on the 
riei section .8, He was a native; of 
New York, where in 1849, he married 
Harriet Graham, who is still a resi- 
dent of Fonda. In 1862 he enlisted 
for three years as a member of Co. K. 
85th, New York Infantry, to render 
service as a musician. He belonged 
to the army of the Potomac under 
McLellan, lost his health in the 
swamps along the Chicamauga, and 
after the lapse of fifteen months, was 
honorably discharged for disability. 
In February 1865 he moved to Floyd 
county, Iowa, and seven years later to 
the homestead in Pocahontas county, 
where he died September 30, 1874. He 
was serving as one of the trustees of 
Cedar township at the time of 10s 
death. His family consisted of six 
children: 1. Frank in 1874 married 
Jennie Ferguson, resides in Webster 
county, and has a family of eight 
children, Olgie, Mina, Richard, Ar- 
thur, Frank, Jennie, Ralph and Guy; 
2. Eugene in 1876 married Nora Say- 
res, who died in 1894 from the ell'cct 
of being enveloped in the flames of 
the gas that filled the room, while 
she was cleaning grease spots on the 
carpet with gasoline near a hot stove; 
she left four children, Aaron, a Fonda 
graduate in 1896, Emmet a graduate 
in 1900, Ray and Jay. 3. Alice in 1877, 
married Fillmore Miller, a book-keep- 
er, lived at Webster City, and died in 
1889 leaving two children Harriet and 
Benjamin. 4. Elmer, a well driller, 
lives with his mother. 5. Mary in 
1883, married Harry Bailey a carpen- 
ter at Fonda, and has three children, 
Augusta, Charles and William. 6. 
William, a well driller, in 1893 mar- 
ried Mary McGrevy and has one child, 
Max. 

Fairburn George. The early set- 
tlement of north-west Iowa, meant 
not only the development of a country 
of inexhaustible resources, but also 
the development of men who were 



412 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ready to enter this new field of effort, 
take advantage of its manifold oppor- 
tunities and grow up with the coun- 
try. One of those who have achieved 
a high degree of success, as financiers, 
is George Fairburn, whose settlement 
at Fonda was co-incid«nt with the 
establishment of regular train service 
by the Illinois Central R. R. Co., in 
October 1870. 

He began his career April 19, 1850, 
near Kelso, Scotland, and is the son of 
Archibald and Janet (Aitchison) Fair- 
burn. In 1860, at the age of ten, he 
came with his parents to America, 
and located at Dubuque, Iowa, where 
he remained during the next ten 
years. Here he worked on the farm 
in summer and attended the Academy 
at Cascade in winter, for several years; 
and then became an assistant in the 
office of his uncle, D. A. McKinlay, 
secretary and treasurer of the Dubu- 
que and Sioux City R. R. Co. His. 
uncle was remarkable for his method- 
ical manner and business sagacity;and 
under him he received an excellent 
business training. 

During this early period of his life 
he endeavored to make a profitable 
investment of a part of each month's 
earnings, and made himself so useful 
to his employers that his meager 
wages were increased annually. 
During the last two years his spare 
moments were occupied in reading 
law, Senator Wm. B. Allison, whose 
office was in the same building and 
opposite that of his uncle, having ac- 
corded to him the courtesy of the use 
of his library for that purpose. 

At this early date, and by reason of 
the facts just stated, he gave promise 
of his subsequent, successful business 
career. It was not the amount he 
earned, but what he saved and judi- 
ciously invested that became the ba- 
sis of his present wealth ;and the results 
of his youthful efforts at self improve- 
ment make him a good illustration of 
one who did not "sow wild oats this 



year, " because he believed a crop of 
that sort would prove a disastrous, 
rather than a profitable investment. 

While in the general railroad office 
at Dubuque, he was afforded the op- 
portunity either to remain there or to 
take charge of one of the new stations 
established between Fort Dodge and 
Sioux City, except LeMars. After 
making a tour of inspection over the 
entire line and signifying a preference 
for Marvin, now called Fonda, he was 
appointed the station agent for this 
place and at the age of twenty, Oct. 
15, 1870, located at Marvin making 
his home in the depot. The town 
had been platted only a few days pre- 
vious and a few little shanties, pro- 
miscously located on the prairie near 
the depot, were the visible indications 
of the future city. On November 1, 
1877, after a serious illness of three 
months and seven years of continuous 
service as station agent, he resigned 
that position in order that he might 
give his undivided attention to his 
own rapidly developing business in- 
terests, having proved himself one of 
the most competent and trustworthy 
agents the I. C. R. R. ever employed. 

He began his business career at 
Fonda, by ordering, soon after his ar- 
rival, a car load of soft coal, ten tons, 
and storing it for sale in the west end 
of the depot. That load of coal sup- 
plied the local demand during all that 
winter and, as it was sold, it was 
weighed on the little scales in the de- 
pot. This was the beginning of the 
coal business at Fonda. He also sold 
that season a number of twisters for 
twisting hay so it could be used for 
fuel. 

The first act of public charity by 
the citizens of Fonda and vicinity 
was made in response to his personal 
appeal. It consisted of a lot of flour 
and clothing sent to Chicago the next 
day after he received the message, 
announcing the great fire there in 
October 1871, accompanied with an 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



413 



appeal for supplies. During one of 
the snow blockades of 1880 the supply 
of flour in Fonda became exhausted. 
On this occasion he got a horse, rode 
to the home of James Mercer and ob- 
tained a part of a sack of flour to 
supply the pressing Deeds of his own 
family. 

In the spring of 1871 he ordered sev- 
eral car loads of lumber and establish- 
ed the coal and lumber yard north- 
west of the depot. The furniture 
business was started about the same 
time by storing the goods in the east 
end of the depot, which was then 
used as a private room for the family 
of the agent. The furniture business 
was continued there as long as he re- 
mained in charge of the station. In 
1871 he began to invest in town lots 
and was appointed the local agent for 
their sale by the Town Lot Co. He 
also erected a small house, .14x24 and 
14 feet high. This, the third house 
built in Marvin, was increased by a 
large front addition in 1881, and was 
the residence of the Fairburn family 
until 1889. Soon after his arrival he 
began to act as an agent for the 
sale of lands and the negotiation of 
loans, and to do the banking business 
for this community. The original 
bank building built in 1877, is the one 
story frame structure in which the 
the Fonda creamery Co., has had its 
office since its organization. In 1881 a 
brick bank was built on the corner of 
First and Main streets, that in 1885 
was made a double two story brick 
block and it has since been known as 
the Pocahontas County Bank, the old- 
est one in the county and having now 
a paid up capital of 1100,000. In 1887 
he was instrumental in organizing the 
Fonda Town Lot Co., that effected 
the purchase of nearly 400 acres of 
land around the town site, and he has 
since served as president of that or- 
ganization. Each of these new lines 
of business was undertaken as the de- 
mand for them arose in connection 



with the development of this new set- 
tlement. He is at present the owner 
of nearly 3,000 acres of land in Poca- 
hontas and adjoining counties. 

In 1889 he purchased a fine resi- 
dence in Des Moines and moved to 
that city for the better education of 
his family, having disposed of his in- 
terests in the furniture, coal and lum- 
ber business the previous year. Ac- 
companied by some of his intimate 
friends, or the members of his own 
family, he has made a number of 
tours to California, Mexico, the great 
lakes and other interesting localities 
in this country, and in 1899 visited his 
native heath in Scotland. 

In the spring of 1900, he began the 
erection of a new residence for him- 
self and family, on the north-east 
corner of block 35 and fronting on 
KiDg and sixth streets, Fonda. This 
is a four story frame building 65x55 
feet, with a porch 12 feet wide exten- 
ing half way around it and built sev- 
eral feet above the floor with masonry 
having a facing of pressed brick and 
Bedford stone. It will be provided 
with a complete gas plant, an electric 
light outfit and be heated by a com- 
bined hot water and hot air plant. 
When completed in 1901 at a cost of 
$20,000, it will be the finest residence 
in Pocahontas county. 

As a citizen he has never taken 
very much interest in politics nor 
been a candidate for political honors, 
yet no one in Fonda and vicinity, 
has exerted a public influence so po- 
tent over the entire period of the his- 
tory of Fonda as he has done. He 
was a member of the first town coun- 
cil and was elected to that office four 
times, '79-80 and '84; served as Mayor 
of Fonda, four years, '82-83 and '87-88. 
He was a member of the first Fonda 
school board in 1880, president of it in 
'81, and was the first treasurer of the 
school funds, in 1880. 

He received his early education in 
Scotland where among other things, 



414 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



he learned the Shorter Catechism and 
many chapters in the Bible. Asa 
result he never forgets that "Man's 
chief end is to glorify God and enjoy 
him forever." He has been a liberal 
contributor to all the churches in 
Fonda and was president of the board 
of trustees of the Presbyterian church 
from the time of its organization in 
1886 until 1890, the year after his re- 
moval to Des Moines. During his res- 
idence in Des Moines he became one 
of the most liberal supporters and 
a trustee of the Central Presbyterian 
church there, and continued to sup- 
port the churches in Fonda. 

"Be sure you are right, then go 
ahead," is a maxim he never know- 
ingly violates. His decision of char- 
acter is in some measure the result of 
self training, but more largely an in- 
heritance from his Scottish ancestry. 
His father, for twenty years, was an 
elder in the Presbyterian church be- 
fore he left the old country 
and was a man of reverent and very 
positive convictions. His success in 
business may be atributed to his 
sagacity, assiduity and strict 
integrity. His word has always been 
as good as his bond, and his "yes" or 
"no" indicates that the matter under 
discussion has been decided. He has 
attended strictly to his own business 
and managed it with all possible ener- 
gy that he might make it a success. 
He has never taken that interest in 
politics, that might naturally be ex- 
pected of one in his station, but when 
called upon to render local public ser- 
vice he has done so with marked ef- 
ficiency. By reason of his personal 
knowledge of the law and its imparti- 
al enforcement he proved himself one 
of the best mayors that Fonda has 
ever had. 

On December 5, 1871 he married Su- 
san Olive, daughter of Judge Wm. 
Wilson and Olive (Dean b. 1817, d, '45) 
Hamilton (b. 1810 d. 1865) of Dubuque. 
Their family consists of three child- 



ren, the first-born, George, having 
died at Marvin in childhood. Edward 
H. and Frank A., after graduating 
from the high schools of Des Moines, 
spent one year in the Iowa College of 
Law, Des Moines, and then took a 
a full course in the law department 
of the University at Ann Arbor, Mich. 
In October 1899, after a very credit- 
able examination at Des Moines, they 
were both admitted to the bar. Ed- 
ward has found a place in the Poca- 
hontas County Bank, where he in- 
tends to utilize his legal knowledge in 
the transaction of business rather 
than as a practitioner, and Frank has 
connected himself with the law firm 
of Carr and Parker, Des Moines. Nel- 
lie, the youngest, is at home and per- 
suing her studies. 

His father (b. 1823), on May 14, 1896, 
died at Cascade, Iowa, where his 
farm was located; and his mother (b. 
1825) died" at Marion, January 10, 1898. 

Garlock Ephraim (b. Dec. 25,1820), 
who died on his homestead, near Fon- 
da, September 19, 1895, was the head 
of a family whose history has become 
one of the most prominent in Poca- 
hontas county. He was a native of 
Montgomery county, N. Y., where on 
October 10, 1841, he married Harriet, 
daughter of Folonan and Jane Doty, 
and lived there until 1857, when' he 
and his family moved to DeKalb Co., 
111. In March 1869, accompanied by 
Abram O. his oldest son who was des- 
tined to hold high official position in 
this county, he came to Cedar town- 
ship, where both entered adjoining 
homesteads on the sei section 24, and 
erected two houses near each other 
for their respective families. Two 
months later William E. and family 
and George arrived in wagons, bring- 
ing their own and their father's cat- 
tle with them, the former securing as 
a homestead the n 1 ne i of the same 
section. The other members of the 
family arrived about the same time 
by rail to Webster City. 




A. O. GARLOCK, DES MOINES. 

COUNTY AUDITOR, 1874-81. 
STATE SENATOR, 1888-89. 





MRS. A. O. GARLOCK. 



MRS. WM. D. MCEWEN. 



/ 












REV. GEO. H. DUTY. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ROLFE, 1807-90. 



REV. GEO. H. AINSLIE. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ROLFE, 1093-97. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



415 



Ephraim Garlock was a carpenter 
as well as a farmer and assisted many 
of his neighbors in the erection of 
their pioneer houses. His own home 
is commonly regarded as the oldest 
landmark in Cedar township and it 
certainly is in all that part of it that 
is east of Sunk Grove, in which he al- 
so turned the first furrow. In the 
early days many a weary traveler was 
made welcome at his home and none 
seeking food and shelter were ever 
turned away until they were first fed 
and rested. 

Those of his family that survived 
him are Abram O. and William E.Des 
Moines; Joseph W. at Independence; 
Levi, Walnut Grove, Minn.; George at 
Marathon; Ida, a teacher, and Anna 
who still live with their mother on 
the old homestead. Abram, William 
and Joseph were soldiers during the 
civil war, the first two having enlisted 
as members of Co. K.42d 111. infantry, 
A. O. being a 2d Lieut, and W. E. 
sergeant at the time of their dis- 
charge. Levi, Feb. 27, 1872, secured 
the homestead of Noah Woolsey ei sei 
Sec. 12, 80 acres, and later married 
Ella Porter his grand-daughter. He 
lived a few years at Gilmore City, is 
now engaged in the real estate busi- 
ness and has a family of eight child- 
ren. George married Josephine War- 
wick and has a family of three child- 
ren. It has been a source of pride that 
no member of this family was ever 
addicted to the use of tobacco or 
strong drink in any form. 

Garlock William Erastus (b. 1844) 
married Martha, daughter of Rev. R. 
Persons, of DeKalb Co , 111. In the 
spring of 1886 he left his homestead 
and lived for a few years at Gilmore 
City, and now owns a fruit farm at 
Des Moines. In Cedar township he 
was a trustee in 1875 and president of 
the school board in 1885. He has one 
son, Ephraim G., who is still at home. 

Garlock Abram Oscar. That 
this is a country where the honest, in- 



dustrious and ambitious youth may se- 
cure recognition and rise to positions 
of honor, has its practical illustration 
in the record of the subject of this 
sketch, who did not hesitate to locate 
on the frontier of the "wild and 
wooly west," and work out his own 
destiny with those who might be as- 
sociated with him in the effort to con- 
vert a vast, wild prairie into green 
pastures, fruitful fields and beautiful 
homes. 

Abram O. Garlock was born Decem- 
ber, 4, 1842 at Cooper town, N. Y., and 
in 1857 moved with his parents to De- 
Kalb Co., 111. He received his educa- 
in the public school, learned carpen- 
try by working with his father and 
acquired a practical knowledge of 
book-keeping and commercial law 
by clerking in a store. On December 
4, 1864, he married Amanda M. daugh- 
ter of Charles S. and Mary Ann(Wood- 
ward) Hunt, of DeKalb Co., Ill , and 
engaged in farming there until March 
23, 1869, when he located on his own 
homestead, wi se i section 24, Cedar 
township. 

His knowledge of carpentry was of 
great advantage to him on the front- 
ier, for when he was not engaged on 
the homestead, he found profitable 
employment as a contractor and build- 
er. He became the pioneer school- 
house builder by the erection of more 
buildings of that kind than any other 
man in this settlement in the early 
days. He built the first one in Fonda, 
in Marshall and Butler townships, the 
first two in Dover, the first three in 
Williams and the first four in Colfax 
townships, and tbree others in the 
south east part of Calhoun county, all 
before the close of the year 1873. 

He took an active part in the organ- 
ization of Cedar township, served as 
the first secretary of the school board 
two "years, 1871-72, as township clerk 
in 1873, and as postmaster at Pocahon- 
tas one year inl877-78. 

In the fall of 1873 he was elected 



416 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



auditor of Pocahontas county and per- 
formed the duties of that public office 
in a manner so efficient and accep- 
table to the people, that he was con- 
tinued in it eight years,1874-1881, hav- 
ing been twice re-elected without any 
opposition. During the first three 
years of this period he lived at old 
Rolfe and moved to Pocahontas at 
the time of the change of the county 
seat. 

The duties of the auditor's office 
were not so onerous as at present and, 
utilizing his spare moments by 
reading law, he was examined at Po- 
cahontas and admitted to the practice 
of law by Edward R. Duffle, Judge of 
the District Court, September 21, 
1880. He also engaged in the sale of 
real estate, especially, the lands of 
non-resident owners, purchasing in 
1874 a set of abstracts from J. J. 
Bruce. In 1883, in partnership with 
W. D. McEwen, he erected a stone 
building on the west side of Main 
street, Pocahontas, for an office and 
bank. The Pocahontas Savings Bank, 
founded at this time and place, was 
the second one established in this 
county. In 1886 they established the 
Exchange Bank of Rolfe, known since 
1892 as the State Savings Bank, and 
in the fall of 1891, the Bank of Plover, 
at Plover. 

In 1888-89, as state senator he en- 
joyed the honor of representing this, 
the 50th district in the 22d General 
Assembly of Iowa. 

In 1889 he moved to Rolfe and two 
years later to Des Moines, where he 
still resides, except in mid-summer 
when he usually occupies his cottage 
at Point Pocahontas, at the south- 
west corner of Lake Okoboji. 

He has retained his interest in the 
banks at Rolfe, Plover and Pocahon- 
tas, and when the education of his 
children has been completed it is ex- 
pected that he will return to Pocahon- 
tas county, the arena for twenty two 
years of his most successful achieve- 
ments. 

His family consists of Mary E. fa- 



miliarly called Birdie, and for two 
years, '90-91. an assistant in the Ex- 
change Bank, who, in November 1892, 
married S. H. Kerr, and resides at 
Rolfe; Agnes O.; Cora B., who gradu- 
ated from Des Moines College in '99 
and on Dec. 4, ( 99, the 57th birthday 
and 35th wedding anniversary of her 
father, married Guy Barker, and re- 
sides at Macksburg; Mabel, Abie and 
El wood. 

He has always advocated the prin- 
ciples of the republican party, and 
as a public officer, proved himself 
worthy the confidence of his constit- 
uents. His good judgment and 
business tact were recognized in his 
constant development of the per- 
manent school fund of the county 
which, at the end of his last term as 
auditor, amounted to $30,000. He 
has been strictly temperate and eco- 
nomical in his habits, and while giv- 
ing liberal local support to the preach- 
ing of the gospel, has made large con- 
tributions towards the erection of 
all the earlier church buildings in 
this county. 

When it is remembered that he 
went forth from the parental roof at 
fourteen to learn early how "to pad- 
dle his own canoe," rendered loyal 
and patriotic service as a soldier, in 
the hour of the nation's peril, and ex- 
perienced the hardships of pioneer 
life as a homesteader on the frontier, 
it is perceived that he began at the 
lowest round of the ladder that leads 
to success. He has been a hard work- 
er and, possessing a clear head and 
strong hands, whatever he undertook 
was done, and whatever he touched 
prospered. His ideas have been prac- 
tical and his methods well suited for 
the accomplishment of his plans. His 
affable manner and strict integrity 
have caused him to be held in high 
esteem by all who know him, he keeps 
well posted in regard to the business 
and politics of the country and the 
success- that has crowned his efforts 
has made him one of the leading and 
most influential men of northwest 
Iowa. 



CEDAE TOWNSHIP. 



417 



Puchs (Fox) Louis, Joseph and 
Frank, accompanied by their parents, 
John and Helen (Wickel), in the 
spring of 1871 came, to Cedar town- 
ship. Louis entered the wi sei sec. 
12, 80 acres, as a homestead on April 
22, '71 and received the patent for it 
December 29, '79. Joseph, finding 
that he was not needed by his broth- 
er on the homestead nor by the other 
settlers of this new community, soon 
afterward sought and found employ- 
ment in the copper mines of Michigan 
south of Lake Superior. He remained 
there about six years and, sending 
his earnings to his brother Louis, the 
latter secured for him a homestead of 
80 acres on the sj nwi section 12. The 
entry for this homestead was made by 
his father March 10, '74, and he re- 
ceived the patent for it September 10, 
'80; it having been first entered in 
1870 by Henry Pallersels and in 1872 
by Geo. F. Symmonds. After his re- 
turn in 1876 he and his brother lived 
and worked together until 1880 when 
he married and began to occupy his 
own homestead. 

Their parents were natives of Ger- 
many where they raised a large fami- 
ly. In 1870, after the marriage of 
their eldest daughter, Johanna, who 
remained there and of Anna, whose 
husband, John Hoffman, died there 
leaving one son, Paul, now in Dubu- 
que, they came to America and lo- 
cated in the timber districts of north- 
ern Wisconsin, and the next spring on 
the prairies of Pocahontas county. 
They died, John in January 1881, Helen 
in June 1878, and were buried in the 
Dover Catholic cemetery. 

Louis Fuchs possessed $400 when he 
came to Fonda, and after expending 
$270 for his homestead had $130 left 
for its improvement, and the tempor- 
ary support of his father and family. 
The homestead of Joseph in 1874 
cost $400. These brothers had an am- 
bition to raise fat cattle and made 
preparation to engage in this employ- 



ment as soon as it was possible. It re- 
quired a few years to get a start but 
during the period of their partner- 
ship they were recognized as the 
pioneer cattle feeders of Cedar town- 
ship. Their shipments of cattle in 
the early days surpassed others in the 
vicinity not only in their aggregate 
value but in the superiority of their 
condition which commanded the 
highest market price. For a quarter 
of a century these men have main- 
tained the enviable reputation of be- 
ing the largest and most successful 
feeders in the township. As the 
years have passed they have become 
the owners of large farms, and have 
proportionately enlarged their barns, 
sheds and feed lots. Each has now a 
capacity for feeding 250 head of fat 
cattle and, during recent years, they 
have made their annual shipment 
about the month of September. Each 
of them keeps about 400 head of cat- 
tle and the sales of each in 1899 
amounted to $18,000. 

Louis Fuchs acquired his farm as 
follows: In 1871, the homestead, 80 
acres; in 1880, 80 acres; in '83, 80 acres; 
in '85, 160 acres; in '86, 80 acres; in '88 
160 acres; total 640 acres; all of it up- 
land. In 1899 he raised 7,000 bushels 
of corn and bought 20,000 bushels 
more. His present bouse was built in 
1892. He was born July 23, 1839, and 
on December 21, 1873, married Mary 
Magdalene Lieb, of Cedar township. 

His family consists of Anna Ida, a 
Franciscan sister, Dubuque; Martha 
Elizabeth, (Mary Josephine died in 
her 17th year, in 1894), Helen Anto- 
nia, (Matilda died young), John 
Leo, Cecilia, Agnes Angeline and 
Agatha Alice, twins, Vincent Leo, 
Florence Josephine and Florian Jo- 
seph, twins, and Leona. He was a 
trustee of Cedar township five years, 
1878-82, and has been treasurer of the 
school funds since 1890. 

Joseph Fuchs acquired his farm as 
follows: In 1874, the homestead, 80 



418 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



acres; in 1885, 160 acres; in '87, 160 
acres; in '92, 560 acres; total 960 acres. 
His present house was built in 1893. 
He was born in 1841 and in 1880 mar- 
ried Stephana Rainier, of Dubuque. 
His family consists of three children, 
Matilda, Francis and Mary; Anna the 
first born having died in childhood. 
In the spring of 1900 he moved tem- 
porarily to Des Moines to secure bet- 
ter facilities for the education of his 
children. He is a man that appreci- 
ates the enjoyment of good health, the 
peace and gladness of the home and 
has the happy faculty of anticipating 
the needs of every part of the work on 
the farm. 

Frank Fuchs, his oldest brother and 
owner of 206 acres of land in Cedar 
township, and Martha, a younger sis- 
ter who also came to Cedar township 
in 1871, make their home with Joseph. 

Gilson John William (b. June 3, 
1833), who died in Fonda, May 14, 
1896, was the son of George and Bessie 
(Hurst) Gilson, and a native of Man- 
chester, England. He came with his 
parents to this country, grew to man- 
hood in Winnebago county, 111., 
where, on Dec. 9, 1858, he married 
Elvira Sayre and engaged in farming. 
Aug. 9, 1862 he enlisted as a member 
of Co. D., 74th 111. infantry and was 
honorably discharged at Nashville, 
June 10, 1865. He belonged to the 
army of the Cumberland, marched 
with Sherman to the sea and partici- 
pated in fifteen battles, Murf reesboro, 
Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, 
Chicamauga, Nashville, etc., and in 
seventeen skirmishes. On June 8, 
1872 he entered as a soldier's claim, 
the ni nei Sec. 20, 80 acres, in Dover 
township, improved and occupied it 
until 1892 when he moved to Fonda. 
In Dover township he was a trustee 
in 1875, assessor in 1876 and justice of 
the peace ten years, 1881-90. 

His family consisted of Clara, mar- 
ried to Oscar Samsel, a resident of 
Fonda and has three children, Ed- 



ward, Everett and Ruth; Eliza, a 
milliner, married to Charles Sayre, 
Fonda, and has one daughter, 
Zola; George, a carpenter, married 
Jessie Ross and lives at Laurens; 
Albert, a painter, Fonda, married 
Clara Evenson and has one child, Wil- 
liam Glen wood; Everett, a painter. 
Ina, a dressmaker and Ethel, a Fonda 
graduate in 1899, are at home. 

Gottfried Gustav H. (b. Aug. 24, 
1843) resident of Fonda since March 
1899, has been a resident of Cedar 
township since June 1871, when he 
secured as a homestead, the ni nei 
section 36, 80 acres. He is a native of 
Prussia, and coming to America with 
his parents in July 1847, lived at Jef- 
ferson, Wis., until the time of his 
settlement in Cedar township. He 
improved his homestead and occupied 
it until his removal to Fonda. He 
has been the most popular assessor of 
Cedar township, having performed 
the duties of that office fourteen 
years, 1877-78, '83-86, '89-90 and '95-1900. 
He has been a member of the school 
board several years, was treasurer of 
it in 1876 and president of it in 1888. 

On April 8, 1877, he married Dora 
Spielman and his family consists of 
three children, Ernest, Delphia Ava, 
a Fonda graduate in 1899 and a 
teacher, and Frederick. 

Guyett C. G. a general merchant 
at Fonda from- March 1878 to 1881, 
was a native of Vermont. He was a 
soldier in the civil war and was mar- 
ried in 1864 while at home on a fur- 
lough. After the close of the war he 
lived at Montpelier until he came to 
Fonda. He bought two lots on the 
east side of Main street, Fonda, erect- 
ed thereon a two story, double, frame 
building with basement, arranged it 
for store rooms and other purposes in- 
cluding a town hall, and engaged in 
general merchandize. He continued 
in business until the spring of 1881 
when he sold all his interests to J. N. 
McKee, and on April 25th following, 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



419 



his wife, Maggie, died of consumption 
in her 39th year, leaving two child- 
ren. 

HaffeleFred (b. 1851) hardware- 
man, Fonda, is a native of Germany 
and at two years of age came with his 
parents to Monticello, Wis., where 
December 17, 1873, he married Clara 
Breckenwagon. In 1881 he located at 
Newell, Iowa, and in 1884 at Fonda, 
where he engaged in the hardware 
business until 1893, when he became 
an assistant to the firm of Roberts & 
Kenning, his successors. He was a 
member of the town council in 1886 
and of the school board three years 
1889-91. His family consists of three 
daughters; Lourinda, who November 
15 1894 married A. L. Roberts, hard 
wareman, Fonda, and has three child- 
ren Hazel, Homer and Lowell; Min- 
nie, a Fonda graduate in 1894 and a 
music teacher, and Edith. 

Hathaway George W., County Su- 
perintendent in 1872-73, was a native 
of Ohio, and on March 23, 1869, the 
day when the first four homesteads 
in Cedar township were entered on 
section 24, entered the e \ nw I of 
that section, known later as the farm 
of Miss Lydia Stephens, now of Wm. 
Mclntyre. He was accompanied by 
A. W. Creed, who that same day en- 
tered the s i sw i of the same section 
known later as a part of the farm of 
William Taylor, now of John Holyer. 
On Jan. 22, '70, Austin G. a brother, 
of A. W. Creed entered a homestead 
on section 12, and on December 7, '70, 
Mrs. Caroline Creed, widow of their 
brother, entered the n i sw i section 
24. Some time afterwards she became 
the wife of Geo. W. Hathaway and se- 
cured the title to .her homestead by 
purchase. He secured his title in 18- 
75. Soon afterwards he moved to 
Webster City, but in the early 80's 
bought a farm of 200 acres on section 
29, Washington township, and for a 
few years engaged in raising fruit and 



cattle. He is now a resident of Ar- 
kansas. 

Hart well Rachel Mrs., one of the 
pioneer teachers of Fonda and vicin- 
ity, entered as a homestead the ni 
sei section 6, Cedar township, Nov. 20, 
1869, and received the patent for it 
August 1, 1877. She was a widow, a 
sister of Robert J. Griffin who taught 
a term of school in her home in 1870- 
71. In 1878 she sold her homestead to 
W. H. Burnett and left the county. 

Hawkins Joseph (b. March 22,1847), 
owner and occupant of swi section 35, 
240 acres, from 1878 to 1898 was, a na- 
tive of Somerset county, England. In 
his third year he came with his par- 
ents to New York State and in 1853 to 
Cascade, Iowa, where his parents 
spent the remainder of their days. 
May 5, 1873, he married Eliza, a sister, 
of James Mercer, and in the spring of 
1878, with wife and two children, lo- 
cated on the farm in Cedar township. 
At the time of his removal to Nebras- 
ka the improvements made upon this 
farm consisted of a good house, a new 
barn, a large cave built of rock, a fruit 
bearing oichard of three acres and a 
beautiful grove of five acres. 

His faithful wife who shared with 
him the pleasures and privations of 
pioneer life, died October 20, 1893, in 
her 49th year, leaving a family of four 
daughters. Effie a graduate of the 
Normal Department of Highland Park 
College, October 12, '98, married 
Frank B. Burns and lives in Wood- 
bury county; Ada, wife of F. Hamil- 
ton Bond Esq., lives at Fonda; Myrtle 
a Fonda graduate in 1897, and a 
teacher; and Marie. Roy, now in his 
15th year was adopted in the spring 
of 1892. 

In Cedar township he was assessor 
in 1880-81, and president of the school 
board in '82 and '93. He was ready to 
render public service as a citizen 
when called upon to do so, but he 
was always engaged in a loyal endeav- 
or to develop or promote the moral 



420 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and spiritual interests of the commu- 
nity. He was not only a regular at- 
tendant of the services at the church 
and Sunday school, but also at the 
mid-week service whenever it was pos- 
sible. He was an humble and 
thorough student of the Bible and 
was never happier than when commu- 
nicating its sacred truths to others. 
He was chosen superintendent of the 
union Sunday school in Fonda, the 
next year after his arrival. During 
subsequent years he was either a su- 
perintendent, a teacher, or both. 
When the Presbyterian Sunday school 
was organized June 20, 1886 he became 
a teacher in it, and on January 1, 1894 
superintendent also and, serving in 
this two fold capacity until the time 
of his removal, was absent only 
three Sabbaths in a period of twelve 
years. On March 18, 1888, he was 
elected an elder of the church and 
rendered efficient service in that capa- 
city until his removal, a period of ten 
years. When his uniform punctuali- 
ty, faithfulness and efficiency, extend- 
ing over a period of twenty years, are 
recalled, it is readily perceived that 
the service he rendered in this respect 
is without a rival in this community. 
Healy William H. (b. 1850), the old- 
est resident attorney of Fonda, is a 
native of Ireland. His father was a 
public school teacher, and .died when 
he was twelve years of age. In 1875 
he came to America, and located first 
in Clinton county, Iowa, where he 
read law. In 1884 he located in Sac 
City, and was admitted to the bar. In 
the spring of 1885 he came to Fonda, 
and has since been engaged in the 
practice of law, the sale of real estate 
and as an agent for some of the best 
insurance companies and loan agen- 
cies. He was post master from Sep, 1, 
'96 to February 7, '98. By reason of 
his general good nature, or uniform- 
ly sunny disposition, his familiar 
friends often call him "Colonel" 
Healy. 



On August 12, '96 he married Sarah 
Connelly, of Ogden, and she died Dec. 
8, 1898 in her 26th year, leaving two 
children, Eleanor and Joseph. 

Hersom Samuel Thomas (b. Feb. 
11, 1849) owner and occupant of the s i 
se i section 30, Cedar township since 
October 26, 1871, is the son of Samuel 
and Margaret Hersom, and a native of 
Mercer county, 111. April 4, 1868, he 
married Lucinda Littrell, and after 
three years located on the homestead 
for which he made the entry the next 
day after his arrival. Coming to this 
section empty handed none felt the 
hard times during the 70's more than 
he, or put forth a more plucky endeav- 
or to hold the homestead through 
them. In later years he has made 
purchases of adjoining tracts of land 
and is now the happy owner of a good 
farm of 360 acres, on which he has 
erected good improvements. His 
buildings, grove and' orchard happen- 
ed to be in the destructive path of the 
tornado of 1893 and were completely 
destroyed. His family were greatly 
frightened but, with the exception of 
a few scratches, escaped uninjured. 
In December 1898, his wife successful- 
ly sustained the removal of a tumor 
that weighed 56 pounds. He was a 
trustee of the township in 1878, and 
'97-1900; president of the school board 
in 1878, and secretary of it in 1879 and 
'83-85. 

His family consists of eight child- 
ren. Harry S. married RosePomeroy, 
lives near the old home and has a 
family of three children, Lee, Hazel 
and Richard; William E. married 
Laura Larson, and has two children, 
Glenn and Roy; Effie married Marion 
Hersom, lives in Ringgold county, and 
has three children; Lily M., Daisy a 
teacher, George, Josephine and Lewis 
are at home. 

Hersom Sylvainus (b. July 10,1842), 
an elder brother of Samuel T,, is a 
native of Maine, and coming to Poca- 
hontas county, May, 20, 1871, on Oct. 



-* -v 


■ 






^i*BBi 




IF 


U JP'^ 



MR. and MRS. SAMUEL T. HERSOM, FONDA. 




MR. and MRS. JOHN P. MULLEN, FONDA. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



42i 



23rd following entered as a homestead 
the w $ sw I section 32, Cedar town- 
ship, which he continued to hold and 
most of the time occupied until 1892 
when he moved to Williams township, 
and in 1899 to Armstrong, Nebraska. 
He grew to manhood in Mercer Co., 
111., where in 1863, he enlisted as a 
member of Co. K. 107th, 111. Infantry. 
He belonged to the 20th, Army Corps 
under Hooker, marched with Sherman 
from Nashville to the Sea, and then 
to Richmond. He was honorably dis- 
charged at Louisville, after two years 
and eleven months of service. 

In 1865 he married Elizabeth Jack- 
son and after her death, or in 1877, 
Etta Henthorne who has been an in- 
valid nearly twenty years. They 
have one child, Frank, who is at 
home, and she had one, Charles, three 
years older, by her first husband. 

Hughes George Edward (b. June 26, 
1854,) for many years a prosperous 
merchant of Fonda, is a native of 
Boone Co. 111., and the son of Samuel 
and Phoebe (Johnson) Hughes, with 
whom at six years of age, he came to 
Jones County, Iowa. He received a 
limited educationjin the public school 
but a thorough training in the practi- 
cal affairs of life from his father, who 
was both a successful farmer and mer- 
chant. His early instinct for busi- 
ness is illustrated by the following in- 
cidents that occurred in his boyhood. 
He was disposed to be industrious and 
careful of his earnings. When the 
latter amounted to one dollar he was 
ready for business. After a few small 
exchanges he gained possession of a 
shot gun that was soon afterwards ex- 
changed for a buggy. He traded the 
buggy for two calves. These were 
kept until they were three years old 
when they were traded for a borse. A 
little later instead of the horse he had 
a lot of other animals and farm im- 
plements. These were sold and the 
money thus realized formed the nu- 
cleus of the comfortable fortune he 
has since accumulated. 



His father, who died September 7, 
1894, came to Fonda, in 1871, and es- 
tablished a general store. He came 
in the fall of 1874, and after his mar- 
riage September 2, 1874, to Anna Gad- 
mer, of Fonda, a lady of German de- 
scent, he became a partner with his 
father in the mercantile business of 
which later he was the sole proprietor. 
His wife discovered such an un- 
usual business ability that she was 
very soon able to assume the entire 
management of the store; and he 
never refers to her without a gleam of 
pride in his eye, for he attributes a 
large measure of his success to her 
counsel and executive ability. In 1888 
he began to invest in land; in January 
1893, he sold his stock of goods and 
store, and erected a comfortable resi- 
dence. In 1894 he resumed the mer- 
cantile business taking J. P. Stein- 
fort in 1895 into a partnership that 
lasted three years. Since that time he 
has been engaged in the real estate 
and loan business. 

For many years he has been widely 
known as one of the best marksmen 
in Iowa. On June 1, 1893, at Clear 
Lake, he won the State trophy, con- 
sisting of a beautifully engraved, gold 
lined, silver cup, for which he had 
been a contestant for several years. 
It was won and held by him on this 
occasion jointly with Mr. Budd, of 
Des Moines on a tie, both having made 
a straight score. He engaged in shoot- 
ing as he did in business, to win;and at 
different times he has won the various 
trophies and individual medals in this 
state. 

He has one daughter, Madge, now 
in her twelfth year. Two children, 
Bertha and Maude, are dead; the for- 
mer dying in infancy, the latter, a 
beautiful and accomplished young 
lady, in her 20th year, May 3, 1896. 

His mother still lives with him. 

Ibson Peter G. (b. Nov. 3,1849), the 
first resident of Fonda, was a native 



422 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of Norway and a blacksmith. In 1869 
at Webster City he found employment 
as a smith for the bridge builders of 
the Dubuque & Sioux City railroad, 
and moved his shop to suit the move- 
ments of the gang. In February 1870, 
when they commenced the construc- 
tion of the bridge across the Cedar, he 
located his shop south of the grade on 
the present site of the city water- 
works This was the first building on 
section 27, in the center of which 
Fonda is located. Inasmuch as the 
railroad was completed about the 
time this bridge was done and the 
patronage of the settlers gave him 
constant employment, he decided to 
remain at this place, and in the fall 
of 1871 built a larger shop south of 
second street near the Ellis residence. 
Two years later this building was 
moved to the northeast corner of Main 
and Second streets, where for many 
years he enjoyed the reputation of be- 
ing the best workman in this section. 
At this time his two brothers, Ed- 
ward and Charles, arrived and joined 
him in the same shop. Edward is 
still engaged in the business having 
a shop of his own in the Busby addi- 
tion to Fonda and Charles is an en- 
gineer in the yards of the Milwaukee 
railroad. In 1890 Peter moved his 
shop one block further west and con- 
tinued to work at his trade until 1896. 
He was a superior workman and kept 
his shop supplied with the best avail- 
able machinery. 

On November 25, 1875, he married 
Frances L. Buswell, who died August 
7, 1891, in her 33d year, leaving two 
children, Clara and Andrew, both in 
their teens. 

Kearns Patrick (b. Ireland, March 
17, 1818) in March 1873 became the 
owner and occupant of the nei section 
2, Cedar township, and of eighty acres 
more on the adjoining section (35) in 
Dover township, all of which he im- 
proved and occupied until 1899, when 
he moved to Fonda. His wife and 



family of nine children, came one 
month after his arrival, and they liv- 
ed that summer in the school house 
first built in the McCartan district, 
which he bought for that purpose. In 
the fall of that year he built a house, 
16x28 two stories that was enlarged to 
its present size in 1893. 

He came to America alone in Sept. 
1847, and locating at West Point, N. 
Y., found employment on the rail- 
road. Novemberl9, 1848, he married 
Catherine Lynch, a native also of 
Ireland, and the next year, moved to 
St. Louis, stopping a few months at 
Cincinnati and Rockford on the way. 
Three years later he moved to Dubu- 
que and the next year to Jackson Co., 
Iowa, where he bought a farm of 100 
acres and occupied it twenty years, or 
until the time of his settlement in 
this county. 

He acquired such facility in the use 
of tools and such knowledge of build- 
ing that he and his two sons were 
able to build his house in the fall of 
1873. He has been very successful in 
raising vegetables and during the last 
fourteen years of his residence on the 
farm raised them for the local market. 

He has never used tobacco, and has 
been a total abstainer since 1839. He 
has never seen the face of a mortgage 
and has never given his note to any 
man in Pocahontas county, except on 
one occasion. He has been a trustee 
of the township eight years, 1883-90. 

His family consists of nine children, 
as follows: 1. Michael J. (b. Feb. 2, 
1851), owner and occupant of a farm 
of 240 acres on section 35, Dover town- 
ship, on November 19, '76, married 
Maggie McCartan and has a family 
consisting of John, Katie, Marie, 
Mary, Michael, James and Joseph 
twins, Maggie, Theresa, William and 
Alice. 2. Mary, on Nov. 19, '76, mar- 
ried John Kelly, lives on a farm near 
Pocahontas, and has a family consist- 
ing of James. Patrick, Katie, Mary, 
Eliza, John, Josie, Florence and Roy. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



423 



3. John (b. 1855.), owner and occupant 
of a farm of eighty acres in Dover 
township, in 1882 married Mary Mur- 
ray and has four children, Patrick, 
Jennie, Henry and Ray. 4. Julia, in 
1877, married Michael Lynch.* 5. 
Margaret, in 1878, married William 
Kelly (a brother of John), the owner 
and occupant of a farm of 160 acres on 
section 35, Dover township, until 1900, 
now a resident of South Dakota, and 
has a family of six children, John, 
Francis, Thomas, Edward, Stephen 
and Albert. 6. Katie, a dress maker, 
Bridget and Elizabeth, teachers, are 
at home. 

For some years past it has been his 
custom to have all his children and 
grandchildren, numbering 49, as- 
semble at his home on the evening of 
all saints' day or hallow e'en; and he 
has the happy faculty of making these 
family re-unions occasions of great joy 
and gladness to the little folks. 

KelleherJohn (b. 1817, Ireland), 
the pioneer occupant of the wi Sec. 
7, Cedar township, after his marriage 
in 1854 lived one year at Lawrence, 
Mass., and twelve in Boston. He then 
located on a farm near Iowa City, and 
in 1884 in Cedar township, where he 
died in 1888. He put fine improve- 
ments on this farm, kept everything 
in the best of order and his wife, Josie 
and James continue to occupy it. 

His family consisted of eight child- 
ren, all of whom are still living. 
Thomas F., M. D. Des Moines, (see 
below); Kate, who in 1892 married 
D. S. McCarville and liyes in Okla- 
homa; John, who in 1891 married 
Mary McCarville and lives at Marys- 
ville, Mo.; Elizabeth, who in 1890 mar- 
ried M. W. Linnan, of Dover; Nellie, 
who in 1893 married S. A. Dunn and 
lives in Webster City; Denis M., who 
graduated from the law department 
of the Iowa State University in 1893 
and has since been engaged in the 
practice of law at Pomeroy; Josie and 
James, who are at home. 



Kelleher Thomas F., M. D., oldest 
son of John Kelleher, was born in the 
city of Lawrence, Mass., in 1855. That 
year his parents moved to Boston and 
remained twelve years. In 1867 they 
moved upon a farm near Iowa City. 
Here Thomas received his education, 
walking to Iowa city each day during 
the fall and winter, and working on 
the farm during the summer. At the 
age of sixteen he taught his first term 
of school at Iowa City and when nine- 
teen took charge of the grammar 
department in the schools of Sidney, 
Iowa. He began the study of medi- 
cine in 1875, in the office of Elmer F< 
Clapp, professor of anatomy in the 
Iowa State University and received 
his diploma in 1878. After practicing 
medicine four years at Bevington, 
Iowa, and one year in Des Moines, he 
located in Fonda. Here he became 
one of the leaders in the organization 
of the democratic party in Pocahon- 
tas county and in 1885, being nomin- 
ated as the democratic candidate for 
the legislature in this district then 
composed of Pocahontas and Calhoun 
counties, received 785 votes against 
445 in this county, lacking only 8t 
votes of being elected representative. 
His popularity was due to his inde- 
pendence in thought, tact for organi- 
zation and enthusiasm as a leader. He 
was frank and honest in politics the 
same as in business. 

In 1886 he married Annie Cunning- 
ham, of Patterson, Iowa, and return- 
ed to Des Moines where he has since 
been engaged in the practice of medi- 
cine. In 1895 he graduated from the 
New York Post-graduate School and 
Hospital. He has a family of three 
boys and two girls. 

Kennedy Joseph (b. 1838), resident 
of Fonda and vicinity since 1874, is a 
native of Tyrone, Ireland, where he 
married and raised a family of seven 
children. In 1874 he came to this 
country and located in Fonda, his 

* See Lynch. 



424 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



brother William, in 1869, having 
settled on a homestead in Williams 
township. In 1876 his wife and family 
arrived and, after a residence of two 
years in Fonda, they moved to the 
Fairburn farm west of town. In 1880 
he bought 240 acres on section 21 , 
Cedar township, and began to improve 
it. He also sought other employment 
as his sons became able to look after 
the farm, and for five years, with a 
one horse power, did the pumping of 
the water for tbe I. C. R. R. at the 
Fonda tank. In 1890 he bought the 
nwi of the same section that increased 
his farm to 400 acres. In 1893 he 
bought the residence, elevator and 
office of N. B. Post and moved to 
Fonda. 

Two business firms were then organ- 
ized, namely; J. Kennedy & Co., con- 
sisting of himself and sons, dealers in 
grain, stock and implements; and 
Redfield, Kennedy & Co., consisting 
of W. J. Redfield and J. Kennedy & 
Co., dealers in stock and implements 
only. In 1897 W. J. Redfield with- 
drew from this firm and established 
the Palace Meat Market, the finest 
in this or any neighboring town; and 
in 1898 Joseph Kennedy withdrew 
from the first named firm and left as 
its successor, Kennedy Bros., consist- 
ing of Thomas, John and Alexander; 
of whom, Thomas looks after the 
interests of the farm, John the busi- 
ness of the office and Alexander all 
matters relating to the care of the 
stock. 

In 1895, to increase their facilities 
for handling stock, they leased a 
tract of eighty acres south of the I. C. 
R. R. track. They feed principally 
cattle and usually have from 150 to 
200 head in process of preparation for 
the city market. In 1897, owing to 
the ravages of cholera among the na- 
tive hogs, they imported a car load of 
razor backs from Arkansas, and the 
experiment proved a profitable one. 

The firm of Kennedy Bros, have 



had long acquaintance with the peo- 
ple of this community, have learned 
how to work intelligently for the 
accomplishment of results and are in 
business to stay. "No compromise 
with competitors and honest dealings 
with all customers," are their busi- 
ness principles. The large share of 
the trade that has come to them has 
been well merited and highly appre- 
ciated. 

On Oct. 8, 1877 Joseph's wife died in 
her 48th year leaving a family of eight 
children. Thomas (b. 1862), a tele- 
graph operator 1882-93, a member of 
the firm of J. Kennedy & Co., in 1897 
became a member of the city council 
and in 1898 president of the Big Four 
District Fair Association; Bessie, 
Nov. 2, 1884 married William J., son 
of Rev. Henry S. Redfield, then a 
dealer in stock and now proprietor of 
the Palace Meat Market, and has a 
family of three children, five having 
died in childhood; John (b. 1866), a 
teacher, secretary of the city school 
board and business manager of the 
firm of Kennedy Bros.; Sarah, Dec. 25, 
1890, married F. M. Hall, resides at 
El Dorado, Kansas, and has four 
children; Alexander, in 1899 married 
Myrtle Hardman and bas one child; 
Mary Jane, Rachel, who died March 
21, 1892 in her 17th year, and Ina, a 
native of Pocahontas county. 

Lemp John (b., March 3, 1835), who 
entered his homestead on wi swi Sec. 
18, Cedar township, Nov. 4, 1869, is a 
native of Germany, came to America 
in 1854, and, after spending one year 
in Pennsylvania and another one in 
Ohio, located in Kent Co., Michigan, 
where he found employment on a 
saw mill. Nov. 24, 1861 he married 
Idda A. Bowers and in 1866 moved to 
Sac county, Iowa. During his first 
year on the homestead he broke about 
forty acres of raw prairie and built 
a house, hauling the lumber for it and 
the coal for fuel from Fort Dodge. 
The next year he broke more prairie 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



425 



and planted a maple grove of ten 
acres that with subsequent additions 
continues to be one of the largest and 
most beautiful, as well as oldest, 
in the township. By his industry, 
economy and good management he 
has met with good success on the 
farm. During the periods of hard 
times, the grasshopper visitations, 
drought and prairie fires he suf- 
fered with his neighbors, but his well 
tilled farm, with its dairy and increas- 
ing herds, enabled him to survive 
them. He planted fruit trees in the 
early days and has enjoyed the pleas- 
ure of gathering some fine crops of 
small fruits, plums, apples, and in 1898 
of peaches that measured seven 
inches. These were the first peaches 
gathered in the township, and were 
raised on a tree that grew from the 
pit of California fruit. By his subse- 
quent purchases the homestead of 80 
acres has been increased to a finely 
improved farm of 260 acres, and in 1889 
there was erected upon it one of the 
finest farm houses in the township. 

His family has consisted of five 
daughters, namely: Cora Belle, who 
married Arthur Moulton, of Cedar 
township; Eliza Blanch, who married 
Adelbert Bailey and lives in Lyon Co., 
Minn ; Mary Etta, who married 
Ulyses S. Reed and lives at Varina; 
Anna Grace, who married George 
Witcraft and lives in Dover township; 
and Millie, who married Lars Larson 
and occupies the home farm. 

Langworthy Oscar A. (b. March 
18, 1838), who died at Fonda Oct. 4, 
1883, was a native of Dubuque. In 
February 1878 he came to Fonda and 
engaged in the hardware and imple- 
ment business until the time of his 
death. He was appointed one of the 
commissioners to effect the incorpora- 
tion of Fonda in 1879, and, at the 
time of his decease, was serving his 
third year as a member of the city 
council. He was a man highly re- 
spected for his excellent traits of 



character and his loss was deeply 
felt. 

April 9, 1878 he married Jennie G., 
daughter of Wm. Clark and Abigail 
. (Fitz-Henry, a resident of Fonda 
since 1890) Alexander (b. 1817, d. Fon- 
da, 1892), who survives him with two 
children, Ernestine, who in 1899 mar- 
ried Frank W. Swearingen, Esq., a 
resident of Fonda 1895-99, mayor 
in 1897, and now resides in Mitchell- 
ville; and Lucius, an assistant in the 
postoffice since Aug. 2, 1898. 

The name of this family appears 
among the first in the pioneer history 
of Iowa and his father was one of the 
first to make a permanent settlement 
at Dubuque, the first one in the 
state.* His father, Lucius, and uncle 
James L. Langworthy, swimming 
their horses by the side of their ca- 
noe, crossed the Mississippi in June 
1830 and stood on that river's western 
shore nearly three years before a per- 
manent settlement had been made in 
any part of Iowa., In 1831, their 
brother Edward arrived, attracted by 
the rich lead mines on the west side 
of the river. After the founding of 
the city of Dubuque these three 
brothers established a banking house 
where their financial skill found 
ample scope. Edward, who took the 
lead in matters of public interest, 
soon became an influential member of 
the city council, represented that dis- 
trict in the legislature and was a 
member of the first constitutional 
convention that met in Iowa City in 
1844. These brothers were natives of 
St. Lawrence Co., ~N. Y. Lucius H. 
served in some of the early Indian 
wars, built the first frame house in 
Dubuque and was the first sheriff of 
Dubuque county. 

Lynch William (b. 1821), a pioneer 
of Cedar township, is a native of Ire- 
land. In 1847 he came alone to New 
York state and after a few months lo- 
cated at Montreal, where in 1852 he 

*See page 57. 



426 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



married Margaret Lawler. In 1855, 
he moved to Grant county, Wis., and 
after two years to Brownsville, the old- 
est town on the Mississippi in Minne- 
sota south of St. Paul, where he sup- 
erintended the quarrying of rock for 
its first warehouse. During the next 
two years he had charge of a ferry- 
boat that plied between Dubuque and 
Dunleith, now East Dubuque. He then 
engaged in farming in Dubuque and 
Jackson counties until April 1869, 
when, with his wife and four children, 
he located on the homestead — si nwi 
sec. 2— Cedar township. By subse- 
quent purchases, his farm was in- 
creased to 240 acres. One of the first 
schools in the township was taught 
in his pioneer home by Mary A. Calli- 
gan in the fall and winter of 1870. 
His wife died in 1890. He sold the 
homestead soon afterward and has 
since resided with his oldest son on 
the adjoining section in Dover town- 
ship. He was a member of the Cedar 
township school board in 1873-74. 

His family consisted of four child- 
ren: 1. Michael J., owner and oc- 
cupant of swi sec. 35 Dover township. 
In 1877 he was president of the Cedar 
schoolboard. In 1882 he was chosen as 
the second secretary of the school 
board of Dover township and has 
held that office until the present time, 
a period of nearly nineteen years, He 
was a trustee from- 1880 to '85 and has 
been township clerk since 1895. Oct. 
25, 1878, he married Julia Kearns, a 
daughter, of Patrick, and she died 
July 7, 1898, leaving a family of eleven 
children, Margaret, William, Winni- 
fred, Julia, Catherine, Anna, Michael, 
John, Ellen, Patrick and Edward. 2. 
James, occupant of the sei sec. 34. 
Dover township, married Bridget 
White and has two children, Mar- 
garet and John. 3. Mary, married 
Matthew Byrne and resides at Fon- 
da.* 4. William is a resident of Col- 
orado. 

*See Byrne, page 405. 



Mackey John B. (b. 1823), a former 
resident of Fonda, was a native of 
Washington county, Pa., and locat- 
ing at Coalrun, Washington county, 
Ohio, married there Matilda Hall 
(b. 1826) in May 1851. Some years af- 
terward he moved to Boone county, 
111., in 1880 to Pomeroy, Iowa, and in 
1884 to Fort Dodge. He owned and 
occupied the Smeaton home in Fonda 
from Feb., 1892, until the fall of 1894, 
when he bought and moved to a ranch 
of 320 acres near Porter ville, Tulare 
county, Cal. He was a highly res- 
pected citizen, and at Pomeroy, Fort 
Dodge and Fonda rendered efficient 
service as an elder of the Presbyterian 
church. 

His family consisted of seven child- 
ren of whom three died young. 
Charles H., a railroad engineer, mar- 
ried Laura Griswold, has a family of 
two children and lives at Belvidere, 
111. David S. in 1876 married Ella 
Chamberlain in Tulare, county, Cal., 
and died there April 26, 1898, leaving 
a family of four children, John, Flor- 
ence, Matilda and Relief. In 1882 
accompanied by two others he went 
to the northern part of Alaska to de- 
velop a gold and silver mine in which 
he had obtained an interest. At the 
time set for their return, his two com- 
panions, taking the ore obtained, 
started homeward from the nearest 
port, while he traveled down the 
coast to the next one. At this port 
he received the sad intelligence that 
the vessel carrying his two compan- 
ions, together with its cargo and 
all on board had been lost in a violent 
storm. He was thus compelled to re- 
main and for two years was the only 
white man among the Esquimaux in 
that arctic region. Relief B., married 
Grant Fox, located first at Lake City, 
in 1895 moved to Tulare county, Cal. 
and now lives at Cherokee. Hattie 
H., married Frank P. McKee, of Fon- 
da, lived there a number of years and 
then moved to Cherokee. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



427 



Mallison Joseph Captain (b. March 
14, 1842), resident of Fonda and vicin- 
ity since May, 1870, is a native of 
Dale, Wyoming county, IS". Y. His 
parents were William A. and Jane 
(Dingman) Mallison and he was 
brought up on a farm. In 1861 at the 
age of 19 he enlisted as a member of 
Co. E, 105th N. Y. Inf., which, in the 
spring of 1863, was consolidated with 
the 94th, and he continued in the ser- 
vice until he was mustered out at 
Albany, July 18, 1865. When he ar- 
rived at Washington, he was assigned 
to the command of Gen. McDowell 
and remained in the Army of the Po- 
tomac. In 1862 he participated in the 
battles at Cedar Mountain, some- 
times called Slaughter Mountain be- 
cause of the great number that fell 
on both sides; Rappahannock Station, 
Thoroughfare Gap, Chantilly, the 
second engagement at Bull Run, 
South Mountain, Antietam, and 
Fredricksburg; in 1863 atChancellors- 
ville and Gettysburg, where he was«in 
the Second Division, led by Gen, Rey- 
nolds, who fell on the first day. 

On June 3, 1864, at the battle of 
Cold Harbor, seven miles from Rich- 
mond, he was wounded and taken 
prisoner. After a short confinement 
in Libby prison, he was held at 
Macon, Ga., two months; Savannah, 
six weeks; Charleston, S. C,, three 
weeks, and then at Columbia until 
the arrival of Sherman's army, when 
he was moved successively to Char- 
lotte, Raleigh and Wilmington, N. C, 
where he and 1200 other prisoners 
were released on parole, March 1, 
1865. 

He was made a First Lieutenant in 
December, 1863 and from the time he 
received his commission was placed 
in command of the company and per- 
formed duty as a captain until he was 
taken prisoner. He was exchanged 
six months after he was paroled and 
then found a Captain's commission 
awaiting him. 



At the close of the war he returned 
to the home of his parents, who, dur- 
ing that period, had removed to Fon- 
dulac county, Wis. Thursday, Oct. 7, 
1866, he married Susie H. Lingen- 
felter, and after two years on a farm 
at Brandon, moved to Hardin county, 
Iowa, and thence in 1870 to his home- 
stead, the wi sei sec. 20, Cedar town- 
ship, known later as the Blakeslee 
farm. In 1873, having improved and 
secured the patent for the homestead 
he moved to Fonda, where he en- 
gaged In the sale of implements elev- 
en years, and in the real estate and in- 
surance business since that time. 

At the battle of Gettysburg, he sav- 
ed the flag of his own regiment from 
capture and for this act of heroism 
was allowed to bring it home with 
him as a trophy of the conflict. This 
flag, which graced every patriotic 
occasion at Fonda, so that it had 
come to be regarded as the property 
of the town, was destroyed in 
McKee's Hall by the fire of 1883. 

He participated in the organization 
of Cedar township, June 6, 1870, and 
served two years as its first assessor 
when it included Colfax; two years as 
township clerk, 1875 and '86; and as 
justice of the peace since 1893. He 
took an active part in the incorpor- 
ation of Fonda, was elected its first 
mayor in '79, and was re-elected in '84 
'95 and '96. He was sheriff of Poca- 
hontas county, four years, 1880-83, and 
has been postmaster at Fonda since 
February 7, 1898. 

He inherited a robust form, a fine 
voice and has enjoyed good health; 
and these things, together with his 
affable disposition and dignified man- 
ner have made him a fine looking 
soldier and an acceptable command- 
ing officer. He has proven himself to 
be a capable and efficient public offic- 
ial, and it is doubtful if any other one 
has rendered so much service to the 
people of Fonda and vicinity, as a 



428 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



director of funerals and otber assem- 
blies or more acceptably than he. 

His estimable wife has been asso- 
ciated as a leader among the ladies, 
in the promotion of the social and re- 
ligious interests of the community, 
taking an active part in the organi- 
zation of the first Ladies' Aid Socie- 
ties of the Methodist and Presbyter- 
ian churches, the first Chatauqua cir- 
cle, Relief Corps, Eastern Star, etc. 
In company with her husband she 
has visited northern and southern 
California and Utah; and attended 
the national encampments at Wash- 
ington-in 1893 and at Buffalo, near his 
old home, in '97. 

Marshall William (b. 1837), one of 
the first residents and business men 
of Fonda, was a native of Yorkshire, 
England, where he learned carpentry 
and cabinet making. After he be- 
came of age, he went to London 
where he married Jane Webster and 
two months later came to the state of 
New York. After a short residence 
there and also in Illinois and Missou- 
ri, he bought a half section of land 
in Bremer county, improved and 
occupied it for several years. He 
then lived one year in Waverly and 
engaged in railroad building, taking 
a contract on the I. C. R. R., west of 
Fort Dodge. In May 1870, he located 
at Fonda, erected the first dwelling 
house in the town for which he haul- 
ed lumber from Pomeroy. He estab- 
lished the first lumber yard at this 
place and afterwards the first store 
for the sale of hardware and imple- 
ments. He also bought the nei sec. 
33, and planted a grove that is not on- 
ly the largest, but contains more va- 
rieties of valuable timber, including 
evergreens, than any other in this 
section. After the erection of good 
buildings on it, he made his home on 
this farm and died there Oct. 22, 1887. 
He served as justice of the peace for 
Cedar township ten years, 1872-74, '78- 
f9, '33-37; and as surveyor for Poca- 



hontas county, eleven years, '73-83. 
He conducted a land agency at Fonda 
for many years and was well acquaint- 
ed with not only the people but every 
nook and corner of the county. He 
was a man of unimpeachable integ- 
rity, modest, but persistent in hrs 
efforts, loyal to his friends and con- 
scientious in the administration of 
justice. 

In 1884 the board of county super- 
visors, at the instance of the people, 
conferred a special honor upon him by 
changing the name of Laurens town- 
ship to "Marshall," in recognition of 
his long and efficient service as coun- 
ty surveyor. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren, two of whom are dead. Maude 
and her mother live in Fonda, where 
they own a fine residence and other 
city property. They also own 400 
acres of land in this vicinity includ- 
ing the old home. 

Martin Samuel S. (b. Nov. 24, 
1855), owner and occupant of a recent- 
ly improved farm on section 23, is one 
of the leading and most successful 
farmers in Cedar township, He is a 
native of Perry county, Ohio, and the 
son of Thomas B. and Susan (Storrer) 
Martin. At the age of seventeen, in 
1870, he accompanied his parents to 
Greene county, Iowa, and whilst he 
has always lived on the farm, yet for 
a period of five years, he was engaged 
in boring wells, inserting pumps and 
erecting windmills. He acquired 
possession of a farm of 200 acres in 
Junction township, which he still 
owns. In 1891 he bought and mov- 
ed to a farm on section 29, Cedar 
township; two years later on section 
13; and in 1900 on section 23, where he 
has just built a good barn and one of 
the finest farm houses in the town- 
ship. He is now the owner of two 
finely improved farms in Cedar town- 
ship, that with the one in Greene 
county aggregate 680 acres. 

He is a progressive and successful 





WILLIAM BOTT 
Co. Supervisor 1880-82, 86-88. 



R. F. BESWICK 
Fonda Creamery Co. 





JOHN LEMP 
Farmer. 



ED. B. TABOR 
Editor. 





JAMES MERCER 

County Supervisor 1883 85 

Representative J 890-97 



MRS. JAMES MERCER 





FRED SWINGLE MRS. NELLIE R. SWINGLE 

Fonda and Vicinity. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



429 



farmer. Having realized the conven- 
ience and value of good'improvements, 
he gives them his first attention. He 
has learned also how to keep "the 
cattle upon the hills" and to have 
"the valleys (prairies) covered over 
with corn . " His intelligence and ex- 
cellent character as a citizen brought 
him into favorable prominence dur- 
ing his residence in Junction town- 
ship, and in Cedar he has served two 
years as a justice of the peace, '93-94, 
and is now serving his second year as 
trustee. He has also rendered efficient 
service to the Presbyterian church, 
as a trustee since 1895 and as an elder 
since 1897. 

On Nov. 7, 1875, he married Anna 
White, of Vernon county, Wis , and 
his family consists of five children: 
John Weston (b. July 25, '78), gradu- 
ated at Fonda in '97, spent one year 
at Fayette college and is now pursu- 
ing his studies at the Iowa State Uni- 
versity. Olive M. graduated at Fon- 
da in '97 and is now a teacher. Dora 
E., Samuel G. and Otto Roy. 

Mercer James (b. 1847), representa- 
tive from this district in 1890-91, is a 
native of Gait, Ontario, Canada; and 
is a son of Andrew and Euphemia 
Mercer, both of whom came from 
Scotland. At the age of five years he 
moyed with his parents to Cataraugus 
county, 1ST. Y., soon afterwards to La 
Fayette, Ind., and in 1855 to Cascade, 
Dubuque county, Iowa. Here he 
grew to manhood and remained twen- 
ty years. After attending the public 
school he spent two years in the 
academy. On Oct. 24, 1864, at the age 
of sixteen he became a member of Co. 
M. 6th Iowa Cavalry and spent one 
year fighting the Indians on the fron- 
tier (see page 46) in Minnesota and 
the Dakotas, which did not then have 
a settlement beyond Yankton. After 
his return from the army he found 
employment in the furniture business 
and three years later commenced 
farming. In the spring of 1875 he 



bought and^began to improve the nwi 
sec. 35 Cedar township. The large 
and comfortable house, now occupied 
by his family, was built with his own 
hands in 1885, he having acquired a 
practical knowledge both of carpentry 
and masonry. His buildings are sur- 
rounded by several groves of different 
kinds of timber, of which the maples 
were planted in 1877 and the ever- 
greens in 1893. By subsequent pur- 
chases his farm has been increased to 
400 acres and he is recognized as one 
of the most thrifty and substantial 
men in the community. 

He has rendered an efficient public 
service, to all of which he has been 
called without having acquired the 
arts of the politician. He served as 
township clerk four years, 1879-82; one 
term as justice of the peace and has 
been secretary of the school board 
since 1890. He was a member of the 
board of county supervisors three 
years, '83-85. In '89, at Peterson, he re- 
ceived the Republican nomination 
and at the general election held that 
fall was elected without opposition a 
member of the house of representa- 
tives of the 23d General Assembly of 
Iowa from the 77th district, composed 
of Clay and Pocahontas counties. In 
1895 while he was busy "earning his 
bread by the sweat of his brow" he 
was nominated a second time for the 
legislature and lacked only a few 
votes of election. He has been a trus- 
tee and treasurer of the Presbyterian 
church since the dedication of the 
building in 1887, and an elder and 
deacon since 1897. 

The highest practical objects of 
human attainment, such as the en- 
joyment of a happy home, the educa- 
tion of his children, .the ennobling 
privileges of the church, together 
with the profitable cultivation and 
improvement of his farm, have been 
the praiseworthy ambitions of his 
life. He has always been a total ab- 
stainer and a practical prohibition- 



430 



PIONEERHISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ist. His steadfastness of purpose and 
successful achievements have won for 
him a public confidence, recognition 
and honor that only a few usually 
enjoy. In his youth he acquired the 
habits of industry and economy, and 
adopted the principles of integrity 
and honor, that fit every one for noble 
achievements. He is a splendid 
representative of the sturdy yeomanry 
that have developed her resources and 
made Iowa great. 

On Nov. 14, 1872, while living at 
Cascade he married Anna, daughter 
of William and Anna (Brown) Stew- 
art, of Ontario, Can., who has proven 
a wise counsellor and a faithful help- 
er to him in all his endeavors. His 
family consists of seven children: 
Erne M., a graduate of the Normal 
school at Shenandoah and a teacher 
for two years at Sac City, two at Plov- 
er and three at Pocahontas, in 1900 
married Thomas W. Tarr, of Cedar 
township. Nellie A., who enjoyed 
three terms at Buena Vista College 
and three terms at the Iowa State 
Normal at Cedar Falls, has been 
teaching since 1896. Cilena G., a Fon- 
da graduate in'94,graduated from* the 
State Normal in '97, then engaged in 
teaching and in June 1900, completed 
the fourth year course at the State 
Normal. May B., a Fonda graduate 
in '97, graduated at the State Normal 
in 1899 and is engaged in teaching. 
Cora L., a Fonda graduate in '99 and 
winner of the medal in the County 
Declamatory Contest at Havelock 
that year, is also a teacher. Rollo C. 
and Balph J. are at home. 

McGartan Bernard (b. Oct. 31, 
1826), who died in Cedar township 
Oct. 2, 1887 in his 61st year, was a na- 
tive of Down county, Ireland, the son 
of Bernard and Ann (Brush) McCar- 
tan. In 1845 with his parents he 
came to America and found employ- 
ment in the lead mines at Dubuque, 
where he married Mary, daughter of 
Roger and Margaret (Baldwin) Mc 



Namara. He then located on a farm 
in that vicinity, in 1869 moved to 
Webster county and in 1871 to the swi 
sec. 3, Cedar township. He was the 
first to occupy this farm and im- 
proved it finely. The first house 
built in 1881, 14x18 feet, in 1876 be- 
came an attachment to a large and 
comfortable one. A fine grove of for- 
est and fruit trees was planted, and 
by subsequent purchases the original 
farm was increased, previous to his 
death in 1887, to 540 acres and since 
that date to 930 acres, all of which, 
are occupied by the younger members 
of his family. 

He was president of the second 
board of trustees of Cedar township 
in 1872, president of the school board 
in 1873 and treasurer of the school 
funds in 1874. He was a member of 
the board of county supervisors three 
years, 1874-76, when the county seat 
was at Old Rolfe. 

He was a good farmer, a man of 
noble principles and exerted a strong 
influence in establishing and sus- 
taing Catholic worship in the vicin- 
ity of Fonda. In the pioneer days he 
was recognized as a wise and prudent 
leader in politics and religion. In 
matters of charity, he was always 
ready to respond to the call of the 
needy, who never left his door with- 
out assistance. His wife, a woman of 
more than average intelligence and 
loved by all who knew her, died June 
11, 1898. 

He was the father of thirteen child- 
ren, ten of whom survived him: 1— 
Thomas F., county auditor seven 
years, 1886-92, (see below); 2— Susan 
E., on May 19, 1895, married Ed. 
O'Donnell, Fonda; 3— Mary E., Oct. 5, 
1897, married John Lilly, owner and 
occupant of a farm of 80 acres on sec. 
21, Dover township; 4— John J., born 
July 7, 1873, in April 1892 married 
Katie L. Haggerty and lived four 
years in Dover township, then en- 
gaged in the abstract business for the 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



431 



Bank of Pocahontas in '97-98, and 
since as manager of the Shull Bros, 
lumber yard, Fonda; he has three 
children, Austin R , Mary F. and 
Regina; he was secretary of the Cedar 
township school board two years, 
'88-89 and assessor in Dover township 
1894-95; 5— Arthur A., born Oct. 3, 
1865, is manager of the home farm; 
6— Bernard E., born Nov. 25, 1867, 
has taught school four years and is 
now at Davenport; 7— Joseph H. at 
home; 8— Maggie T. on August 28, 
1899, married Anton J. Sauter, a 
carpenter, and resides at Fonda; 9 — 
Katie and Roger, also at home. 

MeSartan Thomas F. (b. Oct. 19, 
1851) is a native of Dubuque county 
and came with his parents to Cedar 
township in 1871. He was clerk of 
Cedar township in 1878 and secretary 
of the school board in 1883. He serv- 
ed as Auditor of Pocahontas county 
seven years, 1886-92, the law of 1890 
changing the election of county offic- 
ers to alternate years having added 
one year to his third term. He has 
been a resident of Pocahontas since 
1886; and as a stockholder and cashier 
of the Bank of Pocahontas has been 
engaged in the banking and real 
estate business since 1893. 

On May 17, 1886, he married Ella, a 
daughter of Roger and Margaret 
Collins, formerly of Lizard township, 
and has a family of six children, 
Clement B., Tessie, Theo. F., Myrtle, 
Monica and Arthur Thomas. 

McKee Jonathan ISTeff (b. Feb. 9, 
1837), manager and principal proprie- 
tor of the general merchandise firm 
of J. 1ST. McKee & Co. Fonda, 1881-96, 
is a native of Blair county, Pa., and 
the son of Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Neff) McKee. In the fall of 1860 he 
found employment at Belvidere, 111., 
as a clerk in the store of A. T. Ames, 
who, two years later, sent him to 
Cherry Valley to sell out a stock of 
goods at that place. In 1864 at this 
place he entered into a partnership 



with E. A. Blackington that lasted 
five years, and then with Ruf us C. 
Potter under the firm name of J. 1ST. 
McKee & Co In the spring of 1881 
he brought their stock of goods to 
Fonda, Iowa, where he bought and 
began to occupy the two store rooms 
in the Guyett block. At the time of 
the fire, Oct. 15, 1883, he sustained a 
loss of $25,000, on which the insurance 
was $6,000; but he cleared away the 
ashes of the wooden building and in 
its place, in 1884, erected a double 
two story brick block that has been 
the pride of the town ever since. He 
continued in business here until the 
fall of 1896 when he moved to Washta 
and in 1900 to Britt, Iowa. In part- 
nership with his son Frank P. McKee 
a clothing store was maintained sev- 
eral years at Fonda and, in connection 
with it, a tailoring establishment, 
McKee & Ehline, that employed a 
a half dozen workmen. During the 
period of his residence at Fonda he 
carried the largest stock of general 
merchandise in this vicinity. 

He was not a politician but was one 
of the most public spirited citizens 
that Fonda has ever had. He was 
chosen a member of the town council 
the next spring after his arrival and 
continued a member of it until the 
time of his removal, a period of fif- 
teen years, 1882-96. He was president 
of the Fonda school board five years, 
1884-88. 

On Dec. 20, 1864, he married Louise, 
daughter of Ruf us C. and Hannah 
Potter. His family consists of four 
children, one having died young. 
Frank P. now a traveling salesman, 
married Hettie, daughter of John B. 
Mackey, lives at Sioux City and has 
one child; Mabel E. married Guy S, 
Robinson, Fonda, county treasurer, 
and has one child, Lorna E.; Earl 
Potter, a traveling salesman; and 
Louisa. 

Nichols John Clark (b. May 23, 
1343), who died on his farm on sec- 7, 



432 PIONEERHISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Cedar township, Jan. 23, 1899, was a 
native of Scott county, Iowa, the son 
of William and Lanra Nichols, both 
of whom died in his early days. On 
August 22, 1862, in response to his 
country's call he went to Davenport 
and enlisted as a member of Co. K. , 
20th Iowa Inf. and continued in the 
service until July 1865. His regiment 
became a part of the army on the 
frontier under Gen. Schofield and 
passed through Missouri, Arkansas, 
Louisiana,Texas,Mississippi, Alabama, 
and Florida, traveling 6,350 miles by 
steamboat, 2.400 miles by steamship, 
1,300 miles by rail and 2,100 on foot, 
making an aggregate of 12,150 miles 
or half the circumference of the earth. 
He participated in the engagements 
at Prairie Grove, the siege of Vicks- 
burg, the capture of Fort Morgan and 
Blakely near Mobile, April 9, 1865, the 
same day that Lee surrendered. 
He was a man of courage and did not 
hesitate to face danger when duty 
called. On the return of his regi- 
ment a lady of Davenport very ap- 
propriately wrote: 

"Ring out a welcome; lo, they come! 

Our heroes from the war; 
They bear their banners seamed and 
rent, 

They wear the victors' scar." 

Oct. 5, 1871, he married Laura 
Seekins and located on a farm at Red • 
Oak, where he remained until 1886 
when he came to Cedar township. He 
experienced considerable inconven- 
ience from defective hearing after he 
returned from the army, but was a 
good farmer, kept his improvements 
inline condition and was highly res- 
pected as a citizen and neighbor. At 
the time of his death he was the own- 
er of 200 acres of land. 

His family consisted of one daugh- 
ter who, May 1, 1892, married Jas. M. 
Borders and lives on the island at 
Sunk Grove. 

Lucas David Crystle (b. Jan. 17, 
1842) resident of Fonda and vicinity 



from 1873 to 1892, was a native of 
Carroll, Indiana. In 1856 he moved 
with his parents to Waverly, Iowa, 
where Dec. 28, 1863, he married Matil- 
da Etta Busby (b. May 21, 1839, N. Y.) 
of Dubuque and engaged in farming. 
In 1870 he moved to Plainfield, Butler 
county and engaged in the mercantile 
business. In 1873 he located on a 
homestead in Williams township, 
Calhoun county, Iowa, and in 1'81 
moved to Fonda, where he engaged 
first in the livery business, then for 
three years owned^a half interest in 
the Fonda Grist Mill, which seriously 
embarrassed all who invested in it. 
He then decided to engage in the ho- 
tel business and, serving as proprietor 
of the Central House, Fonda, one 
year, in 1892 moved to Meriden and 
two years later to Cherokee where he 
has since had charge of the Cherokee 
House. As a hotel keeper he has be- 
come quite popular with the travel- 
ing public and has met with good 
success. 

Both he and his excellent wife, ear- 
ly in life, became active members and 
efficient workers in the Methodist 
church, and in Fonda, he filled for a 
number of successive years the re- 
sponsible positions of treasurer, 
steward and superintendent of the 
Sunday school. He has always been a 
staunch friend of the temperance 
cause and a leader in movements for 
the suppression of the saloon. 

His family consists of five children, 
Carrie, the second, having died in in- 
fancy, Jennie V., an early teacher in 
the Fonda schools, on March 17, 1887 
married Calvin B. Saylor and lives in 
Lincoln township; Mabel O, a teacher 
in the Fonda and Rolfe schools, on 
June 30, 1891 married George H. Bush 
and lives at Fonda; Eben Parker mar- 
ried Claudia Myers and they both be- 
long to the theatrical profession; 
Howard Harlan, a graduate of the 
Cherokee high school in 1899 is now 
filling a lucrative position in that 
city. 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



433 



©ison John (b. 1825), owner and oc- 
cupant of the sei sec. 33, Cedar town- 
ship from the spring of 1870 to '85, 
was a native of Denmark. He mar- 
ried there Mary Jensen and in 1867 
with her and a family of three child- 
ren, Henry, Lawrence and Sophia, all 
of whom were called Johnson after 
the first name of their father accord- 
ing to the custom of their native 
land, came to Michigan and three 
years later to Pocahontas county, 
Iowa. He planted a beautiful grove 
of maples, walnuts and other trees 
and erected the house and other 
buildings occupied by Mr. and Mrs. 
John Detwiller and completely des- 
troyed by the cyclone of 1893. 

On Oct. 6, 1883 his mother, Margar- 
etta Olson, died at his home and was 
buried on a slight elevation near the 
south west corner of this farm . At 
the time of her death she lacked only 
two months of being 94 years old, and,, 
so far as known, was the oldest inhab- 
itant of Pocahontas county. She was 
a native of Denmark, lived at Zea- 
land until 1870, then at Aalborg until 

1877 and then at the age of 87 years 
emigrated to the home of a son in Ced- 
ar township. She possessed a remark- 
able constitution and always enjoyed 
the best of health. Her eyesight was 
not diminished by advancing years, 
she never wore spectacles and was 
able to read fine print even in her old 
age. 

In 1885, John Olson and family 
moved to San Pasqual, in southern 
California, where they still reside. 
His son, Henry Johnson, taught 
school in the vicinity of Fonda, in 

1878 married Florence White, daugh- 
ter of a minister, in 1884 moved to 
California and has a family of six 
children, Frank, Harry, Arthur, 
Nellie, Eoy and Jessie, twins. His 
son Lawrence Johnson married Viola 
Darling in California and has two 
children, Inez and Glenn. His 
daughter, Sophia Johnson M. D., 



taught school in the vicinity 
of Fonda, pursued a course of study 
at Battle Creek, Michigan, graduated 
from the California Medical College 
in 1895 and since that date has been 
practicing medicine in San Diego. 
Her portrait appears in this volume. 

©sburn Benjamin Franklin (b. 
March 25, 1837), a pioneer of Cedar 
township 1870 to 1885, was a native of 
Tioga county, 1ST. Y., where he grew 
to manhood and in 1859 married 
Delilah B. Reed. August 10, 1862 he 
enlisted in the 137th N. Y. Inf. as an 
orderly sergeant, was made first lieu- 
tenant May 25, 1865 and was honor- 
ably discharged at Elmira, New 
York, June 9, 1865. In 1867 he 
and his family moved to Waterloo, 
Iowa, and in the spring of 1870 pur- 
chased the swi sec. 25, Cedar town- 
ship which he improved and occupied 
until the time of his death which oc- 
curred at Adel, Sept. 11, 1885. While 
returning from the State Fair at Des 
Moines, he endeavored to pass ,along 
a railing used for that purpose on the 
outside of the baggage car, and when 
the train entered the bridge at Adel 
its timbers striking his head inflicted 
fatal injuries and caused him to fall 
from the car in an insensible con- 
dition. 

He was a fine looking soldier and 
one of the bravest of the brave. He 
participated in twenty seven battles 
including Lookout Mountain, Gettys- 
burg and other decisive ones, and was 
promoted for his skill and courage. 

His family consisted of two children : 
May, who married Fred Opperman, 
a mail agent, and died in 1885; Bert, a 
book keeper and clerk, married Becca 
Pfeiffer and located at Sioux City 
where his mother resides with him. 

Potter Rufus C. (b. July 15, 1812), a 
silent partner in the firm of J. N. 
McKee & Co., Fonda 1881-89, was a 
native of Chili, N. Y. and was the son 
of Daniel and Abigail (Hemingway) 
Potter. His father was a veteran of 
the war of 1812 and his mother a 
member of the society of Friends, so 



434 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



that from childhood he was trained 
in the principles of patriotism and 
piety. Sept. 22, 1836 he married 
Hannah C. Turner (b. Nov. 19, 1816 
N. Y.) also, of patriotic blood, whose 
grandfather, Captain Joseph Tombs, 
of Maine, served under Washington 
in the Revolutionary War. In 1837 
he located at Hadley, Mich., in 1863 in 
Cherry Valley, 111 , and in July 1881 
at Fonda, where he died Dec. 22, 1889. 
His large and beautiful residence, 
completed at Fonda in July 1888, was 
then adjudged to be the best finished 
and most convenient in this coun- 
ty. It is now known as the DeG-raffe 
home. His wife, who had rendered 
fifty years of faithful service in the M. 
E. church and was respected as a 
"mother in Israel", departed this life 
at Fonda, Nov. 12, 1893. His life was a 
highly exemplary one. He was natur- 
ally of a quiet disposition and mani- 
fested such an holy zeal for the house 
of God that he became a living epistle 
of the meek and lowly Jesus. As long 
as his strength permitted, his place 
at the Sunday and mid-week services 
was never vacant and he loved to min- 
gle his own with the voices of others 
in prayer, praise and testimony. 

His family consisted of one son and 
three daughters all of whom located 
at Fonda and vicinity for at least a 
short period. 

1.— Sarah Abigail, August 13. 1863 
at Cherry Valley, married Abram F. 
DeGraffe, a carpenter and wagon 
maker, has been a resident of Fonda 
since 1888 and her family consists of 
three daughters: Louise a teacher; 
Anna in 1893 married Charles A. 
Alexander, assistant cashier of the 
Pocahontas County Bank, Fonda, 
since 1891 and has one child, Donald; 
Mary Franc, also a teacher. Louise 
and Franc have taught several suc- 
cessive years in the Fonda schools and 
are regarded as two of the best teach- 
ers in this locality. 

2.—- James Henry Potter in 1861 



married Harriet Gleason, then en- 
listed as a member of the 74th 111. 
Inf. and served three years in the 
army. He then engaged in farming 
near Cherry Valley, later moved to 
Rockford and in March 1889 to Fonda, 
Iowa, where he became the successor 
of Carpenter & Russell in the hard- 
ware business. After two years he 
moved to Storm Lake where he is 
still engaged in the hardware busi- 
ness under the firm name of J. H. 
Potter & Son. His family ^consisted 
of two children: William R. married 
Nina K. Hellogg who died in March 
1895 leaving two children, and in 1896 
he married Ida Sisson; Fannie is at 
home. 

3--Mary Louise married John N. Mc- 
Kee (See McKee). 

4- Josephine Julia married Ambrose 
A. Horton and for a few years lived 
on his father's f,arm near Cherry Val- 
ley. In Sept., 1875, they located on 
the S. E. i Sec. 4, Williams township, 
Calhoun Co., Iowa, and three years 
later in Pomeroy where he engaged 
first in the lumber business and after- 
wards in banking. In 1892 they 
moved to Storm Lake where she died 
Oct. 30, 1893, leaving a family of five 
children: Ava Grace Horton in 1894 
married Burton Willis, manager of 
the Willis Lumber Co., and lives at 
Webster City; Ada, a milliner, Elmer, 
Frank and Josephine are at home. 
In 1895 Mr. Horton married Julia 
Brownlee of Wis., and two more chil- 
dren, Buelah and Harold, have been 
added to his family. In 1899 he 
moved to Spencer where he is now en- 
gaged in the real estate business. 

Patterson Michael Frampton (b 
Jan. 19, 1857), resident physician at 
Pocahontas and Fonda from 1882 to 
1895, is a native of Haratio, Darke 
county, Ohio, the son of Samuel and 
Martha (Frampton) Patterson. He 
grew to manhood in Erie county, 
Ohio, graduated from the high school 
in Berlin Heights and on March 2, 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



435 



L881 from the medical branch of the 
Western Eeserve University at Cleve- 
land. On April 5, 1882, after one 
year's practice of medicine in Cleve- 
land, he located at Pocahontas, Iowa, 
and was the first resident physician 
of that town. That summer he 
erected a building, now used by the 
Bank of Pocahontas, on the lot now 
owned by^Dr. Barthol and established 
a drug store and office in it. In Sep- 
tember 1884 he moved to Fonda and, 
in connection with the practice of his 
profession, became a partner with 
Thomas F. Kelleher M. D. in the 
drug business. The interest of the 
latter in the spring of 1885 was bought 
by J. N. McClellan and one year later 
by J. B. Bollard; and in 1888 Dr. Pat- 
terson sold his interest in it to Henry 
Brown. In December 1888, he went 
to New York City and spent three 
months in the post graduate medical 
school making the diseases of the eye 
and ear the subject of special study. 
Subsequently he spent several similar 
periods in Chicago, during the winter 
of 1894-5 remaining seven months, the 
forenoon of each day being occupied 
at the Rush Medical Institute and 
the afternoon at the State Eye and 
Ear Infirmary. In June 1895 he mov- 
ed to Des Moines, established an 
office on the corner of Walnut and 
Sixth streets and has since devoted 
his attention, as a specialist, to the 
treatment of diseases of the eye and 
ear. 

December 6, 1883 he married Cora 
E., daughter of A. B. P. and Cordelia 
Wood, of Fonda, and they became 
owners of a farm of 240 acres on sec- 
tion 27, Sherman township that in 
1890 was exchanged for one of 200 
acres principally on sec. 25, Cedar 
township. After four years this one 
was sold. and another one was bought 
on section 23 which was improved 
with good buildings and sold to Syl- 
vester Barron in 1899. 

Dr, Patterson possesses an unusual 



amount of energy, keeps himself 
abreast of the times in all matters re- 
lating to his profession, and both 
wins and holds the confidence of his 
patrons by showing himself worthy of 
it. He keeps a clear head and is ani- 
mated with the noble desire to prove 
an honor to his profession. He has 
successfully performed a large num- 
ber of important surgical operations, 
and that he stands high as a physician 
and specialist is evidenced by the 
fact, that a large proportion of his pa- 
tients consists of those who have been 
referred to him by other influential 
physicians. 

His family consists of two children, 
Alpheus M. and Cordelia. 

!?rice Edward and his wife Eliza- 
beth, natives of England, married 
there in 1839, came to America in 
1842 with one son, Theophilus, and 
located in New York State. August 
1, 1873, he entered as a homestead the 
wi sei sec. 36, Cedar township and be- 
came a resident of Pocahontas coun- 
ty. After a few years he engaged in 
the mercantile business at Pomeroy 
and died there in 1885. His wife died 
at Rockwell City in 1888. His family 
consisted of eight children, all of 
whom except the eldest son were born 
in New York. Theophilus enlisted 
in the civil war and was killed in 
battle. Edward J. in 1869 located on 
a homestead in Calhoun county, Iowa, 
married Harriet R. Rockwell, of 
Rockwell City, and now lives in Cali- 
fornia. Charlotte E. married H. E. 
Walker and lives in Minneapolis. 
Louisa A. located at Fonda in 1870, 
entered a horn estead in Williams 
township in 1872 and became the wife 
of Wm. J. Busby, of Fonda, ini,1874. 
Ellen M, lives with her sister in Min- 
neapolis. Robert J. died at Rockwell 
City in 1895, and John D. died in 1860. 
Francis P. married W. M. Frantz, 
agent of the I. C. R R., and lives at 
Fort Dodge. 

SSeniff Garrett Russell (b. Nov. 4. 



436 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



1856) proprietor of a blacksmith shop, 
Fonda, since 1885, and two since 1898, 
is a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan. 
He is the son of Elhanan Winchester 
(b. 1813, Rochester, N. Y.) and Cath- 
erine Butler Reniff. His father in 

1833 married Bennett, who 

was the mother of four children, two 
of whom, Marion and Daniel grew to 
manhood and live in Michigan. She 
died in 1848. 

In 1851 he married Catherine But- 
ler (b. Apr. 13, 1824, Ireland) and the 
next year moved to Kalamazoo, Mich- 
igan. In 1868 he moved to Windham, 
Johnson county, Iowa, the next year 
to Des Moines and in 1885 to his own 
farm on the sei sec 23, Marshall town- 
ship, this county, where he died, 
October 31, 1896, in his 87th year, and 
his wife, June 19, 1898. Both were in- 
terred in the cemetery at Fonda. He 
was a man of genial and refined na- 
ture, whom to know was to esteem 
and respect; and she was animated 
with an unselfish desire to make 
others happy. Their wedded life cov- 
ered a period of nearly fifty years and 
their family consisted of three child- 
ren, two of whom, Frank and Garrett 
R. are still living. 

Frank Reniff (b. Feb. 1, 1854) in 
Michigan, married Anna Crow, of 
Warren county, Iowa, lives in Mar- 
shall township and has a family of 
two children, Etta and Charles. 

Garrett R. Reniff, learned his trade 
at Kalamazoo, Michigan, came to 
Fonda, September 1, 1885, built a shop 
and for three years was in partnership 
with John W. Spitzbarth. In 1891 he 
built a pretty residence and married 
Ella Viola, daughter of Orlando and 
Roana Brown. In 1896 he purchased 
an additional shop at Fonda and the 
increase of patronage enables him to 
give employment usually to four 
workmen. He has made shoeing hor- 
ses a specialty and for many years has 
enjoyed the reputation of doing the 
most and finest work in this line in 



this locality. His shop is also head- 
quarters for the repair of bicycles. 
He is industrious and energetic in pro- 
moting his business interests and 
takes a personal interest in all local 
public matters. He was a member of 
the Fonda council six years, 1891-96, 
and has been chief of the fire-depart- 
ment since its organization six years 
ago. He has served four years as 
treasurer and is now a director of the 
Big Four District Fair Association. 
The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. G. R. 
Reniff and their parents may be seen 
on another page.. 

Robinson Joseph Peter (b. Oct. 3, 
1844) resident of Fonda and vicinity 
since April 1871, is a native of Skow- 
hegan, Somerset county, Maine, 
where he was raised on a farm, at- 
tended public school and also Bloom- 
field Academy. In 1866 he went to 
Boston where, after completing the 
commercial course in Comers' Com- 
mercial College, he found employment 
as an instructor of mathematics in 
that institution for one year and then 
as a bookkeeper for a wholesale house. 
In 1868 he moved to Calamus, Clinton 
county, Iowa, and three years later to 
a homestead on the ni swi section 20, 
Cedar township, Pocahontas county, 
which he improved and occupied un- 
til the fall of 1876 when he secured 
the patent for it, went to the eastern 
part of this state .and the following 
summer to Texas. In the spring of 
1878 he returned to this county, locat- 
ed in Fonda and has been a prominent 
citizen of this town since that date. 
It was his custom in the early days to 
teach school in winter and sometimes 
in summer, and for this employment 
he was well equipped. He taught in 
Fonda in 1871 and subsequently in 
other places in this vicinity. As a 
fitting recognition of his ability and 
efficiency as a teacher, in 1880 he was 
elected Superintendent of Pocahontas 
county and performed the duties of 
that office four years, 1881-85, in a 
highly creditable manner. He has 
been engaged as a general merchant 
smee that date and is now the pion- 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



437 



eer of the present merchants of Fon- 
da. He has endeavored to merit the 
patronage of the people by constantly 
renewing his stock of goods with fresh 
supplies that both suit and please his 
customers. Long ago there was given 
to him the reputation of "selling bet- 
ter goods at lower prices than his 
competitors;" and his long and suc- 
cessful mercantile career is the just 
reward of untiring energy, good judg- 
ment and unbending integrity. He 
realizes that the world moves forward 
one step every day and he endeavors 
to keep pace with it. 

His ability to render efficient pub- 
lic service has been recognized and 
utilized. In addition to the service 
rendered as a public school teacher 
and county superintendent he served 
as an assessor two years in Clinton 
county, and two years in Cedar town- 
ship, .1872 and 1875. He was a mem- 
ber of the Fonda town council three 
years, 1890-92; president of the Fonda 
school board two years, 1890-91; and 
secretary of it two years, '92-93. 

When superintendent of the public 
schools, in this county, he put forth 
an honest endeavor to raise their 
standard and increase their efficiency. 
At the close of his term of service the 
teachers presented him with a fine 
gold watch, as a token of their esteem, 
and in accepting it he very appropri- 
ately expressed the animating prin- 
ciples of his own life when he said: 
"This beautiful souvenir is a remind- 
er to me that the time to finish our 
life's work is not only brief but con- 
stantly passing; as each diamond min- 
ute helps to make the golden hours, 
which if lost are lost forever, let your 
motto be 'Onward and Upward, and 
stand on your merits.' " 
"The riches of the commonwealth 
Are free, strong minds and hearts of 
health, 

And more to her than gold or grain 

Are cunning hands and cultured 
brain." 

In 1870 in Clinton county, he mar- 



ried Ella A. Fuller and their family 
consisted of four children, Guy Scott, 
Otis, Evan, who died at seven years 
of age, and Nellie Josephine. In 1893 
he married Jenevee.E. Crawford and 
they have one child Helen Isabel. 

Robinson Guy Scott (b. Mar. 3.1, 
1871), county treasurer since Jan. 1, 
1899, is a native of Maquoketa, Iowa 
and has been a resident of this county 
since a few months after his birth. 
After completing his education in the 
Fonda public schools, he was for 
twelve years associated with his 
father, Joseph P. Robinson, in the 
general merchandise business. Here 
he not only received a valuable prac- 
tical training but became widely and 
favorably known as a young man of 
pleasing appearance, excellent habits 
and unquestioned integrity. In 1896, 
when he was not an aspirant for polit- 
ical honors, but many in the republi- 
can county convention felt the need 
of another candidate for county audi- 
tor, his name was suggested and he 
lacked only one vote of receiving the 
nomination. Three years later the 
nomination for the responsible office 
of county treasurer was accorded to 
him, he was elected and is now ren- 
dering acceptable service in this 
official capacity. 

October 16, 1895, he married Mabel 
Elizabeth McKee, has one child, Lor- 
na Eloise, and lives at Pocahontas. 

Silbar lacob, the first grocer to lo- 
cate on the present site of Fonda in 
1870, was a Jew that for some time 
previous had been following the 
graders on the I. C. R. R. and selling 
his wares from a pedler's cart. In 
the fall of 1869 he built a shanty near 
a grader's camp on the west side of 
the creek south of the grove on Fair- 
burns' farm then owned by John A. 
Hay. He was assisted by Knute Tis- 
dale who cobbled and sold goods at 
the shanty while Silbar made weekly 
trips to Fort Dodge for new supplies. 
He and others awaited the location of 
the town and as soon as its site was 
indicated by the laying of a sidetrack 



438 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



east of the creek in the spring of 1870, 
he moved his shanty to the vicinity of 
Ibson's first blacksmith shop, and it 
was the second building in Fonda. 
When the town was platted he 
erected a better building on the west 
side of Mam street, but after one year 
sold it and moved away. He was the 
first one that sold intoxicating liq- 
uors in Cedar township. 

Spielman David (b. Aug. 28, 1824), 
resident of Fonda and vicinity since 
1870, is a native of Baden, Germany, 
and in 1848 came to Sullivan Co., N. 
Y., where he found employment as a 
carpenter. In Dec. 1851, he married 
Dorothea Couch and five years later 
moved to Dubuque Co , Iowa, 
where he continued to work at his 
trade. In the fall of 1870 he located 
on a homestead of 80 acres on the si 
nei sec. 24, Cedar township, this coun- 
ty, improved and occupied it until 
1880 when he sold it and bought the 
swi of sec. 19, Colfax township, 160 
acres. On this farm he built a good 
house, barn and other outbuildings 
and occupied it until 1893, when he 
sold it, built a comfortable residence 
in Fonda and moved to town. 

In 1845 he entered the German 
army and spent four and one-half 
years in the military service of his 
country. This was the period of the 
rebellion in Baden, and he partici- 
pated in thirteen battles. 

He has been a good citizen and has 
raised a family of eight children, one 
having died in childhood and another 
at the age of twelve. 1. — David (b. 
1851), married Mary Jane (Reed) Wil- 
bur, who in 1872 bought and still owns 
a farm of 80 acres on the wi sei sec. 
25, Cedar township. He died in 1883 
leaving one son, Carl Spielman, who 
in 1898 married Stella Reed, of the 
state of Washington, and lives in Fon- 
da with his mother. The latter on 
coming to this county in 1872 taught 
school three years. She was first mar- 
ried to James M. Wilbur, and their 



family consisted of one son, Romeo 
M. Wilbur, who in 1870 came to the 
home of his uncle B. F. Osburn, 
taught school several years at Pome- 
roy and vicinity and is now in Chica- 
go. 2.— Jacob (b. June 28, 1855, N. Y.), 
a mason and plasterer, resident of 
Fonda, in 1889 married Nora May 
Sheriff and has a family of four chil- 
dren, Flossie, Virgil, David and Es- 
ther. 3. Mary married R. B. Adams, 
drayman, lives at Cherokee and has 
a family of four children, Early, Hi- 
ram, Elizabeth and Maud. 4. — Dora 
married Gustave Gottfried (See Gott- 
fried). 5. — Sophia married Louie 
Lieb (See Lieb). 6.— Frederick (b. 
Aug. 22, 1864, Iowa) a drayman, Fon- 
da, in 1896 married Alta Hardy and 
lives with his parents. 7. — Elizabeth 
married William Wykoff, a plasterer, 
lives at Fonda and has four children, 
Roy, Madge, Harry and Vera. 8. 
Lulu, in 1893, married James H. 
Thompson, a carpenter, Fonda, and 
has one child. 

Sanborn George (b. Mch. 1, 1842), 
resident of Fonda and vicinity since 
June 5, 1869, editor and proprietor of 
the Fonda Times since Nov. 1, 1879, 
is a native of Jefferson, Wisconsin. 
He was the son of William (b. 1800- 
d. 1876) and Mary (Page) Sanborn, who 
were natives of Wheelock, Vermont 
and with a family of four children, 
two sons, Alden and Roswell, and two 
daughters, Emily and Caroline, in 
1839 moved to Jefferson, Wisconsin, 
where they spent the remainder of 
their days. His father was raised on 
a farm and engaged in farming during 
most of his life. He also took an ac- 
tive part in politics, held many im- 
portant offices in his own township 
and county, Caledonia, Vt., and Jeff- 
erson, Wis., and served one term in 
the legislature of Vermont. After his 
removal to Jefferson, as a contractor 
and builder, he erected the first pub- 
lic buildings in that county seat, con- 
sisting of a court house and jail and 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



439 



several other important buildings, one 
of which which was a hotel that is 
still a leading one of that city. His 
mother (b. 1802-d. 1877) was of Scotch 
descent. The Sanborns in this coun- 
try are the descendants of three broth- 
ers who came from England before 
the War of Independence; and the 
name_was originally spelled Sandborn. 
George Sanborn, the subject of this 
sketch, at the outbreak of the Civil 
war in 1861, enlisted as a member of 
Co. E, 4'th Wis. infantry, at the age of 
nineteen. On Jan. 1, 1864, he re- 
enlisted in the same company and 
regiment, which had previously been 
transferred to the cavalry department 
as the 4th Wis. cavalry. This regi- 
ment was not finally discharged until 
June 19, 1866, having made a continu- 
ous service of five years and six days, 
which is said to be the longest period 
of continuous service rendered by any 
regiment of volunteers in the Civil 
war. 

During the first six months of his 
army life he was engaged guarding 
bridges and building forts in the vi- 
cinity of Baltimore, and campaign- 
ing on the eastern shore of Virginia. 
In the spring of 1862 he went with his 
regiment, under Gen. Butler, to Ship 
Island and New Orleans, and partici- 
pated in the capture of Fort Morgan, 
Fort St. Philip and the city of New 
Orleans. His regiment and the 28th 
Massachusetts were the first federal 
troops to enter that city after its sur- 
render. His regiment performed an 
important part in the operations 
against Vicksburg, and assisted in 
digging the famous cut-off that has 
since made that place an inland city. 
During 1863 he was engaged in West- 
ern Louisiana and the country along 
the Red river, where he participated 
in the battle of Bisland and the siege 
of Port Hudson, May 28th to July 8th. 

On June 14th, while making a 
charge on the enemy's works he was 
wounded twice, captured and held a 



prisoner until the fort surrendered. 
He was stationed at Baton Rouge 
most of the time afterward and par- 
ticipated in a number of small battles 
and skirmishes with the enemy in 
that vicinity. During the spring' of 
1865 his regiment was located at 
Montgomery, Alabama, and from 
that city marched to Fort Larado, 
Texas, by way of Vicksburg, making 
what was probably the longest con- 
tinuous march by any regiment dur- 
ing the war. The object of this 
movement was to place the regiment 
in the vicinity of the Maximilian war 
in Mexico. In the spring of 1866, he 
returned to Madison, Wis., where he 
was honorably discharged on the 19th 
of June (1866.) 

On Nov. 28, 1866, he married Lou- 
resta Augusta, (b. Oct. 28, 1844) daugh- 
ter of Levi and Louresta Crandall, of 
Farmington, Wis., and engaged in 
farming. On June 5, 1869, having de- 
cided to locate on a homestead in the 
west, they moved for a few months to 
the home of Wm. Kennedy, a brother- 
in-law, then living on the SEi Sec. 4, 
Williams township, now the farm of 
Charles Ziegler. On Aug. 13, 1869, he 
entered as a homestead the EJ SW^ 
Sec. 34, Cedar township, and occupied 
it from February, 1870, until Septem- 
ber, 1880, when he moved to Fonda, 
where he has since resided. In August, 
1870, he purchased 80 acres adjoining 
his homestead on the same quarter, 
and in 1882, 140 acres more, making a 
farm of 300 acres, all of which he still 
owns and has improved with fine 
buildings, good fences and a beautiful 
grove. In 1880 he erected a residence 
in one of the prettiest locations in 
Fonda and recent enlargements have 
made it very handsome in appearance. 
In 1884 he erected the brick block 
known as the Times building and owns 
Several other properties in Fonda. 

On November 1, 1879, he be- 
came the editor and proprietor of the 
Fonda Times, called Pocahontas 



440 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Times from the time of its establish- 
ment at Old Rolfe, April I, 1876, until 
June 21, 1894.* 

Although he did not enjoy the priv- 
ilege of attending college, he received 
a liberal education and taught several 
terms of school in Wisconsin and vi- 
cinity of Fonda. On the farm he 
proved himself a practical and suc- 
cessful farmer, and in this rural dis- 
trict the practical experience thus 
gained was of great value to him in 
performing the onerous duties con- 
nected with the management of the 
printing office. 

Through the long period of twenty, 
one years of editorial management of 
the Times he has become widely 
known as one of the most capable and 
successful editors in Northwest Iowa. 
During all these years his constant 
aim has been to make the Times not 
merely a first-class local paper, but 
also a living, positive and aggressive 
force in promoting the material, edu- 
cational and moral interests of Poca- 
hontas county in general and of Fon- 
da and vicinity in particular. Through 
its columns during this long period he 
has exerted an influence along these 
lines second to none in this commun- 
ity. 

When he and his wife located in 
this section the I. C. R R. ' extended 
only to Fort Dodge, and only a few 
settlers had preceded them. He as- 
sisted in the organization of Cedar 
township, June 6, 1870, was elected its 
first justice of the peace and served 
three years, 1870-72. In 1871 he was 
township clerk, and in 1875 treasurer 
of the school funds. He was mayor 
of Fonda in 1882, a member of the 
council in 1887 and has been president 
of the board of education seven years, 
1881, '89 and '95-1900. He was post- 
master of Fonda seven years, Oct. 15, 
1889-Sept. 1, '96, and during five years 
ot this period, 1891-'96, the town en- 
joyed free delivery of the mail. 

*See page 287 for history of this piper. 



He cast his first vote for Abraham 
Lincoln, the martyr president, at 
Baton Rouge, in 1864, during the peri- 
od of his military service. He has 
voted for every republican candidate 
for president since that date and has 
been an advocate of the principles 
and policies of the republican party. 

He became a member of the G-. A. 
R. post at Jefferson, Wis., in the fall 
of 1866, and has been a member of the 
Fonda post since its organization in 
1885. Perceiving that strong drink 
has been our nation's greatest curse, 
he has been a fearless advocate of 
total abstinence and prohibition. He 
has always lent a helping hand when 
efforts have been put forth for the 
suppression of the open saloon, assists 
in the support of the churches in 
Fonda and has contributed toward 
the erection of nearly every church in 
Pocahontas county. 

He is now one of the oldest resident 
citizens of this section and both in 
the postoffice and through the col- 
umns of The Times he has for many 
years well and truly served the best 
interests of this community. In the 
printing office he worked at first on 
the old Washington hand-press and 
sustained a serious loss by the fire of 
1883. These were years of hard work 
and many discouragements. Instead 
of yielding to these discouragements 
he made provision for better facilities 
by the erection of a larger and more 
permanent building and has inserted 
better presses as the years have 
passed, so that today the work of this 
office is unsurpassed by any in North- 
west Iowa, and the Times maintains 
its position of being not only the old- 
est, but the best paper in Pocahontas 
county. 

Mrs. Sanborn was for eight years 
previous to December, 1899, superin- 
tendent of the Juvenile Temple, and, 
since its reorganization in 1886, has 
been an unfaltering supporter of the 
lodge of G-ood Templars. She has also 




5 y RFn 

4 P|RS. [).[: OiBURN 



FONDA AND VICINITY. 




JOS.B-BOLLARD if 

» ">■■ 



REPRESENTATIVES OF PIONEER FAMILIES, FONDA AND VICINITY. 



cedar Township. 



441 



been an active member of tbe Relief 
Corps since its organization. Whilst 
her social standing places her among 
the cultured and refined, she mingles 
with the humblest, sympathizes with 
them in their trials and by her kind 
ministries endeavors to help them 
live better and nobler lives. The 
noble woman is never more a queen 
than when 
"Teaching us how to seek the highest 



To earn the true success, 

To live, to love, to bless— 
And make death proud to take a royal 
soul." 

Their family has consisted of seven 
children, five of whom died in then 
childhood and youth, Chester at the 
age of twelve, in 1892. Lulu, after 
graduating at Epworth college, on 
August 25, 1897, married A. E. Rigby, 
a graduate of Cornell college, princi- 
pal of the Manchester high school two 
years and now pastor of the M. E. 
church at Elk Point, S. Dak. George 
B. (b. Oct. 26, 18*76) has been an effi- 
cient assistant in the postoffice for a 
number of years and in 1900 was the 
census enumerator for Cedar town- 
ship, including the town of Fonda. 

Sargent Americus Vespucius, (b. 
Dec. 2, 1821), resident of Fonda and 
vicinity since 1877, is a native of Or- 
ange county, Vermont, the son of 
Enoch and Lydia (Littlehale) Sargent. 
In 1834 he married Mary Whipple, (b 
Corydon, N. H., Apr. 23, 1819) and six 
years later moved to Newport, Sulli- 
van county, N. H. In the spring of 
1854 he moved to a farm in Clayton 
county, Iowa, later to another' one in 
Delaware county, and after the war 
to Eikader, the county seat of Clay- 
ton county, and engaged in tbe livery 
business. In 1877 he located on the 
Wi SWi Sec. 30, Cedar township, im- 
proved and occupied it until 1891, 
when he moved to Fonda. He was a 
trustee of Cedar township fifteen 
years, 1883-97, and is a member of the 
M. E. church. 



His family consisted of five sons, all 
of whom, except Alberti, were born in 
New Hampshire, are still living and 
the oldest three, YanBuren, George 
W. and James W., were members of 
the same company and regiment, Co. 
F, 27th Iowa, during the civil war. 

VanBuren enlisted ■ , 1862, 

George and James Feb. 15, 1864. On 
July 17, 1865 they were transferred to 
the 12th Iowa Inf. and were dischar- 
ged at Memphis, Tenn. , Jan. 20, 1866. 

1— VanBuren Whipple (b. May 5, 
1845) on Dec. 4, 1868, married Jane 
Fowler, located on a farm in Clayton 
County, Iowa, and in the spring of 
1869 on his present farm on section 36, 
Buena Vista county. His family has 
consisted of five children: Arthur, 
Nov. 1, 1890, married Lily Stodgel, 
lives in Cedar township and has a fam* 
ily of three children; Maude, a teach- 
er, Dec. 23, 1897, married Duncan A* 
Kelly and lives at SmithviHe, Texas; 
Raymond, a carpenter, has been in the 
Klondike region since 1898; Herbert, 
a farmer, on April 25, 1900 v , married 
Ella Dumond and lives in Sac county; 
Jennie on June 27, 1900, married Fred 
Holtz and lives at Newell. 

2 — George Washington, (b. Aug. 5, 
1847,) in 1878 married Addie Wood- 
ward, at Eikader, and dealt in stock 
there until 1891, when he came' to 
Fonda and engaged in the hotel busi- 
ness, erecting the Washington House 
in 1892. He is now at LaCrosse, Wis., 
and has a family of four children: Al- 
bert, Edward, Luella and Eva. 

3 — James Wellington, a twin broth- 
er of George W., in 1874 married Sarah 
Love and engaged in the livery busi- 
ness at Eikader. In 1890 he came to 
Fonda, and in 1894 married Mamie 
Cunningham and has a family of three 
children: Claude, Nodica and Frank. 

4— Herbert Eugene, (b. Oct. 15, 1852) 
a painter, in 1877, married Mary 
Gould, of Sac county, lives in Fonda 
and has a family of four children: 
Van, a teacher and painter, Ruth, 
Laura and Allie. 



442 PIONEER HISTORY OE POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



5— Alberti Whipple (b.Aug. 23, 1861) 
a native of Delaware county, Iowa, 
after attending the Iowa State 
Normal school at Cedar Falls, 
several terms, served as principal of 
the Rolf e, Pomeroy and Fonda public 
schools, each one or more years. On 
June 6.1888 he married Lydia,daughter 
of Rev. Edgar and Emiline Stev- 
ens, lives at Fonda and has a family 
of four children: Bernice, V., Mary 
Louisa, Forrest and G-lenn, two hav- 
ing died in childhood. 

Mary, wife of A. V. Sargent, died 
March 20, 1890, and on Nov. 27, 1895, 
he married Nancy D. (Brush) Moul- 
ton and they live at Fonda. 

Sargent Isaac L., (b. 1819, d. Fon- 
da, 1890) was a native of Orange coun- 
ty, Vermont, the son of Enoch and 
Lydia Sargent, who raised a family of 
eight children, three of whom, Isaac 
L., A. V. and Lydia, wife of Samuel 
Carleton, during the eighties located 
in Pocahontas county. Isaac married 
Rachel Colby, in 1865 moved to Hen- 
ry county, 111., in 1868 to Jefferson 
county, Iowa, and in 1885 to Cedar 
township. His wife died in 1874 in 
Jefferson county. 

His family consisted of six children. 
Jennie E. in 1866 married W. A. Clark, 
a photographer, lives at Pentwater, 
Mich,, and has a family of two chil- 
dren; Harrison H., in 1872, married 
Elizabeth Stewart and in 1894 died at 
Des Moines, leaving three children; 
Edwin I. in 1880 married Cordelia 
Sinclair, in 1881 located in Cedar town- 
ship and in 1885 moved to Des Moines, 
where he has since been engaged in 
the commission business, owns a fine 
home in addition to several other val- 
uable properties and has a family of 
seven children; James B. in 1876 mar- 
ried Ella Stewart, (died, Fonda, Nov. 
26, 1895) in 1881 located on a farm of 
200 acres in Cedar township, of which 
he was assessor two years, 1891-94, in 
1889 moved to Fonda, where he has 
since been engaged in clerking, and 



has a family of four children, Nellie 
May, a Fonda graduate in 1897 and a 
successful teacher since, Irwin H., 
Flora E. and Hazel B.; Ora O. in 1886 
married Florence Clapp, both being 
graduates of Parsons college, Fairfield, 
Iowa, holders of state certificates and 
teachers for ten years, and now lives 
near Laurens; Flora E. in 1883 mar- 
ried V. A. Marsteller, a merchant, 
and lives at Wilcox, Neb. 

Swingle Fred, resident of Fonda 
.from 1874 to 1891, was a native of the 
Rhine province of Prussia, Germany, 
;ame with his parents to Livingston 
'.ounty, N. Y.. in 1855, and there re- 
ceived his first lessons in the public 
school. After a few years he moved 
with his parents to a farm near the 
old military post, Fort Muscoda, on 
the Wisconsin river about forty miles 
sast of Prairie du Chien. Here he at- 
tended the public schools and also the 
high school in Muscoda. 

At fourteen he found employment 
in a store in A.voca, Wis., and spent 
one summer in Milwaukee. He then 
engaged in teaching in Grant and 
Iowa counties, Wis., until November, 
1872, when he accepted a position in 
the store of Nicholas Kief er at Pome- 
roy, Iowa. In February, 1874, at the 
request of Geo. Fairburn, director, he 
became teacher of the public school 
at Fonda, then called Marvin, and 
later taught several terms in other 
schools in the vicinity. Purchasing 
the coal business of E. O. W T ilder, he 
added lumber to it and continued in 
the lumber and coal business until 
August, 1886, when he sold out to N. 
B. Post. He then dealt in hay and 
grain until August 1891, when he 
disposed of all his property in Fonda 
and moved to Sioux City. 

Having a desire to engage again in 
teaching, he attended for a short 
time the Sioux City school, at the 
head of which was the the late Prof. 
J. C. Gilchrist, the University of 
South Dakota one year and the Sioux 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



443 



City college one year. He is now en- 
tering upon hi,s fifth year as a teacher 
in the Sioux City schools. 

On Dec. 13, 1875, he married Nellie 
E. Remtsma, of Webster county, 
Iowa, and she taught seven years in 
the public schools of Fonda. She was 
a native of Hanover, Germany, came 
with her parents to Ogle county, 111., 
in her infancy, and later to Webster 
county, Iowa. After attending the 
public schools of Grand Detour, 111., 
and Fort Dodge, Iowa, she attended 
the Des Moines school of Methods, 
Cook County Normal, Chicago, and 
the Denver Normal, Colo. At the age 
of sixteen she began to teach school, 
first in Calhoun county, Iowa, then in 
Webster and Pocahontas counties. 
In March, 1892, she was appointed 
first primary teacher in the Haw- 
thorne school, Sioux City, and has 
been annually re-elected to that posi- 
tion since that date. During the 
summer vacations of the last six 
years she has been a teacher of pri- 
mary methods in teachers' institutes 
held in South Dakota and Nebraska. 

Fred Swingle was a member of the 
Fonda council three years, 1883-85. 
Both he and his wife took a leading 
part in the work of the M E. church 
and Sunday school, and also in the or- 
ganization and maintenance of the 
first Chautauqua circle during the 
early eighties. They were highly es- 
teemed for their excellent social 
qualities and the valuable assistance 
they were able to render on all special 
or public occasions. 

Smeaton David, and his wife, Es- 
ther O. (Riford) Smeaton, were resi- 
dents of Fonda and vicinity from May, 
1881, until April, 1890, when they 
moved to Des Moines. They first 
purchased the Ei Sec. 32, Cedar town- 
ship, and located on that portion of it 
known as the Dorton homestead. A 
little later they purchased other lands 
in the vicinity until they had an ag- 
gregate of 560 acres. In the spring of 



1883 they built a fine house on the 
west side of Main, between 4th and 
5th streets, Fonda, and moving to 
town established a lumber yard south- 
west of the I. C. R. R. depot, and en- 
gaged in the sale of lumber, imple- 
ments and hardware until June 12, 
1884, when his warehouse and stock of 
implements and hardware were de- 
stroyed by fire. He then turned his 
attention to the cultivation of flow- 
ers, for which he erected a greenhouse, 
and to the improvement of their 
farms. 

Mrs. Smeaton was one of the char- 
ter members of the Fonda Presbyteri- 
an church and served two years as the 
first president of the ladies' aid so-; 
ciety. She was the daughter of Seth 
and Phoebe Riford, of Waukesha^ 
Wis., whose family consisted of eight 
children, four of whom— one son and 
three daughters— became residents of 
Fonda and vicinity from 1874 lo 1881. 
Eliza, the eldest, married David B< 
McKillips, and occupied the Stafford 
farm until 1890, when they moved to 
Fort Dodge; Sophia married Edward 
R. Ellis and died at Fonda in 1898; 
Royal Riford, the youngest, married 
Martha Jones and with a family of 
two sons, Seth and Thad, still lives in 
this vicinity. 

Tabor Edward B. (b. Aug. 14, 1858) 
editor of the Pocahontas Times three 
years, 1877 to 1879, is a native of Lake 
City, Calhoun county, Iowa. He 
moved with his parents to Denisonj 
then to Webster City, then to Cedar 
Falls and in 1862 back to Lake City. 
After a few months they moved to 
Davenport where they remained until 
the close of the year, then moved to 
Cedar Rapids and in 1867 again re- 
turned to Lake City, where he was 
favored with the opportunity of ob- 
taining a limited education. 

In 1872 he found employment in the 
office of the old Calhoun County Pio j 
neer, the first paper published in that 
county, and began to learn the print' 



444 PIONEER HISTOEY OE POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



er's trade. The office contained only 
a few fonts of type, a Washington 
hand-press and was a very small af- 
fair compared with the country offices 
of the present time. 

Early in the spring of 1875 he came 
to Fonda and secured a position with 
M. D. Skinner on the Pocahontas 
Times, taking the place of Geo. M. 
Dorton, who had worked on the paper 
during the previous winter, and then 
returned to the farm from which he 
had been driven by the ravages of the 
grasshoppers in the fall of 1874. In 
the Times office Tabor did all the me- 
chanical work including the printing 
of the paper, one page at a time on 
the old wooden press that worked 
with a screw like a cider-press. 

In August, 1875, he purchased the 
Calhoun County Index and returned 
to Lake City. When he became pro- 
prietor of this newspaper he was only 
seventeen years of age. In the spring 
of 1876 he moved his outfit to Glidden 
and started the Glidden Express, the 
first paper published in that town. 
After a few months he sold the Ex- 
press, returned to Lake City and 
worked on the Calhoun County Jour- 
nal. 

Jan. 1, 1877, he became foreman in 
the office of the Pocahontas Times 
then published at Pocahontas and 
owned by Messrs. MeEwen & Garlock, 
the former serving as editor. In Oc- 
tober following he leased the Times 
office and in the spring of 1878 moved 
it to Fonda and continued in charge 
of it until Oct. 1, 1879, when 
it was sold to Geo. Sanborn, its pres- 
ent owner. 

He then started the Fonda News, 
but the support it received proving 
insufficient, in the spring of 1880 it 
was moved to Pomeroy and called the 
Pomeroy News. In May, 1881, he re- 
ceived an appointment as a postal 
clerk on the I. C. R. P., a favor con- 
ferred by the late Ex-Gov. C. C. • Car- 
penter, who was then representing 



this district in congress. 

January 1, 1886, he resigned this po- 
sition to accept one in the office of the 
Sioux City Journal, where, commenc- 
ing at the exchange editor's desk he 
soon became successively city reporter, 
city editor, telegraph editor and final- 
ly managing editor. Jan. 1, 1890, he 
resigned this position and bought the 
Saturday Chronicle, a local, variety 
paper. 

In July, 1891, he moved to Brandon, 
Miss., where in January following he 
established the Brandon News, which 
has prospered until it is now one of 
the foremost weeklies of that state, 
is published in a finely equipped office 
and proves a profitable enterprise. 

On Dec. 25, 1877, he married Alice 
E. Townsend, of Carroll, and has a 
family of three children, the oldest 
one of whom was born at Fonda. 

Taylor William, (b. June 6, 1819- 
d. Fonda, Oct. 31, 1890),. was a native 
of Bourbon county, Ky. In his boy- 
hood he moved with his parents to 
Greene county, 111., and in 1855 to Ma- 
con county where, March 19, 1856, he 
married Harriet P. Seay. In 1859 
they moved to Logan county, 111., and 
in 1873 to the SEi Sec. 23, Cedar town- 
ship, this county, which he improved 
and continued to occupy until the 
year previous to his death, when they 
moved to Fonda. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren: John W. r a blacksmith, on 
April 14, 1897, married Mrs.Parrie A. 
(Watts) Metcalf, and lives at Varina; 
Mary E. in 1881, married Geo. W. 
Taylor, lives on a farm in Calhoun 
county and has one daughter, Daisy; 
Elizabeth in 1886, married Frank 
Brackenwagen, lives on a farm near 
Emmons, Minn., and has two children, 
Clarence and Leroy; Charles in 1888, 
married Cora Hendrickson, has two 
children, Lloyd and Pearl, and lives 
in Potter county, S. D. ; Annie in 1889 
married Charles Bevier, lives in Cal- 
houn county and has one child, Al- 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



445 



plieus; Martha. lives with her mother 
in Fonda, and Edward, the youngest, 
in 1888 married Evelyn Aten, has one 
child and lives at Emmons, Minn. 

Lucian and Milfred Seay, parents 
of Mrs. Taylor, in 1874 came to Cedar 
township and hough t a farm three 
miles west of Fonda. A few years 
later they moved to Marathon, where 
she died July 21, 1885, and he, Aug. 
16, 1895. 

Thompson George E., (b. June 22, 
1826, d. Cedar township, Aug. 20, 1891) 
was a native of Indiana county, Pa., 
the son of George C. and Elizabeth 
(Davis) Thompson. May 5, 1853, he 
married Evaline George and engaged 
in farming. Dec. 31, 1866, he moved 
to Aledo, Mercer county, 111., where 
he remained three years. In Novem- 
ber 1869, in two prairie schooners, he 
and his family made the trip to Red- 
Held, Iowa, crossing the Mississippi 
at New Boston, 111. In the fall of 
1870 they located on a homestead of 80 
acres on the' Ni SEi Sec. 18, Cedar 
township. He improved this farm 
with good buildings and a new house 
in 1890, and occupied it until the time 
of his decease in 1891. In 1894 this 
farm was sold and the family moved 
to Fonda. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren, all of whom are still living. 1 — 
Cyrus is a veteran school teacher, one 
who has been well qualified for teach- 
ing, stands high in educational cir- 
cles and in the fall of 1899, as the 
democratic nominee for the office of 
county superintendent, polled a splen- 
did vote— his own township of Cedar, 
that gave the republican candidate 
for county treasurer a majority of 187, 
giving him a democratic majority of 
44 votes. He still lives with his moth- 
er. 2— Elizabeth Frances, March 24, 
1875, married James Albarnus Sayre, 
who died in Fonda Oct. 29, 1894, leav- 
ing one daughter, Pearl, who on 
Sept. 6, 1900, married Evermond D. 
Snyder, of Des Moines. 3^-George P. 



March 29, 1883, married Alice Bliss, 
(daughter of George) of Dover town- 
ship, and lives on a farm in Thayer 
county, Neb. 4— Harry C. Sept. 29, 
1889, married Eugenia Gobelle, of 
Vermillion, S. D., and has one son, 
Earl. He was a telegraph operator 
for a number of years and is now an 
express agent at Kansas City. Mo. 
5— James H., a railroad carpenter, on 
Dec. 22, 1898, married Lulu Spielman, 
lives at Fonda and has one child, 
Fern. 6— John A., August 26, 1896, 
married Dora Sayre, has one child and 
is engaged in the hardware business 
at Yarina. 7— Mary, a dressmaker, 
in 1887 married Leslie Dean and their 
family consisted of one child, Daphne; 
in 1899 she married Eugene Herring- 
ton and now lives at Sioux City. 

George H. Thompson, a nephew of 
George E., came with the latter to 
Pocahontas county in 1870 and home- 
steaded the Si NE-l Sec. 18. Cyrus 
Thompson owned this farm from 1885 
to 1898. 

Thompson Richard Perry (b. Dec. 
16, 1843), resident of Cedar township 
since 1871, is a native of Jefferson 
county, Ohio, the son of John and 
Maria (Ross) Thompson. At thirteen 
he moved with his parents to Wash- 
ington county, Iowa, where Dec. 29, 
1869, he married Annabel, daughter of 
Dr. Nicholas and Mary (Curry) Ray. 
After visiting Washington county, 
Iowa, Johnson county, Kan., and sev- 
eral other sections of country in a 
prairie schooner, they decided to lo- 
cate in Pocahontas county, Iowa, and 
in April, 1871, located on section 26, 
Cedar township. Six months later 
they purchased 80 acres on the SEi 
Sec, 18, improved and occupied it, 
with the exception of one year, until 
1900, when they moved to Fonda. 

He has been a careful and progres- 
sive farmer, and still manifests those 
habits of industry and thrift that 
were acquired in youth. Mrs. Thomp- 
son was one of the pioneer teachers of 



446 PIONEERHISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Cedar township and although not the 
first one in that district, yet during 
the winter of 1871-72, taught the first 
term in the first school house built in 
the township outside of Fonda, which 
was the one on the southeast corner 
pf Sec. 7, in the Sunk Grove district. 

Toy James F., of Sioux City, presi- 
dent of the Farmers' Loan & Trust 
Co. Bank, Fonda, established this in- 
stitution Sept. 1, 1886, while he was a 
resident of Storm Lake. In the early 
history of Storm Lake he organized 
and became president of the Farmers' 
Loan & Trust Co. By careful man- 
agement previous to the above date it 
had not made a real estate loan on 
which a dollar had been lost or an 
acre of land taken on foreclosure. 
Having received that year an addition 
of $100,000, making the capital stock 
$250,000 with a surplus of $56,000, the 
branch at Fonda was established with 
Geo. B. Kerlin in charge as cashier. 
After two years he was succeeded by 
P. C. Toy, a younger brother of James 
Ff, who remained in charge of it ten 
years. 1888-98, He was succeeded by 
Louis A. Bothe, the present cashier. 

Weaver James B., (b. Jan. 5, 1854, 
d. Cedar township, Aug. 13, 1897), was 
a native of Deerfield, Oneida county, 
N. Y., and was the son of James and 
Arvilla (Smith) Weaver. Dec. 13, 
1876, he married Cora, daughter of 
John and Sarah (Wilcox) Potter, and 
they lived at Marcy, N. Y., until the 
spring of 1886 when, with a family of 
five children, they came to Pocahon- 
tas county and began to occupy their 
present home on sections 1 and 12, Ce- 
dar township. His uncle, Abram B. 
Weaver, of Deerfield, bought of Thur- 
low Weed, N. Y., the Wi Sec. 1 in the 
spring of 1870, and came to view it on 
the excursion train of July 4th follow- 
ing, that signalized the completion of 
the laying of the track from Fort 
Dodge to Sioux City. In 1886 he 
bought also the Ni Sec. 12, on which 
the buildings are located, and in 1890 



the Ei Sec. 1, making a farm of 800 
acres in one body. 

James B., while assisting one of bis 
neighbors to thresb, stepped under- 
neath a large box used for elevating 
the grain, and it fell upon him with 
such crushing force that he died one 
hour later. He was a man highly es- 
teemed for his industry, integrity cor- 
diality and success. All who knew 
him attest the nobility of his man- 
hood. 

His family consisted of ten children: 
William Potter, Claude J., Maude L., 
Helen, Sarah, Mildred, Abram G., 
Kenneth D , Angeline and Cora V., 
all of whom remain with their mother 
on the farm, except Maude, who in 
August, 1899, returned to the home of 
her uncle at Deerfield, 1ST. Y., for the 
purpose of completing her education. 

Whitney Charles H., (b. Nov. 20, 
1833) resident of Fonda and vicinity 
since June 1870, is a native of Erie 
county, N. Y., the son of Erastus and 
Anna (Wilkinson) Whitney. In 1852 
he moved with his father's family to 
McHenry county, 111., where they re- 
mained four years and then moved to 
Sac county, Iowa. 

On June 11, 1856, he married Levisa 
Blakeslee, and located on a farm in 
Dubuque county, Iowa, and after two 
years moved to Moore county, Minn. 
On Dec. 28, 1862, he enlisted and spent 
three years in the frontier service 
against the Indians in Minnesota and 
Dakota, (See page 45). In June, 1870, 
conveying his family and household 
goods in two wagons, he located on 
the W* SWi Sec. 8, Cedar township, 
Pocahontas county, Iowa, which he 
improved and occupied four years. 
He then purchased the two home- 
steads of Geo. H. and Sidney E. 
Wright on the NWi Sec. 36, which he 
continued to occupy until the spring 
of 1898, when he moved to Fonda. 

He served seven years as a trustee 
of Cedar township, 1875-78 and 1896- 
98; and was treasurer of the school 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



447 



funds two years, 1877-78. He was one 
of the trustees of the M. E. church, 
Fonda, at the time of its incorpora- 
tion in 1877, and has been a constant 
supporter of its services since they 
were first established. 

His family has consisted of six chil- 
dren. Nettie married Warren Karr, 
lives in Fonda and has two children, 
Bessie and Charles; Oliva married 
William Bower and lives at Sac City; 
Mamie married Marion Jenkins and 
lives at Pomeroy; Charles R., M. D., 
(see below); William married Lulu 
Beed and lives in Chicago, and Frank, 
who is still at home. 

Whitney Charles R.,M.D.,(b. June 
14, '63) resident of Fonda, is a native of 
Moore county, Minn., son of Charles 
and Levisa Whitney, with whom he 
came to Pocahontas county in 1870. 
After spending two years in the high 
school at Sac City, he spent four years 
in the Western Normal at Shenando- 
ah, graduating first from the Normal 
and two years later from the Scien- 
tific department of that institution. 
In 1894, he graduated from the Bush 
Medical College, Chicago, and has 
since been engaged in the practice of 
medicine and surgery at Fonda. Dur- 
ing his first year he was associated 
with Dr. M. F. Patterson and then be- 
came his successor. He is a good rep- 
resentative of well trained home tal- 
ent, has already successfully per- 
formed several difficult surgical opera- 
tions and is rapidly growing in favor 
as a skilful physician. He is the 
owner of a farm of eighty acres on 
Sec. 24, Cedar township, and in 1896 
built a fine residence in Fonda. On 
Sept. 15, 1896, he married Lillian 
Higgs, of Storm Lake, and has two 
children, Homer Higgs and Wayne. 

Wood Alpheus Bowan Putnam (b. 
June 20,1824,d. Fonda Oct. 8, '87), was a 
native of Batavia, N. Y. His father 
died when he was a child, leaving a 
family of three sons of whom he was 
the oldest. One of his brothers in his 



boyhood left home and no trace of him 
was afterward discovered. The other 
one enlisted in the civil war and held 
the position of captain at the time he 
was killed on the field at Yorktown. 

Alpheus worked for his board and 
clothing among the farmers of the 
neighborhood until he was able to 
command wages, and then entered a 
factory in Massachusetts. The next 
year he went to Michigan, found em- 
ployment in a store and remained 
three years. He enjoyed the advan- 
tages of the public school only for a 
few months, but became well in- 
formed by reading the best books and 
papers his opportunities afforded. At 
twenty-one he found his way into a 
law office at Toulon, 111., and two 
years later he was admitted to the 
bar. In 1849, in company with a num- 
ber of others, he went by the pony ex- 
press to California and, after a few 
months, passed to Oregon, where he 
located a claim several miles distant 
from any neighbor. When others ar- 
rived they founded a town which he 
named "Dallas," and it became the 
county seat of Polk county. Here he 
began the practice of law and by ap- 
pointment filled the honorable posi- 
sitions of clerk of the senate, and 
judge of the probate court in that dis- 
trict of the territory of Oregon. 

Returning to New York by way of 
the isthmus of Panama, on April 13, 
1854, he married C. rdelia Kysor, of 
Danville, and later that year moved 
to a farm in La Fayette county, Wis! 
In 1863, on account of a return of ill 
health, he moved with a family of 
seven children to Darlington, Wis., 
where he resumed the practice of 
law. He was mayor of this city sev- 
eral of the fourteen years of his resi- 
dence in it. Becoming again affected 
with sciatic rheumatism, in March 
1878, he located on the SEi Sec. 28, 
Cedar township, Pocahontas county, 
Iowa, and resumed work on the farm. 
Later he opened an office in Fond 



448 PIONEEBHISTOBY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and resumed the practice of law. 

When the independent district of 
Fonda was organized March 9, 1880, 
he was chosen one of the three mem- 
bers of the first school board and con- 
tinued to serve in that capacity until 
the time of his decease, Oct. 8, 1887, a 
period of seven years. He was an ar- 
dent friend of the cause of education, 
and took a leading part in promoting 
the interests of the Fonda schools. 
The erection of the first brick school 
building and the high standard of ex- 
cellence attained at the same time in 
the work of the schools were in a 
great measure due to his interest and 
influence. 

He was chosen a trustee and treas- 
urer of the Fonda Presbyterian 
church at the time of its organization 
in 1886, and rendered efficient service 
until the time of his death which oc- 
curred the day before the building 
was dedicated. 

He looked upon the legal profession 
as one of the most noble that can oc- 
cupy the attention of man, and en- 
deavored to adorn it by a true and 
noble life. He was animated with an 
absorbing desire to be useful rather 
than to accumulate wealth, and al- 
ways advised an amicable adjustment 
of difficulties as preferable to the un- 
certainties of a lawsuit. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren, of whom Engenia, the firstborn, 
died in childhood at Fayette. 

1 — Adele, a graduate of the Darling- 
ton high school and a music teacher, 
on Oct. 5, 1876, married William J. 
Curkeet, (b. July 6, 1846) who engaged 
in farming near Darlington two years 
and then in March, 1878, with one 
daughter, Eena, came to Pocahontas 
county and located on a farm of 240 
acres on Sec. 27, Grant township. He 
was a native of Galena, 111., attended 
the Normal school at Plattvilie, Wis., 
Wheaton college, 111., read law at 
Darlington, Wis. and was admitted 
to the bar in 1875. In 1880, he fell 



from a small building and soon after- 
ward became affected with paralysis 
in his limbs. After four years of in- 
tense suffering he died at Fonda Jan. 
12, 1881. He served as a justice of the 
peace in Grant township two years, 
1878-80. His wife and daughter con- 
tinued to reside at Fonda until 1895, 
when with her mother, Mrs. A. B. P. 
Wood, they moved to Cedar Falls, 
where Eena completed a four years' 
course in the Iowa State Normal in 
1898, graduated from its musical de- 
partment in March 1900, and is now 
taking a two years' course in the Mu- 
sical Observatory at Oberlin, Ohio. 

2— Lois Ann, a graduate of the 
Darlington high school and the first 
principal in the independent district 
of Fonda, 1880.and '83; married Alex- 
ander F. Hubbell, (See Hubbell). 

3 — AdelbertSylvanus Wood, (b. Aug. 
25, 1858,) cashier of the Pocahontas 
County Bank, Fonda, since 1886, is a 
graduate of Darlington High School, 
learned telegraphy at Fonda, was 
operator at Parkersburg, Iowa, one 
year, 1881, agent of the I. C. E. E. at 
Fonda from June 15, 1882, to Sept. 15, 
1884, then became bookkeeper in the 
Pocahontas County Bank and two 
years later its cashier, In 1896 he 
built one of the finest houses in Fonda 
and is the owner of 600 acres of land 
in Pocahontas county. He was the 
recorder of Fonda seven years, 1886-92, 
and treasurer of the school funds nine 
years, 1887-95. On Sept. 2, 1884, he 
married Mary Josephine, daughter of 
William and Abigail Alexander, and 
his family consists of four children, 
Arthur Bowan, Lucian, Percy Eugene 
and Delphine; Clark, the first-born, 
having died in childhood. 

4— Cora Estelle married Dr. M. F.Pat- 
terson. (See page 434). 

5 — Affa died in 1881 at the age of 
nineteen, during a visit to Darlington 
with her'sister Lois. 

6— Abram Grosvenor Wood, (b. 1862) 
after spending one year at school in 
Valparaiso, Ind., graduated from the 



CEDAR TOWNSHIP. 



449 



law department of the State Universi- 
ty, Iowa City, in June, 1886, and that 
same year commenced the practice of 
law in Fonda with his father. He 
was secretary of the Fonda school 
board three years, 1888-90, and mayor 
of the city ' two years, 1893-94. He 
spent most of the years '91-92 in a 
tour through Wyoming, California 
and other sections of the Pacific 
slope. In 1886 he married Emma Au- 
gusta Hull, and she died Sept. 30, 
1888. In May, 1894, he married Jessie 
Eoberts, two years later moved to his 
farm of 240 acres on Sec. 33, Sherman 
township, and has a family of three 
children, Abram, Cordelia and Mar- 
garet. 

When A. B. P. Wood came to Fon- 
da he purchased 2500 acres of land in 
Cedar, Sherman and Grant townships 
and all of it is still owned by different 
members of his family, except the 
farm on which he lived near Fonda. 

Wood George Washington, (b. Oct. 
25, 1825) resident of Cedar township 
from 1869 to 1892, was a native of 
Warren county, N. Y. One of his 
uncles was a sea captain, and at fif- 
teen he became a sailor, first on Lake 
Champlain and later on a three-masted 
vessel on the Atlantic ocean. During 
the civil war he belQnged to the con- 
struction corps of the Army of the 
Tennessee, and passed through the 
states of Tennessee, Georgia and Ala- 
bama. He continued a sailor until 
the year 1868, a period of twenty-five 
years. On May 3, 1869, he located on a 
homestead of 80 acres on the Si NEi 
Sec. 36, Cedar township, this county, 
which he improved and occupied for a 
number of years. He then moved to 
Fonda, and in 1892 to Marathon. 

He .first married Sarah Reach, who 
died in Cedar township Dec. 24, 1879, 
leaving one daughter, who married 
Nelson E. Bailey and now lives at 
Marathon. Later Mr. Wood married 
Mary Lovewell, and she died at Fonda 
Jan. 16, 1890. 



Wood John Martin, (b. Apr. 3, 1822, 
d. Cedar township, Jan. 13, 1900) was a 
native of Warren county, N. Y.. 
where in July 1854, he married Sarah 
T. Tubbs. March 27, 1870, they lo- 
cated on a homestead , the El SEi Sec. 
36, Cedar township, where he erected 
first a sod house that was afterward 
replaced by an underground stone 
house in which he spent the remainder 
of his days. He raised a family of ten 
children: Alice married Joseph Gat- 
ton and lives in Monona county; Mary 
Maria married Julian Adams, Fonda; 
George W. and Charles O; Wilson 
married Mary Jenkins aud lives in 
Williams township: Lydia married 
Gus Eikhoff, Fonda; John Elmer and 
Ezra Eugene; William married Emma 
Holycr, Fonda; and Oiler F. 

Woodin David Milo, (b. Nov. 13, 
1837) resident of Fonda since 1892, in 
May, 1870, located' a homestead of 80 
acres on the Ni NEi Sec. 24, Dover 
township and was the first to enter a 
homestead in that township. He is a 
native of Erie county, N. Y., the son 
of Amos and Harriet (Cobb) Woodin. 
Atthenge of eighteen he moved to. 
Indiana, where he found employment 
as a stage-driver. 

Soon after the first battle of Bull 
Run, July 21, 1861, he went to the ar- 
my, became a teamster in the 
quartermaster's department of the 
Army of the Potomac, under McClel- 
lan, and so continued until the spring 
of 1863, when he located at Brodhead, 
Green county, Wis. On Jan. 4, 1864, 
he enlisted as a member of Co. K, 1st 
Wis. cavalry. After his enlistment 
he belonged to the Army of the Cum- 
berland and was constantly engaged 
in scouting and skirmishing in the 
states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- 
bama and Georgia until the close of 
the war. He was honorably dis- 
charged at Prairie du Chien, Wis , 
May 26, 1865. having spent as a team- 
ster and soldier about four years in 
the army. 

After the war be spent two years in 



450 PIONEEB HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the gold mining district in Montana. 
Ee turning to Wisconsin, on Sept. 12, 
1868, lie married Laura Mickolson, a 
native of Norway, and located on a 
farm. In May, 1870, he came to Po- 
cahontas county, Iowa, in a prairie 
schooner, located a homestead and 
made the entry of it in Sioux City. 
On Sept. 12th, following, having com- 
pleted his harvesting and threshing 
in Wisconsin, he started again in the 
same way with his household goods 
and few farming implements to occu- 
py the homestead. He was accom- 
panied by his wife until they arrived 
at Webster City, where she remained 
that winter, and by her brother New- 
ton, who assisted in breaking the first 
land on his homestead, which was the 
third plot of ground plowed in Dover 
township. 

The ensuing winter was spent in an 
unoccupied cabin north of Webster 
City, and on May 12, 1871, Mr. and 
Mrs. Woodin began to reside in the 
first sod shanty in Dover township. 
During the period of haying and har- 
vesting that year he returned to the 
vicinity of the cabin, sixty miles east, 
for the purpose of obtaining some lu- 
crative employment. During this 
period of six weeks' absence Mrs. 
Woodin remained on the homestead 
alone to take care of the stock, and 
many a night did she sleep in the 
open wagon to which the horses and 
cow were tied. One of the pigs would 
be tied to a plow near by to prevent 
them from wandering away. Fre- 
quently the little prairie wolves, 
whose haunts were along the creek, in 
packs of twenty or more would sur- 
round the premises, break the still- 
ness of the night by their mournful 
howl for a chicken, and have to be 
driven away. He improved this 
homestead, added eighty acres to it 
and occupied it until Feb., 1892, when 
he built a house in Fonda and moved 
to town. 

He has been an industrious, hard- 



working man, whose perseverance has 
enabled him to overcome difficulties 
that proved insurmountable to many 
others. He did not spend his time 
hunting in the early days, but has 
stacked his own hay at night after 
helping his neighbors during the day. 
During the first two winters he drew 
his, coal from Fort Dodge and for sev- 
eral years afterward twisted hay and 
used it for fuel, as did also some of his 
neighbors. His noble wife has been a 
faithful helper to him. In the early 
days she used to enjoy catching prai- 
rie chickens by setting a number of 
steel traps around the patch of corn 
and sprinkling a few grains around 
them. A dozen chickens were occasion- 
ally caught in this way in a single day. 
Two badgers were also caught. The 
portraits of both Mr. and Mrs. Wood- 
in may be seen in this volume. 

Wright Eensselaer, (b. Nov. 18, 
1850) resident of Fonda and vicinity 
since 1882, is a native of Lockport, 111., 
the son of Eev. Eobert Wright, (b. 
Saratoga Springs, N. Y.,1812, d. York 
Neb.. 1891) and Mary Granger (b. 
Yorkshire, England, 1811, d. Fonda, 
Iowa, 1899) who were married in 1835 
at Pultneyviile, N. Y. On Nov. 18, 
1874 he married Luella E. Bonett and 
located at West Brooklyn, 111., where 
he found employment as a railway 
agent until 1877, when he was assigned 
the station at Y^edron, 111., where he 
remained five years. In the spring of 
1882 he bought and moved to the Ei 
SEi Sec. 20, Cedar township, and 
when the Wabash (now the C. M. & 
St. P.) E. E. was completed to Fonda 
he opened the station in a box-car 
Dec. 18, following, and continued as 
its first agent until March, 1884. In 
1887 he purchased the furniture stock 
of George Fairburn, and moved to 
Fonda, where he is still engaged in 
the furniture business, in the manage- 
ment of which his wife has always 
taken a personal interest. At Fonda 
he was operator for the I. C. E. E. 



CEDAE TOWNSHIP. 



451 



from May, 1889, to August, 1892, and 
for the C. M. & St. P. R. R. since Oct. 
1, 1899. He was justice of the peace 
of Cedar township six years, 1887-90, 
'97-98, and secretary of the Big Four 
Fair association three years, 1897-99. 
His family consists of one son, (an- 
other having died in infancy) Lew- 
ellyn R., (b. West Brooklyn, 111., Mar. 
22, 1876) a Fonda graduate in 1894. He 
acquired a knowledge of watchmak- 
ing and optics at Elgin, 111., and has 
been the popular jeweler and optician 
at Fonda since 1897. On June 20, 1900, 
he married Mabel, only daughter 
of J. R. and Lucy Johnson. 

FIRST DEATH. 

John Klow, who was accidentally 
drowned while endeavoring to cross 
Cedar creek, at the fording north of 
the Catholic church, Fonda, during 
the great flood in August, 1869, is be- 
lieved to have been the first white 
person who died in Cedar township. 
He was about twenty years of age and 
had accompanied George Sanborn 
from Jefferson, Wis. , that spring, as- 
sisting to drive the stock on the way. 
He found employment as a day labor- 
er in the western part of the town- 
ship and coming on foot to the Cedar 
found it bank-full from heavy rains 
that had fallen in the north part of 
the county. Having no other means 
of crossing the flooded stream he 
asked leave to hold to the tail of a 
horse belonging to a man who crossed 
it horseback, and when they were 
about the middle of the stream he 
lost his hold, possibly from cramp, 
and was drowned. His body was re- 
covered soon afterward and buried on 
the east bank of the creek on the 
homestead of Abigail J. Howell, on 
SEJ Sec. 28, now owned by Harvey 
Eaton. 

FIRST WEDDING. 

The first wedding in Cedar town- 



ship occurred in January 1871. The 
contracting parties were William 
Richards, whose homestead was on 
the W* SEi Sec. 32, and a lady who re- 
sided in Buena Vista county, about 
six miles northwest; and the justice 
was George Sanborn, who went out 
from Fonda on horseback to perform 
the ceremony. When he arrived at 
the home of the bride, where s be 
and her friends were awaiting the 
ceremony, he found the licehse was 
for Pocahontas county, and they were 
more than a mile west of the county 
line. At his suggestion they and 
their friends got into their sleds and 
drove eastward until they arrived at 
a large haystack that stood on the 
1ST Wi Sec. 6, Cedar township, where 
they found a slight refuge from the 
wintry wind. There on the snow cov- 
ered prairie and in the open air of mid- 
winter the ceremony was performed 
while the bridal pair stood together 
on the sled. 

This incident reminds one of the 
Squire who united "for better or for 
worse" two persons with this unique 
ceremony: 

"Jim will you take Bet, 

Wittiout aliy regret, 

To love and to cherish, 

Till one of you perish 

And is laid under the sod, 

So help you God?" 
After the usual affirmative answer, 
he proceeded: 

"Bet will you take Jim, 

And cling to him, 

Both out and in, 

Through thick and thin, 

Holding him to your heart, 

Till death do you part?" 
When her assent had been modestly 
given, he added: 

"Through life's alternate joy and 
strife, 

I now pronounce you man and wife; 

LeL none other you asunder part. 

For better or for worse, now de- 
part." 



452 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



OLDEST PERSON. 

Jeremiah Herrington, Fonda, born 
in Ireland March 9, 1808 and no v in 
his 93d year, is the oldest inhabitant 
in Cedar township. 

PUBLIC OFFICERS. 

Public officers have been elected 
from Cedar township as follows: 
representative,. James Mercer, 1890-91; 
auditors, A. O. Garlock, '71-81, T. F. 
McCartan. '86-92; treasurers, J. N. 



McClellan, '87 92, Guy S. Robinson, 
1900-; recorder, R. D. Bollard, '91-98; 
sheriffs, T. J. Curtis, '72-73, Joseph 
Mallison, '80-81; superintendents, G. 
W. Hathaway, '72-73, J. P. Robinson, 
'82-85, A. W. Davis, '98-99; surveyor, 
Wm. Marshall, '73-83. Members of 
the Board of Supervisors, John A. 
Hay, '71-72; Bernard McCartan, '74-76; 
Harvey W. Hay, '77-79; Wm. Bott, 
'80-82, '86-88; James Mercer, '83-85. 



XIV. 

©ENTER TOWNSHIP. 

Almighty wisdom made the land 
Subject to man's disturbing hand, 
And left all for him to fill 
With works of his ambitious will. 
As ages slip away earth shows 
How need'by satisfaction grows. 
And more and more its patient face 
Mirrors the driving human race. 

— E. S. Martin. 

EARLY SETTLEMENT. 




T^^^^^^J lENTER township is a 
^ gently undulating 
prairie drained by 
the north branch of 
Lizard creek, which 
flows through it in a 
southeasterly direction. The soil is 
excellent, and the name of the town- 
ship is derived from its central posi- 
tion in the county. 

Its bistory begins with November 
4, 1870, when Warrick Price employed 
Fred Hess, of Fort Dodge, to make a 



survey and plat of Pocahontas, on 
section 31, of which an account has al- 
ready been given.* 

Warrick Price was a banker, resid 
ing at Cleveland, Ohio, who had pur- 
chased from the Roger Locomotive 
Co., of New Jersey, a large amount of 
land in the south part of that town- 
ship, which that company had re- 
ceived in payment for engines and 
other rolling stock furnished the Du- 
buque & Pacific R. R. Co* By reason 

*See pa^e 2S0. 





GEORGE A. HEALD, 
County Attorney, 1903 4. 



DR. H. BARTHEL. 





GUY S. ROBINSON, 
County Treasurer, 1900-05. 



ULYSES S. VANCE, 
County Superintendent, 1900-05. 



POCAHONTAS. 











n 



T. F- M C C ARTAN 



«4^ 

^57 




POCAHONTAS AND VICINITY. 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



453 



of its location in the center of the 
county, he named the plat of the new 
village, "Pocahontas Center, "and, in- 
dulging the hope it would become the 
location of the county seat, he donat- 
ed to the county, in addition to its 
streets and avenues, a large square in 
the center of the plat for a public 
park and court house. This square 
contains five and one-half acres and is 
only a half mile from the geographical 
center of the county. 

There was not a resident, tree or 
sign of any improvement in the town- 
ship at the time this was done. The 
lines of settlement previous to this 
date had been northwestward along 
the Des Moines river in the east part 
of the county, and westward along 
the I. C. R. R. in the south part of it. 

Warrick Price then employed Hess 
(Fred) & Behring, real estate agents 
at Fort Dodge, to look after and dis- 
pose of his lands in this county, and 
they, in the fall of 1871, erecting a 
small office with two rooms, south of 
the court house square, sent to Poca- 
hontas two young men whose names 
were Mare and Barian, to act as t heir 
local agents and show the lands to 
prospective purchasers. These men 
remained only until March, 1872, when 
as local land agents, they were suc- 
ceeded by Wenzel Hubel, of Fort 
Dodge, who purchased the office and 
ten acres of ground as a home for him- 
self, wife and four children — William, 
Mary, Annie and Cedora— and to him 
and his family has been accorded the 
honor of being the first permanent 
residents of Pocahontas. At the 
time of his arrival, B. F. Brown, wife 
and six children were occupying a 
building that stood south of the site 
of the stone bank. He owned no real 
estate, was engaged in hunting and 
trapping, entertained travelers, espe- 
cially those passing on the old stage 
route from Fort Dodge to Sioux Rap- 
ids, and soon moved away. This hotel 
building, 16x36, one and a half stories 



in height, lined and sheathed with 
flooring, had been erected by a land 
company in the fall of 1870 and was first 
occupied by Albert Davy, who had a 
family of six children. After one and 
a half years he moved to Old Rolfe 
and three years later to Dakota. 

In May, 1871, William. A. Hubel be- 
came a temporary resident of Center 
township and engaged in breaking. 
At this date-there was only one other 
building in Pocahontas besides the 
hotel and it was a blacksmith shop 
that stood on the site of the G-arlock 
and McEwen home. It was in charge 
of a Swede, who remained only that 
year. In the spring of 1871, N. Kief- 
er, of Pomeroy, built a small store- 
room north of the blacksmith shop and 
during that year, it was managed by 
his daughter Mary, but the store was 
then discontinued and the building 
removed. The fourth building erect- 
ed was the real estate office occupied 
by Wenzel Hubel, which in the fall of 
1872 was enlarged and he was appoint- 
ed the first postmaster in the new vil- 
lage. William A. Hubel, his son, car- 
ried the mail on horseback once a 
week from Pomeroy. 

Bonifacio Erne, who located on sec- 
tion 17, early in the spring of 1871, 
was the first farmer and did the first 
breaking in the township. He was a 
German, had a wife, commenced in a 
sod shanty and remained on the farm 
about five years, wben he moved to 
Pocahontas and the next year to a 
homestead in Grant township. 

In 1872 three other farmers located 
in the township, namely, Frank Dan- 
ger, on section 19, later a resident of 
Dover, but now of Pocahontas; Joseph 
Stoulil, on section 21, but now on 19, 
and Joseph Stverak, on section 21, 
now in Dakota. 

In 1873, among the additional fami- 
lies in the township were those of 
Frank Hronek' Sr., on the Ei Sec. 19; 
D. Berryman, on section 2; James Eral, 



454 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



on section 27, and Fred Mott, who 
moved to Boone in 1880. 

In Pocahontas Thomas J. Bilsky 
erected a building on the east side of 
the street and established a grocery. 
Benjamin Brown also located there. 
He was a great hunter, worked at car- 
pentry occasionally and after two 
years moved to Estherville. Joseph 
Machovec also erected a building in 
Pocahontas and occupied it that year. 
The next year it was used for the first 
public school established there, under 
Miss Hattie Barnes, of Powhatan, who 
continued to teach for several terms, 
the first schoolhouse having been 
built by William A. Hubel in the fall 
of 1874. 

In 1874, Joseph Nemick built the 
Center (later called the Bissell) House 
and during the next ten years kept 
the first regular hotel in Pocahontas. 
John Bartak established a harness 
shop, Michael Bartosh located on 
section 29, and John Eral on section 23. 

In 1875, a number of Bohemian fam- 
ilies from Winnishiek county located 
in the township, among whom were 
those of Albert and Joseph Lukes, 
M. and T, Shimon, (on section 36) and 
Joseph Sobereik. David (Deiderick) 
Brinkman located on section 24. 

In 1876 the court house was built at 
Pocahontas and the county officials, 
consisting of W. D. McEwen, A. O. 
G-arlock, J. W. Wallace and others, lo- 
cated there, the first two building a 
large double house. Louis Brodsky 
engaged in the mercantile business as 
the successor of T. J. Bilsky, and F. 
J. Payer located on section 28. 

In 1877 a number of Bohemian fam- 
ilies from Chicago located in the 
township, among whom were those of 
Albert Jelenek, Charles Nemeck, (no 
relative of Joseph) John Dives, lgnac 
Votlucka and Frank Sernett. Peter 
Murphy located on section 7. 

In 1878, another lot of Bohemian 
families came from Chicago, among 
whom were those of Joseph Sinek, on 



section 28; John Veterna and Joseph 
Marketan; and from Bohemia, Frank 
and Wenzel Vodreska. After this the 
settlement of the township progressed 
quite rapidly, the Bohemians consti- 
tuting a large proportion of the popu- 
lation and establishing Catholic serv- 
ices at Pocahontas in the spring of 
1875. Whilst the settlement of the 
township was retarded by the rav- 
ages of the grasshoppers in 1873-74 and 
1876-77, and its great distance from 
market over roads that had no bridges, 
it was encouraged by Warrick Price, 
who donated to every purchaser of 160 
acres from him one lot in Pocahontas, 
and of 320 acres, two lots. He also 
donated ample grounds for a school 
house site, a cemetery and the Catho- 
lic church. The increase in popula- 
tion and rise in the price of land were 
greatest during the period from 1885 
to 1893. 

ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS. 

Center township was included in 
Des Moines until the date of its es- 
tablishment by the board of super- 
visors, September 8, 1874. The first 
officers were elected on October 13, 
1874, and were as follows: Joseph 
Stoulil, Joseph Stverak and Frank 
Hronek, trustees; Joseph Stverak, 
clerk; Joseph Nemick, justice of the 
peace, and George Mott, assessor, who 
entered upon their duties Jan. 1, 1875. 
The judges at this first election were 
Frank Langer, Joseph Nemick and 
Joseph Stverak, and the clerks were 
Wenzel Hubel and Fred Mott. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees: Joseph Stoulil, 1875-76, 
'79; Joseph Stverak, 1875-79; Frank 
Hronek, 1875-76; David Brinkman, '77- 
78; George Mott, '77-78, '80; John Vit- 
erna, '79; John Eral. '80-83; Vit Payer, 
'80; John Divish, Frank Langer, '81; 
J. S. Smith, '81; O. C. Christopherson, 
Thomas Shimon, '82; Anthony Sect- 
lachka, '82; Charles T. Stein, '83-84; 
Henry Schrader, '83-84, '95; John Hro 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



455 



nek, '84-92; Geo. F. Spence, '85-89; 
Samuel Powell, '85-91; Charles L. Gun- 
derson, '80-92 and '95-97; James Stoulil 
'92-94; T. E. Ferguson, '93-94; John 
Eral, '93-94; James W. Eral, '95-1900; 
W. C. Walkenhaur, '86-98; Martin 
Paduska, '98-1900; Richard Grant, '99- 
1900. 

Clerks: Joseph Stverak, '75; Fred 
Mott, '76-77; Frank E. Hronek, '78; 
Albert Shimon, '79-82; Peter Murphy, 
'83-85; Frank. J. Payer, '85-88; Anthony 
Hronek, '89-91; James Lehane, '92-94; 
Joseph Wolf, '95-98; F. M. Starr, '99- 
1900. 

Justices of the Peace: Joseph 
Nemick, '75-79; J. E. Pattee, '80; 
Michael Crahan, '81; W. G. Bradley, 
'82; E. M. Hastings, '83; G. B. Gunder-. 
son, '84; C. L. Stein, '85-87; George F. 
Spence, '88; C. L. Gunderson, '89-90, 
'92-93; O. P. Phillips and J. W. Wal- 
lace. '91; W. D. Pattee, '94-98; W. H. 
Bissell, '87-90; A. L. Schultz, '98-1900. 

Assessors: George Mott, '75-76; N. 
L. Brown, '77; Fred Brown, '78; Wm. 
A. Hubel. '79-80; O C. Christopherson, 
'81; Theo. Stein, '82; O. A. Pease, D. 
Brinkman, H. W. Bissell, 85-89; D. B. 
Dady, H. Q Burkhalter, '92-93; Joseph 
Sinek, 94-1900.; 

SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. 

The first public school in Center 
township was taught in Pocahontas 
in 1873, by Hattie Barnes, who later 
became the wife of Edward Snell and 
died at their home in Crawford coun- 
ty, in 1884. " The first school house 
was also built in Pocahontas in the 
fall of 1874. In March, 1875, the 
township first elected its own school 
board, and Joseph Nemick, contractor, 
built a small temporary school b*ild- 
ing on the farm of Albert Shimon on 
section 36, and the two teachers em- 
ployed that year were Katy and Amy 
Condon. In 1876 a third building was 
built by Wm. A. Hubel on section 32 
and the first teacher in it was Anna 
Hubel. In 1879 the first school house 
in the Brinkman district was built on 



the NE Cor. Sec. 23, and about the 
same time a permanent building was 
built in district No. 8. In 1887 the 
school house in district No. 2 was 
built by W. A. Hubel, and in 1888 the 
one in district No. 4 by Joseph Mikesh. 

On March 17, 1884, the board ar- 
ranged with N. Stelpflug, for $15.00, 
to plant 500 forest trees on the vari- 
ous school grounds. In 1888, a uni- 
form series of text-books (Appleton's) 
was adopted for a period of three 
years. 

Other teachers who taught previous 
to 1883, were Annie and Katie Crilly, 
Anna O'Niel, Mary E. Kelley, Mattie 
E. Waite, G. B. Gunderson, Anna An- 
derson, Ida Garlock, Jessie Mallison, 
Lizzie O'Brien, Mary Dady, Anna C. 
Kruchten, Julia Lamb, Bridget Mc- 
Dermott, Jennie Fitzgerald, Eliza J. 
Brown, Emma Lowrey, Florence Has- 
tings and Miss McLarney. 

SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

At the first election of school di- 
rectors for Center township held 
March 1, 1875, Frank Langer served as 
chairman and Fred Mott as secretary. 
Frank Langer, Frank Hronek, Sr., 
and Wenzel Hubel each received four 
votes and were declared directors of 
the school district of Center township. 
One week later Joseph Nemick was 
elected a director in place of Frank 
Hronek, who declined to serve, and 
he was then chosen president of the 
board, Fred Mott, secretary, and Jos. 
Stoulil, treasurer. The succession of 
officers has been as follows: 

Presidents of the Board: Joseph 
Nemick, 1875, '79; David Brinkman, 
'76-77; Geo, Mott, '78; J. W. Wallace, 
'80-81, '83; A. O. Garlock, '82; J. F. 
Harlan, '84; C. H. Tollefsrude, '85-87; 
Geo. F. Spence, W- C. Ralston. O. A. 
Pease, '90- '91; Frank E. Hronek, '92- 
'95; James Lehane, R. C. Grant '97; 
Anthony Hronek, 1900. 

The board in 1900 consisted of seven 
members representing the districts as 
follows: 2— Ira Coburn; 3— A. W. 



456 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Freeman; 4— W. C. Walkenhaur; 5— 
John Hronek; 6— R. C. Grant; 7— C. L. 
Gunderson; 8— Anthony Hronek. 

Secretaries: Fred Mott, 1875-76; 
Wm. A. Hubel, '87-81; W. C. Ralston, 
'82-84; Frank E. Hronek, '85-87; J. W. 
Wallace, '88-97; James Lehane, C. L. 
Gunderson, R. C. Grant. 

Treasurers: Joseph Stoulil, '75- 
'76; Fred Mott, '77-78; Albert Shimon, 
'79-80; E. M. Hastings, '81, '85; C. M. 
Hunt, ( 82-84; C. F. Stein, '86; Samuel 
Powell, '87-90; John Stegge, '91-92; T. 
McCartan, '93-96; James Eral, '97-1900. 

POCAHONTAS. 

"Thirty years ago, Pocahontas, 
You were fair— yes, very fair; 
There were no furrows on your brow, 
No silver in your hair; 
The blush of early womanhood 
Was on your verdant cheek, 
The wild flowers on your bosom 
Exhaled their fragrance sweet."* 

Pocahontas was platted in 1870, was 
chosen as the county seat Oct. 12, 
1875, and became'the county seat by 
the erection of the court house and 
removal of the public records from 
Old Rolf e, Oct. 1, 1876. On March 23, 
1892, in response to a petition pre- 
sented, the Judge of the district court 
appointed B. J. Allen, W. O Ralston, 
L. C Thornton, O- A. Pease and Port 
C Barron commissioners to hold an 
election May 13, 1892, on the question 
of incorporation. At this election 
forty-seven votes were cast, all of 
them in favor of incorporating the 
town. On June 13, 1892, the first offi- 
cers of the town were elected and as 
follows: W. C. Ralston, mayor; Port 
C. Barron, recorder; R. D. Bollard and 
B. J. Allen, (1 year), L. C. Thornton 
and T. F. McCartan, (2 years), H. W. 
Bissell and Frank E. Hronek (3 years), 
councilmen; and they appointed Geo. 
A. Heald, treasurer. The succession 
of officers has been as follows: 

Mayors: W. C. Ralston, 1892-93; 

H. W. Bissell, Geo. A. Heald, '95-96; 

*Iowa State Register: a paraphrase of the 
first stanza of the poem, "Thirty Years My 
State - " 



Port C. Barron, '97; Frank E. Hronek, 
'98-1900. 

Recorders: Port C. Barron '92-94; 
J. E. Pattee, '95-97; E. E. Burkhalter, 
'98-99; C. F. Pattee, 1900. 

Treasurers: Geo. A. Heald, '92; 
C. M. Hunt, '93-97; J. B. Kreul, '98-99; 
A. D. Shupe, 1900. 

Councilmen: H. W. Bissell, '92-93, 
'97-1090; F. E. Hronek, '92-94; L. C. 
Thornton, '92-1900; T. F. McCartan, 
'92-96; R. D. Bollard, '92-94; B. J. Al- 
len, N. Stelpflug, '92-95; W. C. Ralston, 
'94-97; C. A. Charlton, '95-97; O. H. 
Barthel, '95; W. H. Joner, '96-97; B. 
W. Cheney, '96; Joseph Simpson, '96- 
'98; T. F. McCartan, '98-1900; C. F. — 
Pattee, '98-1900; F. Chalstrom, '98; O. 
H. Barthel, '98-1900; S. Steinhilber, 
'98-1900; H. J. Murray, '99-1900; L. C. 
Thornton, '99-1900; N. Stelpflug, 1900. » 

In the spring of 1897, owing to an 
irregularity in filing the nomination 
papers, the annual election of officers 
was not held and the vacancies were 
filled by persons appointed by the 
town council. 

Doubts having arisen as to the le- 
gality of the incorporation of the town 
of Pocahontas, the election of its offi- 
cers, acts done and ordinances passed 
by the council, on May 14, 1897, an act 
of the General Assembly of Iowa was 
approved, that legalized and declared 
valid and binding all of said acts and 
ordinances, as though they had been 
done in accordance with the law. 

POCAHONTAS INDEPENDENT DISTRICT. 

The electors of the independent 
school district of Pocahontas met first 
May 4, 1896, for the purpose of elect- 
ing a board of education to consist of 
three members. At this meeting J. 

E. Pattee was chosen to preside, and 
J. W. Wallace to act as secretary. As 
a result of this election, at which six- 
ty ballots were cast, W. C. Ralston, 

F. E. Hronek and Port C. Barron were 
elected directors, the first one receiv- 
ing the ballot of every voter. 

On May 30, 1896, the board met and 




■ 

..." 




JOSEPH H. ALLEN, 
Banker. 



WILL. D. McEWEN, 
Banker. 





W. S. CLARK, 
Editor, Pocahontas Democrat. 



D. O. BLAKE, 

Editor, Pocahontas Record. 



POCAHONTAS. 




^ wilTjit 





RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH H. ALLEN, POCAHONTAS. 



M^*$fr ^vf ^fiHil KSS'FP'SrareMftJii 


»,,., algS fit. :: i ; 




vf* ' By J fa 


UyuHggi£jiHiKff|y 



RESIDENCE OF WILL. D. McEWEN, POCAHONTAS. 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



457 



organized by* the election of W. C. 
Ralston, president, and J. W. Wal- 
lace, secretary. On Nov. 17, 1896, 
Geo. A. Heald was appointed treas- 
urer, and on Feb. 15, 1897, $1089.94 
were acknowledged as received from 
Center township on final settlement. 

On March 8, 1897, by a vote of 32 to 
21, it was decided the board of educa- 
tion should furnish free text-books for 
use in the schools. The school year 
was increased to nine months and the 
wages of the three teachers employed 
was fixed at $45.00, $35.00 and $35.00, 
respectively. In 1898 the board was 
increased to five members. The suc- 
cession of the school officers has been 
as follows: 

Presidents: W. C. Ealston, 1896- 
97; J. W. Wallace, '98; R. D. Bollard, 
99-00. Others who have served as mem- 
bers of the board were F. E. Hronek 
'96-97; P. C. Barron, '96; C. F. Pattee 
'97-1900; H. R. Shupe, '98-1900. F. H. 
Plumb, '99-1900. W. C. Ralston has 
continued a member since its organi- 
zation. 

Secretaries: J. W. Wallace, '98- 
'97; J. E. Pattee, A. L. Schultz, '99-. 

Treasurer: Geo. A. Heald, since 
the date of its organization in 1896. 

The second school was established 
in Pocahontas in 1891 and the third 
one in 1896. The succession of princi- 
pals since 1891 has been Kittie Cou- 
tant, '91-92; Minnie Curtis, '93-94; Wm. 
R. T. Merwine, '95-96; Walter B. Mun- 
son, '97-1900. Some of those who were 
assistant teachers during this period 
were Norma L. and Grace Gilchrist, 
Maggie Hogan, Effie and May Mercer. 

POSTMASTERS. 

The succession of postmasters at 
Pocahontas has been, Wenzel Hubel, 
Oct. 1, 1872-Oct. 1, '77; A. O. Garlock, 
'77-81; O. A. Pease, '81-86; J". F. Har- 
lan, March 1, '86-87; Frank E. Hronek, 
Sept. '87-Nov. '95; George Steinhilber, 
Nov. 1, '95-Aug. 1, '97; Port C. Barron, 
Aug. 1, '97, until his death, July, 9, 
1900; Mrs. Mary E. Barron, July 9,1900- 



POCAHONTAS IN 1900. 

County Officers: Auditor I. C. 
Thatcher; Clerk of Court, F. H. Plumb; 
Treasurer, Guy S. Robinson; Record- 
er, Leonard E. Hanson; Sheriff, Wm. 
L. Mitchell; County Attorney, Wm. 
Hazlett; Superintendent, U. S. Vance; 
Surveyor, H. W. Bissell; Coroner, Dr. 
T. J. Dower; Supervisors, Terry Doyle, 
chairman; Claus Johnson, A. H. Rich- 
ey, M A. Hogan, Charles Elsen. 

Town Officers: Mayor, Frank E. 
Hronek; Recorder, C. F. Pattee; Treas- 
urer, A. D. Shupe; Councilmen, O. H. 
Barthel, M. D., T. F. McCartan, L. 
C. Thornton, H. J. Murray, S. F. 
Steinhilber, N. Stelpfiug. 

School Board: R. D. Bollard, 
Pres.; A. L. Schultz, Sec; Fritz Lin- 
deman, Treas.; F. H. Plumb, C. F. 
Pattee, H. R. Shupe, W. C. Ralston, 
directors; W. B. Munson, principal. 

Abstracters: L. C. Thornton & 
Co. since 1885; W. C. Ralston, 
since 1886; Hazlett (Wm.) & (O. 
P.) Malcolm, Foster & Graves, 

Attorneys: W. C. Ralston, '81-83, 
'86-1900; Geo. A. Heald, since '89; Wm, 
Hazlett, since '92; A. L. Freelove, 
since '99; T. F. Lynch, since '99; James 
Bruce, C. D. Atkinson, Foster (B. B.) 
&(W. A.) Graves, 

Architect and Superintendent: 
F. B. Wheeler. 

Auctioneers: C. M. Fritz, J. Ei 
Pattee. 

Banks: Pocahontas Savings Bank* 
established and stone building erected 
in 1883; L. C. Thornton, Pres.; W. d 
Ralston, V. P.; W. S. .McEwen, cash- 
ier; Bank of Pocahontas was estab a 
lished in 1891, J. H. Stegge, Pres.; 
Geo. A. Heald, V. P.; T. F. McCartan, 
cashier; Allen Bros. (J. H., C. S. & B. 
L.) F. W. Lindeman, cashier; City Ex- 
change Bank, W. D. McEwen Jr. and 
Joseph Simpson, proprietors. 

Barbers: J. W. Dougherty, since 
1882; D. Helcher. 

Blacksmiths: W. H. Joner, since 
1880; George Kreul. 



458 KONEBB HISTORY Of POCAHONTAS COUNTY,. IOWA. 



Carpenters: Ira and Charles 
Montgomery, Eobert Thomas. 

Contractors and Builders: J. 
H. Metcalf, E. J. Shank, Fountain 
Bros., A. Montgomery, W. E. Gard- 
ner and Mr. Cummings. 

Clothing: McG-hee & Gilliland. 

Coal, feed & flour: C F. Pattee. 

Cigar maker: M. E. Burkhalter. 

Dentist: E. R. Holsen. 

Draymen: Wm. C. Starr, since 
1899: C. F. Pattee, B. E. Kreul and 
W. A. Kiefer. 

Dressmakers and Milliners: Mrs. 
B. Whitney, Lizzie Montgomery. 

Druggists: S. C. Jones, (blind) 
since 1894; F. E. Freeman, since 1899. 

Elevators: Counselman's and 
Wheeler's, both built in 1900. 

Furniture Dealers: Mclntire 
Bros., since 1899; C. P. Leithead & 
Sons; J. E. Pattee, agent; Wm. J. 
Leavitt, agent. 

General Merchants: Joseph 
Simpson, since 1892; Fritz & Fritz, in 
1900, successors to Frank E. Hronek; 
Flaherty & Elliott, H. Townsend & Co. 

Grain Dealers: Counselman, Mr. 
Jones, Mgr.; Wheeler Grain & Coal 
Co., P. L. Rivard, Mgr.; S. B. Fritz 
and Byrne Bros. 

Hardwaremen: Steinhilber Bros. 
(Geo. H. & Stephen F.) since 1892; Sol- 
omon Cundy. 

Harness Dealers: J. M. Bentley, 
Henry Becker. 

Hotels: Bissell House, built by 
Joseph Nemick in 1874, Thos. Hutch 
inson, manager, since 1899, successor 
to H. W. Bissell;The Grand, R. Burns. 

Implement Dealers: Steinhilber 
Bros., F. W. Moore. 

Insurance Agents: Wm. J. Leav- 
itt, H. J, Murray, J. H Stegge. 

Janitors: B. E. Kreul, of court 
house; John Dockal, school house. 

Jewelers: Wm. Boyd McClellan, 
since 1889; F. P. Jensen, since 1890. 

Liverymen: Thomas Hutchinson, 
F. J. & Joseph Southworth, both 
since 1899. 



Lumber & Coal: H. L. Jenkins 
Lumber Co., since 1893, C. S. Fergu- 
son, Mgr.; J, & W. C. Shull, since 1899, 
W. J. Howard, Mgr. 

Masons and Plasterers: J. A. 
Byerly, Robert Payton, M. Leahy. 

Meat Market: Shupe Bros, since 
1891. 

Music Teachers: Mrs. I. C.Thatch- 
er, Mrs. Geo. H. Steinhilber, Miss Jo- 
anna Barthel. 

Newspapers: The Pocahontas Rec- 
ord, by Mrs. Mary E. Barron, since 
July 9, 1900, successor of Port C. Bar- 
ron, its founder, in April, 1884; The 
Pocahontas Herald, by A. L. Schultz, 
its founder, in 1898. 

Painters: A. H. Gilbert, Wallace 
Haven. 

Pastors of the Churches: Rev. 
W. A. Pape, Catholic, since 1895; Rev. 
C. W. Flint, M. E., since 1899. 
Churches built by Catholics, Baptists 
and Christians. Services also held by 
Presbyterians and Methodist Episco- 
pate. 

Postmaster: Mrs. Mary E. Barron. 

Physicians: O. H. Barthel, A. H. 
Thornton, W. A. Hawley. 

R. R. Agent: W. F. Gerhart, of 
Gowrie & Northwestern. 

Racket Store: M. McGrath. 

Real Estate Agents: L. C. 
Thornton, Foster & Graves, W. J. 
Leavitt. 

Restaurant Keepers: M. E. 
Burkhalter, W. A. Haven, Hawley 
(Wm.) & (Ellis) Rubendall. 

Shoemaker: John Dockal. 

Stock Dealers: Fritz & Fritz, 
Wm. Flaherty. 

Telephone System: Pocahontas 
Telephone Company, established by W. 
Boyd McClellan in 1900, R. D. Bollard, 
operator. 

Wagon Makers: W. H. Joner, 
Geo. Kreul. 

Well Drillers: Joseph Mikesh, 
John Soegde. 

the churches. 

Catholic— Early in 1875, Rev. T. 



fe- 




REV. W. A. PAPE, Catholic. POCAHONTAS. 




CATHOLIC CHURCH, POCAHONTAS, 1902. 



CENTER TOWNSHIP 



45$ 



M. Lenehan, of Fort Dodge, held the 
first Catholic service in Center town- 
ship in the school house at Pocahon- 
tas, and maintained an occasional 
service until 1881, when it became a 
mission of the Lizard church under 
Eev. Matthew Norton, who began to 
hold the services regularly once a 
month. In 1883 Warrick Price donat- 
ed three acres of land, one-half mile 
east of the court house square, for 
church and cemetery purposes and a 
church building, 32x40 feet, was built 
that year. 

In 1887 Mr. Norton died and Eev. 
M. Darcy became his successor. In 
1889, Gilmore City became a perma- 
nent mission and Pocahontas a part of 
it under Eev. T. D. Sullivan. In 1890 
Pocahontas was served by Eev. D. P. 
McCaffrey, of Fonda, the church was 
moved to its present site in Pocahon- 
tas and an extension of thirty feet was 
added to it. In 1891 it became a per- 
manent mission under Eev. J. P. 
Broz, who, as the first resident pastor, 
remained until April, 1895, when he 
was succeeded by Eev. W. A. Pape, 
the present pastor. During that 
same year the church was enlarged, 
remodeled and decorated at an ex- 
pense of $1,800. In 1896, a parochial 
school and convent were erected at a 
cost of $3,500. The church and school 
are both in a very flourishing condi- 
tion. In May, 1900, block 3 in Fair- 
view addition, containing eighteen 
lots, was purchased as a future loca- 
tion for both the church and school 
buildings. 

Baptist— Baptist services were first 
held at Pocahontas by Eev. John A. 
Kees, soon after he became a resi- 
dent of Center township in the fall of 
1885. An organization with twenty- 
five members was effected Oct. 4, 1888, 
he became their first pastor and 
served them until 1893, when he 
moved to Powhatan township. The 
first board of trustees consisted of O. 
A. Pease, J. W. Wallace, Eev. John A. 



Kees, Mrs. O. A. Pease ahd Mrs. C 
M. Hunt. O. A. Pease was elected 
treasurer and Mrs. Mary M. Wallace', 
clerk. The church was recognized as 
one of the sisterhood of Baptist 
churches, in the court house Aug. 14, 
1889, and a house of worship, 28x46 
feet and costing $1700 was dedicated 
June 21, 1891. In 1893, Eev. Geo. W. 
Braker became and continued pastor 
for a short time. He was the last res- 
ident pastor. 

Presbyterian — Presbyterian serv- 
ices were established at Pocahontas 
about the year 1894, by Eev. M. T. 
Eainier, then stationed at Plover. 
His successors have been, Mr. W. N. 
Gillis, of mover, '95-6; Mr. A. W. 
Bailey, in 1897; Eev. Eoderick Corbitt, 
Eev. Z. W. Steele, in 1899-1900. On 
Feb. 19, 1897, a church was organized 
with seventeen members. Frank II. 
Plumb and I. C. Thatcher were elect- 
ed elders, and Wm. Hazlett, Mrs. Isa- 
bella Ealston, Mrs. Clara B. Malcolm, 
F. H. Plumb and Mrs. I, C. Thatcher, 
trustees. The Sunday school was or- 
ganized Feb. 21, 1897, with Frank H. 
Plumb, superintendent; Mrs. W. C. 
Ealston, assistant and Ella Bollard, 
secretary. The Endeavor Society was 
organized April 13, 1897. The services 
held for some time in the Baptist 
church are now held in the court 
house. 

Christian— The Christian church 
at Pocahontas was organized about 
the year 1896, and a church building 
was erected in 1897, during the minis- 
try of J. W. McDonald. The present 
pastor is Eev. E. S. Grove, of Plover. 

Methodist — The services that led 
to the organization of the M. E* 
church at Pocahontas were first con- 
ducted by C. B. Lawrence, M. D., from 
February, 1897, to March, 1898. 
Among the original members were C. 
D. Hobbs, W. B. Munson and Mrs- 
Byerly, Mrs. Coughlin, Mrs. Thomp- 
son and Mrs. Montgomery. Eev. J. J, 
Ehrstein conducted the services oh 



460 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



alternate Sabbaths from October, 1898 
to August, 1899, and Rev. C. W. Flint, 
a resident pastor, on every Sabbath 
since that date. The stewards are, 
Guy S. Robinson, Mr. and Mrs. S. L. 
Mclntire, Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. 
McGhee. The trustees are J. H. Al- 
len, Geo. H. Miller, Joseph Simpson, 
Guy S. Robinson and S. L. Mclntire. 
The services are held in the Baptist 
churcb. 

WOOING A RAILROAD, 1870-1900. 

In 1870 when the beautiful site of 
Pocahontas was platted, the Des Moi- 
nes & Fort Dodge railroad was confi- 
dently expected, but instead of it the 
grasshoppers came, destroying every- 
thing in their path. In 1881, after 
the county seat had been located 
there, this company surveyed a line 
through Pocahontas, new hopes were 
raised and a tax was voted by the 
people, but when the railroad was 
built, it passed through Rolf e. A few 
months later the Newton & North- 
western made a survey through the 
town and another tax was voted, but 
it did not come. Before the end of 
that year the Des Moines & North- 
western ran a line through Pocahon- 
tas, but built the railroad to Fonda. 

In 1882, the Dubuque & Dakota and 
in 1883 the Minneapolis & Omaha R. 
R. companies made surveys through 
Pocahontas, and new expectations 
were raised that were not realized. 
In 1886, the surveyors of the Sioux 
City & Northwestern arrived, in 1887 
a special tax was voted for it by Cen- 
ter township, but when the grading 
should have commenced, a mysteri- 
ous silence and inactivity began to 
prevail. The branch of the I. C, R. R. 
surveyed to Pocahontas that year, 
was disposed of in the same way. 

During the next four years Poca- 
hontas was allowed to rest without a 
suitor; there was not the least sign of 
the coming of a railroad— a fact that 
some attributed to the granger rail- 



road laws enacted by the General As* 
sembly of Iowa about that time. 

In 1894, the citizens of Pocahontas, 
being no longer able to stand the sus- 
pense, organized the Pocahontas Rail- 
road and Improvement Co., and sur- 
veyed a line from Pocahontas to Have- 
lock. An unsophisticated farmer 
planted three acres of potatoes on 
this survey and threatened to shoot 
the first man who came to build the 
railroad. To avoid the war that 
seemed inevitable, this company en- 
deavored to get the Chicago & North- 
western to build the railroad, and 
they also "begged to be excused." 

In the fall of 1898, the Northwest- 
ern surveyed a line from Sac City to 
Algona, passing through Pocahontas 
(Nov. 5, 1898) and the citizens of Po- 
cahontas proposed to give them the 
site for a depot in town and the right- 
of-way to Rolfe if they would build 
the road. A new railroad was then 
crossing the west end of this county, 
and when this generous proposition 
was treated with indifference, it 
seemed as if Pocahontas would never 
get a railroad. Hearing the whistle 
of the locomotive at a distance of 
eight miles, having no prospect of its 
coming to Pocahontas, constantly 
facing the possibility of a railroad 
passing only a few miles distant and 
the consequent removal of the county 
seat to some new town there estab- 
lished, many of her citizens were be- 
ginning to feel that they were wast- 
ing the best years of their lives wait- 
ing for a railroad to come to Pocahon- 
tas. They were on the verge of aban- 
doning all hope, for "hope deferred 
maketh the heart sick," and were 
even ready to pack their goods, move 
to the first railroad that should pass 
in the vicinity and seek their fortunes 
elsewhere. As the years passed and 
the state developed, bands of steel 
were stretched across the prairies 
from north to south and from east to 
west, but with a wearisome regularity 





REV. CHARLES W. FLINT. 
Methodist. 



REV. ROBERT W. TAYLOR, 
Presbyterian. 




WILLIAM HAZLETT 
Co. Attorney, 1897-1902. 

POCAHONTAS AND VICINITY 



REV. JOHN A. KEYS, 
Baptist. 




METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, POCAHONTAS, JAN. 26, 1902. 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



461 



the new railroad always happened to 
run elsewhere than through the town 
of Pocahontas. 

In the spring of 1899, after thirty 
years of alternate hope and disap- 
pointment, M. M. Carss and a corps 
of surveyors traced a line for the C, 
R. I. & P. company from Gowrie to 
Sibley, passing through Pocahontas 
county about five miles southwest of 
Pocahontas. On July 6, 1899, Super- 
intendent C. N. Gilmore, Carroll 
Wright and Engineer W. B. Worrall, 
representing that company, met the 
citizens of Pocahontas in the office of 
the Bissell House, accepted their prop- 
osition to furnish depot grounds in 
town and the right-of-way for ten 
miles, and agreed to build the road 
through Pocahontas. 

The new survey was made and on 
Aug. 31, 1899, Capt. J. A. Ware, of 
Sedalia, Mo., who had a contract to 
grade 25 miles of the railroad, arrived 
with his grading outfit that soon con- 
sisted of 100 teams divided into seven 
gangs. The track-laying machine ar- 
rived July 25, 1900, and on Aug. 15th, 
the station was opened in a box-car 
for the regular train service, by W. 
P. Gerheart, of Forest City. The 
telegraph line was erected three days 
later and the depot was completed 
soon afterward. 

The effort to secure the Gowrie & 
Northwestern R. R. was the most im- 
portant movement ever carried to a 
successful issue by the citizens of Po- 
cahontas. In this effort they were 
united so that every man put his 
shoulder to the wheel and, by a liber- 
al donation, discovered his public 
spirit. If this unanimity of purpose 
shall mark her future course, other 
enterprises of material value will soon 
be secured for her benefit. The sur- 
rounding country is sufficient to sup- 
port a town of 5,000 people, and there 
are good reasons for believing that 
during the next few years, Pocahontas 
will make the monl rapid grOwtfe of 



any town in Northwestern Iowa. 

(; The beautiful story of Pocahontas 
and Captain John Smith has been 
branded as a legend and a myth by 
the brutal iconoclasm of the period in 
which we live, but that which tells 
how Pocahontas, the county seat of 
Pocahontas county, vainly struggled 
so many weary years for an highway 
of steel to connect herself with the 
great commercial and industrial 
world, and of the manner in which 
the Great Rock Island Route came to 
her rescue will always remain one of 
the most interesting chapters in the 
history of the state."* 
No longer thy wares shall be toted 
On stoneboat, bobsled and truck, 
O'er highways and byways deep-coated 
With gumbo and fathomless muck, 
For the lightning express now goes 

scooting 
Like wind through the midst of the 
town.— H. W. Harris in Rolfe 
Tribune. 

Everything is now changed and all 
her citizens are happy. 

The men whose names have been 
most prominently connected with the 
history of Pocahontas during the ante- 
railroad period have been Warrick 
Price, its founder; Wenzel Hubel, the 
first postmaster; Port C. Barron, who 
more than any other, assumed the re- 
sponsibility of securing the right of- 
way and depot privileges for the O, 
R. I. & P. at an estimated cost of $12,- 
000.00; F. E. Hronek, Hiram Bissell, 
W. D. McEwen, A. O. Garlock, C. H. 
Tollefsrude, A. L. Thornton, J. W. 
Wallace, W. C. Ralston, Dr. M. F. 
Patterson, O. A. Pease, L. O Thorn- 
ton, W. G. Bradley, Esq., and C. M. 
Hunt. All of these men were ani- 
mated with the desire to secure a rail- 
road for Pocahontas, and while they 
worked and waited for it, they beau- 
tified the town by planting an abun- 
dance of shade trees and the most 
beautiful park in the county. 

RAILROAD DAY. 

A 5 per cent, railroad tax was voted 
by Center township Feb. 28, '81, in fa- 
vor of the Des Moines & Forfc Dodge, 



462 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Aug. 19, '81 in favor of the St. Louis, 
Newton & Northwestern, and July 
5, 1887, in favor of the Sioux City & 
Northwestern railway companies, but 
the railroad did not come until July 
25, 1900, when the Gowrie & North- 
western, a branch of the Rock Island, 
completed the track from Gowrie to 
Pocahontas, and the first, a construc- 
tion or track-laying train arrived. 
On August 15th a regular train serv- 
ice was established from Gowrie to 
Laurens, and the new era ushered in 
by these events was duly celebrated at 
Pocahontas Sept. 4, 1900, by an appro- 
priate industrial parade, vocal and in- 
strumental music, addresses by Judge 
Helsell, Carroll Wright, M. F. Healy 
and others, and the marriage of three 
young couples. For a number of 
years Pocahontas had enjoyed the un- 
enviable experience of being the only 
county seat in Iowa without a rail- 
road. "An event of great importance 
had occurred. Pocahontas, a thirty- 
year old bride, had secured the desire 
of her heart, a union with the great 
outside world with bands of steeig 
During a long period of waiting, she 
smiled on many suitors, but one and 
another passed her by until the Chi- 
cago, Rock Island & Pacific looked 
upon the lonely maiden on the prairie 
and recognized a wealth of beauty 
that others, blinded by the love of 
gold, did not see. Sbe smiled, she 
spoke and the great Rock Island was 
won. In her joy she invited her 
friends to make merry with her; set 
the date and 5,000 people thronged to 
congratulate her. "* She is now com- 
forted by the song of the locomotive, 
"Monster of steam and steel, 
With soul in shaft and wheel; 
Child of man's brawn and brain 
Whizzing o'er mountain and plain." 
The original name, "Pocahontas 
Center," in 1885 by request of the 
board of county supervisors, was 
abridged to "Pocahontas." 
In October, 1896, Nicholas Stelpflug 
*Pocahontas Record, Sept, 6, 1900. 



platted the first addition at the south- 
west corner of the town. Its recent 
growth, increasing the population to 
800 and causing the erection of sev- 
enty new buildings in 1900, has led to 
the platting of the Allen and Bissell 
additions. 

POCAHONTAS NEWSPAPERS. 

Pocahontas Times — The first pa- 
per published at Pocahontas was the 
Pocahontas Times, Messrs. McEwen 
& Garlock, editors and proprietors. 
It was moved there from Old Rolfe, 
Oct. 10, 1876, at the time of the re- 
moval of the county records. On Nov. 
1, 1877, Ed B. Tabor became the ed- 
itor, and after the issue of May 9, 
1878, the outfit was moved to Fonda. 

The Pocahontas Record— The 
Pocahontas Record as a seven-column 
folio, 16x23i inches, was established at 
Pocahontas by Port C. Barron, editor 
and proprietor, and the first issue was 
published April 24, 1884. In his salu- 
tatory the aim of the editor was stat- 
ed to be "to make the Record a reli- 
able newspaper, devoted to the pro- 
motion of the best interests of Poca- 
hontas county and independent in all 
matters relating to its material inter- 
ests." It was established and through- 
out a period of sixteen years was pub- 
lished in a small country village that 
did not enjoy the facilities afforded 
by even a narrow-gauge railroad. Dur- 
ing this period it' was sent forth from 
the press week by week, clean, fresh, 
bright and cheery, a messenger of 
comfort to the lonely dwellers on the 
prairies. 

As the years passed it was enlarged 
and improved to meet the demands of 
the times. On Oct. 1, 1885, it was en- 
larged from seven to eight columns. 
On April 15, 1889, at the beginning of 
its sixth year, it began to be printed 
on a power press. On Dec. 26th, fol- 
lowing, the entire paper began to be 
printed at home, and it was the first 
one thus printed in the county. From 
June U6 to Aug. 14, 1890, A. R. Thorn- 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



463 



ton edited its third page as The Fonda 
Record, and on the last named date it 
was enlarged to a seven-column quar- 
to. On June 22, 1893. it appeared in a 
new and modern dress as a six-column 
quarto, its present form. 

It has advocated the principles of 
the republican party and every enter- 
prise that would make Pocahontas 
"the gem of the prairie," the queen 
of Pocahontas county. The pathetic 
appeal for a railroad that has found 
expression in its columns and its court- 
eous, conciliatory spirit availed great- 
ly to unite the people in one grand ef- 
fort to obtain the first one available. 

Port C. Barron, its founder and ed- 
itor for sixteen years, died July 9, 
1900, and Mary E. Barron, his wife, 
has published it since that date. 

Pocahontas Herald— The Poca- 
hontas Herald was established at Po- 
cahontas Feb. 15, 1899, by A. L. 
Schultz, editor and proprietor. It is 
a democratic paper and "is as frisky 
as can be expected" at its present age. 
It was founded under circumstances 
not very encouraging, but making its 
interests identical with those of the 
town, its subscription list has con- 
stantly increased with the growth of 
Pocahontas. 

SHANNON RANCH. 

Osburn J. Shannon, a commission 
stockdealer of Chicago, at an early 
day foreseeing the future develop- 
ment of Northwestern Iowa, pur- 
chased all of sections 1, 3 and 5 and 
240 acres on section 7, Center town- 
ship, making altogether 2,160 acres. 
These sections are enclosed with good 
fences and with the exception of 300 
acres under cultivation, are used for 
pasturing and feeding the large herds 
of cattle and hogs that are annually 
prepared here for the Chicago market. 
This ranch is one of the largest busi- 
ness enterprises in Pocahontas county, 
about 500 head of hogs and 1200 head 
of fat cattle being annually shipped 
from it, the latter about the month of 



October. The value of the annual 
sales ranges from $60,000 to $70,000. 
Few or no cattle are fed during the 
winter season, the places of those 
that have been marketed being sup- 
plied by purchases in the early spring. 
About 500 tons of hay are made each 
year, and during last year 100,000 
bushels of ear corn were purchased 
from the neighbors. The cattle are 
fed twice a day during the feeding 
period, the daily ration being 500 
bushels of shelled corn. Before it is 
fed the corn is shelled and soaked 
twelve hours in cold water. For 
soaking the corn and distributing it 
at the time of feeding, the farm is 
supplied with five water tanks, hold- 
ing sixty bushels each and set on wag- 
ons. When the corn is soaked it is 
drawn to the pastures. 

The buildings occupied by the resi- 
dent manager are located on section 7 
and consist of a fine house, a medium 
sized barn, two cattle sheds, one 146x 
24 feet, the other 128x24 feet, and a 
half-mile of corn cribs in the vicinity. 
On section 3 there is a small house 
and barn and another lot of cribs. 

James H. Charlton had charge of 
this farm for ten years previous to 
1897, and John Johnson since that 
time. Mr. Shannon visits it once a 
month during the summer. Nothing 
is undertaken without his approval 
and whatever is done must be well 
done. 

CHARLTON RANCH. 

In 1882, James Henry Charlton, a 
young man, resident of Dallas county, 
bought the WiNWi Sec. 11, Center 
township — 80 acres — and erected some 
improvements. The next year he be- 
gan to occupy it together with his 
father's family, completed its im- 
provement and embarked in the busi- 
ness of raising corn, hogs and cattle — 
the corn for feed and the stock for the 
city market. The profits, from time 
to time, have been invested in more 
land, and h.e ii now the owner of 3,000 



464 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



acres, to the successful management 
of which he gives his entire time and 
attention. 

This land is located on sections 2, 
10, 11 and 18, Center; sections 16, 20, 
21 and 35, Powhatan; sections 30 and 
31, Des Moines township, Pocahontas 
county, and on sections 28 and 29, El- 
lington township, Palo Alto county. 
It is divided into ten farms on each 
of which a house and other outbuild- 
ings have been erected. These farm 
houses are occupied by persons or fam- 
ilies who have been employed at an 
annual salary, with the understand- 
ing that they shall board from one to 
three other persons as occasion may 
require. 

The aim, in their management, has 
been to mature for the city market 
each year all the hogs and cattle pos- 
sible. During recent years about 2,500 
head of cattle have been carried and 
to supply their needs in the summer 
season it has been necessary to pur- 
chase from 60,000 to 80,000 bushels of 
corn, in addition to the large quantity 
raised on the farms. The amount of 
sales including the dairy and other 
products, in 1899 was $114,620.30; and 
for the present year, 1900, they will 
aggregate about the same amount. 

In 1891 he married Franc Lenore, 
daughter of W. W. Beam, M. D., and 
since that time has resided in Rolfe. 

One cannot read the story of the 
rapid growth of this ranch, whereby 
in eighteen years it was increased 
from 80 to 3,060 acres, yielding a gross 
annual income of more than $100,000, 
without being impressed with the 
thought that its proprietor and man- 
ager has found the golden secret of 
"how to make the farm pay." As a 
farmer he has certainly found the 
philosopher's stone— the secret of suc- 
cess—and his wisdom appears in strict- 
ly adhering to it. That which has 
been achieved is a practical illustra- 
tion of tbe possibilities of the Iowa 



farm and the kind of management 
needed to secure the best results. 

POCAHONTAS CREAMERY. 

In 1884, Welch & Litts erected and 
operated a creamery on Litts' farm, 
one and one-half miles north of Poca- 
hontas. For a while it received a lib- 
eral patronage and made first-class 
butter, but closed about July 1, 1886. 
On August 1st, following, it was pur- 
chased by John Wallace, the pioneer 
of the cheese and creamery business 
in Northwestern Iowa, who reopened 
it fifteen days later, and continued to 
operate it for some time, and then 
this enterprise was abandoned. 

On Sept. 1, 1898, a number of the 
leading citizens of Pocahontas met in 
the court house to discuss ways and 
means of securing a butter factory at 
that place. Mr. Hinn, of Laurens, 
then operating creameries at Laurens 
and Havelock, was present and sub- 
mitted a proposition. Geo. A. Heald, 
S.C. Jones, F. E. Hronek and Nicholas 
Stelpflug were appointed a committee 
to ascertain what aid the people might 
be willing to give, and W. C. Ralston, 
R. D. Bollard and Port C. Barron were 
appointed to secure a suitable loca- 
tion. Subsequent meetings were held 
and as a result in May, 1899, there 
was completed a good building 40x60 
feet, supplied with the latest im- 
proved machinery for making butter 
and a mill for 'grinding feed. This 
has proven to be a substantial and 
profitable business institution. 

POCA1IONTAS POINT. 

About the year 1890, W. D. Mc- 
Ewen and A. O. Grarlock purchased a 
tract of land at the southwest corner 
of Lake Okoboji in Dickinson county, 
and erected a spacious summer cot- 
tage in the beautiful grove of natural 
timber, overlooking the classic and 
sparkling waters of West Okoboji. 
To this delightful summer resort they 
gave the name, "Pocahontas Point," 
and decided to sell lots in it only to 
those who wore residents of Pocahon- 




JOHN W. WALLACE, 

Clerk of Court, 1875-8) 



MRS. J. W. WALLACE. 





WM. C. RALSTON, 
Clerk of Court, 1887-94. 



LUCIUS C. THORNTON. 



POCAHONTAS. 




PORT C. BARRON, 
Editor Pocahontas Record, IE 



1900. 



MRS. MARY E. BARRON, 
County Recorder, 1885-6. 





ALONZO L. THORNTON, 

County Recorder, 1883-85. 



MRS. EMILY R. THORNTON. 



POCAHONTAS. 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



465'- 



tas or of the county that bears that 
charming name. Other cottages were 
soon erected by George Fairburn, 
Lute C. Thornton and Col. John B. 
Kent. In 1895, Messrs. McEwen & 
Oarlock put a swiftly moving steamer 
on the lake, called "Pocahontas," 
and George Fairburn another one 
called "Nellie F,"both for their own 
private use; and almost every day dur- 
ing midsummer, they may be seen 
"bounding over the rolling waves," at 
Iowa's greatest summer resort. 

FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

The first Sunday School in Pocahon- 
tas was organized May 8, 1881, as a 
union Sunday School, under E. L. 
Hastings, superintendent; Walter 
Hodges, assistant superintendent; Mrs. 
J. W. Wallace, secretary, and Mrs. E. 
M. Hastings, treasurer. The meeting 
was held in the court house and an ar- 
rangement was made with Rev. Thos. 
Cuthbert, (M. E.) of Rolfe, to hold di- 
vine services at the close of the Sun- 
day School session on alternate Sab- 
baths. 

PUBLIC OFFICERS. 

Public officers have been elected 
from Center township as follows: Sur- 
veyors, Lute C. Thornton, '84-85, '88- 
'89; H. W. Bissell, '90-93, '98-1900. Re- 
corder, Mary E. Thornton, '86. Attor- 
neys, Wm. G, Bradley, '87-88; Wm. 
Hazlett, '97-1900. Supervisor, Samuel 
Powell, '93-95. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Barron Port C, (b. Feb. 3, 1861; d. 
July 9, 1900) editor and proprietor of 
the Pocahontas Record from the time 
it was established, April 17, 1884, un- 
til his death, was a native of Freder- 
icksburg, Iowa, the son of F. W. and 
Marion Barron. During his childhood 
his parents moved to Nashua, where 
his mother died when he was fourteen. 
At this early age he entered the office 
of the Nashua Post, and, acquiring a 
knowledge of the printers' trade, fol- 
lowed it ever afterward. After work- 
ing several years in the Beacon offlco 



at Spirit Lake and later as foreman, 
of the Fonda Times, he established- 
the Pocahontas Record, at Pocahon- 
tas, Iowa. Through the columns of 
this paper for a period of sixteen years 
he labored unceasingly for the devel- 
opment and improvement of the town 
of his adoption and exerted a potent 
influence throughout the county. He 
located in this town when it was mere- 
ly a village, but had an expectation 
that a railroad would soon be built to 
it. When the promised railroad did 
not come he did not become discour- 
aged, but resolutely worked away, in- 
dulging the hope the time would soon 
come when Pocahontas would be af- 
forded the same privileges and con- 
veniences that were enjoyed by other 
communities. He thought and worked 
for "our little community" as long as 
he could, and "fell asleep just a few 
days before the dream of his life was 
to be realized." 

He is remembered by those who 
knew him as one possessing an unusu- 
al amount of cheerfulness, hopefulness 
and enthusiasm. His kindly disposi- 
tion, strict integrity and steadfast- 
ness of purpose also elicited admira- 
tion. To make others happy and not 
wound the feelings of any, were aims 
constantly before him in the use of 
his pen. Through the columns of the 
Record he gave the strength of his 
best days and the noblest thoughts of 
his being to the development of the 
community in which he lived. He 
was ambitious and manifested an un- 
bounded faith in the future. 

"During the first ten years the Rec- 
ord was published, those who knew 
not its editor personally often won- 
dered how the paper could live or 
where its support came from; but 
those of us, who knew its editor, knew 
full well that he knew no such word 
as fail, and as time passed the paper 
has grown with the growth of the 
community so that now there are few 
,',oimi,y Real- towns in Town that an- 



466 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



better supplied with a newspaper than 
Pocahontas."* 

' 'In his death Pocahont as lost an en- 
thusiastic boomer. He knew no such 
word as fail. 'Hope sprang eternal 
in his bosom. ' With the collapse of 
one railroad boom he went to work on 
another. In everything that went for 
the improvement of the town he was in 
hearty accord. He never lost faith in 
the ultimate success of Pocahontas. 
It took sixteen years of waiting to re- 
alize his ambition for Pocahontas — a 
railroad. He won the battle, but just 
as his labors were to be rewarded his 
light went out. "f 

In accordance with his expressed 
wish his body was laid to rest in the 
soil of the place that was the princi- 
pal scene of his life's activities and in 
the midst of those who will longest 
appreciate his labors. 

He served as the first recorder of Po- 
cahontas, '92-94; was a member of its 
first school board in 1896; mayor in 
1897, and postmaster from Aug. 1, '97- 
July 9, 1900. 

On Feb. 3, 1887, he married Mary E., 
daughter of Alonzo L. and Emily 
Thornton, and she became his succes- 
sor in the postofflce and in the pro- 
prietorship of the Pocohontas Record. 

Their family consists of three chil- 
dren, Phaen Thornton, Joab Eunice 
and Port Comstock. 

Bissell Hiram Wallace, (b. July 4, 
1844) resident of Pocahontas since 1881, 
is a native of Granville county, prov- 
ince of Ontario, Canada, the son of 
Truman and Cynthia Bissell, both of 
whom were descendants of the French 
Huguenots. He received his education 
as he had opportunity, in the public 
schools. 

In 1869, he went to California, but 
soon returned to Peoria, 111., where he 
remained three years. He then lo- 
cated at Grand Rapids, Mich., and 
after two years, at Freeporl, 111. 

"From tribute by W. C, Ralston. 
tMarion Bruce, im Rolfe Reveille. 



Here on June 8, 1879, he married 
Susan Harpster, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and during his subsequent ca- 
reer she has proven herself to be "one 
of the best women in the state of 
Iowa." He was then engaged in the 
marble business, but his health fail- 
ing him they spent the ensuing winter 
in Canada. In 1880 they located at 
Fort Dodge, and in February, 1881, in 
Pocahontas, where he became owner 
and proprietor of the "Center," aft- 
erward called the "Bissell House," 
which he still owns and continued to 
occupy until 1899, when he erected a 
new home in the Bissell addition to 
Pocahontas. 

The history of the Bissell House, 
during the eighteen years that Mr. 
and Mrs. Bissell had charge of it, is 
full of delightful and romantic asso- 
ciations that are peculiarly its own. 
Here judges and jurors, attorneys and 
their clients, county officials, minis- 
ters of the gospel and people from all 
parts of the county, year after year, 
have sat down together around the 
tables that groaned with a sumptuous 
variety of those good things, which in 
this life satisfy the cravings of the in- 
ner man; and in the office or parlor 
the great questions of the day have 
been freely and fully discussed. 
When one thinks of the way in which 
many long winter evenings were 
whiled away at this ancient hostelry 
before the arrival of the railroad, he 
cannot resist the notion that Gold- 
smith had such experiences in mind 
when he wrote the following touch- 
ing description of the home in the 
poem entitled, "The Deserted Vil- 
lage": 

"The broken soldier, kindly bade to 
stay, 

Sat by his fire, and talked the night 
a vay, 

Wept o'er his wounds, or tales of sor- 
row done, 

Shouldered his crutch and showed how 
fields were won. 

Pleased with his guests, the good man 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



467 



learned to glow, 
And quite forgot their vices in their 
woe." 

Mr. Bissell served as assessor of 
Center township, '85-93; as justice of 
the peace, '87-90; as member of the 
first town council of Pocahontas, '92- 
93; mayor, '94, and as county surveyor, 
seven years, '90-93, '98-1900. 

Brinkman David, (Diedrick) resi- 
dent of section 24, Center township, 
was born near Hamburg, Germany, in 
1843. At the age of twenty-three, 
having learned the carpenter trade, 
he crossed the ocean in a sail boat 
that was seventy-two days on the voy- 
age. He located first in Michigan, 
where he worked at carpentry. On 
Feb. 28, 1871, he married there Anna 
Wiegman, and on April 18, 1873, lo- 
cated in Pocahontas county, first in 
Clinton township, and the next year 
on his present farm. 

He is one of those hardy pioneers 
who were not frightened from the 
frontier by early hardships, and his 
splendid success on the farm places 
him in the front rank as a farmer. 
When he came to locate on the front- 
ier his brother-in-law accompanied 
him. Leaving their wives at Port 
Dodge, they set out on foot at Man- 
son to walk the distance to their new 
homes — twenty miles — and had to car- 
ry their clothing in their hands when 
they waded the Lizard. A few days 
after they returned to Manson, sent 
for their wives and families and took 
them out with an ox team. A few 
days before harvest that year the 
grasshoppers came and destroyed thir- 
ty acres of wheat and ten of oats, a 
loss that left David in the fall of the 
year with ten dollars and thirty bush- 
els of potatoes for the support of him- 
self and family during the winter. 
When the corn was ripe he went east 
of the grasshopper district, husked 
corn on the shares and survived that 
winter by making his home in a cellar 
and living on potatoes, cornbread and 



water. In 1874, the grasshoppers de- 
voured the small grain again, but not 
the corn, and he fared better; but 
that fall and again in 1881 his crops 
and improvements were saved from 
prairie fires only after the most heroic 
efforts. In the fall of 1874 he got lost 
and had to remain all night alone on 
the prairie. In the winter of 1881, 
while returning from Humboldt in a 
sleigh, he was caught in a blinding 
snowstorm, passed within three rods 
of his home, but did not know it or 
discover the fact until he had gone 
two miles further, and ran against 
the walls of a deserted sod shanty. 
When he reached his home he was 
nearly frozen to death. His brother- 
in-law, after one year's experience on 
the frontier, returned to Michigan. 

As the years have passed, David 
Brinkman has added acre to acre so 
that his home farm, which he has im- 
proved with fine buildings, contains 
540 acres, and he is the owner of two 
other farms in the vicinity that con- 
tain 300 acres more. He keeps from 
25 to 30 cows for dairy purposes and 
in August 1894, began to use the 
Delaval cream separator, the first one 
in Center township. The result of 
its use has been so satisfactory that he 
would not think of dispensing with it 
while keeping cows. He aims to keep 
a sufficient amount of stock to eat all 
the grain raised on the farm, and has 
met with good success in feeding both 
cattle and hogs. He is a highly re- 
spected citizen, was a trustee of Cen- 
ter township in '77-78, president of 
the school board in '76-77 and assessor 
in 1884. 

His family enjoys all the comforts 
of a good home and consists of twelve 
children: Hattie, a native of Michi- 
gan, married Morris Ives and lives in 
Clinton township; Caroline, after 
teaching school six years, on March 8, 
1899, married Henry Oelrich and lo- 
cated on one of her father's farms; 
Henry, a teacher, Dora, Jessie, John, 



468 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



William, August, Anna, May, Glide 
and Idella are at home. 

Bollard Richard D., (b, Oct. 15, 
1847) resident of Pocahontas and Re- 
corder of Pocahontas county, 1891-98, 
is a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio. 
He received his education in the pub- 
lic schools of Edinboro, Erie county, 
Pa., where his father located when he 
was quite young. In 1864, at the age 
of sixteen, he lost his left arm by the 
accidental discharge of a gun he was 
endeavoring to draw across a log while 
hunting. In 1867, he went to Grant 
county, Wis., where he worked on a 
farm and taught school. The next 
year he returned to his home and on 
Dec. 25, 1868, married Emma Law- 
rence. The next spring they located 
in Wright county, Wis., where he 
taught school in winter. In 1878, he 
moved to Pottawattomie county, Iowa, 
where he bought eighty acres of land 
and continued farming and teaching. 
In 1881 he met with another serious 
accident, the loss of the three largest 
fingers of his right hand, while shell- 
ing corn. Undaunted by these mis- 
fortunes he continued farming and 
teaching until the spring of 1886, 
when he moved to Fonda and engaged 
in the coal and grain business. 

In the fall of 1890, he was elected 
recorder of this county, an office to 
which he was re-elected with a con- 
stantly increasing majority in 1892, '94 
and '96. The efficiency of the public 
service rendered during these eight 
years, elicited the unstinted approval 
of the people of this county. The of- 
fice was not closed at night until the 
necessary work of each day had been 
faithfully performed. 

Just previous to the adjournment of 
the board of supervisors, Jan. 19, 1899, 
he was presented with a solid gold 
watch, chain and charm, the latter 
set with a diamond of purest luster, 
and inscribed with the words, "A 
token of esteem from the county offl- 
cials to r. D- Bollard, recorder, 1891- 



1898." In Pottawattomie county, he 
served several years as a justice of the 
peace, in Fonda was street commis- 
sioner, and at Pocahontas he was a 
councilman, '92-94, and president of 
the school board in '99-1900. He 
taught twenty-one terms of public 
school. 

His family consisted of ten children, 
six of whom are married: Walter, a 
drayman, married Rose Early, and 
lives at Fonda; Mattie B. married 
John Stream, a traveling salesman, 
and lives at Fonda: Mary Ella, July 3, 
1899, married Wm. Boyd McClellan, a 
jeweler, and lives at Pocahontas; 
William married Maggie McCormick 
and lives in Lake township; Frederick 
P., in June, 1898, enlisted for the war 
against Spain in Cuba and spent sev- 
eral months in Jacksonville, Fla.; Roy 
in 1900, married Ida Lyon, and is a 
druggist clerk at Fonda; May in 1899. 
married Charles Lucas, and lives at 
Pocahontas; Gracie, Lawrence and 
Gorton are at home. 

Eral John, (b. 1832) owner and oc- 
cupant of a fine farm on section 23, 
since 1874, is a native of Bohemia. In 
1874 he bought his present farm and a 
tract of timber in Clinton township. 
He is now the owner of 490 acres of 
land in this county which he has 
finely improved with two sets of good 
farm buildings, the beautiful grove 
on the home farm being one of the 
largest in Center township. He par- 
ticipated in the organization of Cen- 
ter township in 1874, and served as 
trustee six years, '80-83, '93-94. He 
has been an industrious and suc- 
cessful farmer, a highly respected 
citizen and has endeavored to perform 
faithfully every matter of public in- 
terest entrusted to him. 

His family has consisted of six chil- 
dren, of whom the first three — James, 
Frank and Mary— were born during 
his residence in Illinois. 

1— James W. Eral(b. 1862) in 1873 lo- 
cated on the SW-iSec, 27. In 1883 he 



CENTER TOWNSHIP 



469 



married Anna Payer and is now the 
owner of 280 acres in Center township. 
He has been a trustee of the town- 
ship since 1895, and treasurer of the 
school fund since 1897. He has a fam- 
ily of four children— Anna, William, 
Louie and Harry. 

2— Frank E. Eral in 1889 married 
Fannie Zieman, of Tama county. He 
owns and occupies a farm of 120 acres 
on section 27 that had previously been 
improved by his father. His family 
consists of two children, Agnes and 
Joseph. 

3— Mary married Charles Pashek 
and lives in Winnesheik county. 

4— Joseph, Rosa and John are at 
home. 

Eral Martin, (b. Nov. 10, 1842; d. 
May 7, 1899) was a native of Budweis, 
Boh., where he grew to manhood. In 
1870 he came to Chicago, where on 
May 15, 1870, he married Anna Michael 
and lived there the next ten years. 
In March, 1880, he located on the Litts 
farm, Center township, and the next 
year bought 120 acres south of Poca- 
nontas, on which he afterward lived 
and died. His death was the result of 
a fall from the back of a colt. He 
was a man of unswerving integrity 
and won tbe esteem of all who knew 
him. 

His family consisted of twelve chil- 
dren, four of whom, Joseph L., Louis 
F., Emma E. and Albina, and their 
mother, survive him. 

Erne Bonifacius, who on section 
17, in the spring of 1871, bought 
the first farm sold by Warrick Price, 
built the first farm home in the 
township— a sod house. On May 31, 
1873, he entered as a homestead the 
SiNEi Sec. 32, Grant township, 80 
acres, and received the patent for it 
Nov. 5, 1878. A few years later he lo- 
cated in Lincoln township and in 1895 
returned to Center township, where 
he died in 1899. He raised a family of 
four children who, after his death 
moved to Minnesota. He was an in- 



dustrious and good farmer. His broth- 
er, Valentine Erne, also a native of 
Germany, (b. 1850) in 1881 bought a 
farm of 80 acres on section 26, Grant 
township, which he still occupies and 
has neatly improved. He has a fami- 
ily of two children. 

Kees John A. Rev., (b. April 2, 1833) 
through whose personal efforts the or- 
ganization of the Baptist church, Po- 
cahontas, was effected, is a native of 
Crawford county, Pa., the son of 
George (b. 1878, Pa.,) and Nancy Benh 
(b. 1801., Del.) Kees, both of whom 
were remarkable for the enthusiasm 
of their piety. The father of Nancy 
Benn and three of his sons were pio- 
neer preachers in the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. In his childhood, John 
A. Kees moved with his parents to 
Venango county, Pa., where he as- 
sisted in clearing the timber from a 
farm, and went to school. When the 
Cherry Tree Academy was opened in 
that vicinity he entered it and two 
years later began to teach the school 
in his own neighborhood. In the fall 
of 1856, he located near Sabula, Iowa, 
and taught school. In 1857 he located 
at Boone, where he taught several 
terms and then passed to Dallas 
county. On Feb. 24, 1860, he married 
Margaret M. Betteys and located in 
Boone county, where, in '62-63, he 
served as a member of the board of 
county supervisors. In May, 1864, he 
enlisted as a volunteer and remained 
in the service until October, when he 
was sent home from Camp McClellan 
with his constitution so completely 
wrecked by disease there was scarcely 
any hope of his recovery. After two 
years he was able to resume the work 
of teaching and filled the office of as- 
sessor and township clerk. In 1876 he 
moved to Jefferson, where he became 
the agent of the co-operative associ- 
ation; but finding the labor too ex- 
haustive, he resigned this position 
and moved to a farm in that vicinity. 
In 1884 he moved to Shelby county, 



470 HONKER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA, 



and in the fall of 1885 to the SWi Sec. 
33, Center township, which he had 
previously owned for several years. 
In 1893 he sold this farm and bought 
another one on the north line of the 
township. 

At ten years of age he became a 
christian and at seventeen united 
with the Baptist church of Cherry 
Tree, Pa. At this early period he had 
a conviction that he ought to preach 
the gospel, but on account of the ap- 
parent need, was constrained to work 
on the farm. During the period he 
engaged in teaching he embraced ev- 
ery opportunity to unfold and enforce 
the truths of the Bible, but later the 
conviction forced itself upon him that 
whilst he did not receive a proper 
preparation for the full work of the 
ministry, he ought to preach the gos- 
pel as he had opportunity, free of 
charge. Expressing this conviction 
the church to which he belonged in 
Boone, in 1867, gave him a license to 
preach. In Greene and Dallas coun- 
ties he often rode long distances to 
meet engagements as opportunity af- 
forded. In the spring of 1885, at the 
request of the Baptist church in Har- 
lan, Shelby county, he was ordained, 
became their pastor and accepted pas- 
toral support. 

When, in the fall of 1885, he visited 
his farm to do some work prepara- 
tory to settlement upon it he was 
pained to find the people of Pocahon- 
tas destitute of religious privileges, 
with the exception of those of the 
Catholic church. On the second Sab- 
bath he held services in the court 
house and announced his desire that 
those present would co-operate with 
him and his family, five of whom 
were members, and they would form 
the nucleus of a Baptist church and 
plan for the erection of a suitable 
house of worship. This prophetic an- 
nouncement was received with smiles 
and suppressed laughter; nevertheless, 
it was fully realized by the organiza- 



tion of a church of 25 members in 
1888 and the erection of the Baptist 
cburch in 1891. He served the church 
as its first pastor until 1893, when he 
moved to his present home on the 
south side of sec. 33, Powhatan town- 
ship. After serving four years as pas- 
tor of the Baptist churches of Have- 
lock and Bradgate, he retired from 
the active duties of the gospel minis- 
try. 

He has always voted the national 
republican ticket and has been an ar- 
dent advocate of the cause of prohibi- 
tion. 

His family has consisted of six chil- 
dren, of whom four are living. May 
Luella in 1886 married Anton Eigler, 
a farmer, and lives in Spokane county, 
Wash. William H., John Alvin and 
Margaret E. are at home and engage 
in teaching. George A., the eldest, 
died in 1863, and Bev. Frank A. D. 
Kees, tbe second son, died at his 
father's home, Oct. 23, 1900. He had 
been educated for the gospel ministry, 
was ordained on May 22, 1900 and 
served the Baptist church at Egan, 
South Dakota, until three weeks be- 
fore his death, when, his physician 
informing him he was going to have 
typhoid fever, he hastened home. He 
taught school several terms, at Have- 
lock, had charge of the Baptist 
church at Lake View in 1895, and at 
Havelock in 1896. He had worked his 
own way through college that he 
might enter the ministry, and was 
loved by all who knew him. 

Hubel Wenzel, (b. 1819; d. Nov. 26, 
1885) the first permanent resident of 
Pocahontas, was a native of Bohemia, 
where in 1843 he married Mary 
A. Kerska (b. 1823). In 1851, they 
came to America, losing one of their 
children during the voyage on the 
ocean. He located first at Montreal, 
but after two years moved to Iowa 
City. Two years later he located on 
a homestead in Tama county and re- 
mained there until 1868, when he 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



fa] 



moved to Benton County. Two yvuvii 
later he moved to Fort Dodge. 

In March, 1872, as the local agent 
of Hess & Behring, of Fort Dodge, 
who had charge of the sale of the 
lands of Warrick Price, he located at 
Pocahontas and that fall was ap- 
pointed the first postmaster of that 
place. The mail was carried by his 
son William usually once a week, on 
Friday, from Pomeroy, later from 
Fonda and the office remained in his 
home until the fall of 1877. He was a 
member of the first school board of 
the township in 1875-76. 

During his residence in Tama coun- 
ty he and his elder brother Fred, en- 
listed as members of Co. F, of the 6th 
Iowa cavalry. After two years in the 
service he received an injury that un- 
fitted him for further service and 
made him an invalid for life. 

In 1878 he and wife returned to the 
home of his oldest son, Frederic, who 
married Mary Benish and continued 
to reside on the old homestead in Ta- 
ma county. He died there in 1885. 
Four of his children located with him 
at Pocahontas in 1872. 

1— William A. Hubel, (b. Jan. 16, 
1853, Iowa,) a carpenter, in 1878 
married Mary Ann Julius (b. 1860, 
Wis.) and continued to live at Poca- 
hontas until 1884, when he moved to 
Plover, and in 1897 to Rolfe, where he 
is now engaged principally in raising 
poultry. He commenced to reside in 
Center township in the year 1871, and 
built nearly all of the first buildings 
in Pocahontas including the Catholic 
church, and the Presbyterian church 
of Plover. He was assessor of Center 
township in '79-80, and secretary of 
the school board, '77-81. He carried 
the mail from Pomeroy and Fonda to 
Pocahontas, 1872 to '79. He was an all- 
round man among the Bohemians of 
the township in those early days. He 
was their interpreter at nearly all 
school and township meetings, elec- 
tions and in the transaction of their 



business before the court. 

His family consists of six children: 
Mamie, Frederic, William, Josephine, 
Wenzel and Albert. 

2— Mary E. married James S. Smith, 
Fort Dodge, and in May, 1883, he was 
appointed and served five years as the 
first station agent of the C, R. I. & P. 
R. R. at Plover. He built the first 
house in Plover for his use and it stood 
the first season in a cornfield. Their 
family consists of three children: 
William, James and Albert. 

3 — Annie in 1886 married Vencil 
Drahos, a well-known attorney of Ce- 
dar Rapids, and they have one child, 
Ylasta, 

4— Cedora C. in 1882 married James 
T. Calhoun, at Pocahontas, and in the 
fall of 1883, locating at Plover, he be- 
came the first dealer in coal and lum- 
ber at that place. He died in 1887, 
leaving three children; Thomas, James 
and Grace. 

In 1891, Cedora married Albert J. 
Eggspuehler, a merchant of Plover, 
and they have two children, Florin 
and Claddis. 

Hronek Frank, (b. Sept. 22, 1822; d. 
Sept. 5, 1899) a pioneer of Center town- 
ship, was a native of Tabor, Pazov 
county, Boh., and on Feb. 17, 1846, 
married there Anna Mares. In 1862, 
with a family of four children, they 
came to America and located first at 
Iowa City, but soon afterward at 
Chelsea. In 1874, he bought, and 
with a family of six children, located 
on the El Sec. 19, Center township, 
improved and occupied it until 1895, 
when he moved to Pocahontas, where 
he lived the remainder of his days. 
He was a quiet, industrious, success- 
ful farmer and highly respected citi- 
zen. He assisted in the organization 
of Center township in 1874, and served 
as one of its first trustees, in 1875-76. 
He was elected one of the three first 
school directors of the township, but 
declined to serve. Three of his sons, 



472 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Frank E., Anthony and John, have 
subsequently taken a prominent part 
in the management of the affairs of 
the township. 

His family consisted of ten children, 
all of whom are still living. 

1— Rosa, (b. 1858) in 1876 married 
Martin Puduska, (b. Boh., 1852,) a 
prosperous farmer, owner of 280 acres 
principally on section 29, Center town- 
ship, which he has occupied since 
1876. They have a family of six chil- 
dren. 

2— Frank E. Hronek, (b. Boh., 1860) 
came with his father to Center town- 
ship in the spring of 1874, and has be- 
come one of the most prominent citi- 
zens in the township. In 1878 he 
served as township clerk. In 1882 he 
became a general merchant in Poca- 
hontas and so continued until April 1, 
1900, when he arranged for the remov- 
al of the old store building and the 
erection of a fine, double two-story 
brick business block in its place. He 
was secretary of the township school 
board, '85-87, and president of it, '92- 
95. In Pocahontas he was postmaster 
from Sept., '87 to Oct., '95, a period of 
eight years. He served as a member 
of the first school board, '96-97; as a 
member of the first town council, '92- 
94, and as mayor, '98-1900. He is the 
owner of some valuable property in 
Pocahontas and a farm of 80 acres in 
Lincoln township. 

In 1882 he married Antonia Mora- 
vec, who died in 1891. In 1893, he 
married Melinda Winegardner. His 
family consists of three children — 
William, Walter and Sadie— who sur- 
vive their mother, his first wife. 

3— Paulina, (b. 1862) in 1870 mar- 
ried Joseph Kryce, a miller, and lives 
at Andrews, South Dakota. 

4— Anthony Hronek, (b. Iowa, 1864) 
in 1883 married Mary Vodruska, is the 
owner and occupant of the SWi Sec. 
28, Center township, and has a family 
of five children. He was township 
clerk three years, '89-91. 



5— Emmanuel Hronek (b. la., 1867) 
in 1885 married Anna Vodruska. He 
is the owner and occupant of the NEi 
Sec. 19, Center township, and has^'a 
family of six children. 

6 — James Hronek (b. la., 1869) in 
1889 married Mary Prochaska. He is 
the owner and occupant of the SEi 
Sec. 19, Center, and has a family of 
three children. 

All of the foregoing located in Cen- 
ter township with their father in 
1874. The other members of his 
family are as follows; 

7— Frances, (b. Boh., 1849) in 1868 
married Vance Zeman, owner of a 
farm of 360 acres near Chelsea, Tama 
county, and has a family of eleven 
children. 

8— Mary, (b. Boh., 1851) in 1869 mar- 
ried William Wright, clerk in a shoe 
store at Mason City, and has a family 
of three children. 

9— John Hronek, (b. Boh., 1853.) in 
1874 married Anna Skorda and came 
to Center township in 1881. He is 
now the owner of the Wi Sec. 21, 320 
acres, and has a family of ten chil- 
dren. He was a trustee of the town- 
ship, '84-92, and is now a member of 
the school board. 

10— Josephine (b. Boh., 1858,) in 1877 
married Frank Musel, has a family of 
seven children and lives in Marshall- 
town. 

Langsr Frank, to whom it is 
claimed, is rightly due the honor of 
doing the first breaking in Center 
township, in the spring of 1871, left 
Fort Dodge and located on the SWi 
Sec. 19, Center township. In compa- 
ny with William A. Hubel he did the 
first breaking in the township, on his 
own farm, then on the Stoulil farm 
on the NWi of the same section, and 
later on the Si Sec. 21. Erne com- 
menced breaking about the same 
time and built the first farm home. 
In 1882 Frank Langer bought and 
moved to the SEi Sec; 24, Dover town- 
ship, and in 1899 moved to Pocahon- 




FRANK E. HRONEK. 


JOHN H. STEGGE. 








* . '^- 




MR. and MRS. FRANK HRONEK. 
POCAHONTAS. 




"VIEW OF BUELAH AVENUE, POCAHONTAS, IN 1! 
(See list of illustrations for buildings.) 




PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, POCAHONTAS, 1902. 



CENTER TOWNSHIP, 



473 



tas. lie assisted in the organization 
of Center township, serving as one of 
the judges at the first election, held 
Oct. 13, 187-4, and as a trustee in '81. 
When Center township, on March 1, 
1875, was organized as a school district, 
he served as chairman of the meeting 
and was elected a member of the first 
school board. 

His family consists of three chil- 
dren — Frank, Anna and Mary. 

Nemeck Joseph, proprietor of the 
Center House, Pocahontas, 1874-'80, 
was a native of Bohemia. In the 
spring of 1874, with wife and two 
children, he located there and built 
the first good hotel in Pocahontas. 
Unfortunately, he provided a saloon 
adjunct to the hotel and, according 
to the stories that are still current, 
many ludicrous and some ridiculous 
events occurred during the period he 
continued in charge of it. He assist- 
ed in the organization of the town- 
ship and served as its first justice of 
the peace, '75-79. He was appointed 
a member of the first school board, 
was then elected its first president 
and served in that capacity in '75 and 
'79. In 1880, with wife and four chil- 
dren, he moved to Ackley, and later 
to Minnesota, where he is still living. 

Mikesh Joseph, (b. 1859) resident of 
Pocahontas since the fall of 1876, is a 
native of Winnesheik county, and of 
Bohemian descent. At the time he 
located at "Pocahontas the grasshop- 
pers were paying their respects to the 
farmers and the latter could not af- 
ford to employ hired help. The only 
lucrative employment that presented 
itself at first was hunting and trap- 
ping and, giving his undivided atten- 
tion for a time to the capture of game 
for the table and furs for the market, 
he met with a fair degree of success. 
He often averaged 40 to 50 muskrats a 
day at Devil's Island, on section 5, 
Grant township, and they brought 
from 6 @ 18 cents a piece. Deer were 
about as plenty then as jack-rabbits 



are now, and after the snow came 
they were tracked to the high grass in 
the sloughs where they were some- 
times found lying at rest. Later he 
found employment as a carpenter, 
janitor and well-borer. In 1889, when 
Sheriff Pattee died, he was appointed 
sheriff of the county to complete his 
unexpired term. 

In 1889 he married Mary Hickey, 
widow of James Murray, and their 
family consists of three children, 
Joseph, Sadie and John; and the three 
children of her former husband, Mol- 
lie, Michael and James Murray. 

He reports the interesting fact that 
in sinking wells in the vicinity ot Po- 
cahontas, two layers of wood are fre- 
quently found, in a fair state of pres- 
ervation, at the depths of 60 to 80 and 
160 to 170 feet. The upper layer is 
sometimes about four feet in thick- 
ness, and on the farm of Gus Boog, on 
Sec. 2, Lincoln township, there was 
found in it a sea muck consisting of 
sand, coral, snail and clam shells, some 
of the last being as large as common 
oyster shells, but very brittle. The 
lower layer is usually not so thick as 
the upper one, but the wood is in a 
better state of preservation. The 
pieces of logs brought to the surface 
resemble cedar and of these the knots 
are the best preserved portions. An- 
other variety has the appearance of 
grapevine. This is found in a good 
state of preservation and the bark 
peels from it in strips as if it were 
freshly laid in water. Some good 
specimens, in 1898, were furnished 
Buena Vista college.* 

Hazlett William, (b. Oct. 1, 1869) 
attorney of Pocahontas county 1897- 
1900, is a native of Muscatine county, 
the son of William H. and Hannah 
(MoNutt) Hazlett, both of whom were 
of Scotch-Irish (Presbyterian) descent. 
After pursuing his education in Mus- 
catine he attended the State Universi- 
ty at Columbia, Mo., and then spent 

*Page 153. 



474 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



two years in teaching. In 1892 he 
graduated from the law department 
of the State University at Iowa City, 
and was admitted to the practice of 
law. On Dec. 1, 1892, a few months 
after the death of his father, he and 
his brother J. Clark, and his mother 
located at Pocahontas, where he has 
since been engaged in the practice of 
his profession. In the fall of 1896 he 
was elected the attorney for Pocahon- 
tas county, an office to which he was 
re-elected in 1898, and again in 1900. 
He is recognized as a lawyer possessing 
fine abilities and is rapidly rising in 
his profession. The high standard of 
morality adopted in early youth has 
given dignity and strength to his man- 
hood, and his faithfulness as a public 
official has elicited words of highest 
commendation and hearty endorse- 
ment. 

On May 15, 1895, he married Helen 
Ketchum, of Marshal ltown, and has a 
family of three children, Dorothy B., 
Ruth and Isabel. His mother in 1895 
returned to the home of her daughter, 
Jennie (Andrew T.) Addleman, in 
Muscatine county, and his brother is 
a civil engineer in Tennessee. 

Heald George A., (b. Iowa, June, 
1870) vice-president of the Bank of 
Pocahontas, is a native of Johnson 
county, the son of Isaac and Amelia 
Heald, who located at West Liberty 
in his early youth. In 1887 he gradu- 
ated from the high school of that 
town and in June, 1889, from the 
Eastman Business College, Poughkeep- 
sie, N, Y. He then located in Poca- 
hontas, where he found employment 
in the bank of D. J. Allen & Sons. 
Here he embraced the opportunity of 
reading law under the late B. J. Al- 
len, county attorney at that time, and 
graduating from the Iowa College of 
Law in January, 1894, was immediate- 
ly admitted to the practice of law. 
In January, 1897, he became a partner 
and was elected vice-president of the 
Bank of Pocahontas. He is a young 



man of pleasing address and is well 
equipped both for the practice of law 
and a successful business career. He 
has the happy faculty of gaining the 
confidence and esteem of those with 
whom he becomes acquainted and is 
entering on a constantly enlarging 
sphere of usefulness with bright pros- 
pects for the future. 

On Jan. 23, 1894, he married Stella 
Torpey, a teacher of Lake township, 
and they have one child, George. 

Hunt Charles M., (b. 1847) clerk at 
the court house, 1881-1900, came to 
Pocahontas in the fall of 1880 and a 
few months later found employment 
in the auditor's office, then occupied 
by A. O. Garlock, his brother-in-law. 
With the exception of one year, he 
has been an assistant in that office or 
that of the county treasurer ever 
since, and is now, in 1900, in the treas- 
urer's office. These eighteen years 
of faithful and efficient service as an 
assistant in two of the most import- 
ant offices in the county, make a very 
creditable record. He has become 
very familiar with the method of 
keeping the public records and in his 
modest way has rendered a service 
tbat has been greatly appreciated. 

On May 12, 1888, he married Cynthia 
A. Perkins, of Winthrop, and has a 
family of three children, Gilbert, 
Melville and Hazel. 

Payer Vit, a native of Bohemia, in 
the spring of 1876, accompanied by his 
wife (Mary Brodsky) and family of 
four children, Frank, Jacob, Anna 
and Joseph, and Louis Brodsky, a son 
of his wife, located on section 28, Cen- 
ter township. He was a trustee of 
the township in 1880 and died in 1881. 
The farm of 320 acres, originally pur- 
chased at $5.00 an acre, is still owned 
by his wife and children. 

1— Frank J. Payer (b. Iowa, 1861) in 
1889 married Mary Remesh, who died 
leaving two children, Frank and 
Frances. In 1895 he married Rosa 
Masek. He is the owner of a farm of 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



4"75 



160 acres on section 28, Center town- 
ship, and was clerk of the township 
1885-88. 

2— Jacob Payer, in 1889, married 
Julia Shimon, who died in 1891. In 
1894, he married another and has a 
family of two children. He is the 
owner of a farm of 200 acres on Sec. 28. 

3— Anna, in 1883, married James W. 
Eral. (SeeEral.) 

4 — Joseph Payer married Elizabeth 
Bartosh and lives in Center township. 

Pease Oscar A., (b. 111., 1848) post- 
master at Pocahontas, '82-86, in 1869 
came from Chicago and, as one of its 
first settlers, located in Swan Lake 
township. On April 17, 1871, he entered 
as a homestead the W£ NWi Sec. 30 
and received the patent for it July, 
30, 1878. He married there Adelaide, 
daughter of John Proctor, one of the 
first teachers in that township. 
About the year 1880, he located in Po- 
cahontas, where he kept a grocery 
store and engaged in the insurance 
business. On Oct. 15, 1882, he was 
appointed postmaster and served four 
years, his wife performing the duties 
of the office a great part of the time. 
In 1893, he moved to Burlington, 
Wash., where he has a comfortable 
home and has since been engaged in 
the lumber business. He served as 
the deputy sheriff of Pocahontas 
county four years under John F. Pat- 
tee and two years under John A. 
Crummer. He assisted in the organi- 
zation of Swan Lake township, served 
as its first justice of the peace, also as 
a trustee and treasurer of the school 
fund. In Center township he was as- 
sessor in '83 and president of the 
school board, '90-91. He was a capa- 
ble, public-spirited man and his foot- 
prints appear as a pioneer in Center as 
well as in Swan Lake township. 

His family consisted of four chil- 
dren, three of whom died in childhood 
and youth. Lucy married Oscar 
Wagneman, lives at Ellensburg, 
Wash., and has two children. 



Plumb Frank H., (b. July 28, 1861) 
clerk of the court of Pocahontas coun- 
ty, 1895-1900, is a native of Webster 
county, Iowa, the son of William and 
Adeline Plumb. After completing 
his education in the public schools of 
Fort Dodge, in April 1877, he began 
to learn the printers' trade in the of- 
fice of the Fort Dodge Times. In 
1879, he assisted Tabor on the Fonda 
News; and during the next nine years 
assisted in various offices in Iowa, 
Minnesota and Dakota, including the 
Fonda Times. On July 12, 1888, he 
and jr. J. Bruce established the Rev- 
eille at Rolfe and he continued a co- 
editor of that paper until May 1, 1890, 
and afterward as its foreman. 

In the fall of 1894 he became the 
nominee of the republicans lor the of- 
fice of clerk of the district court of 
this county and was elected. During 
his first term he performed the duties 
of his office so conscientiously and ef- 
ficiently that his most enthusiastic 
supporters were more than gratified 
and a host of new friends encouraged 
his renomination. He was re-elected 
in '96, '98 and 1900. He has proven 
himself a young man of noble princi- 
ples and his natural fitness for the 
public office to which he has been 
elected for the fourth term, has been 
recognized by his political opponents. 
The neat appearance and correctness 
of his work on the public records have 
elicited the highest praise from attor- 
neys and judges. 

On April 23, 1887, he married Kate 
M. Roberts, of Fonda, and has a fam- 
ily of three children, Clifton B., Will- 
iam H. and Katherine M. 

Ralston William Curtis, (b. July 1, 
1855) clerk of the district court of Po- 
cahontas county, 1887-94, is a native 
of Hillsboro, 111., the son of John A. 
and Elizabeth (Ladd) Ralston, both of 
whom were of English descent. After 
completing his education in his native 
town he directed his attention to the 
study of law. In September, 1881, he 



476 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



located in Pocahontas, where he found 
employment first in the Bissell House. 
At the first session of the court he 
was admitted to the practice of law, 
but taught school the ensuing winter. 
In the spring of 1884 he moved to 
Rolf e, but after his election to the of- 
fice of clerk of the district court, in 
the fall of 1886, he returned to Poca- 
hontas and has been a prominent res- 
ident of that city ever since. In 1888, 
'90 and '92 he was re-elected to the 
same office. In 1886 he won the office 
with a majority of only three; but in 
in 1888 he was re-elected without op- 
position and received all the votes 
cast but three. In 1885 he served as 
the second mayor of Rolfe, and in 
1893 as the first mayor of Pocahontas. 
In 1889 he was president of the school 
board of Center township, and in 1896 
served as the first president of the Po- 
cahontas independent district. His 
rugged honesty and integrity of pur- 
pose have won the confidence and es- 
teem of all who know him and he 
stands high in his profession as a law- 
yer. He has taken a hearty interest 
in all matters relating to the growth 
and development of Pocahontas. 

On June 21, 1887, he married Isabel- 
la Middleton, daughter of a clergy- 
man of the Reformed church, Hills- 
boro, 111., and his family consists of 
three children, Florence, Lucile and 
Sybil. His estimable wife has taken 
a leading part in the maintenance of 
religious services at Pocahontas. 

Starr Francis M., (b. 1846) resident 
of Pocahontas, is a native of Guern- 
sey, county, Ohio, where in 1869, he 
married Susan M. Callihan and en- 
gaged in farming and teaching. In 
1882 he located on a farm in Guthrie 
county, Iowa, and in 1885 on one of 86 
acres in Center township, now within 
the incorporated town of Pocahontas. 
He erected all the improvements on 
this farm and still occupies it. In 
the effort to secure the organization 
Of the Christian church at Pocahontas 



he took a leading part and has served 
several years as the superintendent of 
its Sunday school. In 1891 he was 
deputy sheriff and for several years 
has been rendering an efficient serv 
ice as deputy in the office of the clerk 
of the court. He was clerk of Center 
township, '99-1900. 

His family consists of eight chil- 
dren, Ella having died at nine: Wil- 
lis O, (b. Ohio, 1870) in 1897 married 
Elizabeth Hutchins and lives in Swan 
Lake township; Homer E\, Perry, 
Warren, Albert, Ralph, Julia and 
Marian. 

Stegge Bernard, (b. June 17, 1829; 
d. Pocahontas, July 9, 1899) was a na- 
tive of Rhede, Hanover, Germany. In 
1853, he came to America and located 
at Quincy, 111., where in 1854, he mar- 
ried Margaret Kreul, (b. Ger., 1832.) 
The next year he located at Highland, 
Wis., and engaged in farming. In 
1869, he came to Pocahontas county, 
on wagons drawn by oxen, and accom- 
panied by Nicholas Kieffer and John 
Kruchten and their families. Kieffer 
became the first merchant at Pome- 
roy and Kruchten located on a home- 
stead in Colfax township. Stegge lo- 
cated on a homestead of 80 acres on 
Sec. 32, Lincoln township, for which 
he made the entry June 12, 1869. The 
first improvements were a house and 
stable, both built of sod. The former 
was occupied until 1874, when it was 
replaced by a good farm house that 
with some later additions is still in 
use. In 1890, he moved to Pocahontas 
where he spent the remainder of his 
days. His wife died Sept. 9, 1896, 
leaving a family of seven children: 
Henry B., William H., Bernard H., 
Anna, Elizabeth, William J. and 
Frank. Joseph and Maggie died in 
childhood and Angela in 1894, at the 
age of 26 years. She was the wife of 
H. S. Schmaing. In Jan., 1895, he mar 
ried Mrs. Caroline Getler, who died 
Feb. 13, 1899, leaving two children by 
her former husband, William Getler, 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



477 



A Dover, and Mrs. C. M. Englert, of 
Marshall township. He died a few 
months later at the age of 70 years. 

He assisted in the organization of 
Lincoln township in 1873, served as. 
one of the first trustees that year, also> 
in 1876-80, and was treasurer of the 
school funds '85-87. He endured the 
trials and hardships of a pioneer farm- 
er's life in the effort to secure a home 
for himself and family and by hard la- 
bor and thrift succeeded admirably. 
Those of his family that are married 
are as follows: 

1— Henry B. Stegge (b. Wis., Nov. 
13, 1855,) came with his father to Lin- 
coln township in 1869, where he is now 
the owner of a finely improved farm 
of 160 acres. He was township clerk 
in '81-82, and has been a trustee since 
1896. In 1878 he married Mary Sick- 
ing, of Wisconsin, and they have a 
family of six children, Bernard, Cath- 
arine, Annie, Mary, Henry andFrank. 

2— John H. Stegge (b. Wis., Dec. 3, 
1859) in 1887 married Mary Stelpflug 
and located on a farm of 1^0 acres on 
Sec. 4, Lincoln township, improved it 
with good buildings, groves, orchard 
and increased it to 240 acres. In 1889 
he sold the farm and during the next 
three years was in the employ of D. J. 
Allen & Sons in the real estate busi- 
ness at Pocahontas. In 1892 he bought 
their abstract books and formed a 
partnership with Geo. A. Heald under 
the name of Heald & Stegge. In 1896 
Thomas F. McCartan also became a 
member of the firm and from the Al- 
len Bros, they purchased the stock of 
the State Bank of Pocahontas and or- 
ganized a private banking house un- 
der the name of the Bank of Pocahon- 
tas, John H. Stegge, Pres.; Geo. A. 
Heald, Vice-Pres., and Thomas F. Mc- 
Cartan, cashier. 

His family consists of four children, 
Caroline, Maggie, Mary and John F. 

3— Bernard H. Stegge (b. Wis., May 
26, 1862) is the owner of a farm of 90 
a<?r«p in pnv«r t-nwnship n,u6 lives in 



Grant. He married Mary Pussekon, a 
native of Winnesheik county, and has 
a family of three children. 

4— Anna, in 1885, married Bernard 
Schmaing, (b. Ger., 1856) who located 
in Lincoln township in 1879, and now 
owns a farm of 80 acres. Their family 
consists of five children. 

5— Elizabeth, in 1894, married Hen- 
ry Tucking, lives in Lincoln township 
and has a family of two children. 

Stelpflug Nicholas, (b. 1852) resi- 
dent of Pocahontas, is a native of 
Wisconsin, where in 1878, he married 
Maggie Kreul(b. 1861) and two years 
later located on Sec. 33, Center town- 
ship. In 1892 he bought 30 acres ad- 
joining the plat of Pocahontas, moved 
to town and has since been engaged in 
the stock business. In 1896 the first, 
known as the "Stelpflug addition," to 
Pocahontas, was laid out by him on 
this farm at the southwest corner of 
the town. In Center township he was 
school director a number of years and 
in Pocahontas he was a member of the 
town council, '92-95 and in 1900. 

His family consists of eleven chil- 
dren: Annie, Maggie, Jacob, Joseph, 
Caroline, Lena, Henry, Nicholas, Will- 
iam, George and Louisa. 

Thornton Alonzo L., (b. Nov. 25, 
1833) who died at Pocahontas, May 13, 
1885, while serving his second term as 
recorder of Pocahontas county, was a 
native of Chautauqua county, N. Y. 
At fifteen he entered the college at 
Marietta, Ohio, and during the next 
four years attended that institution 
and taught school. On Sept. 8, 1853, 
he married Emily R. Comstock and 
located in Chautauqua county. Five 
years later he moved to Houston, 
Minn., and soon afterward accepted a 
position in the office of the Surveyor 
General at St. Paul, that afforded him 
the opportunity of doing considerable 
field work as a government surveyor 
and civil engineer. In August, 1862, 
when the Indians under Little Crow 



478 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ty of surveyors were engaged in the 
timber only a few miles distant from 
one of the scenes of bloodshed at the 
time it occurred. He was appointed 
first assistant to the Surveyor Gen- 
eral and made the first sectional map 
of the state of Minnesota. He was a 
splendid draughtsman and continued 
in the map business with slight inter- 
missions until four years previous to 
his death. From St. Paul he went to 
Des Moines and then to Buffalo, N. Y. 
Soon afterward he located at Fort 
Dodge and in the spring of 1871 on the 
Thornton and Greene farm in Marshall 
township, this county. Two vears la- 
ter he went to Des Moines and made 
the second map of Iowa. He then 
went to Kansas City, St. Louis and 
Chicago, successively, and returned to 
the company farm in this county in 
1881. In the fall of 1882 he was elect- 
ed recorder of this county and filled 
that office in a manner so highly sat- 
isfactory that he was re-elected the 
year preceding his death. He was an 
active, enterprising man and during 
his residence in this county became 
very much interested in its drainage 
by a system that should embrace and 
benefit all of it. On this subject he 
wrote several able articles for the Po- 
cahontas Record, to illustrate the 
propriety of deepening the channels of 
the five principal streams of this coun- 
ty at the public expense, in order to 
provide a suitable outlet for the nu- 
merous ponds and sloughs that exist- 
ed in the early days. He also earnest- 
ly advocated the propriety of plant- 
ing more fruit and forest trees. He 
was a close student, a fine scholar and 
manifested a' desire to confer some 
lasting benefit upon his fellowmen. 
His close application to business and 
study, it was believed, tended to hast- 
en his death which occurred May 13, 
1885, after a stroke of paralysis on 
April 27th that affected the left side 
of his body, and another one on May 
3d that was more serious, In his 



death the county lost a worthy citi- 
zen, an energetic and efficient officer 
that did not hesitate to push a public 
enterprise at his own personal incon- 
venience. One of his maxims was, 
"He who would thrive in business 
must make his business known." He 
was a man of devout and reverent 
spirit, an industrious and methodical 
worker. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren, all of whom and their mother 
are still residents of this county: 

1— Lucius C. Thornton, (b. July, 1857) 
resident of Pocahontas, is a native of 
Chautauqua county, N. Y. He re- 
ceived his early education in the pub- 
lic school, and at fourteen began to 
attend the Iowa State Agricultural 
College at Ames where, after four 
years, he graduated in 1875, having 
been the youngest to enter that insti- 
tution previous to that date. He at 
once found employment in relief plate 
map engraving with his father at St. 
Louis, whom he accompanied from 
place to place until 1881, when they 
located again in Pocahontas county. 
In August, 1883, the family moved to 
Pocahontas. The next year a set of 
abstract books were bought from A. 
O. Garlock, and in connection with 
the care of these he engaged in the 
real estate business. He has been a 
member of the council of Pocahontas 
since the town was incorporated in 
1892, and was surveyor of Pocahontas 
county in '84-85 and '88-89. He owns 
a cottage at Pocahontas Point and 
usually spends a few months each year 
at that delightful summer resort. 

In 1885, he married Jennie M. Bell- 
inger, of Marshall township, and has 
a family of four children; Alonzo Lu- 
cius, Thad Bellinger, Jennie and 
Helen. His mother also lives with 
him. 

2 — Mary E. Thornton assisted her 
father several years in the recorders' 
office, and after his death was ap- 
pointed and later was elected recorder 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



479 



of Pocahontas county to complete his 
unexpired term, and served in this of- 
ficial capacity about one and one-half 
years in 1885-86. She also had charge 
of her brother's abstract books for 
several years. On Feb 3, 1887, she 
became the wife of Port C. Barron 
and since his death, July 9, 1900, has 
succeeded him as postmaster at Poca- 
hontas and as proprietor of the Poca- 
hontas Record. In Pocahontas coun- 
ty she was the first and to this date 
the only lady elected to a public office, 
and she is also the first one to receive 
the appointment of postmistress from 
the government. 

3 — Alonzo Rufns Thornton has been 
an associate editor and proprietor of 
the Reveille at Rolfe since Sept. 5, 
1895. In 1897, he married Charlotte 
daughter of C. H. Tollefsrude, and 
has a family of two children, Norma 
and Emily. Since the retirement of 
Marion Bruce, Aug. 4, 1900, his wife 
has been associated with him in the 
management of the Reveille. 

Wallace John William, (b. June 17, 
1845; d. Pocahontas, May 22, 1899), was 
one of the early settlers and a very 
popular official of Pocahontas county. 
He was a native of Northumberland 
county, Ontario, Canada, the son of 
David and Mary (Bagdad) Wallace, 
both of whom were of Scotch descent, 
natives of the north of Ireland and 
members of the established Church of 
England. 

In 1865, having completed his edu- 
cation in the public school, he came 
to Michigan but returned to Canada 
that fall. In March 1866, one year 
before the arrival of his father and 
family, he located on a homestead of 
80 acres on Sec. 8, Lizard township, on 
which he built a sod house and dur- 
ing the first three winters engaged 
successfully in hunting and trapping. 
On May 28, 1872 he married Mary 
Elizabeth Riley (b. Ireland 1851) who 
became a resident of Lizard township 
in 1869 and still survives him, He 



was clerk of Lizard township in 1871- 
72. In the fall of 1874 he was elected 
clerk of the district court of Pocahon- 
tas county and the next spring moved 
to old Rolfe. In 1876 he moved to 
Pocahontas where he died May 22, 
1899. He was five times re-elected to 
the office of clerk of the district 
court and rendered twelve years of 
public service in that capacity, 1875- 
86. Whilst others rendered more 
years of public service and as many in 
the same office, this was the longest 
term of continuous service in the 
same office rendered by any public 
official of Pocahontas county. He was 
deputy sheriff five years, 1893-97, and 
frequently served as coroner of the 
county when those elected did not 
qualify. He was secretary of the 
school board of Center township nine 
years, 1888-96, and of Pocahontas two 
years, 1896-97. 

He had the contract for carrying 
the mails between Pocahontas and 
Humboldt during the four years, 1879- 
82, and from Fonda to Rolfe, 1887-91. 
In 1892 he engaged in the livery busi- 
ness at Pocahontas and continued in 
it until the time of his decease. He 
made additions to the old homestead 
from time to time and was the owner 
of 200 acres of land in this county in 
addition to the home in Pocahontas, 
built in 1881. 

He was a strong, well built man, en- 
joyed good health and nobly perform- 
ed his part in the great drama of life. 
He was loyal to his covictions, when 
he was sure he was right, and was 
equally loyal to his friends. He was 
amiable in his disposition, happy in 
his home life and just in all his deal- 
ings. His unswerving integrity 
placed his public service above unfav- 
orable criticism and his public spirit 
was manifested in the leading part he 
took in efforts to promote the welfare 
of the public schools of his town 
and township. The flags on the 
school and court house were placed at 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA- 



halfmast and most of the business 
houses of Pocahontas were closed dur- 
ing the funeral services and his re- 
mains were interred at Rolfe. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren one of whom, Rosa, died in child? 
hood. Ella married George W. Bruce; 
William D. (b. June 14, 1876) in May 
1898 enlisted for the war with Spain 
in Cuba as a member of Co. B. 2d la, 
Infantry, and spent a few days at 
Camp McKinley, Des Moines; Bessie 
married Fred J. Southworth, Poca- 
hontas: Amanda Melvina, a milliner; 
Blanche and Genie E. are at home. 

THE CASE SISTERS' SECTION. 

Section 32, one-fourth mile east of 
Pocahontas, shows a division and has 
a history that is peculiarly its own. 



This section, with the exception of 
the SW 40 acres, was entered by Sey^ 
mour M. Case, who held it until he 
died in 1873. By his will 600 acres of 
it were bequeathed to his four sisters, 
Mrs. Sophia L. Rose, Mrs. Luna Beach, 
Mrs. Lavina M. Beach and Mrs. Maria 
C, Holcomb, who in 1876 divided the 
land among themselves into four farms 
as they appear in the Plat Book of 
1888, Luna Beach before its publica- 
tion having sold her part to Morgan 
W. Beach. The husbands of these 
four sisters died many years ago. 
They are still living, Luna at Bristol, 
Maine; and the others at Granby, 
Conn.; and their ages range from 76 
to 88 years. 




x - 



» t .""mm. 






^^%#P^ 



THOMAS L. MacVEY, 

RECORDER, 1869-74. 



MRS. T. L. MacVEY. 






. ;.h&w 









JOHN FRASER, 

SEC. CO. Bl. SOC. 1S67 TO 



BERIAH COOPER, 

FOUNDER OF COOPERTOWN. 



ROLFE AND VICINITY. 







"■""■Hal 



AUG. H. MALCOLM, Rolfe, 

CLERK OF COURT, 1B66. 



SEWELL VAN ALSTINE, Gilmore City. 






WM. C. KENNEDY, Rolfe, 

PRES. CO. S. S. ASS'N, 18B9-I904. 



LEW. E. ENGLAND, ESQ., GlLMORE CITY. 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP, 



481 



XV. 



6LINT0N TOWNSHIP, 



We love thy prairies green, 
Thy streams with movement serene; 
Thy woods and groves that lean 
O'er plenty's shrine. 



I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in 
what direction we are moving. — Holmes. 




I LINTON town ship 
was named in honor 
of Gen. George Clin- 
ton, governor of New 
York, 1777-95,. and 
1801-04, and vice- 
president of the United States 1805- 
12. 

This township (92-31) is located in 
the east tier of the county. Section 
1 is traversed in a southeasterly di- 
rection by the Des Moines river, and 
the north tier of sections by Pilot 
creek, on the south side of the North 
hranc.li of which, on 86«ljion5, ftvlft>> is 



located. There is a considerable belt 
of timber on both sides of the Des 
Moines river and one large grove 
along Pilot creek on the northeast 
corner of section 10. The current of 
the Des Moines river is strong and its 
banks of clay are 8 to 10 feet in height. 
Indications of gypsum are found 
along its banks and an abundant sup- 
ply of good limestone on sections 24 
and 25.* The elevation south of Pilot 
creek on section 12, has become histor- 
ic as the scene of the last bloody con- 
flict between the Sioux and Winneba- 
go Indians in lowa.t 



482 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The tradition concerning the name 
of Pilot creek is to the effect that 
when Judge Hickey and others first 
went from Fort Dodge to Palo Alto 
county and came to this stream they 
failed to find a crossing on the trail 
near the river. Finding James A. 
Edleman, who was trapping in 
the east part of the township, 
they got him to pilot them over it, 
and after this incident it was called 
"Pilot Creek." Hickey became the 
owner and occupant of "Hickey 's 
Grove" north of Emmetsburg in 
which, about one-half mile from 
his house, the bodies of Capt. J. C. 
Johnson and W. H. Burkhalter were 
found after the Spirit Lake expedition 
in March, 1857. 

The land, with the exception of 
the north and east tiers of sections, is 
a beautiful prairie, nearly level, and 
the soil is very fine in quality. A lov- 
er of Nature passing through this sec- 
tion some years ago remarked, "The 
Creator has here placed some of Na- 
ture's choicest flowers and most beau- 
tiful scenery. The birds, the grass, 
the flowers and the noble and stately 
trees were put here for man's enter- 
tainment and enjoyment." 

Clinton township when first estab- 
lished Sept. 15, 1860, included all of 
Clinton, Lake and the south row of 
sections in Des Moines, as these town- 
ships are now constituted. On June 
4, 1861, the territory now included in 
Lincoln and the north half of Grant 
was added. On Dec. 1, 1862, the south 
row of sections in Lake and Lincoln 
was assigned to Lizard and in lieu 
thereof the north half of Dover and 
south half of Marshall were added. 
On June 2, 1868, the south row of sec- 
tions in 93-31 was assigned to Des 
Moines; on June 6, 1870, the north 
half of 91-33 was assigned to Grant; 
on Sept. 6, 1870, the north half of 94-34 
and south half of 92-34 were assigned 
to Dover; on June 4, 1872, all of 
91-32 was assigned to Lincoln, and on 



June 5, 1877, all of 91-31 was assigned 
to Lake, leaving Clinton as now con- 
stituted. 

No homesteads or pre-emptions were 
taken in Clinton township. Most of 
the odd-numbered sections were in- 
cluded in the Des Moines River grant 
or that to the McGregor & Missouri 
River R. R. Co. The even-numbered 
sections in this and other townships 
in the same tier as far north as the 
Minnesota line, were offered for sale 
in 1868, and most of them in Clinton 
were purchased by eastern investors 
during the months of June, July and 
August, 1858. 

The first permanent residents of 
Clinton township, (92-31) were the 
Hammond, Harvey and Avery fami- 
lies in 1859. The family of Edward 
Hammond consisted of himself, wife 
and two children. He located on sec- 
tion i, having lived the previous two 
years just across the line in Hum- 
boldt county. On Nov. 7, 1859, Mr. 
and Mrs. Ora Harvey and their daugh- 
ter Nellie, accompanied by his son-in- 
law, Oscar F. Avery, wife and son, 
Eugene, bought and located on the 
NEi Sec. 10. During the year I860, 
these were the only residents of the 
township. 

In 1861 Mr. and Mrs. Elijah D. See- 
ly and three children, Harmon P., 
(soldier) Millard and Eliza, located 
first on section 10, and in 1868 on the 
NEi Sec. 11. In 1863. Mr. and Mrs. 
Joseph Clason and ten children lo- 
cated on section 1. In 1864, Mr. and 
Mrs. William Sandy and five children, 
Minnie, James, Mary, George and 
Frank, located on section 17. In 1865, 
Mr. and Mrs. Parker C. Harder and 
two children located on section 11. 
in 1866, Mr. and Mrs. Augustus H. 
Malcolm and one child, Ora, located 
on section 1. In 1867, Mr. and Mrs. 
William Matson and daughter Jennie, 
located on section 16. In 1869, Mr. 
and Mrs. Peter H. Bendixen and four 
rhildri-n loculed pn section 33, and 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



483 



Mr. and Mrs. A. Baker on section 1. 
In 1871, Mr. and Mrs. Sewell Van Al- 
stine and five children located on sec- 
tion 25. In 1872, Mr. and Mrs. Alex- 
ander Barker and one child, and in 
1873, Ira Scranton, Louis Nemecek 
and their families arrived. 

A correspondent of the Times in 
1879, of these and other new settlers, 
wrote as follows: "Our soil is light, 
inclined to be Sandy; it is not marshy 
although we have a Beed. Our sup- 
ply of bread is sure for we have a Ba- 
ker, and timber shall not be wanting 
while there is left a Bush. We have 
one who has always been Sheriff, 
and when we want to doff this mortal 
coil we Drown," 

The first election in Clinton town- 
ship was held at the home of Edward 
P. Hammond, on section 1, Nov. 6, 
1860, and nine persons voted, which 
included those living in what is now 
Lake and in the south row of sections 
in Des Moines township. Ora Har 
vey, Patrick Forey and E. P. Ham- 
mond served as judges; Oscar F. Avery 
and John A, James as clerks. Ora 
Harvey was elected a member of the 
board of county supervisors, and offi- 
cers of the township were elected as 
follows: E. P. Hammond, Abiel 
Stickney and Patrick Forey, trustees; 
John A. James and Patrick Forey, 
justices of the peace; John A. James, 
clerk; O. F. Avery, assessor; E. P. 
Hammond, road supervisor; Abiel 
Stickney and Christ Smith, consta- 
bles. 

TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. 

The officers of the township have 
been as follows: 

County Supervisor: Ora Harvey, 
1861-68; A. H. Malcolm, '69-70. 

Trustees: Edward P. Hammond, 
1861-64; Abiel Stickney, '61-62; Patrick 
Forey, (Lake) '61-62, '64-67; John A. 
James, (Des Moines) '63-64; Samuel 
Clute, '63; Elijah D. Seely, '65-87; 
Joseph Clason, '65-71; A. H. Malcolm, 
'08-70, '85-94; D f W, Hunt, (PegMpjnes) 



'69, '73-75; P. C. Harder, '70-72; Sewell 
Van Alstine, '71-72, 76-77; B. Messen- 
ger, '72; Ora Harvey, '73-75; Andrew 
Smith, '73-75; Alfred Baker, '74-77; 
P. H. Bendixen, '76-77, '88-92; Ira 
Scranton, '78-79; Wm. Matson, '78-79; 
H. A. Lind, '78-85; J. M. Bush, '80-84; 
Axel Gad, '80-81; J. M. Reed, '82-84; 
A. H. Malcolm, '85, '87-94; John 
Freeman, '87-88; A. R. Doxsee, 
'87; J. J. McGrath, '89-90; M. Lathrop, 
'91-92; W. C Kennedy, '93-95; Geo. 
Behrendsen, '93-96;J ulius White, '84-86, 
'95-97; P. J. Canon. '96-98; Anton Will- 
iams, '97-99; Richard Fouch, '98-1900; 
Geo. W. Henderson, '99-1900; C. P. 
Leithead, 1900. 

Toavnship Clerks: John A. James, 
(Des Moines) '61-63; E.P.Hammond, 
'64-66; Parker C. Harder, '67-69; E. D. 
Seely, '70-75, '78-82; A. H. Malcolm, 
'70-74; P. H. Bendixen, '76-77, '83-84; 
John Sherman, '85-86; John B.Kent, 
'87-88; Geo. Challand, '89-90; O. P. 
Malcolm, '91-92; Charles E. Fraser, '93, 
'97-1900; O. K. Olson, '94; G. W. Rich, 
'95-96. 

Justices of the Peace: John A. 
James, (93-31) '61-82; Patrick Forey, 
(91-31) '61, '76-77; E. P. Hammond, 
Abiel Stickney, D. W. Hunt, (93-31) 
'68-71; E. D. Seely, '69-70, '74-75, '79-82; 
Joseph Clason, '71-73; Sewell Van Al- 
stine, '72, '77-82, '89-92; P. H. Bendixen, 
'73-74;A. H. Malcolm, '75 -76; J.M.Reed, 
'78-79: C. P. Leithead, '83-86; John 
Sherman, '83-84; John Lee, '85-92; L. 
M. Beebe, '87-88; Geo. W. Henderson, 
'93-95; J. J. Bruce, '91-92; M. Whitman, 
'93-1900; Robert Struthers, '96-98; H. 
W. Harris, '99-1900. 

Assessors: Oscar F. Avery, 1861; 
E. P. Hammond, '62-63; J. A. James, 
(93-31) '64-65; E. D. Seely, '66; B. H. 
Wood, (93-31) '67; John Rogers, '68; 
A. H. Malcolm, '69; Wm. Sandy, '70-72; 
D. W. Hunt, '71; P. H. Bendixen, '73; 
Axel Gad, '74; M. F. Seely, '75-76; Ira 
Scranton, '77-82; Wm. Matson, '83-84; 
Geo. Seifert, '85-86; Julius White, '87- 
88; Wm. C, Kennedy, '89,92; Alex, 



484 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Barker, '93-98; Sylvester Smith, '99; 
Robert Hunter, 1900. 

SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

The officers of the school board 
have been as follows: 

Presidents: Joseph Clason, 1869- 
70, '73; E. L. Brown, '71; A. H. Mal- 
colm, '72; Sewell Yan Alstine, '74; E. 

D. Seely, Ira Scranton,, '76-77, '82-83; 
Alfred Baker, '78-79; C. Beacock, J. 
M. Bush, '81,84-85; A. R. Doxsee, '86- 
87. I. C. Brubaker, '88, '91-92; S. Gish, 
'88; Axel Gad, '89, '93; Wm. C. Kenne- 
dy, '90; P. J. Canon, '94; B. C. Yot- 
lucka, '95-1900. 

Secretaries: P. C. Harder, 1869- 
72; P. H. Bendixen, '73-77, '80-95; M. 

E. Seely, '78-79; H. W. Harris, '96 
1900. 

Treasurers: D. W. Hunt, 1869-71; 
B. Messenger, '72-73; A. H. Malcolm, 
'73-81; W. C. Kennedy, '82-83; H. A. 
Lind, 84; Julius White, '85-1900. 

The directors in the several districts 
for the year 1900 were: No. 1 — J. E. 
Schmaing; 2— W. C. Kennedy; 3— L. B. 
Hersom; 4— P. J. Condon; 5 — Niels 
Peterson; 6— Sewell Yan Alstine; 7— 
Benjamin Behrendsen; 8 — B. C. Yot- 
lucka. 

ROLFE. 

"I live for those who love me, 
Whose hearts are kind and true; 
For the heaven that shines above me 
And waits my coming, too; 
For human ties that bind me, 
For tasks by God assigned me 
And the good that I can do." 

The history of Rolfe begins with 
the month of May, 1881, when the 
survey of the Des Moines & Fort 
Dodge R. R. crossed that of the Tole- 
do & Northwestern. The survey of 
the latter railroad was made in De- 
cember, 1880, and the right-of-way in 
Clinton was given in April, 1881. On 
Jan. 10, 1882, this track was laid to 
Rolfe Junction, the grading having 
been completed five days previous. A 
depot was soon afterward built, two 
miles further west, where, oh Jan. 27, 
T«S2, fchfl W^er.n Town Lot, Co., con- 



sisting of railway officials, platted the; 
town of Rubens.* 

On May 21, Clinton township voted' 
a 5 per cent tax in aid of the Des 
Moines & Fort Dodge R. R., on Aug. 
23, 1881, the right-of-way was secured 
and the track was laid to Rolfe Junc- 
tion about June 1, 1882. t 

On Sept. 8, 1881, Wm. D. McEwen, 
a practical surveyor, and county treas- 
urer at that time, on the Si NEi and 
Wl SEi of section 5, Clinton town- 
ship, at the junction of these two rail- 
roads surveyed and platted the town 
of Rolfe. This survey was filed for 
record Sept. 19, 1881, by the North- 
western Land Co., of which J. J. 
Bruce was president and A. O. Gar- 
lock, secretary. The original plat 
contained 17 blocks, lacking only three 
blocks at the southwest corner of be- 
ing a complete rectangle, extending 
eastward from the railroad five blocks 
and south four blocks. 

The streets running north and 
south from the west side eastward 
were named Des Moines avenue (100i 
feet), Garfield street (80 feet), Grant. 
(66) and Lincoln (66). The principal! 
street running east on the south was. 
called Broad (100 feet) and the ones, 
north of it, Walnut (66 feet) and Elm 
streets. 

This is a very pretty site for a town, 
one that possesses natural advantages 
that combine Jto make it desirable 
both as a commercial and residence 
center. Its location is 107 miles north- 
west of Des Moines. 

As soon as the survey was complet- 
ed lots were purchased by Geo. W. 
Horton, merchant and postmaster at 
Old Rolfe, who, in the fall of 1881, 
built the first store building, a two- 
story frame, on the northwest corner 
of Broad and Garfield, known as the 
National Bank building. Other pur- 
chasers were Jas. Parks, of Po vhatan, 
who erected the first dwelling house, 
Messrs. Kelley and Foley,- of Manson, 





C. H. TOLLEFSRUDE, ROLFE. 

COUNTY AUDITOR, 1882-65. 



MRS. C. H. TOLLEFSRUDE. 





COL. JOHN B. KENT, ROLFE. 

MEMBER IOWA NATIONAL GUARD, 1894-9 



MRS. J. B. KENT 



RESIDENTS OF ROLFE. 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



485 



Lou Schoonmaker, Henry and Charles 
Kelly, of Lizard, and Alexander Bar- 
ker who, on Sept. 29, erected a barn 
large enough for the accommodation 
of twelve teams. The lumber for Hor- 
ton's store building was hauled from 
Humboldt and Dakota City, the ter- 
minus of the Toledo branch of the 
Northwestern at that time. 

The postoffice was established April 
1, 1882, under the name of Rolfe, with 
Henry Tilley as the first postmaster. 
Previous to this date the name Ar- 
lington was often used to designate 
the place, but its use was dropped by 
request of the citizens the day the 
postoffice was established under the 
name of the first county seat in Des 
Moines township. 

On Dec. 21, 1883, two years after it 
was founded, the citizens by a vote de- 
cided to incorporate. During those 
two years a wild prairie region had 
been transformed into an incorporat- 
ed town of 300 inhabitants that en- 
joyed the advantages of two railroads, 
three general and two hardware stores, 
one bank, one drug store, one church 
edifice and a school building with two 
rooms. 

KOLFE IN 1900. 

Mayor, M. Crahan. 

Attorneys: Robert Bruce, since 
1897; C. C. Delle, since 1886; S. H. 
Kerr, since 1889. W. D. McEwen, since 
1870. 

Banks: State Savings Bank, incor- 
porated Jan. 1, 1893, (established in 
1886 as "Exchange Bank of Rolfe," by 
McEwen, Garlock & Grant; brick 
building erected in 1889) W. D. Mc- 
Ewen, Pres.; A. O. Garlock, Vice- 
Pres.; S. H. Kerr, Cash.; C. E. Fraser, 
Asst. Cash. 

First National Bank, incorporated 
May 14, 1894, (established as "Bank of 
Rolfe" in 1882, by John Lee; building 
erected in 1881, the first one in the 
town) J. P. Farmer, Pres ; J. H. Charl- 
ton, Vice-Pres.; S. S. Reed, Cash.; J. 
K. Lemon, Asst. Cash. 



Barbers: J. L. Moore, Messinger 
M. P.) & Watopek (Henry), W. H. 
Strickler. 

Bazaar: Frank H. Sherman. (See 
Gen'l. Merchants.) 

Blacksmiths: N. H. Williams, (es- 
tablished 1882) H. C. Holt, S. D. Stod- 
dard. 

Butter Manufacturer: Rolfe 
Creamery, W. R. Rogers, Prop. 

Bicycle Shop: Archie M. White. 

Carpet Weavers: Mrs. B. Handi- 
er, J. J. Handel. 

Carpenters: W. A. Grove, A. W. 
Ireland, Charles C. Seifert, Charles 
Johnson, John A. Baird, J. H. Wilson, 

C. C. Depew, Alex. Barker. 
Contractors and Builders: Ed- 
ward Wood, A. W. Ireland, W. A. 
Grove, J. A. Baird. 

City Engineer (water works): A. 
G. Albright, (also city marshal.) 
Civil Engineer: Fred A. Malcolm. 
Clothing: Kaufman Bros., 'Globe,' 

D. M. Palmer, Mgr.; J. P. Farmer. 
Chop-Houses: Mrs. W. F. Smith. 

(See restaurants.) 

Churches: M. E. (1884), Presbyte- 
rian (1888), Catholic, Baptist (1896), 
Danish Lutheran (1900). 

Dentists: C Wesley Siefkin, Dr. 
Frank King. 

Dressmakers: Mrs. Charles Peri- 
gal, Mrs. Wm. White, Mrs. A. A. 
Merrill,Miss Louisa Hayward, Camille 
Paulson, Mrs. F. H. Symes. 

Draymen: Charles E. Matteson, 
John Spear, F. C. Walston. 

Druggists: Geo. W. Core, since 
1882; Charles M. Webb, since 1889; 
Charles H. Beam, since 1895. 

Elevators: Northern Iowa Grain 
Co., M. C. Brown, Mgr.; Counselman 
&Co., H. M. Underwood, Mgr.; Joe 
White. 

Egg House and Cold Storage: 
Crahan & Co., R. P. Brown, Mgr. 

Feed and Seed: W. B. Saunders, 
J. L. Hall. 

Furniture: C. P. Leithead & Sons 



486 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



(W. C. and A. E.) since 1886; Mclntire 
Bros , (W. P. andS. L.) 

General Merchants: M. Crahan, 
since 1889; (sold in 1900 to J. P. Far- 
mer) D. Ferguson & Son, (Ward) since 
1891; Weible & Hauck, (August W. 
and Valentine H.) since 1883; J. T. 
Lange. The "Bazaar," Frank H. 
Sherman; the "Racket," E. E. Vest; 
the "Hub,"H. F. Mills. 

Grocers: Pollock Bros, (J. H. & 
G. R.) O. B. Fuller. 

Grain Dealers: M. C. Brown, 
Northern Iowa Grain Co.; H. M. Un- 
derwood, Counselman & Co.; Joe 
White. 

Hardware: A. R. Doxsee, &Bro., 
(J. L.) since 189o; A. B. Symes, since 
1883. 

Harness Shops: Ed McMahon, 
since 1888; J. E. Gill. 

Hotels: "Tremont," George Wen- 
gart, Prop.; "Oxford," Wm. Pauline, 
Prop. 

House mover: C. H. Roberts. 

Ice: W. B. Saunders. 

Implements: E. R. Wiswell, Joe 
White, Mgr.; J. E. Gill, H. C. Holt, 
A. B. Symes, John Albright, 

Insurance: J. B. Kent, J. M. 
Smith, Robert Bruce, C. E. Fraser, S. 
H. Kerr, M. Whitman, John Albright, 
J. A. Whitaker, J. H. Campbell, W. 
P. Wheeler, Frank E. Jorgenson, S. S 
Reed, J. K. Lemon. 

Jewelers: J. White & Son, (C. J.) 
Jobn M. Lind. 

Janitor: (public school) E. J. 
Wheeler. 

Laundry: (Chinee) Hong Lee, Prop. 

Liverymen: Peter Johnson, C. E. 
Stover. 

Live Stock: Weible & Yetter, (M. 
W. & Jacob Y.) J. E. Gill & Co., G. 
W. Rich & Co. 

Lumber and Coal: C. A. Grant & 
Son, (J. T.) since 1892; J. & W. C. 
Shull, W. F. Smith, Mgr. Coal— J. E. 
Gill. 

Mail Messenger: Des Moines & 



Hawarden Div. C. & N-W. Ry., E. A. 

Messinger. 

Masons and Plasterers: E. Bux- 
bom, Ed Wood, D. Wood. 

Meat Markets: "Palace," J. H. 
Price; "North Side," Jas. Cuff. 

Mill: Rolfe Roller Mills, Patter- 
son & Fouch, (G. A. & D.) 

Milliners: Mrs. J. A. Lemon, 
Mrs. Florence Utley, Miss Mae White. 

Musical Instruments: R. B. 
Fish, Mclntire Bros., (W. P. & S. L.) 
H. A. Lind. 

Music Teachers: Mrs. W. P. 
Wheeler, Miss Lucille Wheeler. 

Newspapers: ' 'The Reveille, ' ' since 
1888, A. R. & Lottie Thornton; "Rolfe 
(twice a- week) Tribune," since 1897, 
J. H. Lighter. 

Nurse: Miss Anna M. Smith. 

Painters: Kelts & Son, (Jas. & 
Phil B.) Ross Dennis, W. H. Shirk, 
Henry Jensen. 

Pastors: Rev. O. S. Bryan, M. E.; 
Rev. D. McKeogh, Catholic; Rev. N. 
H. Burdick, Presbyterian; Rev. F. O. 
Bump, Baptist; Rev. M. C. Jensen- 
Engholm, Danish Lutheran. 

Photographer: C. F. Garrison; 
building erected in 1886.) 

Poultry: F. C. Thomas, John L. 
Hall, M. C. Ransom, Charles Gruble. 

Postmaster: Marion Bruce. 

Physicians and Surgeons: W. W. 
Beam, since 1881 ;,E. W. Wilson, E. 
R. Ames, (homeopath.) 

Rolfe Telephone Co : W. P. 
Wheeler, Pres.; C. E. Fraser, Sec'y and 
Treas.; 115 subscribers; stock, $10,000. 

Railway Agents: H. D. Smith, 
C, R. I. & P. Ry.; L. A. Dash, C. & 
N-W. Ry. 

Real Estate: J. B. Kent, John 
Albright, J. H. Campbell, F. E. Jor- 
genson, J. A. Whitaker, W. P. Wheel- 
er, Jas. Smith. 

Restaurants: Wm. Harris, M. W. 
Coffin, I. T. Hall, T. D. Challand, 
Fox Bros., (James & Thos. J.) Mrs. W. 
F. Smith, (chop house.) 



CENTER TOWNSHIP. 



487 



Rolfe Bottling Works: C. M. 
Webb, Mgr. 

Saddlery: (See Harness Shops.) 

Shoemakers: A. J. Denend, J. H. 
Hartman. 

Tailors: J. M. McPetrie, Charles 
Josephson. 

Telephone Operators: Miss Lulu 
F. Ransom, M. W. Coffin, Charles H. 
Beam, (la. Tel. Co.) 

Undertakers: C. P. Leithead, W. 
P. Mclntire. 

Wagon Makers: N. P. Jensen, S. 
D. Stoddard, H. C. Holt, N. H. Wil- 
liams. 

Well Drillers: J. H. Hancher, 
Thos. Heather, (successor to N. F. 
Russell.) 

Veterinary Surgeon: H. Barnes. 

At the first election held in Rolfe, 
the following persons were chosen as 
the first officers of the incorporation: 
Mayor, J. J. Bruce; councilmen, F. 
H. Symes and Wm. Jarvis, one year; 
J. Lamb and M. Lathrop, two years; 
V. Hauck and C. P. Leithead, three 
years; recorder, E. W. Duke; treasurer, 
John Lee. The first meeting of the 
council was held March 19, 1884. At 
this meeting the council arranged 
for a sidewalk, and at the second one, 
held March 24th, following, they de- 
termined the boundaries of the incor- 
poration as including all of section 5, 
640 acres. On Dec. 1, 1884, they gave 
the Toledo & Northwestern R. R. Co. 
a strip of land thirty feet in width on 
Railroad street extending from the 
west side of Grant street to the east 
line of section 5, for depot grounds 
and side-tracks; and the depot was 
then moved there from Rubens. On 
Feb. 2, 1882, D. D. Day was appointed 
as the first assessor of the town, and 
James Hall, marshal. 

SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

The succession of officers of the in- 
corporated town of Rolfe has been as 
follows: 

Mayors: James J. Bruce, 1884; D. 
D. Day, W. C. Ralston, John B. Kent, 



'87-88, '98; W. F. Bright, '89; John Lee, 
'90-91; Wm. D. McEwen, '92-95; Ferdi- 
nand C. Thomas, '96-97; Robert 
Struthers, '98; (died in office) M. Cra- 
han, '99-1900. 

Councilmen: F. H. Symes, '84-87, 
'90-92; V. Hauck, '84-86, '90-92; Wm. 
Jarvis, '84, '87-89; M. Lathrop, '84-87; J. 
Lamb, '84-86; C. P. Leithead, '84-87; 
M. W. Coffin, '85-91; C A. Grant, '87- 
-89, '97-99; A. S. Mygatt, '88-92; M. 
Crahan, '88, '91-93, '96-98; Frank G. 
Thornton, '88; D. D. Day, '89-90; E. P. 
Hammond, '89; J. H. Charlton, '91-92, 
'94-95, 1900; F. C. Thomas, '91, '99-1900; 
F. M. Flynn, '92; Ed McMahon, '93; 
J. H. Lighter, '93-97; Thomas Rogers, 
'93-95; W. A. Grove, '94-95; J. A. Whit- 
aker, '94-96; R. Chambers, '95-96; Chas. 
Johnson, '96, '98-1900; Frank King, '96- 
98; H. D. Smith, '96-97; D. Fouch, '97- 
99; A. B. Symes, '98-1900; W. F. Smith, 
'99.1900; Ward Ferguson, 1900. 

Recorders: E. W. Duke, '84-86; J. 
L. Warden, '87-89; F. H. Plumb, '90; 
J. H. Lighter, '91; E. R. Wiswell, '92- 
94; Marion Bruce, '95-96; August Wei- 
ble, '97-1900. 

Treasurers: John Lee, '84-88; J. 
J. McGrath, '89-90; S. S. Reed, '91-1900. 

The first addition to Rolfe was 
made Aug. 26, 1884, by the Northwest- 
ern Land Co., south and east of the 
original plat. It included the north- 
east fractional quarter and the Ni 
SEi Sec. 5, and was platted by L. C. 
Thornton, surveyor. On Sept. 11, 
1888, the second addition, consisting 
af blocks 10 and 11, north of 4 and 5 of 
original plat, was made by the Poca- 
hontas Land & Loan Co., W. D. Mc- 
Ewen, president, and it was platted 
by E. A. Caswell, surveyor. On May 
29, 1890, the third addition, consisting 
of blocks 12 to 22, west of the depot 
grounds of the D. M. & Ft. D. Ry., 
was made by the Pocahontas Land & 
Loan Co., and on Aug. 18, 1890, the 
Kent addition, consisting of blocks 1 
and 2, west of the D. M. & Ft. D. Ry., 
and north of Elm street, was made by 



488 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



John B. Kent. Aug. 14, 1893, the 
fourth addition, comprising blocks 23 
to 38 on section 5, was made by the 
Pocabontas Land & Loan Co. The 
Lothian addition on the northeast, 
consists of a part of the Si SEi Sec. 
32, Des Moines township, and was 
made by William M. Lothian. 

NO SALOON. 

On Dec. 1, 1884, the council passed 
an ordinance providing for the pay- 
ment of a license of $25.00 a month or 
$300 a year for the sale of pop, cider 
and other drinks not prohibited by 
law. The tax on billiard tables was 
fixed at $12.00 each a year, minors 
were prohibited from frequenting 
places where pool, billiards, cards or 
other games of chance were played, 
and it was made the duty of the mar- 
shal to arrest all minors found play- 
ing these games. These ordinances 
are still in force. 

The local land company that plat- 
ted the town, put forth a laudable en- 
deavor to found a city that would be 
free from the blighting presence of 
the liquor saloon, by inserting in all 
their deeds a clause the object of 
which was to prohibit the sale of in- 
toxicating liquors on the premises. 
No provision has ever been made by 
the town council for its establish- 
ment, and it is a matter of local pride 
worthy of note that Rolfe has never 
had a saloon. The fact has also been 
noted that during the first eighteen 
years of its history not a business 
block or private residence was com- 
pletely destroyed by fire. By pro- 
tecting the youth of the town from 
the dissipating and demoralizing in- 
fluences of the gaming table and sa- 
loon, a sober, clear-headed and indus- 
trious citizenship has been developed 
and a good class of people has been at- 
tracted to the town and community, 
so that the growth has been both sub- 
stantial and rapid. At the general 
election in the fall of 1899, Rolfe took 
the lead by casting 412 votes, which 



was 27 more than the number cast by 
any other town in Pocahontas county. 

THE CEMETERY. 

The Clinton township cemetery, 
containing nine acres, is located on 
the southwest corner of section 4, one- 
half mile southeast of Rolfe. It is 
under the supervision and care of the 
township trustees, who in 1890, made 
arrangements with Henry Packman, 
of Eagle Grove, to plant a row of ev- 
ergreens around it and a few through 
it. These trees are now growing 
nicely, they produce a very pleasing 
effect upon the landscape, are emi- 
nently appropriate and invariably at- 
tract the attention and call forth the 
admiration of every observer. This 
city of the dead has become the last 
resting place of representatives of 
many of the pioneer families of the 
north part of this county, and during 
recent years a large number of beau- 
tiful monuments have been erected 
to their memory. 

RAILROAD AID. 

A number of special elections were 
held in this township to vote aid in 
favor of railway projects. On June 
19, 1872, a 5 per cent tax was voted the 
Fort Dodge & Northwestern R. R. 
Co. On Nov. 30, 1872, that project 
having been abandoned, this aid was 
voted to the Iowa & Dakota R. R. Co. 
This project was also abandoned and 
on May 21, 1881, this aid was voted 
the Des Moines & Fort Dodge R. R. 
Co., who built the road from Tara to 
Ruthven and received it. On June 7, 
1887, at a special election held in 
Rolfe, another 5 per cent tax was 
voted to aid in the construction of the 
Sioux City & Northeastern R. R., pay- 
able when a continuous line of stand- 
ard gauge road should be completed 
from Sioux City to the southwest cor- 
ner of section 7, Clinton township. 
This project was abandoned after the 
survey was completed. 

On June 20, 1876, W. D. McEwen, 
editor of the Times, wrote as follows 




JAS. J. BRUCE, ROLFE. 

COUNTY TREASURER, 1870-73. 
REPRESENTATIVE, 1886-87. 




ROLFE, GILMORE CITY AND VICINITY. 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP, 



489 



concerning this matter of railroad aid: 
The McGregor & Missouri E. R. Co. 
a few years previous induced the citi- 
zens to vote aid in some of the town- 
ships to a paper railroad running from 
Fort Dodge in a northerly direction, 
ostensibly taking the place of the Des 
Moines Valley railroad. Circum- 
stances that occurred later led those 
citizens, who advocated this aid, to 
feel that in so doing they were the 
dupes of a designing corporatio n of 
men, whose sole object was to secure 
control of the local aid in those coun- 
ties in which lay the land grant of the 
McGregor & Missouri R. R. Co., ex- 
pecting thereby to crowd out legiti- 
mate projects and to save the above 
named company from paying tax on 
its grant. This experiment led them 
to feel that rushing into a railroad 
excitement was somewhat like inter- 
fering with the business end of a 
wasp. A natural consequence of an 
over-desire to have a railroad, often 
leads men to grasp at straws handled 
by shrewd men who have axes to 
grind, and would have the grindstone 
turned by those who should hold the 
axe. 

HISTORIC INCIDENTS. 

The first child born in Clinton town- 
ship was Nettie Clason, whose birth 
occurred July 25, 1865. 

The first marriage occurred in the 
log house of Joseph Clason, Dec. 25, 
1869, when his daughter Sarah became 
the wife of George Heald, Rev. David 
S. McComb performing the ceremony. 

The first school house in Clinton 
township was built by W .D. McEwen 
and Henry Jarvis, carpenters, in 1865, 
on section 11, in the Malcolm district, 
and the first teacher in it was Edward 
Strong. Previous to this date many 
of the children in this township who 
attended school, went to the brick 
school house in Des Moines township. 
Clinton was included in the Des Moines 
school district until the end of 1868. 

In 1881, the first religious services 
were established in the township by 
the organization of a union Sunday 
School in the Pilot Creek district, un- 
der Joseph Hatton, superintendent. 
In 1883, when he moved to Rolfe, Wm. 



C. Kennedy became his successor as 
superintendent, and he maintained 
the Sunday School at that place dur- 
ing the next five years. Later, the 
Danish Baptists secured the erection 
of a church building on the NEi Sec. 34. 

At the first meeting of the trustees 
of Clinton township, held in April, 
1861, the time was occupied in dis- 
cussing work on the roads and it was 
decided the wages per day should be 
for a man, $1.00; for one yoke of cat- 
tle fifty cents, and for two yoke of 
cattle, $1.00. The amount expended on 
the roads that year was $89.50. 

It was in Clinton township that the 
following amusing incident, illustra- 
tive of the old-time way of thinking 
and too good to be lost, is said to have 
occurred: 

As the time of the annual election 
drew near one of the few early settlers 
went to his neighbor and inquired if 
he would not be willing to take the 
office of justice of the peace. The one 
whom he addressed was a deacon in 
the church and he asked that a reason- 
able amount of time be given him to 
consider a matter of so much import- 
ance. A few days later he was over- 
heard musing aloud or talking with 
himself over the matter and as fol- 
lows: "The people now call me 'Dea- 
con X,' and that sounds well in the 
ears of the Lord. If I were elected 
justice of the peace they will call me 
'Squire X,' and that will sound well 
in the ears of the people. I believe I 
had better take the office. ' ' 

During December of 1881 the first 
religious services were held in Rolfe 
by William C. Kennedy and Rev. L. 
C. Gray, of Fort Dodge. The former, 
as superintendent, secured the organ- 
ization of a Sunday school and it met 
in the most convenient one of the 
new buildings in process of erection, 
he making the selection and cleaning, 
it for that purpose on the previous 
Saturday evening. Mr. Gray held 
divine services at the same time and 



490 PIONEER HISTORY^OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



place on alternate Sabbaths. 

In December 1881 the first public 
school was established under Maggie 
Hall in a building that stood north of 
the First National Bank building, and 
for some months afterwards this 
building was used for the Sunday 
school and church services. It is now 
used as a stable by Dr. W. W. Beam. 

In 1883, when J. J. Bruce built the 
double two story frame building at 
the south end of Garfield street from 
the lumber of the old court house and 
later known as the Tremain House, 
the services were transferred to the 
the public hall over the store of 
Weible & Hauck in the north half of 
this building. 

public officers: The following 
persons have been elected or appoint- 
ed to serve as public officers from 
Clinton township: Sheriff, Edward 
P. Hammond; superintendents, Oscar 
F. Avery, Ora Harvey. J. H. Camp- 
bell; coroners, Edward P. Hammond, 
Joseph Clason, Dr. W. W. Beam, C. 
C. Delle, Esq.; surveyor, Fred A. 
Malcolm; clerks of the court, E. P. 
Hammond, A. H. Malcolm, F. H. 
Plumb; representative, James J. 
Bruce; senator, George W. Henderson; 
county supervisors, Ora Harvey, A. H. 
Malcolm, J. J. Bruce, Bobert Hunter 

POSTMASTERS AT ROLFE. 

Henry Tilley established the office 
April 1, 1882, and his successors have 
been James Hatton, D. D. Day, '86-90; 
George F. Spence, '90-97; Marion Bruce 
since July 1, 1897. 

RAILWAY AGENTS. 

c. & N. w. by: At Rubens, T. C 
Morbeck, '82-83; J. Z. Benson; at Rolf e, 
J. Z. Benson, '84-90; Frank M. Flynn, 
'90-91; J. Z. Benson, '91-92; C. H. Sla- 
gle, '92-93; George Staynor, '93-96; W. 
F. Smith, '96-99; J. G. Kahl, '99; A. B. 
Jones since Jan. 1, 1900. 

c. R. i. & p. ry: E. S. Darling, '82- 
84; H. D. Smith since 1884. 

INDEPENDENT DISTRICT OF ROLFE. 

In response to a petition presented 



to the board of directors of Clinton 
township in January, 1884, the Inde- 
pendent District of jRolfe was estab- 
lished, embracing all the territory on 
sections 5 and 6, the Wi Sec. 4, Ni 
Sec. 7, N. i Sec. 8, and NWi Sec. 9, in 
Clinton (92-31) ,all of section 32, the 
Si Sec. 31 and Wi Sec. 33 in Des Moines 
(93-31) townships. 

Since that time several additions 
have been made to this district. On 
Sept. 15, 1884, at the request of Henry 
Hay ward, owner, NEi Sec. 8, Clinton; 
on Jan. 16, 1891, at the request of J. 
Denend, the NWi SWi Sec. 4. Clin- 
ton, and on Sept. 16, 1895, at the re- 
quest of Thomas Heather, the SWi 
SWi Sec. 33, Des Moines township ; 
were added. 

On March 10, 1884, at the first meet- 
ing of the electors of the independent 
district, the first board of directors 
was elected as follows: James J. 
Bruce, Frederick H. Symes and M. W. 
Coffin. The board organized by the 
selection of M. W. Coffin for Pres.; 
James J. Bruce, Secy., 'and John Lee, 
Treas. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Presidents: M. W. Coffin, 1884-85; 
F. H. Symes, '86; M. Lathrop, '87-90; 
J. J. Bruce, '91-92; W. F. Bright, '93- 
94; F. C. Thomas, '95; John Ratcliff, 
'96; Wm. D. McEwen, '97; Michael 
Crahan, '98-99; W. W. Beam, M. D., 
1900. 

Secretaries: James J. Bruce, '84; 
M. Lathrop, '85; J. L. Warden, '86-92; 
J. H. Lighter, '93-96; A. L. Schultz, 
'96-97; H. D. Smith, '97-98; F. C. Thom- 
as, '99-1900. 

Treasurers: John Lee, '84-89; J. 
B. Kent, '90-99;. W. P. Wheeler, 1900. 

Others who have served as members 
of the board are, C. A. Grant, '87-89; 
M. Weible, '89; II. A. Lind,5 '89-90; G. 
W. Dickinson, '89-91; C. C. Delle, '89; 
D. D. Day, '90-92; Geo. F. Spence, '90, 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



491 



'94-96; W. A. Grove, '90-92; A. O. Gar- Crahan; F. C. Thomas, Sec, and W. 
lock, '91; H. D. Smith, '91; W. F. P. Wheeler, Treas. 
Bright, '92-95; C. J. Doxsee, '92-93; Principals: J. L. Warden, '84-85; 
John Ratcliff, '92-96; C. E. Gill, '93; L. M. Beebe and Amos Hoffman, in 
W. B. Sanders, '93-95; E. M. Wilcox, '86; A. W. Sargent, '87; Fred C. Gil- 
'93-94; S. S. Reed, '93-94; F. C. Thomas, Christ, '88-89; J. L. Martin, '90; S. A. 








■flftt 

mm 

. :. 



•k : x,N: 




-TOtppjIf 







PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, ROLPE. BUILT 1890, 



'95 97; W. P. Wheeler, '96-1900; A. B. Emery, '90-93; J. M. Humphrey, '94 

Symes, '98-1900. In 1889, tlie board T. J. Loar, '95; A. T. Rutledge, 96- 

was increased from three to six mem- 1900. 

bers, and in 1900 it consisted of W. W. The assistant teachers have been, 

Beam, M. D., Pres.; M. C. Brown, J. Roy Wilkinson, '84; Jennie Charlton, 

B. Kent, A. B. Symes and Michael '85; Ida Charlton, '85-87; Jennie Bod- 



492 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



enham, '87-90; Mabel Lucas, '89; Mrs. 
J. H. Campbell, '90; May Palmer, '90- 
'91; Anna Grove, Francis Beam, '90- 
91; Lillie Gordon, '92; Grace McMar- 
tin, '92-93; Mrs. Lucy Messenger, '93; 
Mary Woodward, '94; Hortense Rat- 
cliffe, '94-98, 1900; Nellie Connor, '94; 
Mrs. B. Montgomery, Bertha James, 
Mrs. M. Barnes, '95-96; Mamie Baxter, 
'95-96; Alice Sherman, '95-97; C. G. 
Wilcox, '96; F. L. Cassidy, '97-98; Em- 
ma Sirene, '97; Mrs. May Rich, '97- 
1900; Mrs. Rose Crow. '98-1900; Mrs. 
Gelia Rutlidge, '95-98; Lucetta Arm- 
strong, '98; Lillian Porterfielcl, '99- 
1900; Julia Sinnett, '99-1900; Jennie 
Beam, '99; Viola Quint, Sybil Spencer 
and Mrs. G. A. Bickell. 

GRADUATES. 

In 1897, Grace Grove, Nellie Grant, 
Alfred Ireland, Benjamin Sherman, 
William Ratcliff, Lyle Burgess— 6. 

In 1898, Lottie Fisher, Jennie Rob- 
erts, Sue Hayward, CeliaHanlon, Ver- 
die Fouch, Pearl Smith, Arthur Par- 
vin, Fred Sherman— 8. 

In 1899, Bertha Williams, Wm. Wil- 
cox, Hugh Beam, Oscar Everson— 4. 

In 1900, Mary Strong, Mabel Rogers, 
Litta Ireland, Lulu Perigal, Lizzie 
Nelson, Anna Tilley, Harris Thom- 
as— 7. Total, 25. 

Two teachers were employed at the 
time the independent district was or- 
ganized. The third school was added 
in 1889. On March 31, 1890, by a vote 
of 54 to 2, it was decided to erect a 
new and brick building for which the 
site was purchased of A. O. Garlock, 
May 17, 1890. The new two-story 
brick building containing four rooms 
was erected by T. H. Connor, con- 
tractor, for $7,973.00. In 1898 a two- 
story addition containing four more 
rooms, was added. This is now the 
largest and one of the finest school 
buildings in the county. 

The course of instruction embraces 
five departments -first and second 
primary, intermediate, grammar and 
high school. The high school includes 



four grades of one year each— the 9th, 
10th, 11th and 12th. The school year 
is thirty-six weeks and the present 
enrollment of pupils is 315, who are 
cared for by a faculty of eight in- 
structors. The rules provide for the 
suspension of any pupil who is absent 
more than six half-days in any four 
consecutive weeks, unless detained by 
sickness or some urgent cause; also for 
using tobacco in any form or profane 
or improper language on the school- 
grounds. Prof. A. T. Rutledge is now 
serving his fifth year as principal and 
the efficient work done in their public 
schools is a source of pride to the peo- 
ple of Rolfe. 

In November, 1900, Mr. G. W. Schee, 
of Primghar, a liberal friend of edu- 
cation, offered the people of Rolfe 
$100.00 if they would raise $250.00 
more, for the purpose of putting a 
good library in the Rolfe high school. 
With the approval of the board of ed- 
ucation, Prof. A. T. Rutledge began 
the work of solicitation, the people 
responded liberally and in a few days 
the required amount was raised. This 
library, costing $350.00 and obtained 
before Christmas, 1900, forms a valu- 
able literary equipment for the Rolfe 
schools. These books were bought for 
use and pupils may take them to their 
homes, but if they are not returned 
in good condition they will be charged 
to the head of the family. They are 
under the care of the school board 
and it is its duty to check them up 
once a year. 

PUBLIC SPIRIT. 

The public spirit of the citizens of 
Rolfe has been manifested in various 
ways and on every occasion that has 
called for its expression. One of the 
most liberal and commendable in- 
stances of its expression was in the 
spring of 1891, when Messrs. W. D. 
McEwen, A. O. Garlock and C. A. 
Grant, proprietors of the Savings 
Bank, took the lead in making to the 
Presbytery of Fort Dodge, in behalf 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



493 



of the citizens of Rolfe, an offer of a 
beautiful site of nine acres of land, 
upon an elevation north and west of 
the junction of the two railroads, and 
$12,000 additional, making a gift of 
$15,000, in the event the Collegiate 
Institute, then located in inadequate 
buildings and grounds at Fort Dodge, 
should be moved to Rolfe. This lib- 
eral offer was a genuine surprise to 
the citizens of Fort Dodge, was great- 
ly appreciated by the Presbytery and 
proved an effective stimulus to the 
larger town of Storm Lake, that se- 
cured it, to offer still greater induce- 
ments for that institution now known 
as Buena Vista College. 

KOLEE'S PUBLIC PARK. 

Soon after the town of Rolfe was 
founded, some thoughtful and ob- 
serving citizens expressed regret that 
a public square or park had not been 
left in the center of it for the pleas- 
urable and healthful enjoyment of the 
people. In February, 1898, this ex- 
pression of desire for a park was more 
munificently met by Wm D. Mc- 
Ewen, Esq., and Hon. A. O. Garlock 
than others had previously anticipa- 
ted; they tendered and the city council 
accepted from them the valuable tract 
of land containing forty acres, lo- 
cated within the corporate limits and 
known during the previous ten years 
as the Rolfe Driving Park. 

About the year 1888, this land was 
sold to the Rolfe Driving Park Asso- 
ciation for a fair ground and race 
course. No money, however, except 
the annual interest, was ever paid on 
the contract, for although yearly 
meetings were held for races they al- 
most invariably proved a source of 
financial loss to the stockholders. 
After ten years of unsatisfactory ex- 
perience and greatly to the relief of 
the stockholders, the original owners 
volunteered to take back the land, re- 
turning to the stockholders all the in- 
terest they had paid on their con- 
tract and remunerating them also for 



all the improvements they had made. 
They then deeded this entire tract of 
land to the town of Rolfe for a public 
park. 

That which Warrick Price did for 
Pocahontas when he platted that vil- 
lage in 1870, making it the first and 
for twentyeight years the only one in 
Pocahontas county having a beautiful, 
shady park, has now been done for 
Rolfe by those who platted the town 
in 1881. The greater size and value of 
the gift is suggestive of the real and 
personal interest of the donors in the 
present and future happiness and wel- 
fare of the people of Rolfe. This 
park, in a few years, when it has been 
laid out, improved and planted with 
trees, will become a very beautiful 
place; and the interest of the people 
in it will increase with the progress 
of the years. 

GOOD ROAD'S MOVEMENT. 

In the fall of 1898, when opportuni- 
ties for employment were scarce and 
workmen plenty, under the leadership 
of Col. John B. Kent, $650.00 were 
pledged by the citizens and business 
firms of Rolfe for the purpose of grad- 
ing and hauling gravel on the streets 
and highways within the incorpora- 
tion. On Nov. 10th the matter was 
laid before the town council and it 
further encouraged this movement 
by providing that an amount from 
the general fund, not exceeding $650, 
should be added to the amount volun- 
tarily contributed by the citizens. 
As a result, over $1200 were expended 
for the permanent improvement of 
the streets and highways in Rolfe 
and vicinity. The committee having 
the matter in charge purchased two 
gravel pits in the neighborhood for a 
small sum so that almost the whole 
amount contributed was expended 
merely for labor. A number of farm- 
ers contributed liberally to the fund 
and during that winter the four prin- 
cipal roads leading into Rolfe, as well 
as its streets* were thoroughly worked , 



494 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



graded and graveled. When spring 
came and the roads leading into neigh- 
boring towns were impassable because 
of the mud, the four main roads lead- 
ing into Rolf e were dry and hard. The 
permanent value of this public spirited 
improvement is perceived when it is 
known that the gravel was put eigh- 
teen inches deep on the grades. 

Every feature of this movement was 
one of real and substantial benefit to 
the people of Rolf e and vicinity. The 
laboring men who performed the work, 
in less than sixty days, by the pay- 
ment of their bills for groceries, etc., 
brought back to the donors the money 
they had contributed. The merchants 
of the city realized an increase of 
trade, the farmers coming to town in 
the family carriage, or with wagons 
heavily laden with the products of the 
soil, experienced a grateful relief from 
the former bad roads, and the town 
received commendatory congratula- 
tions from the public press of the 
State that were greatly enjoyed by all. 

In 1899 crude oil was used on some 
roads at Keokuk and some of the sub- 
urban streets of Des Moines as a 
sprinkler for settling the dust and 
making the surface of the unpaved 
dirt roads less liable to washing. 
Crude oil settles the dust and makes 
such a coating that the rain does not 
wash away even the finest dust. 

The new departure of free rural 
mail delivery means better roads in 
the rural districts. The successful 
delivery >of mail in the country de- 
pends on having long routes, over 
which the carriers can pass at all sea- 
sons of the year, delivering and col- 
lecting enough mail to obtain sufficient 
revenue to cover the cost of the serv- 
ice. Other States in the Union are 
moving not only for good roads but for 
rural free delivery. The farmers of 
Iowa, the State having the greatest 
and most varied natural resources, 
should endeavor to have the best roads 
pbssiblei In this eeranty the attention 



hitherto has been directed chiefly to 
grading the low places while the knolls 
have been left comparatively undis- 
turbed. The time has now come when 
the knolls should be removed as far as 
possible and the grades graveled. In 
many instances the removal of the 
knolls will furnish considerable gravel 
for the grades. Those supervisors will 
be remembered as public benefactors 
who shall now expend the greater 
part of one year's tax in removing the 
knolls on the highways, in their re- 
spective districts, that lead to town. 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ROLFE. 

In 1882 John Lee established the 
Bank of Rolfe, the first one of the 
town, and maintained it alone seven 
years. On Jan. 1, 1889 Samuel S. Reed 
bought a one third interest in it and 
became its cashier. On March 3, 
1893, it was sold to Farmer, Thompson 
& Helsell, of Sioux Rapids, who con- 
tinued it as a private bank until May 
14, 1894, when, with a paid up capital 
of $50,000 it was organized as the First 
National Bank of Rolfe, J. P. Farmer, 
President; J. H. Charlton, V. P.; J. 
W. Warren, cashier and S. S. Reed, 
assistant. When J. W. Warren died, 
Jan. 27, 1896, S. S. Reed became cash- 
ier, J. K. Lemon, assistant and Clark 
Brower, clerk. The directors in 
1900 were J. P. Farmer and F. H. 
Helsell, of Sioux Rapids, J. II. Charl- 
ton W. W. Beam, M. D., Thomas Ro- 
gers and S. S. Reed, -Rolfe. 

The citizens of Rolfe who are now 
identified with this bank are well 
known as among the most enterpris- 
ing, successful and substantial in that 
community. 

J. P. Farmer, O. P. Thompson and 
F. H. Helsell in 1882 established the 
Bank of Sioux Rapids. During the 
next eighteen years they extended the 
field of their operations from time to 
time and from town to town until 
they have become one of the strong- 
est and most widely known banking 
tirrnm in northwestern lowai They 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



495 



own all the stock in the bank of Siouxs 
Rapids, where their general office is 
located, in the Bank of Havelock and 
Greenville; and a controlling interest 
in the First National Banks of Rolfe 
and Laurens, and of other banks loca- 
ted at Marathon, Peterson and Spen- 
cer. The rapid expansion and growth 
of their business suggests that they 
are men of sound financial standing 
and have a talent for business. In 
each of the communities where they 
are doing business their banks are 
managed by courteous and popular 
officials and the banking interests of 
the people are well served. 

STATE SAVINGS BANK OF ROLFE. 

On March 1, 1886, the Exchange 
Bank of Rolfe was established by 
Win. D. McEwen, Pres ; A. O. Gar- 
lock, V. P., and C A. Grant, cashier. 
In 1892 it was reorganized as the State 
Savings Bank of Rolfe, with a paid up 
capital of $30,000 under the same of- 
ficers. The officers since June 1, 1900 
are Writ. D. McEwen, President; A. 
O. Garlock, V. P.; S. H. Kerr, Cashier 
and Charles E. Fraser, assistant cash- 
ier; and the directors are W. D. Mc- 
Ewen, A. O. Garlock, C. A. Grant, 
A. V. Grant, J. M. McEwen and M. 
E. Kerr. 

C. A. Grant, who had the special 
charge of this bank during the first 
three years of its history, continued as 
its cashier until June 1, 1900, a period 
of fourteen years. He began its busi- 
ness with a deposit of $2,300. On the 
first day no drafts were sold and the 
business transacted consisted in tak- 
ing a note for a small loan and receiv- 
ing $303 from three depositors. On 
the last day he rendered service the 
deposits amounted to $112,000 and the 
general footings were the highest in 
its history. He still retains his inter- 
est in the bank, but gives his special 
attention to another important busi- 
ness enterprise. C. H. Tollefsrude 
was the assistant cashier of this bank 



for several years previous to June 1, 
1900. 

The establishment of this bank was 
one of the natural outgrowths of a 
bond of mutual co-operation that has 
existed between Wm, D. McEwen 
and A. O. Garlock during the last 
twenty-four years. In 1876, when the 
county seat was moved and they were 
filling the offices of county treasurer 
and auditor, respectively, they bought 
three lots at Pocahontas, erected a 
large house and occupied it together 
thirteen years, or until 1889 when the 
latter moved to Rolfe. In 1881 they 
became leading partners in the North- 
western Town Lot Co. that platted 
the town of Rolfe. In 1883 they 
erected a stone building and establish- 
ed the Pocahontas Savings Bank, the 
pioneer bank at Pocahontas. Mr. 
Garlock, as cashier, managed its af- 
fairs while Mr. McEwen continued to 
perform the duties of county treasur- 
er. In 1886 they established the Ex- 
change Bank of Rolfe under the man- 
agement of C. A. Grant, cashier, and 
in 1891 the Savings Bank of Plover, 
the latter under the management of 
W. S. McEwen, cashier. Both of 
these men were among the sturdy 
pioneers who settled in this county 
during the sixties and they have ren- 
dered long periods of efficient and im- 
portant public service. They have 
achieved an eminent degree of suc- 
cess in their business enterprises and 
have become equally prominent for 
the liberality of their responses, to the 
calls of charity, benevolence, patriot- 
ism and philanthropy. 

The stock of these three banks es- 
tablished by them is all owned by the 
directors that have been named, and 
they need no introduction or words of 
commendation to the citizens of Po- 
cahontas county, who, among other 
things, have learned the propriety 
of patronizing their own home insti- 
tutions. In 1892 all of these banks 
were reorganized, and among the 
changes taade at that time was the 



496 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



enlargement of the one at Rolfe to 
the State Savings Bank, the spacious 
offices of which have become the of- 
ficial headquarters for the general 
management of all. 

By an invariable adherence to honor- 
able business principles, on the part 
of its proprietors, the State Savings 
Bank has constantly grown in public 
favor. Its name is suggestive of ster- 
ling integrity, economical administra- 
tion and abundant resources. "Its pol- 
icy has always been to keep its busi- 
ness entirely within its own control 
and its resources available for any 
emergency. Its excellent management 
has evinced a knowledge of finance 
that reflects credit upon its proprie- 
tors and also upon the community in 
which it is located. " 

THE CHURCHES OF ROLFE. 

The people of Rolfe and vicinity be- 
lieve in the public worship of Al- 
mighty God, in having good churches 
for that purpose and in making a good 
use of them. Everybody at Rolfe goes 
to church. As a result their churches 
are filled with devout and reverent 
worshipers during the hours of pub- 
lic worship. During the hour of Sun- 
day school they are again filled with 
an assemblage of parents, young peo- 
ple and children for the purpose of 
studying "the holy Scriptures which 
are able to make thee wise unto sal- 
vation."* As a natural result all the 
people, old and young, have an intel- 
ligent knowledge of the law of God and 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; 
and herein is found the secret of that 
high moral sentiment for which the 
people of Rolfe and vicinity have al- 
ways been noted. 

The Methodists, Presbyterians, Cath- 
olics, Baptists and Danish Lutherans 
have secured the erection of commo- 
dious church buildings, and they are 
how served by resident pastors. 

The Norwegian Lutherans who have 
been worshiping In the Presbyterian 



church and are now served by Rev. O. 
Halgrims, of Thor, have arranged 
for the erection of a church building 
in 1901, on lots donated for that pur- 
pose on Elm street by Niels Johnson. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL. 

The Methodist Episcopal church of 
Rolfe is the oldest organization of that 
denomination in Pocahontas county. 
Services were established in the court 
house at Old Rolfe during the sixties 
by the Des Moines conference, a par- 
sonage was erected there during the 
year 1874, and the charge embraced 
the inhabited portions of the north- 
ern part of this county. Owing to 
the lack of local records, the facts 
relating to the early history of this 
organization elude the search of the 
historian. 

The succession of pastors at Old 
Rolfe, so far as we have been able to 
ascertain them, was as follows: Rev. 
D. M. Beams, 1869; John E. Rowen, 
Rufus Fancher, William McCready, 
Oct. 1875, 2yrs.; R. W. Thornberg, '77; 
C. W. Clifton, '78,2yrs; T. J. Cuthbert, 
'80,2 yrs.The county records show that 
the board of county supervisors on 
June 7, 1869, extended to this organi- 
zation the courtesy of holding a quar- 
terly meeting in the court house after 
that date. 

In 1883 the services were transfer- 
red to the new town of Rolfe. On 
Oct. 29, 1883, Elijah D. Seely, James 
J. Bruce and James S. Hatton, trus- 
tees, were appointed a building com- 
mittee to superintend the erection of 
a church building. The frame of this 
building was erected that fall and it 
was dedicated with appropriate cere- 
monies by presiding elder, Rev. W. F. 
Gleason, June 20, 1884. This building 
has since been enlarged by the addi- 
tion of a pulpit recess and class-room. 
These additions in connection with a 
re-arrangement of the main audience 
room have nearly doubled its seating 
capacity. A large and comfortable 
p;.u-|*nnagi,! biUialwM \m«n Imill, <ni U>t-» 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



497 



adjoining the church, the old one hav- 
ing been sold soon after its removal 10 
Rolfe. 

The sucession of pastors at Rolfe 
has been: A. W. Richards, Oct. 1, '82, 
3 yrs.; W. Rice, '85, 2 yrs.; F. W. Ginn, 
'87; Charles Artman, '88, 3 yrs.; T. S. 
Cole, '91, 2 yrs.; Joel A. Smith, '93; T. 
S. Carter, '94, 2 yrs.; F. J. McCaffree, 
'96, 2 yrs. ; R. C. Glass, '98; O. S. Bryan, 
'99, 2d year. 



the work of this church is well organ- 
ized under the leadership of capable 
persons and it is accomplishing its 
mission in a manner highly credit- 
able to its pastors and membership. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The Presbyterian church at Rolfe 
was organized at the old town of Rolfe, 
Oct. 31, 1880, during the ministry of 
Rev. L. C. Gray, of Fort Dodge, with 
a membership of fourteen persons, 




METHODIST CHURCH AND PARSONAGE, ROLFE. 



The roll of this church contains the 
names of a number of the first settlers 
in the north part of this county of 
whom Mr. and Mrs. John Fraser, Mr. 
and Mrs. Augustus H. Malcolm and a 
few others are still living. They have 
been loyal to the interests of the 
church and it has exerted a - potent in- 
fluence in the development of the 
moral and .spiritual forces of that 
»<Mirmii : iii-ity- ESvefy eUfe&r.fcttieiit ef 



namely: Robert Struthers, Susan (Mc- 
Ewen) Struthers, Robert Lothian, Sr., 
John B. Lothian, George Anderson, 
Robert Anderson, James J. Bruce, 
Mary J. Bruce, Joseph Clason, Ellen 
Mather, Alexander McEwen, Delilah 
McEwen, Emiline Broadwell and 
Peter Williams. 

Robert Struthers, James J. Bruce 
and Robert Lothian, Sr., were elected 
pHcfs. Jatnss Ji Bfuee served as 



498 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



elder and clerk of the session until 
Oct. 1, 1883. Alexander McEwen, 
George Henderson and Robert Ander- 
son were elected trustees. 

This was a reorganization of the 
Unity* Presbyterian church that had 



Second Presbyterian church of Rolfe. 
The succession of Pastors iu it has 
been Rev. Lyman C. Gray, Fort Dodge, 
1880-83; Simeon B. Head, Pomeroy, 
'84-86; George H. Duty, '87-90; Augus- 
tus C. Keeler, '91-93; George Ainslie, 




PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ROEFE. 



been maintained in the northeast part 
of the county from 1859 until the year 
1879, when it was allowed to lapse. 
To distinguish the new organization 



'94-97; W. Rollin McCaslin, '98-99; 
Newman H. Burdick, the present pas- 
tor, since August 1, 1900. 
During the ministry of Rev. G. H. 



from the old one it was called the Duty, the first one to reside on the 
*Refi paffp 218* tfptdi the work developed very rapidly- 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



499 



On July 19, 1888, the corner stone for 
the church building was laid with ap- 
propriate ceremonies and an address 
by Rev. R. E. Flickinger, of Fonda, 
and on Dec. 9th, following it was ded- 
icated, the address being delivered by 
Rev. T. S. Bailey, D. D. In 1889 a 
large and spacious parsonage was 
erected in the vicinity of the church, 
as a home for the pastor's family. 

This church has in its membership 
those who have become well known 
all over this county as recognized lead- 
ers in Sunday-school work. It was the 
first in the county to organize and suc- 
cessfully maintain a home department 
of the Sunday-school, for the benefit 
of those parents and others who could 
not attend its sessions, and it has 
hitherto been in charge of William C. 
Kennedy who, for many years previous, 
was the efficient superintendent of the 
school. It has been served by a suc- 
cession of able and earnest pastors, 
under whose ministrations, it has in- 
creased rapidly in numbers and re- 
sources so that it is now one of the 
strongest and most influential in the 
county. 

The elders in 1900 were G-eorge F. 
Spence, clerk and Sunday school su- 
perintendent; William C. Kennedy, 
superintendent of the home class 
department, D. Fouch and John T. 
Grant. 

Trustees: W. C. Kennedy, Geo. 
F. Spence, -E. Buxbom, R. S. Mathers 
and Mrs. C. A. Grant. 

The rapid development of the work 
during the three and one-half years' 
ministry of Rev. George H. Duty, 
forms not only the most interesting 
chapter in the history of this church 
but the most notable one in some re- 
spects, in the annals of the church in 
Pocahontas county. His field of labor 
included the north half of this county 
and those portions of Palo Alto, Kos- 
suth and Humboldt counties of which 
West Bend and Gilmore City were 
then the natural trade centers"; 



At the request of the people to serve 
them one-half time he located at Rolfe, 
May 1, 1887. He was in the prime of 
life and enjoyed robust health. He 
also enjoyed the cooperation of a tal- 
ented and noble-hearted wife, who 
shared with him his trials and the joy 
of his successive achievements. He 
threw himself without reserve into 
the work of developing the new fields 
in the vicinity of Rolfe as they called 
for his cooperation, and the perma- 
nent results of his self-sacrificing mis- 
sionary labors in laying foundations 
in them have not been exceeded by 
any christian worker in this county 
during the same short period. 

On his arrival he found no founda- 
tions laid except that at Rolfe and 
West Bend churches- had been organ- 
ized that had a membership of twenty- 
five and thirteen respectively, but 
they had no church buildings. He be- 
gan his ministry by dividing his time 
between Rolfe and West Bend. After 
a few Sabbaths Plover, Pocahontas 
and Gilmore City claimed a part of his 
time. By preaching three times and 
riding twenty-five miles each Sabbath 
lie was able to give one service to 
Rolfe every Sabbath and to the other 
places named one service every other 
Sabbath, making the trips in his own 
one-horse buggy. 

The services were held in the Meth- 
odist church at Rolfe, in the court 
house at Pocahontas and in school 
houses at the other places. They were 
well attended by both men and women 
except during the severe portions of 
the winter of 1887 and 1888. The 
terrible blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888 that 
caused the loss of many lives, block- 
aded the railroads and filled the high- 
ways with impassable drifts, and some 
succeeding stormy days prevented 
him from leaving home on a few Sab- 
baths, but many long and cold jour- 
neys over the frozen or snow-covered 
prairies did he make in meeting his 
widely separated appointments; 



500 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



During that winter the propriety of 
building a church became the subject 
of discussion at each of his appoint- 
ments. At Rolfe a rock foundation 
had been built some years previous 
but owing to its unfavorable location 
it was deemed inadvisable to build 
upon it. As spring advanced these 
building schemes began to take defin- 
ite shape by the solicitation of funds 
at Rolfe, West Bend and Gilmore City. 
During the summer the erection of 
the buildings was undertaken, the 
corner stone at Rolfe being laid July 
19th. At the fall meeting of the Pres- 
bytery of Fort Dodge, a committee 
was appointed that effected the or- 
ganization of a church at Plover with 
twenty-six members on Oct. 11th, 
and at Gilmore City with eleven mem- 
bers, on Oct. 15th. The church at Rolfe 
was completed and dedicated Dec. 9th; 
the one at West Bend Dec. 30, and the 
one at Gilmore City Feb. 3, 1889. 

The erection of these three houses 
of worship prepared the way for hold- 
ing evangelistic meetings and, as a re- 
sult of those held continuously from 
Dec. 30, 1888, to April 1, 1889. with the 
exception of the week preceding the 
dedication at Gilmore City, more than 
fifty persons were added to the mem- 
bership of these churches. 

Some of the people of Rolfe now be- 
gan to think they ought to build a 
parsonage. This new enterprise was 
successfully launched, and just before 
it was completed the people at Plover 
expressed a desire to build a house of 
worship. Their request for his co- 
operation in this undertaking met 
with his hearty approval. Funds were 
raised, workmen were engaged and on 
the 8th day of December following, 
another beautiful church building was 
dedicated. During the ensuing yearj 
1890, he began to hold services at Lau- 
rens on occasional Tuesday evenings 
and a church of eight members was 
organized there Sept. 1, that year. 

From these narafcives it will be per- 



ceived that during the short space of 
three years, in the development of his 
own field of labor, he secured the or- 
ganization of three churches and the 
erection of a large parsonage and four 
beautiful houses of worship. He re- 
ceived seventy-four persons into the 
membership of these churches during 
the year ending April 1, 1889. 

His tact in overcoming those little 
embarrassments that are liable to ap- 
pear when forward movements in the 
church are undertaken, was nicely il- 
lustrated in the way in which the par- 
sonage movement at Rolfe was 
launched. At the first meeting held 
to arrange for the erection of the par- 
sonage only a few persons were present 
and it seemed to them inadvisable to 
take any action except to adjourn to 
a later date. Two weeks later another 
meeting was held and a less number 
being present they again adjourned 
until a later date. At the third meet- 
ing only one man, George Melson, was 
present in addition to Mr. Duty. This 
meeting, however, was harmonious 
and enthusiastic. They agreed that 
a parsonage was needed and that the 
people were then ready to "rise up and 
build it." They prepared and adopted 
resolutions to that effect, appointed 
the necessary committees and the en- 
terprise was successfully launched. 

During the summer of 1890 he ex- 
perienced the loss of his horse in a sur- 
prising manner. Realizing that his 
field of labor was too large and taking 
Rev. N. Feather with him to view the 
appointments to be set off, he started 
in his buggy to visit Plover and West 
Bend. As they were approaching 
Plover they were caught in a thunder 
shower and a bolt of lightning killed 
his horse. This was a loss that was 
deeply felt, but kind friends enabled 
him to purchase another one soon 
afterward. 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The First Baptist church of Rolfe 
was organized Sent; 29; 1895, as a re : 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



501 



suit of special meetings conducted by Dora Livingston and Miss Ellen Oker- 

Bev. J. W. Thompson, with thirteen Strom. 

constituent members, namely: B. P. E, P. Brown and D. M. Palmer were 

Brown. Mrs. E. P. Brown, D. M. Pal- elected deacons; E. P. Brown, N. F. 







CATHOLIC CHURCH, KOLFE. 



mer, Mrs. D. M. Palmer, O. W. Garri- Eussell and D. M. Palmer trustees; 

son, Mrs. O. W. Garrison, Mrs. M. E. Mrs. Dora Livingston, clerk; and C. 

Kerr, Mrs. N. F. Eussell, C. A. Green, H. Eoberts, treasurer. 

Mrs. C. A. Green, C. H. Eoberts, Mrs. On Jan. 1, 1896, Eev. Charles Gilbert 



502 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Wright was called to the pastorate 
and he continued until Jan. 1, 1900, 
when he was succeeded by Rev. George 
Yule who served nearly one year and 
was succeeded by Rev. F. O. Bump, 
the present pastor. On Dec. 20, 1896, 
a house of worship was completed and 
dedicated at a cost of $1,800. The en- 
rollment now shows a membership of 
sixty communicants and the work of 
the church is progressing very encour- 
agingly. 

DANISH LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The United Danish Evangelical Lu- 
therans completed and dedicated a 
house of worship in Rolfe May 27, 
1900. At the dedicatory services 
which lasted three days, addresses 
were delivered by Rev. G. B. Christ- 
iansen, of Omaha, president of the 
denomination, Rev. N. Hansen, of 
Cedar Falls, president of the eastern 
Iowa district, by eight other visiting 
brethren and the pastors of the other 
churches in Rolfe. A few months 
later that same year the erection of a 
parsonage was undertaken and carried 
to a happy completion. Rev. M. C. 
Jensen-Engholm, the pastor under 
whose leadership these buildings were 
erected, began his ministry at Rolfe 
March 1, 1900 and has been giving 
half his time to the church at Cal- 
lender. He is serving an industrious 
and sociable people, and is to be con- 
gratulated on the rapid material de- 
velopment of his work during the 
year 1900. 

THE COUNTY MUTUAL, INSURANCE 
ASSOCIATION. 

The office of the Pocahontas County 
Fire and Ligbtning Insurance Associ- 
ation was at the home of its secretary t 
J. J. Bruce, Rolfe, until Oct. 19, 1897; 
and it has been at the home of P. J. 
Shaw, near Plover, since that date. 
The history of this association begins 
with a meeting held in the court house 
at Pocahontas, March 26, 1890,* when 
a constitution was adopted and a 
committee appointed to prepare 

*See page 313. 



suitable by-laws. At a second 
meeting, held April 21st, following, 
the by-laws were adopted and a per- 
manent organization was effected by 
the election of C. M. Saylor, president; 
James J. Bruce, secretary; George 
Watts, treasurer. The others who 
were associated with them as founders 
or original directors, were P. J. Shaw, 
Geo. W. Henderson, Alexander Peter- 
son, J. W. O'Brien, W. F. Atkinson, 
Wm. Brownlee and James Clancy. At 
the first annual meeting, held on the 
second Tuesday of October, 1890, the 
number of directors was increased to 
sixteen, one for each township in the 
county. 

On Jan. 1, 1891, the required amount 
of applications having been received, 
this association began to do business 
and issued policies to the amount of 
$50,000. During the first four years, 
owing to the opposition encountered 
from old stock companies and even 
from loan associations, the growth 
was comparatively slow, but never- 
theless encouraging. During the past 
few years its growth has been very 
rapid, as may be seen by tbe follow 
ing exhibit of its assessable risks: 

Jan. 1, 1891 $ 50 000 

" " 1896 350 310 

" " 1898 511 293 

" " 1899 637 665 

" " 1900 900 611 

May 14, " 1 000 000 

Jan. 1, 1901 - 1 163 411 

The cost of an insurance of $1,000 in 
this association during its first ten 
years, appears in the following exhib- 
it: 

During 1891 No assessment 

1892.. $1 75 

" 1893 No assessment 

" 1894 $1 00 

" 1895 No assessment 

1896 $2 00 

1897 3 00 

" 1898 No assessment 

" 1899 $2 00 

1900 2 00. 

Total for ten years $11 75 

The membership fee in this associa- 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



503 



tion is $1.00, and the contingent fee 
collected at the time the policy is is- 
sued is two mills on each dollar of in- 
surance. This association was formed 
in response to the request of many 
farmers, who had been members of 
mutual companies in other parts of 
this and other states, where it was 
found that reliable insurance was fur- 
nished at one-half the cost charged by 
the old line companies. It insures 
farm property, including buildings, 
their contents, machinery, farm pro- 
duce and live stock, but does not 
take anv single risk of over $2,000. 
It is an auxiliary to the Iowa Mutual 
Insurance Association and its agents 
write policies for the Iowa Mutual 
Tornado, Cyclone and Windstorm As- 
sociation. The annual meetings are 
held in the month of October, and 
whilst the officers are elected by the 
directors, every member has a vote, in 
the selection of the directors. 

The officers in 1900 were, C. M. Say- 
lor, president; George Watts, vice- 
president, and P. J. Shaw, secretary 
and treasurer. The other directors or 
local agents, were Swan Nelson, James 
Mercer, Alexander Peterson, Carl 
Steinbrink, Charles Elsen, Wm. C- 
Kennedy, Charles L. Gunderson, An- 
ton Hudek, O. F. Olson, W. E. Pirie, 
M. T. Nilsson and L. E. Hanson. 

This association is no longer an ex- 
periment, but a permanent institu- 
tion founded on a sound financial 
basis. The management of its affairs 
is in the hands of men who have been 
successfully working out their own 
destiny by a long residence in this 
county, and they have already saved 
their friends in the rural districts 
hundreds of dollars by affording them 
safe insurance at greatly reduced 
rates. 

No farmer should take the chance 
of being financially embarrassed by 
the loss of his buildings and property 
by fire, when good protection can be 
secured for a few dollars. It is as 



good a policy for the farmer to carry 
a reasonable amount of insurance as 
it is for the business man. It is also 
the best way of contributing one's 
share toward helping those who are 
so unfortunate as to lose their prop- 
erty by fire or tornado, and when one 
is contributing in this way to help 
others, he is paying for his own pro- 
tection. 

An incidental benefit from this and 
similar organizations has been the 
tabulation of losses, the study of their 
causes and the adoption of precaution- 
ary measures to minimize them. 
Thus in this county it was found that 
23 of 25 losses sustained in 1899 were 
due to lightning, and that wire fences, 
which are good conductors of electric- 
ity, were an important factor in caus- 
ing them. The secretary therefore ad- 
vised all farmers to place ground 
wires every ten or twenty rods along 
their fences to conduct the electric 
fluid into the earth, and thus lessen 
the danger to their stock from this 
cause. Human genius has been able 
to grapple with this most subtle and 
terrific force of nature. It has har- 
nessed the lightning to cars, put it to 
work in mills and factories and made 
it an obedient and powerful servant 
of man's will; and it is believed the 
time is not far distant when it will be 
able to construct ample safeguards 
against its destructive manifesta- 
tions during electric storms. 

THE POCAHONTAS COUNTY BIBLE SO- 
CIETY. 

The entrance of thy Word giveth 
light. — Dayid. 

In the fall of 1867. Mr. Conrad, the 
Iowa State Superintendent of the 
American Bible Society, held a meet- 
ing at the old town of Rolfe and re- 
ceived $13.25 for the purchase of Bi- 
bles. A county society was partially 
organized by the appointment of Wm. 
D. McEwen, secretary and treasurer. 
At a second meeting held soon after- 
ward, Robert Struthers was'appointed 



504 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



president, John Fraser, secretary; and 
Edward P. Hammond, depositor and 
treasurer; and the organization of the 
Pocahontas County Bible Society was 
completed. 

Until the day of his death, in 1899, 
Robert Struthers continued to serve 
as president of this organization, and 
John Fraser is still its faithful, effi- 
cient and highly honored secretary. 
The long periods of continuous serv- 
ice, covering more than thirty years 
each, rendered by these two loyal lov- 
ers of the Bible, has given stability 
and efficiency to this organization. 
When John Fraser in October, 1867, 
conveyed from Fort Dodge to Old 
Rolfe the first lot of books sent by the 
American Bible Society, ($112.00) he 
carried the first supply of Bibles and 
Testaments into Pocahontas county. 
The successors of E. P. Hammond as 
depositor and treasurer at Old Rolfe, 
were Rev. Wm. McCready, Rev. R. W« 
Thornberg and Rev. C. W. Clifton. 
In 1880, James Hatton was appointed 
depositor, and James J. Bruce, treas- 
urer. The latter has continued to 
serve in this capacity until the pres- 
ent time, and the succession of depos- 
itors has been, Joseph Hartman, F. 
H. Plumb, Geo. F. Spence and Frank 
Sherman. Other old settlers who 
contributed in the early days to the 
support of the good work of this so- 
ciety were, Henry Tilley, Joseph Cla- 
son, Wm. Stinsol, Robert Lothian, 
Hiram Seely, J. C. Strong, Rev. A. 
Whitfield, John Barnes, Rev. R. L. 
Kenyon, Harvey Hay, Joseph Hawkins 
A. W. Dart, C. M. Saylor, Mrs. Wm. 
Jarvis, Mrs. T. and Susie Fisher, Mrs. 
Ira Scranton, Ellen Struthers, Alice 
Barnes and Jessie Fraser. 

In May, 1879, the entire county was 
canvassed for the purpose of leaving a 
Bible in every home, by Rev. H. Pil- 
beam, an agent of the American Bible 
Society. His report showed that he 
traveled 776 miles and visited 503 fam- 
ilies, of whom 87 had no copies of the 



scriptures. He supplied 59 of them 
and left copies in many other homes. 
He distributed 338 volumes worth 
$129.99 by donating 115 volumes ($39.09) 
and selling the others for $90.90. He 
also received voluntary offerings from 
the people to the amount of $25.30. 
He left with the county society the 
balance of his supply, valued at $65.54, 
of which books to the value of $38.89 
were left in the care of A. W. Dart, 
custodian, for Fonda and vicinity. A 
supply was also left with C. M. Saylor 
at this time for the center of the 
county and the parent society can- 
celed a debt of $73.19 due from the 
county society. 

At the fourteenth anniversary held 
at Old Rolfe Aug. 20, 1882, Rev. John 
Hood, the state superintendent, was 
present and $42.00 were contributed 
for new books. The depository, in 
care of James Hatton, was transferred 
to the new town of Rolfe and A. W. 
Ireland presented the society with an 
upright showcase for keeping the 
books. 

In 1883, the parent society, through 
its state superintendent, made a prop- 
osition to donate as many more Bibles 
as the county society should pay for, 
for the purpose of replenishing the 
local supply of Bibles. As a result of 
this effort $60.00 were raised and the 
society received books to the amount 
of $120.00. Since that date a good sup- 
ply of books has been maintained in 
the depository. The total value of 
books received has been $756.96, for 
which there has been paid the parent 
society $494.03 and donated to it $22.22. 
There have been donated to Sunday 
Schools books to the value of $61.86, 
and the expenses paid have been $91.63. 
An auxiliary branch has been main- 
tained at Plover for several years and 
it is now in charge of Mrs. George N. 
Loughead. 

This County Bible Society is one of 
the oldest organizations in Pocahon- 
tas county and one of the most bene- 




WM. D. MCEWEN, ROLFE. 

CLERK OF THE COURT. 1867-72. COUNTY AUDITOR, 1869-73. 

COUNTY TREASURER, 1874-83, 1886-87. 




OSCAR I. STRONG, 1844-85. 



COUNTY SURVEYOR, 18 
COUNTY SUP'T, 



RECORDER. 187T-76 
3T4-7S ; 1860-81. 



GEO. W. HENDERSON, ROLFE. 

STATE SENATOR, 1394-96. 





C. F. GARRISON, ROLFE. 

PHOTOGRAPHER. 



C. P. LEITHEAD, ROLFE. 

UN DERTAKER, 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



505 



ticial in its influence and results. It 
merits the cordial and liberal support 
of all christian people. The annual 
membership fee is $1.00 and the annu- 
al meeting is held during the last 
week in February. 

BOLFE EGG PACKING HOUSE. 

In 1895 R. P. Brown, of Grand Junc- 
tion, one of the oldest and most skill- 
ful egg packers in this state, came to 
Rolfe, built a three story frame build- 
ing 26X100 feet and supplied it with 
the most approved appliances for 
packing eggs in pickle during the 
summer season. An ice house having 
a capacity of 900 tons was also erected 
and the business of packing eggs was 
inaugurated at Eolfe. This is the 
only establishment of this kind in 
Pocahontas or adjoining counties and 
the amount of business done surprises 
the visitor. Lucrative employment 
is given fifteen to thirty persons 
and forty to fifty carloads of eggs may 
be found in storage representing an 
annual investment of $50,000. The 
eggs are purchased when the price is 
low and they are immediately placed 
in pickle in the cellar, in large vats 
that hold 8000 dozen each. The pick- 
le is a compound that preserves them 
as fresh in appearance as on the day 
they were laid, aud they remain in 
it until the market promises a profit- 
able margin. They are then lifted 
from the vats, carried upstairs, wiped 
and cased for shipment. They are al- 
ways shipped in carload lots and usu- 
ally to New York City. 

By increasing the price paid for 
them when they are cheap, this es- 
tablishment has maintained a local 
demand for eggs that has attracted 
them to Rolfe, from the various towns 
along the two railroads centering 
there, to the Dakota and Minnesota 
lines. When an establishment of this 
sort can be maintained with profit, it 
is always a great benefit to the com- 
munity in which it is located. The 



founder of this establishment has 
been very free to say that one of the 
principal inducements that led to its 
location at Rolfe was the fact that, in 
connection with the excellent rail- 
road facilities afforded, his employes 
there would be free from the dissipa- 
ting influences of the open saloon. 

Whilst R. P. Brown has continued 
in charge of this establishment since 
it was founded, in later years he has 
had several of Rolfe's leading business 
men associated with him as proprie- 
tors. In June, 1898, and for one year 
thereafter, W. D. McEwen, A. O. 
Garlock and C. A. Grant became pro- 
prietors of it under the firm name of 
the Rolfe Egg Company. Since 
June, 1900, M. Crahan has been asso- 
ciated with Mr. Brown under the firm 
name of M. Crahan & Co. 

BOLFE TELEPHONE COMPANY. 

On Dec. 9, 1899, the Rolf e Telephone 
Company, with a capital of $10,000.00, 
was organized by the election of W. 
P. Wheeler, president; Ward Fergu- 
son, vice-president, and Charles E. 
Eraser, secretary and treasurer. The 
other directors were C. M. Webb and 
E. R. Ames. The other stockholders 
were J. B. Kent, M. Crahan, S. H. 
Kerr, C. A. Grant, W. W. Beam, M. 
D., A. W. Weible, George O. and V. 
Hauck, C. J. and Archie M. White, A. 
L. Wiewel, S. S. Reed, F. King and 
Fred A. Malcolm. On Jan. 29, 1900, 
the council made provision for the 
people to extend this company a 
franchise that includes the right to 
maintain a local telephone system in 
Rolfe for a period of twenty-five 
years. In June, 1900, eighty-five in- 
struments were located and the sys- 
tem was put in working order with 
the central office in the room over the 
drug store of G. W. Core. Miss Lulu 
E. Ransom and M. W. Coffin were ap- 
pointed operators for the day and 
night work respectively. The annual 
meeting of the stockholders is held 
onthe first Monday in April. 



506 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ROLFE ROLLER MILLS. 

In May, 1895, D. and Richard Fouch, 
of Manning, completed the erection 
of a three-story frame building 30x40 
feet with an engine room of brick 
30x24 feet, and established the Roller 
Mill near the Rock Island depot at 
Rolfe. It had three grinders, three 
stands of double rollers, one three- 
pair high feed mill, a capacity of fifty 
barrels of flour a day and cost $8,000.00. 
The good satisfaction afforded the 
public by the excellent quality of 
flour manufactured was from the first 
the harbinger of the subsequent suc- 
cess that has attended this enterprise. 
It has attracted farmers with their 
grain from far distant places and has 
materially aided in increasing the 
trade at Rolfe. 

On April 9, 1898, a fire, originating 
in the engine room, rendered most of 
the machinery useless, seriously in- 
jured the building and caused the loss 
of 700 bushels of wheat and a carload 
of flour. This loss was a heavy one to 
the proprietors, but they immediately 
repaired the building and supplied it 
with new machinery. In January, 
1900, Richard Fouch sold his interest 
to G. A. Patterson and moved to 
Perry. Since that date the firm of 
Fouch & Patterson has made some 
important improvements, rearranging 
the machinery so as to make flour ac- 
cording to the latest system and in- 
creasing the capacity to 75 barrels a 
day. The two leading brands of flour 
are called "Pocahontas" and "Ideal 
Patent." They also manufacture 
fine grades of Graham, rye and buck- 
wheat flour; also cornmeal and all 
kinds of feed. The quality of the 
flour is second to none on the local 
market and a demand for it is found 
not only in many towns and villages 
in Iowa, but also in Illinois, Minne- 
sota and the Dakotas. The liberal 
patronage accorded this manufact- 
uring enterprise has been well mer- 
ited. 



ROLFE NEWSPAPERS. 

Rolfe has had two newspapers— the 
Reporter and Argus— that have al- 
ready ended their careers, and two 
others — the Reveille and Tribune— 
that are still fulfilling' their: mission. 
The fact that only one-half of the 
newspapers startedlat Rolfe continue 
to be published, suggests that there 
may be more of sarcastic prony than 
truth in the following familiar lines: 

"A lawyer slept in an editor's bed, 
When no editor chanced to be nigh; 
And he said, when he rolled out of bed, 
'How easy these editors do lie.' " 

The Reporter, a local republican 
paper, established by E. W. Duke in 
1882, was the pioneer newspaper of 
Rolfe, and until the establishment of 
the Reveille in 1888, was the only one 
published in the town. On Oct. 15, 
1886, M. W. & P. O. Coffin became its 
editors and proprietors, and its publi- 
cation was discontinued May 8, 1890, 
when the outfit was purchased by 
James J. Bruce and added to the Rev- 
eille equipment. 

The Argus, a democratic paper, 
was established Feb. 3, 1891, by Law- 
rence J. Anderson, as a nine-column 
folio. In November, 1892, J. A. Faith 
bought it, but after four months left 
it in the hands of the mortgagees — 
M. Crahan, C. P. Leithead, Y. Hauck 
and A. B. Symes. M. Crahan then 
purchased the outfit and the paper 
was managed by Wm. Porter until 
April, 1894, when it was purchased by 
A. L. Schultz, who continued as its 
editor and proprietor until Dec. 1, 
1898, when its further publication 
was discontinued. The outfit was 
sold to S. E. Sage, of Sibley, the sub- 
scription list to J. H. Lighter, of 
Rolfe, and A. L. Schultz, moving to 
Pocahontas, established the Pocahon- 
tas Herald. 

THE REVEILLE. 

The Reveille, a republican paper, 
was established at Rolfe to meet its 
growing business demands, by James 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



507 



J. Bruce and Frank H. Plumb, July 12, 
1888, and they continued as co-editors 
and proprietors until May 1, 1890, 
when the latter sold his interest to 
the former. On Oct. 1st, 1890, J. H, 
Lighter became a half owner with J. 
J. Bruce and this partnership contin- 
ued until Jan. 1, 1894, when Marion 
Bruce, who had been a workman in 
the office from the time it was found- 
ed, bought his father's interest in it. 
On Sept. 1, 1895. A. B. Thornton 
bought the half interest of J. H. 
Lighter, and the partnership of 
Bruce & Thornton continued until 
Aug. 4, 1900, when A. R. Thornton 
became the sole owner of the paper 
and then sold a half interest in it to 
Lottie Thornton, his wife. Thornton 
& Thornton have been its editors and 
proprietors since that date. 

The office that was once supplied 
with only a handful of type and sec- 
ond-hand machinery, is now finely 
equipped. It has a full supply of 
modern type faces, pretty ornaments 
and borders for job work. The work- 
men employed have made the art of 
putting them together artistically a 
special study, and they take pains 
and pride in their work. The Coun- 
try Babcock press, purchased in Oc- 
tober, 1897, at a cost of $1,200, prints 
1300 impressions in an hour and does 
newspaper, book and job work in 
the neatest possible manner. The 
Reveille is well equipped for pro- 
moting the interests of Rolf e and Po- 
cahontas county and, during nearly 
every year since it was founded, it has 
been one of the official papers of the 
county. 

Its editors have issued two special 
Christmas editions, one on Dec. 16, 
1896, containing twenty pages filled 
with original stories of the pioneer 
days and large local advertisements, 
and the other an illustrated one of 
twelve pages, on Dec. 13, 1900, con- 
taining an account of some of the 
leading citizens and business inter- 



ests in the towns in the north part of 
this county, by Geo. W. Williams. 

Amid all the changes in the editori- 
al management of this paper, it has 
manifested a lofty aim by advocating 
the causes of education, morality and 
religion, the local prohibition of the 
liquor traffic and the local support of 
every worthy local enterprise. It has 
not aimed to please everybody, but to 
advocate certain approved principles, 
and it has frequently happened that 
those who have manifested a feeling 
of unfriendliness one day have be- 
come its friends the next. The aim 
of its present editors is to make the 
Reveille worthy of the continued con- 
fidence and support of the people of 
this county. 

THE ROLFE TRIBUNE. 

The Rolfe Tribune, a republican pa- 
per, was established March 1, 1898, by 
Joseph Henry Lighter, in response to 
an oft repeated request on the part of 
advertisers and others for a paper 
that would make their announce- 
ments and give the news twice a 
week. It is the first and only semi- 
weekly paper published in this county 
and it is issued on Tuesdays and Fri- 
days. It is devoted to the best inter- 
ests of the community, has already 
won its way to a favorable recognition 
on the part of the public and is now 
receiving a cordial and liberal patron- 
age. Among other things it has noted 
that Rolfe, hitherto a temperance 
town, has made more improve- 
ment during recent years than any 
town in Northwest Iowa having 
saloons. It has been free to stamp 
the saloon as a curse, because it ab- 
sorbs the earnings of a great number 
of persons who cannot then pay their 
just obligations to the merchants and 
other legitimate tradesmen. 

FIRST POSTOFFICES. 

The first postoffice in Clinton town- 
ship was established in 1876 at the 
home of William Matson on the SWi 
Sec. 16, on the route from Pocahontas 



508 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



to Old Rolfe. The name of the office 
was "Ben Lomond," and Wm. Matson 
continued to serve as postmaster until 
March 1, 1878, when the office was 
discontinued. Blooming Prairie post- 
office was maintained on the semi- 
weekly mail route from Pocahontas to 
Humboldt at the home of Sewell Van 
Alstine on section 25 from March 1878 
until the spring of 1882. 

The valuable quarries of building or 
limestone rock, opened on section 25, 
in 1881 by C. J. Carlson, and belonging 
to the Kinderhook beds,* and the 
county drainage district No. 1, on 
Crooked creek, t the south branch of 
Pilot creek, have already been de- 
scribed. 

According to the census of 1900, the 
population of Rolfe was 994, and, in- 
cluding its suburbs, 1,175. 

From Rolfe and vicinity there went 
forth to engage in the war with Spain 
in Cuba in 1898, the following volun- 
teers: 

Louie Peterson, enlisted April, 1898, 
Co. F, 49th Reg. 

John Everson, enlisted at Rock 
Rapids, June 24, Co. H, 52d Reg. 

Benjamin Everson, enlisted June 
24, Co. H, 52d Reg. 

Geo. W. Tremain, enlisted June 10, 
Co. G, 52d Reg. 

Edward R. Ashley, enlisted June 23, 
Co. G, 52d Reg. 

Andrew Denend, enlisted June 23, 
Co. G. 52d Reg. 

Mid Roberts, enlisted June 23, Co. 
G, 52 Reg. 

Homer Sanford, enlisted June 23, 
Co. G, 52d Reg. 

Louie Peterson became a corporal in 
July. Co. F, H and C were known as 
the Davenport, Sioux City and Web- 
ster City companies, respectively. On 
June 23d, when the last four left Rolfe, 
a farewell meeting was held at the 
depot and, after music by the band, 
an address was delivered by C. C. 
Delle, Esq. The 52d regiment, to 
which most of them belonged, was 

*Page 144. fPage 306. 



from Northwestern Iowa, was mus- 
tered in at Camp McKinley, Des 
Moines, May 25, 1898, and arrived at 
Camp Thomas, Chickamauga, May 31. 
It was assigned to the campaign in 
Porto Rico as a part of the third 
brigade, second division of the third 
army corps, but was returned to Des 
Moines August 30th, and the men 
from Rolfe were mustered out, Oct. 
30, 1898, after a service of four months 
in camp. 

The Northwestern Land Co., that 
platted the towns of Rolfe, Plover, 
Gilmore City, Clare, Mallard, Curlew, 
Ayrshire and Ruthven, consisted of 
J. J. Bruce, President; A. O. Garlock, 
Secretary; Wm. D. McEwen, Charles 
E. Whitehead, Geo. W. Ogilyie, C. N. 
Gilmore and B. F. Kauffman, and was 
organized in 1881. 

PIONEERS OF CLINTON TOW T NSHIP. 

In the account of the early settle- 
ment of the north part of this county, 
sketches have already been given of 
the following early settlers or resi- 
dents of Clinton township, namely, 
Oscar F. Avery, Ora Harvey, Wm. 
Jarvis, Augustus H. Malcolm, Wm. 
D. McEwen, Perry Nowlen and Robert 
Struthers. 

Beam Watson Wilna, M. D., (b. 
June 26, 1858,) Rolfe, is a native of 
Jones county, Iowa. After receiving 
a good common school education, and 
studying medicine with his father, 
Dr. Wm. O. Beam, he pursued a colle- 
giate course at Cornell College and 
graduated from the medical depart- 
ment of the Iowa State University. 
In the spring of 1881 he located tem- 
porarily in the old store building and 
Hotel de Telford at Old Rolfe, in an- 
ticipation of the coming of the first 
railroad in that part of the county. 
When the railroads came and the new 
town of Rolfe was founded, he secured 
a permanent location as the first resi- 
dent physician of that town. His of- 
fice is now located in a fine suite of 
rooms in the east end of the State 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



509 



Savings Bank, and its equipment in 
3ludes a complete set of surgical in- 
struments and a valuable medical li- 
brary. He owns a fine home in Rolfe 
and an improyed farm of 160 acres in 
that vicinity. 

He is one of the pioneer physicians 
in tnis county and the period of his 
professional career at Rolfe is longer 
than that of any other business man 
in the town. His skill as a physician, 
public spirit as a citizen and long resi- 
dence in the community have caused 
him to be widely and favorably known. 
He has taken an active part in both 
local and county politics, but has nev- 
er been an aspirant for political hon- 
ors, although he has served as a mem- 
ber of the Rolfe school board during 
the past four years and as president of 
it in 1900. His ambition has been to 
rise in his profession and, in this re 
spect, he has succeeded admirably. 
He has been the surgeon for the C. & 
N. W., and O, R. I. & P. railways for 
a number of years. 

On May 12, 1886, he married Emma 
Brown, at Rolfe, and his family con- 
sists of two daughters , Hazel and 
Wilna Winnifred. 

Beam C. H., druggist, has been a 
•resident of Rolfe since 1885. In 1890, 
after teaching school a few years, he 
entered the employ of Geo. W. Core, 
as a pharmacist. Later he was pro- 
prietor of a drugstore at Plover and, 
since 1895, of one at Rolfe. He has a 
talent for business and is achieving 
well-merited success. 

Bruce James Jeremiah, (b. Nov. 6, 
1843,) resident of Rolfe, is a native of 
Oswego, N. Y., the son of Thomas 
and Mary Bruce. His parents, who 
were of Scotch-Irish descent, emi- 
grated from the north of Ireland to 
Oswego in 1842, and soon afterward 
located in Hastings (then called Sim- 
coe) county, Ontario, where his moth- 
er died Aug. 15, 1845. After the death 
of his mother he was taken care of in 
V^e hornets of otber people. At rmir 



he entered the public school and at 
sixteen received a second-grade teach- 
ers' certificate. At eighteen he 
taught his first term of school, and 
then taking a three months' Normal 
course, taught the same school in 
Simcoe county during the next three 
years. He then commenced a term of 
school in the adjoining district, but 
at the end of one week— Jan. 10, 1866 — 
the school house was burned. This 
occurrence was attributed to a preju- 
dice developed by his unfavorable 
criticism in the public press of the 
drunkenness that appeared at the 
celebration of the Orangemen, July 
12th, previous. He relinquished his 
contract and on March 16th, 1866, 
started for Chicago, stopping at 
Toronto a few days to visit some 
schoolmates on the way. He carried 
with him a first-grade teachers' cer- 
tificate issued by the board of educa- 
tion of Simcoe county, that was good 
for three years, and attested his good 
moral character and excellent literary 
attainments. At Chicago he con- 
cluded to go west in the hope he 
might locate in a community where 
there were no Irish people. He 
passed by rail to Ackley and thence 
by stage to Iowa Falls, where he met 
several Canadians who wished to lo- 
cate in Pocahontas county. In com- 
pany with David Wallace he carried 
his luggage andfwalked from Iowa 
Falls to section 8, Lizard township, a 
distance of 77 miles, selecting a home- 
stead and fording the Des Moines 
river at Fort Dodge. He was sur- 
prised to find his new location was in 
another Irish settlement, and where 
there were even personsj who knew 
his parents when they lived at Mona- 
gan City, Ireland. 

At the time of his arrival in Lizard 
there were only four school houses in 
Pocahontas county, namely, in the 
Robert Struthers and (Old) Rolfe dis- 
tricts, Re§ Moines township, arid, in 
\^(\ Caliigap, and W^lsh" 'districts in 



510 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Lizard township. On Aug. 20, 1866, 
he was examined and received a teach- 
ers' certificate at Old Rolfe from W. 
D. McEwen, county superintendent, 
and in 1867 taught the summer and 
winter terms in the Walsh district. 
In the fall of 1867, he was elected 
county superintendent and also coun- 
ty supervisor from the Lizard district. 

On March 4, 1867, he married Mary 
J. Price, one of the pupils in his first 
school in Lizard township. In the 
fall of 1869, he was elected county 
treasurer and moved to Old Rolfe 
where, on Jan. 1, 1875, he and W. D. 
McEwen established a store. In 1881 
he became president of the North- 
western Land Co., and on Feb. 14, 
1882, was admitted to the bar by 
Judge Edward R. Duffle, at Pocahon- 
tas. In 1882 he erected the building 
known later as the Tremain Hotel, 
and became oneof the first residents 
of the new town of Rolfe, where for a 
few years he engaged in the mercan- 
tile business. 

He took a leading part in the first 
newspaper enterprise and was identi- 
fied with the public press of the 
county a number of years afterward. 

On June 14, 1869, he rode to Fort 
Dodge with Dennis Mulholland, of 
Lizard, and on the next day arranged 
with B. F. Gue to print the Pocahon- 
tas Journal for one year for $450 00. 
On the next day, June 16, 1869, W. D. 
McEwen, the other editor, arrived 
and the first issue of the Pocahontas 
Journal was printed and placed in 
their hands for distribution. The 
second issue of this paper was re- 
ceived in Lizard township July 25, 
1869, and the subsequent issues were 
printed as regularly as the mails 
could carry copy to the printer and re- 
turn the printed sheets for folding 
and distribution. This was the offi- 
cial paper of the county during 1869, 
1870 and 1871.* He was a regular con- 
tributor to the columns of the Poca- 

*See page 144. 



hontas Times for several years after 
its removal to Fonda and took the 
lead in establishing and maintaining 
the Rolfe Reveille from July 12, 1888, 
to Jan. 1, 1894.t 

His public career in this county cov- 
ers a period of thirty years and began 
Oct. 8, 1867, when he served as a clerk 
at the general election in Lizard 
township. On that clay he was elect- 
ed to three public offices, namely, jus- 
tice of the peace and county supervisor 
from Lizard township, which then 
embraced nearly the south half of the 
county, and superintendent of the 
public schools of the county. As a 
resident of Lizard township he served 
as justice of the peace in 1868, as 
county supervisor in 1868-69, county 
superintendent 1868-69, and county 
treasurer four years at Old Rolfe in 
1870-73. As a resident of Clinton town- 
ship he served as the first mayor of 
Rolfe in 1884, president of the Rolfe 
school board in 1891-92, justice of the 
peace in 1891-92, representative of the 
78th district, which included Poca- 
hontas and Calhoun counties, in 1886- 
87, and county supervisor nine years, 
1880-85, '95-97. He was president of 
the board of supervisors five of the 
eleven years he was a member of it. 

In the various offices to which he 
was called he rendered the people of 
this county a faithful and efficient 
service. None ever questioned his 
ability or his integrity of purpose, 
and no one was either better ac- 
quainted with the county's affairs or 
endeavored to promote them more un- 
selfishly than he. 

On May 15, 1897, he had a tumor 
the size of a man's hand, removed 
from the back of his head, that began 
to appear soon after his recovery from 
typhoid fever in 1882. A few months 
later he retired from business and pol- 
itics and now devotes his attention to 
the cultivation of his farm on which 
he lives at Rolfe. 

tSee page 306, 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



511 



In 1857, at the age of fourteen, he 
united with the Wesleyan M. E. 
church, Canada. In 1876 he became 
an elder in the Unity and later in its 
successor, the Second Presbyterian 
church of Eolfe. In 1883 he united 
with the M. E. church of that place. 
He has been a life-long advocate of 
the cause of prohibition and has taken 
a leading part in promoting that 
cause in this county. 

His family consists of nine children, 
one having died in childhood. 

1— William Ulysses Bruce married 
Belle Fisk, lives in Omaha and has a 
family of two children. 

2— Marion Bruce married Gussie 
Wilcox, lives in Rolfe and has one 
child. He became a workman in the 
Reveille office at the time it was es- 
tablished and owned a half-interest 
in it from Jan. 1, 1894 to Aug. 4, 1900. 
He was recorder of Rolfe '95-96 and 
has been postmaster since July 1, 1897. 

3 — George Washington Bruce mar- 
ried Ella Wallace, lives at Rolfe and 
has four children. 

4 — Robert Bruce in 1897 graduated 
from the law department of the Iowa 
State University and is now practic- 
ing law at Rolfe. On Oct. 11, 1899 he 
married Carrie Ritchey of Des Moines 
township. 

5 — James Bruce graduated from the 
law department of the Iowa State 
University in 1898, was engaged in a 
law office in Denver a few months 
and since Jan. 1, 1900 has been book- 
keeper for the Pocahontas Savings 
Bank at Pocahontas. 

6 — John E. Bruce in 1899 married 
Anna Miller, has one child and lives 
in Des Moines township. 

Bertha Belle, Edward E. and Har- 
old are still at home. 

Campbell Will E., (b. 1858) of Gil- 
more City, is a native of Crete, Will 
Co., 111., the adopted son of John F. 
and Emily S. (Hewes) Campbell of 
Manteno, 111. In the spring of 1883, 
he came to Pocahontas county, pur- 



chased and improved the Ei Sec. 15, 
Lake township, and directed his at- 
tention to raising draft horses of the 
English Shire and Norman varieties. 
Three years later he bought the SEi 
Sec. 36, (160 acres) Clinton township, 
adjoining Gilmore City, improved and 
arranged this farm for raising stock 
and still lives upon it. He also owns 
305 acres on Sec. 26, adjoining, that 
were bequeathed to him by his father, 
who died Feb. 26, 1896, at his home in 
Illinois. 

Perhaps no one has done more to 
promote the draft horse industry in 
Pocahontas county than Will E. 
Campbell, of Gilmore City, since he 
was one of the first to introduce the 
Percheron breed in this section. In 
the fall of 1889 he made a trip to 
France and imported direct to this 
county three fine Percheron stallions. 

On March 25, 1886, he married Mary 
H. Bain, of Peotone, 111., and has a 
family of three children— Mildred, 
Gladys and Bernice. 

He is an elder in the Presbyterian 
church of Gilmore City, and has been 
a trustee since its organization in 1888. 
His estimable wife has always been a 
faithful worker in this church, serv- 
ing-as its first treasurer, president of 
its aid society two years and as its or- 
ganist nearly all the time. 

Carroll James Andrew, (b. Feb., 
1852,) who has been identified with 
the mercantile interests of Fonda and 
Rolfe. since 1884, is a native of Macon, 
Georgia, the son of Patrick H. and 
Frances K. (Tucker) Carroll. In 1867 
he moved with his parents to Jackson 
county, Iowa, where in 1870, he mar- 
ried Anna Mary Daly, a native of that 
place, and located on a farm. He re- 
mained there until 1880, when he 
moved to Clinton county, and found 
employment in a general store. In 
1884 he moved to Fonda, two years la- 
ter to a farm in Dover township, then 
successively to Rolfe, Fonda and In- 
cline where, for two years, he had 



512 PIONEEB HISTOBY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



charge of a general store. In 1900 he 
returned to Eolfe, where he and his 
son James are employed in the de- 
partment store of M. Crahan. His 
brother, P. J. Carroll, was the first 
resident priest of the Dover and Fon- 
da Catholic churches in 1882-87. 

His family has consisted of nine 
children of whom Anna died at the 
age of sixteen and Francis at four. 

1— Zachary Taylor (b. Dec. 4, 1871) 
in 1899 married Mina Negus, of Des 
Moines, and lives at Eolfe. 

2— Patrick Henry (b. Feb. 22, 1874,) 
in May, 1898, enlisted in Co. Iv, 1st 
Eeg. S. D. infantry at Madison and 
rendered military service in the Phil- 
ippines until October, 1899, when he 
was honorably discharged as a ser 
geant. During a portion of his time 
he was a messenger for Brig. Gen. H. 
G. Otis, at the arsenal at Cavite, and 
he was accorded a public reception in 
McKee's hall, Oct. 27, 1899, on his re- 
turn to Fonda. He is now located in 
South Dakota. 

3— Emma Theresa on May 18, 1897, 
married Charles F. Linnan and lives 
in Fonda, where he is engaged in the 
real estate business. 

James Michael, Emmet Eobert, 
Ella and Eegina are at home. 

Charlton Jesse, (b. July 2, 1818,) 
was a native of Butler county, Ohio. 
In March, 1850, he married Sarah Ann 
Brenton, (b. Ind., Jan. 20, 1828.) In 
1857 he moved from Butler county. 
Ohio, to Davis county, Iowa; in 1863 
to Dallas county, where his wife died 
in 1868; and in 1883 to section 11, Cen- 
ter township, Pocahontas county. 
His family consisted of nine children, 
of whom William, Hettie and an in- 
fant died early in life, and Eebecca 
Jane, wife of James H. Campbell, died 
at Eolfe April 10, 1896, Martha Eliz- 
abeth in 1889 married William Callon 
and lives in Center township. Mary 
Ann (Maulsby Hives at Earlham, Iowa; 
James Henry at Eolfe: Ida n Bel} 

*See page 463, 



(Loughead) at Plover, and Charles Al- 
vin at Pocahontas. 

©harlton James Henry, (b. June 
24, 1856,) is a native of Butler county, 
Ohio, accompanied his parents (Jesse 
and Margaret) to Davis and Dallas 
counties, Iowa, and in 1882 purchased 
eighty acres and prepared a home on 
section 11, Center township, for his 
father and family who arrived the 
next spring. In the fall of 1889, he 
located at Eolfe. In September, 1891, 
he married Franc Lenore, daughter of 
Dr. Wm. Otterbein and Esther Ann 
(Stewart) Beam and a native of Linn 
county. In the spring of 1895 he 
moved to the old home on the farm in 
Center township, but in the fall of 
1899 returned to Eolfe. He was for 
several years the manager of the 
Shannon ranch in Center township. 
He is now vice-president of the First 
National Bank of Eolfe and owner of 
ten improved stock farms* in that vi- 
cinity that contain 3,060 acres and on 
which he has put about fifty miles of 
tiling. His family consists of four 
children — Lucile Beam, Shannon B., 
Frank B. and Clyde B. 

Chariton Charles Alvin, (b. March 
17, 1865) is a native of Dallas county, 
Iowa, the son of Jesse and Sarah 
Charlton. In the. fall of 1882, he lo- 
cated with his brother on a farm in 
Center township. In the fall of 1893 
he was elected treasurer of Pocahon- 
tas county and being twice re-elected, 
served in that capacity six years, 1894- 
99. In 1895 he married Minnie, daugh- 
ter of Henry and Mary Jarvis, of 
Eolfe. He lives at Pocahontas and 
owns 502 acres of land in that vicinity. 

©lason Joseph, one of the early 
pioneers of Pocahontas county, in the 
spring of 1863, located on a farm of 80 
acres on section 1, Clinton township, 
with a family consisting of his wife 
(Eebecca Kinyon) and ten children. 
Upon an unbroken prairie, covered 
with tall grass and inhabited by mos- 
quitoes, he built a log house ai^cl oc-« 




M. CRAHAN AND FAMILY 




CRAHAN STORE BLOCK. Rolfe. 



— — — 



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CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



513 



cupied it until June, 1874, when lie 
sold the farm and moved to Kansas. 
He died in 1880 and his wife in 1888. 
In Clinton township he served as a 
trustee, 1865-71; as the first president 
of the school board, '69 70; as justice 
of the peace, '71-73. 

Ann Clason, his eldest daughter, in 
1864 married Richard Chatfield and 
located in Wisconsin, where she died 
Sept. 26, 1884, leaving a family of six 
children, of whom Dora married James 
Thompson and located in southern 
Iowa; Rose married Wm. Blain and 
located in Kansas; George entered the 
regular army; Edward located in Liz- 
ard township; Cora and Alfred are at 
home. 

Sarah Clason on Dec. 25, 1869, mar- 
ried Geo. W. Heald. (See Heald). 
The wedding occurred at her father's 
home and was the first one in the 
township. 

Mary Clason on March 30, 1872, mar- 
ried Carl. John Carlson, who for a 
number of years was proprietor of the 
quarries on section 25, and later lo- 
cated on a farm near Havelock. Their 
family consists of eight children — 
Carl J., Florence R., EmmaH., Wor- 
den J., Minnie M., James A., William 
A. and Wilfred Bert. 

Gore George Wellington, (b. Dec. 
15, 1859) druggist, Rolfe, is a native of 
Marion county, received his educa- 
tion in the public school and learned 
the drug trade as an apprentice with 
his uncle. In the spring of 1882 he 
opened a drug store in Rolfe and has 
maintained it ever since. On Dec. 26, 
1882, he married Birdie Bedell, of Ma- 
rion county, and has one child, George 
Clinton. In the fall of 1895 he was 
the nominee of the democratic party 
ip this district for representative and 
lacked only a few votes of election. 

erahan (b. July 12, 1858,) general 
merchant at Rolfe, is a native of Man* 
Chester, Delaware county, Iowa, the 
^on of Patrick and Margaret (Mc« 
Mahon) Crarian, In TO he mover] 



with his parents to Lizard township, 
Pocahontas county. At the age of 
eighteen he began to teach school, 
and at twenty-two, in the fall of 1880, 
was elected and served two years as 
recorder of this county. On Jan. 10, 
1883, he married Mary J. McSweeney, 
of Fayette county, and located at Fon- 
da, where as a general merchant and 
manager of the Fonda creamery, he 
became the successor of Geo. L. Brow- 
er. In 1886 he relinquished his inter- 
ests at Fonda to John R. Welsh and a 
few months later established a small 




GEO. W. CORE, ROLFE. 



general store in the FirstNationalbank 
building at Rolfe. In 1888 he and J. 
J. McGrath erected a two-story brick 
block, (44x100 feet) the first one in 
Rolfe, and later increased it to 100x100 
feet. He is now the sole owner of 
this building and proprietor of the 
large department store conducted in 
it. The arrangement of this store is 
very convenient, and the variety of 
its large and constantly changing 
stock of goods is suited to meet every 
want and their quality every taste. 
Eight to ten persons are constantly 
employed and gogd,§ ^ delivered, ft?* 



514 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



to all purchasers residing in the city. 
He has achieved a remarkable degree 
of success as a merchant, and the se- 
cret of it may be attributed to his 
personal knowledge and oversight of 
all the details of the business and his 
superior facilities both for making 
purchases to good advantage and 
many sales at a small profit. He al- 
ways keeps his promises and never ad- 
vertises what he does not have. 

He has a controlling interest in the 
Rolfe egg packing house, does consid- 
erable business in land and lives in 
one of the largest and finest houses in 
the county. He has served seven 
years as a member of the Rolfe town 
council, was president of the Rolfe 
school board in 1898-99, and mayor of 
that city in 1899-1900. He has always 
voted the democratic ticket and is a 
member of the Catholic church. 

His family consists of eight chil- 
dren — Maggie, Mamie, Nellie, Nora, 
Edward Leo, Esther G., William C. 
and Grace Irene. 

Duty George H. Rev., (b. Aug. 13, 
1849,) pastor of the Presbyterian 
church, Rolfe, May 1, 1887, to Oct. 1, 
1890,* was a native of Clark county, 
Mo., where he was brought up on a 
farm. After attending the public 
school until he was seventeen he spent 
two years in an academy and four in 
Westminster College, Mo. He was li- 
censed to preach in 1873 and in Sept., 
1877, was ordained to the full work of 
the gospel ministry by the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian church. Since his 
transfer to the ministry of the Pres- 
byterian church he has served Rolfe, 
West Bend and Leeds in Iowa; Boli- 
var, Joplin and Ironton in Missouri. 
He is now located at Bonaparte, Iowa, 
and is planning the erection of a large 
church building. 

On Oct. 5, 1880, he married Isadore 
Ellis, and of his family of three chil- 
dren, Grace and Ethel are still living. 

England Llewellyn Edward, (b. 

*Page 499. 



May 11, 1858,) is a native of Iowa City, 
the son of Thomas and Margiana 
(Nightingale) England. On May 16, 
1881, while keeping a shoe store at 
West Dayton, he married Ida M. 
Rugg, of Grand Junction. In 1882, he 
moved to Grand Junction and, during 
the next four years, was engaged in 
the drug business. In Oct , 1885, he 
established a drug store in a small 
building in which for a while he also 
lived at Gilmore City. In 1889 he 
erected and began to occupy as a 
druggist the two-story brick building, 
in the rear of which his law office is 
now located. In 1895 he entered the 
law department of Drake University, 
graduated in 1896, and in January, 
1897, was admitted to the practice of 
law by the supreme court of Iowa. 
Since that date he has been devoting 
his time and attention to the practice 
of law in this county. He is the own- 
er of a good residence and several 
other properties in Gilmore City. 

During the period of, his business 
career, by his honesty and integ- 
rity, he won the confidence and es- 
teem of the people among whom he 
lives. In the fall of 1898, when he 
was not a candidate, he was accorded 
the nomination for county attorney 
at the democratic convention in this 
county. He is guided by strong and 
intelligent convictions that lead him 
to take the side of good morals in all 
local issues. He is recognized as a 
man of ability and noble aspirations, 
a logical thinker and a forcible public 
speaker. 

His family consists of two children, 
Bessie and Max. His amiable wife 
was chosen one of the trustees of the 
Presbyterian church of Gilmore City, 
when it was organized in 1888, and 
has continued since that date one of 
its most faithful and efficient workers. 

Ferguson Duncan, (b. July 4, 1837,) 
merchant at Rolfe, is a native of 
Andes, Delaware county, N. Y. He 
was brought up on a farm and re- 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



515 



ceived a good education in the public 
schools and academy of that place. 
At the age of twenty he began to en- 
gage in mercantile pursuits by serving 
an apprenticeship of ten years in a 
store in New York. In 1866 he mar- 
ried Margaret Agnes Richmond. 
Three years later he came to Iowa 
and located at Clarence, Cedar county, 
where for six years he was engaged in 
the mercantile business. In 1875 he 
located at Oxford Junction and re- 
mained there seventeen years. In 
1892 he became one of the general mer- 
chants in Rolfe, his son, Ward Fergu- 
son, being associated with him under 
the firm name of D. Ferguson & Son. 

The enlargement of the business 
represented by this firm has kept pace 
with the growth of the community 
and the demands of the times. In ev- 
ery city or town there are certain 
firms that are regarded as leaders in 
their respective lines of business and 
their influence commands the respect 
and admiration of their cotemporaries. 
This firm is among the number of 
those that have been accorded this 
distinction at Eolf e. In this rushing 
age of rife local competition and cos- 
mopolitan stores, the conditions under 
which a drygoods business may be suc- 
cessfully and prosperously conducted 
require a special genius for it, untir- 
ing energy, unceasing vigilance in 
noting prevailing styles, a sagacity 
that can unerringly anticipate the fu- 
ture needs of patrons by judiciously 
selecting appropriate goods of stand- 
ard value, and the ability to purchase 
them advantageously. These require- 
ments have been so happily met by 
this firm in the management of its 
business, that the visitor is delighted 
at what he sees and the purchaser 
with what he buys. 

Mr. Ferguson is the owner of a beau- 
tiful home in Rolfe and several tine 
farms in Iowa and Minnesota. He 
has been a member of the M. E. 
church since he was twenty-six years 



of age and a life-long republican, cast- 
ing his first vote for Abraham Lin- 
coln. His family consists of two chil- 
dren, Ward and Agnes. 

1— Ward Ferguson, (b. Feb. 5, 1867,) 
after completing a high school course, 
spent three years, 1886-89, in Cornell 
College. He became a partner with 
his father in the mercantile business 
in the spring of 1891 at Oxford Junc- 
tion and in December following moved 
with him to Rolfe. On Oct. 24, 1893, 
he married Jennie M. Bell, of Hamp- 
ton, and has one daughter, Margaret 
Bell. He lives in a handsome cottage 
and has one of the largest private li- 
braries in Rolfe. He is secretary and 
treasurer of the Rolfe Telephone com- 
pany and was a member of the city 
council in 1900-1901. 

2— Agnes Ferguson, after graduating 
at Cornell College in 1894, took a post- 
graduate course of one year for the 
special study of the German language 
and then taught it two years in the 
University at Fort Worth, Texas. 
Since Sept. 1, 1900, she has been gen- 
eral secretary of the Y. W. C. A. of 
Omaha, Neb. 

Fish Romeyn B., (b. April 18, 1847,) 
dealer in musical instruments, Rolfe, 
is one of the early pioneers of Poca- 
hontas county, having located at Old 
Rolfe June 7, 1866. He is a native of 
Rensselaerville, N. Y., the son of 
Ethridge M. and Laura Ann Fish. 

On April 11, 1864, at eighteen, he 
entered the naval service of the Unit- 
States as a landsman and was assigned 
a position on the steamer Mendota, of 
the North Atlantic blockading squad- 
ron, James River division. 

When the army of the James ad- 
vanced on Petersburg, May 5-6, 1864, 
the Menclota proceeded up the James 
river above Aiken's Landing and on 
May 7-16th assisted in the removal of 
the torpedoes in that vicinity, at 
Deep Bottom and Dutch Gap. On 
May 16-17th it was under the fire of 
the batteries at Chapin's Bluff and 



516 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the next day it opened fire on work- 
ing parties at Trout's Neck. On May 
22d it opened fire on the batteries 
near the Howlett Home. From that 
date until April 1, 1865, it was sta- 
tioned near the barricades at Deep 
Bottom, and participated in the ope- 
rations against the rebel gunboats, 
iron-clads and the Howlett Home bat- 
tery on June 21st; against the batter- 
ies at Four Mile creek, June 30-July 1; 
at Tilghman's Gate, July 16; at Deep 
Bottom and Strawberry Plains, July 
27-29; protected working parties at 
Dutch Gap, Aug. 10-14, and the forces 
moving from Dutch Gap to Deep Bot- 
tom, Aug. 15-18. It participated in 
all the operations of Graham's Naval 
brigade in the James and Appomattox 
rivers during the siege that resulted 
in the capture of Petersburg and Rich- 
mond, April 2-8, 1865. On July 28th, 
Maj-Gen. Hancock complimented the 
men on board this vessel for their ef- 
fective work that day as follows: 
"The fire from the gunboat, Mendo- 
ta, was very effective, nearly every 
shell alighting in the enemy's works." 

On July 16, 1864, Mr. Fish received 
an injury in the right eye, by the ex- 
plosion of a shell from a masked bat- 
tery of the enemy, while serving as a 
sharpshooter near Four-Mile creek, 
Virginia. On Dec. 20, 1864, he was 
assigned service on a schooner that 
transported coal to the fleet off Fort 
Fisher, North Carolina. Afterward 
he was transferred to the steamer, 
Montgomery, and on Jan. 12-15, 1865, 
participated in the capture of Fort 
Fisher and the other defences of Cape 
Fear river in that vicinity. He was 
then returned to the Mendota on the 
James river, and was honorably dis- 
charged at Norfolk, Ya., July 18, 1865. 

After the war he decided to locate 
in the west, and traveling by rail to 
Boone, thence by stage to Fort Dodge, 
he arrived in Des Moines township in 
June, 1866. He secured and improved 
g hompstead on section 2s, j|g ]]{!£ 



been engaged in the sale of pianos, or- 
gans and sewing machines since the 
year 1881. As a representative of Des 
Moines township he was a member of 
the board of county supervisors in 
1872 and '73. 

On Dec. 29, 1866, he married Ann, 
daughter of David Slosson, and his 
family has consisted of six children, 
three of whom died in childhood. 

1 — Laura R., in 1888 married Wm. 
J. Fraser, lives at Mt. Yernon, Skagit 
county, Wash., and has a family of 
eight children. 

2— Elvira G., in 1894 married Frank 
Murray, who died at Rolfe May 19, 
1898. She then moved to Skagit coun- 
ty, Wash., where on Oct. 18, 1899, she 
married Jasper Parker and still lives. 

3— Burt Fish (b. 1876) lives at La- 
conner, Washington. 

Grant Cyprian Adelbert, (b. Dec. 
18, 1841,) banker and lumber dealer at 
Rolfe, is a native of Bradford county, 
Pa., the son of Josiah Nelson and Ju- 
lia (Taylor) Grant. He was the old- 
est son in the family and in the spring 
of 1843, in his second year, moved 
with his parents to Carroll county, 111. 
This long journey to the "far west" 
was made in a prairie schooner, the 
most familiar mode of travel in those 
days, and the place where they lo- 
cated was then only sparsely settled. 
Here the family experienced all the 
vicissitudes and privations of pioneer 
life for seventeen years. During this 
period the home of his father was a 
conspicuous landmark to the scattered 
population of that new country and 
his hospitality was known far and 
wide. As a result of the hard times 
that prevailed previous to the war,, 
and the dishonesty of a money shark, 
this home was lost. 

On May 3, 1860, having two yokes of 
oxen, a wagon, a few personal effects, 
$125 and a family consisting of his 
wife and seven children, his father 
started for t^e. southwest to begin 
anewtlioViiUt^ n? li<Y ; v Re mmA 




C. A. GRAN T 
Lumber Dealer and Cashier. 





r 



MRS. C. A. GRANT 



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~* X^ 





D. FERGUSON 
General Merchant. 



R. P. BROWN 
Egg-Packer. 



ROLFE, 




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CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



517 



the state of Missouri, the northwest- 
ern part of Arkansas and the north- 
eastern part of Indian Territory, but 
finding no favorable location, turned 
northward and arrived at Webster 
City, Iowa, in November following. 
In 1862 he located more permanently 
in Marshall county. Here C. A., be- 
ing the oldest of the children, was 
called upon at an early age to assist 
in the effort to secure a home for the 
family. He did this manfully by 
breaking prairie, running a threshing 
machine and by engaging in other 
available employment. As soon as he 
was able he purchased eighty acres of 
land. He helped to cut the trees for 
the sawed lumber in the house that 
was then built of natural timber. 

On Dec. 12, 1871, he married Arvilla 
V. Terrill, a native of Crawford coun- 
ty, Pa., whose parents, John and Hel- 
en Terrill, now reside at Pomeroy, 
where they experienced the disastrous 
cyclone of 1893. In the spring of 1875 
he deeded this his first home to his 
parents and moved to Carroll county, 
where he undertook to establish an- 
other home of his own. The house he 
erected here was the fourth one in 
Warren township, a fact that suggests 
a renewal of the usual routine of pio- 
neer life. His wife taught school dur- 
ing the period of hard work aud rigid 
economy that ensued. 

In 1881 two railroads were built 
through that township and the town 
of Manning was founded two miles 
south of his home. The next year he 
moved to Sheldon, where he invested 
his capital in the cheap lands of 
the Northwest and found employ- 
ment in the hardware business. 

In 1886, forming a partnership with 
Wm. D. McEwen and A. O. Garlock, 
he as cashier started the Exchange 
Bank at Eolfe, which, Jan. 1, 1893, 
was incorporated as the State Savings 
Bank.* He continued as cashier of 
this bank until June 1, 1900, and still 

*See page 495. 



retains his interest in it, but gives 
his special attention to the lumber 
and coal business at Rolfe, in which 
since 1891 his son, JohnT., has been 
associated with him as a partner un- 
der the name of C. A. Grant & Son. 
This lumber yard, covering one acre 
and a quarter near the Rock Island 
depot,is the largest one in this county 
and is well stocked with every kind of 
building material, including supplies 
of coal, brick and tile. He is also the 
owner of a farm of 80 acres in Clinton 
township and 320 acres iu Davison 
county, S. D. 

He has always been a total abstain- 
er, a steadfast republican and a prom- 
inent co-operator in every worthy 
movement to promote the public wel- 
fare of his adopted city. His noble 
wife, by her unselfish endeavors to 
promote the happiness and welfare 
not only of her own family, but of rel- 
atives and friends, has won the affec- 
tion of those who know her; both fill 
an important place in the esteem of 
the people of Rolf e. 

His father died at Manning in Au- 
gust, 1881, and his mother at Cole- 
ridge, Neb., in 1892. His family con- 
sists of three children: 

1— John T. (b. Feb. 11, 1873,) the 
junior member of the firm of C. A. 
Grant & Son, is a native of Marshall 
county. On June 26, 1895, he married 
Elizabeth C. Montgomery, of O'Brien 
county. He has been a resident of 
Rolfe since 1886, and has one child, 
Forest Ellsworth. He has been an 
active promoter of the Sunday School 
and temperance causes from his early 
youth, and a deacon in the Presbyter- 
ian church several years. 

Nellie S , a graduate of the Rolfe 
high school in 1897 , and Florence M. 
are at home. 

Hammond Edward P., (b, Feb. 11, 
1823) located in the Des Moines settle- 
ment, but across the line in Humboldt 
county in the spring of 1857. In 1859 



518 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



be moved to section 1, Clinton town- 
ship, where he became the owner of 
186 acres. He continued to occupy 
this farm until 1887, when he moved 
to Rolfe and engaged in the livery 
business until he died, two years later 
Oct. 10, 1889. 

The first officers for Clinton town- 
ship were elected in his pioneer home 
Nov. 6, 1860. On this occasion he 
served as one of the judges, and nine 
persons voted. At this first election 
he was chosen road supervisor and a 
trustee of the township. He served 
as one of the first trustees four years, 
1861-64, and as assessor two years, 1862- 
63. He was clerk of the court of Po- 
cahontas county in 1861, sheriff in 
1864 and coroner four years, 1864-67. 
He was depositary and treasurer of 
the Pocahontas County Bible Society 
at Old Rolfe three years, 1867-69. 

He was a native of Caldwell county, 
N. Y., where he married Mary Ham- 
mond, (b. 1823) Nov. 2, 1843. He re- 
sided a few years in Warren county, 
N. Y., before coming west. His fam- 
ily consisted of two children, of whom 
one died in childhood. His daughter, 
Anna Jane, married Edward Tilley, 
(see Tilley) lives at Havelock and her 
mother lives with her. 

Heald John Averill, (b. Jan. 17, 
1816) one of the early pioneers of Des 
Moines township, was a native of 
Granville, Washington oounty, N. Y. 
His mother was a descendant of the 
seventh generation of an ancestor 
that landed at Plymouth at the time 
of the arrival of the Mayflower. Dec. 
3, 1841, he married Aurilla Underwood 
(b. Vt., March 5, 1819,) and located on 
a farm. In 1856 he moved to Sterling, 
Whiteside county, 111., and remained 
there until June, 1866, when, with a 
family of four children, George W., 
Laura, Mary and Lucia, three of 
whom were married, he located on 
section 36, Des Moines township, this 
county. During their later years he 
and his wife lived with their son 



George W., in Clinton township, where 
he died Oct. 22, 1899, and his wife, 
Oct. 1, 1900. 

He was a hard worker and gave as 
his reason the old adage, "It is better 
to wear than to rust out." He en- 
dured many hardships and privations 
during the early settlement of this 
county. Sometimes when he had 
wheat he could not get it ground. At 
other times the corn in the crib would 
be prepared for food by shaving it 
from the cob with a carpenter's plane 
or if soft in the field, by pulverizing 
it with a grate made by puncturing 
the bottom of a tin pan. He adopted 
the religious views of the Friends in 
early life and proved himself a faith- 
ful friend and an honest man. 

His familv consisted of four chil- 
dren: 

1 — George W. Heald, on Dec 25, 
1869, married Sarah Clason, and lo- 
cated on section 10, Clinton township, 
where he still resides. He is the own- 
er of a finely improved farm of 250 
acres on which he built a large barn 
in 1900, and there is still growing on 
it a large grove of natural timber 
along Pilot creek. His family con- 
sists of five children: (1) Olive mar- 
ried Sanford Snodgrass, owner and 
occupant of a farm on section 3, and 
has three children, Virgil, Lulu and 
Vivian; (2) Emma married Fred Barth, 
owner of a farm on section 1, and has 
two children, Hattie and Raymond; 
John Wesley and Luana. 

2 — Laura married Amos Cornish in 
111, and after a residence of four years 
in Clinton township, moved to Kos- 
suth county, where she died in 1888. 

3— Mary married William F. Sea- 
man, who is now the owner and occu- 
pant of a farm of 170 acres on section 
36, Des Moines township, and her 
family consists of five sons and five 
daughters, of whom three sons and 
one daughter are married. 

4— Lucia, in 1865 married Andrew 
S. Harp, lives near McNight's Point 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



519 



and has raised a family of three chil- 
dren, Elma, Lizzie and Martha. 

Henderson George W., (b. April 
19, 1833,) state senator 1894-97, is a 
native of Sangamon county, 111., the 
son of John H., (b. Ken., 1806; d. 1848,) 
and Elizabeth E. (Powell, b. N. C, 
3 811,) Henderson. His parents, after 
their marriage in Tennessee about 
the year 1827, located in the north 
part of La Salle county, 111., and at 
the time of the Black Hawk war, 
1831-32, were compelled to flee from 
that part of the state. He lacked the 
opportunity of attending public school 
until he was twelve years of age, and 
the death of his father three years 
later compelled him to take the lead 
in assisting his mother to provide for 
a family of six children younger than 
himself. In lieu of an education he 
learned the "art of doing things" and 
to depend on himself. He became a 
hard worker and has lived long enough 
to perceive that all things come to 
him who works while he waits. 

On Dec. 18, 1856, he married Martha 
A. Randall, of Mason City, and during 
the next twenty years, as a resident 
of Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, was en- 
gaged as a miller, millwright and 
bridge builder. Since 1875 he has 
turned his attention to farming and 
fruit culture. In January, 1882, he 
located on his present farm on section 
12, Clinton township, where he has 
planted a large orchard and erected 
fine buildings. It is known as High- 
land Farm and contains 240 acres. 

On Sept. 25, 1861, he enlisted as a 
member of the 14th Iowa infantry, 
but later was transferred to the 41st 
and finally to Co. M, 7th Iowa cavalry, 
and spent three years and forty days 
in the army. He lost no time by 
sickness or absence and was on duty 
every day of that period. His knowl- 
edge of bridge building greatly in- 
creased his labors and the value of 
his services while on the march, but 



did not iessen his responsibility on 
the day of battle. 

As a pioneer on the frontier and 
soldier in the army he has manfully 
met and heroically endured the hard- 
ships through which in early life it 
providentially became necessary for 
him to pass in order to achieve suc- 
cess. He has known no such word as 
failure and his sterling integrity has 
been fittingly recognized. 

In Cerro Gordo county he was presi- 
dent of the school board of his town- 
ship twelve years, and was a member 
of the board of county supervisors. 
In this county he has filled the offices 
of trustee aud justice in Clinton town- 
ship; and during the four years, 1894- 
97, had the honor of representing this 
50th district in the senate of Iowa, 
during the 25th and 26th General As- 
semblies. In the extra session of the 
latter, held in 1897 to revise the code, 
he was assigned the chairmanship of 
the committee on the Fish and Game 
laws. 

His family has consisted of four 
children: 

Kate H., a teacher, Dec. 24, 1879, 
married Selumiel J. Melson, who loca- 
ted in Kansas, and in 1883 in Lake 
township, this county, where he died 
in 1885, leaving three children, Ran- 
dall, Mearl and S. Jesse, who then 
found a home with their grandparents 
on Highland Farm. Mrs. Melson re- 
suming her favorite occupation, has 
been steadily engaged teaching dur- 
ing the last thirteen years. She has 
paid particular attention to primary 
methods and was one of the first in 
the state to receive a primary state 
teachers' certificate. 

2— Jem, in early youth married 
John C. Bowen of Early, Iowa, who 
died in 1884, leaving no children. On 
June 21, 1893, she married G. W. 
Barnes of Powhatan township, and he 
is now an M. E. minister. They have 
four children, Ruth, Joyce, Marian 
and Robert Lytton. 



520 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Gail and John are at home. 

Hunt Daniel Webster, on Jan. 2, 
1858, entered for pre-emption 141 acres 
on section 36, Des Moines township, 
for which he received the patent Aug. 
15, 1860. During this period he lived 
in a shanty along the Des Moines 
river. During the war he returned to 
the east but, about 1867, located in 
Clinton township, purchasing lands 
on sections 2 and 11. He lived alone 
on section 2 in the old log cabin of W. 
H. Hait (still owned by the latter) 
until the early 80's, when his father 
died and he returned to Waterford, 
Erie county, Pa., to take possession 
of the old homestead. He still owns 
his timber lands on the west bank of 
the Des Moines river. During his 
residence in Clintun township he was 
a justice of the peace, 1868-71, trustee 
1869, '73-75, and assessor in 1871. He 
was a candidate for sheriff of this 
county in 1873. When he became a 
resident of this county there were not 
more than ten families living in it. 

Jarvis Henry, (b. Jan. 1, 1832,) 
Rolfe, the second sheriff of Pocahon- 
tas county, is a native of England, a 
brother of William* and Charles, who 
were also early residents of Des 
Moines township. Henry was one of 
the little band who left Port Dodge in 
May 1857, and founded the first per- 
manent settlements in the north part 
of this county. On May 25, 1858, hav- 
ing located his home he made a trip 
to Dyersville, married Mary Tilley, 
(b. June 19, 1839,) and they commenced 
keeping house in a log cabin on sec- 
tion 24, Des Moines township. A few 
years later 115 acres more were pur- 
chased on section 25. Subsequently 
the cabin was replaced by a large and 
comfortable dwelling house that was 
the home of the family until 1894, 
when he built a residence and moved 
to Rolfe. He was the most popular 
sheriff of this county in the early 

*See page 158. 



days, having held that office seven 
years, 1860-63, and 1865-67. 

His family has consisted of eleven 
children: 

1— George, (b. Nov. 13, 1859,) in 1880 
married Minnie M. Flory and located 
in the state of Washington, where he 
died leaving two children, Eda and 
George, who now live with their 
mother at Denver. 

2— Sarah Ann, Dec. 25, 1882, mar- 
ried Carmi Vaughn, owner and occu- 
pant of a fine farm in Des Moines 
township, and has three children, 
Dell, Ernest and Leila. 

3— Nellie E., Feb. 21, 1881, married 
Edward H, Vaughn, who, after a few 
years, moved to the state of Washing- 
ton and engaged in keeping store. On 
March 8, 1892, she died at Rolfe, leav- 
ing a family of three children, Frank, 
Arthur and Myrtle. 

4— Rosa Bell, in 1886, married Alber- 
tus Doe, lived in Powhatan township 
and died at Rolfe Sept. 7, 1900, leav- 
ing four children. 

5— William (b. June 7, 1867,) located 
in Washington, where he is farming 
and has a family of three children. 

6 — Minnie married C. A. Charlton. 
(See Charlton.) 

7— Frank (b. June, 1872,) in 1899, 
married Minnie Alberts, of Lincoln 
township, and is farming near Rolfe. 

8— Charles (b. 1873) died in 1895, and 
John (b. 1876) in 1896. 

Bert is at home and Carrie, the 
youngest, May 29, 1900, married Robert 
Freel and lives at Rolfe. 

Jarvis Charles, brother of William 
and Henry, located east of Old Rolfe 
in the Des Moines settlement in 1861. 
During the war he enlisted as a mem- 
ber of Co. B, 4th Iowa cavalry and 
spent three years in the service. He 
then returned to his homestead, 
which was across the line in Hum- 
bolot county, and occupied it until 
1897, when he moved to Bradgate, 
where he died in November, 1899. On 
coming to America at the age of sev- 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 52i 

enteen, he located first in New York wife and his father and mother. In 

state and then six years in Illinois. 1896 he erected the two-story brick 

In 1860 he married Charity O. Yan block he has since occupied. There is 

Natta, of Kirtland, Ind., and his fam- not a finer suite of gallery rooms in 

ily consisted of seven children, one of Northwest Iowa, aud he is well pre- 

whom died in infancy, and William pared to supply the wants of the peo- 

H., at Havelock in 1893 at the age of pie with fine pictures in every size 

twenty-nine. Nellie M. (Atherton), and style. He has established branch 

Minnie (Boyden), James O, Elmer galleries at Marathon, Laurens and 

and George are married and live in Ruthven. 

Humboldt county. T _ , , iooot, -^a^i. 

In October, 1888, he married Adah 

Garrison Charles F., (b. Dec. 12, D. Fulcher of Three Rivers, Mich., 

1856,) Rolfe, has become the veteran and she has rendered him valuable as- 

photographer of Pocahontas county, sistancein the studio. His father 

His fine brick block, complete equip- died at Rolfe, July 12, 1896. 

ment and superior quality of work _ , .,, , T ,, A , 10 

place him in the front rank as a first- l8 f 9 7 R d ^ rS p n Ch - s rl rnaUve * of Not 
class artist; and by securing the pat- ''__, ° e ' *' _, , TJ , 

' .. f , f, , way, the son of George and Helen 

ronage of a section of country that " J ' _ _ ._„ , & * -r. 

embraces more than the north half of <^<fon. In 1881, he came to Po- 
this county he has built up a lucra- cahontas county bought 320 acres of 
,. , . - land on section 25, Center township, 

Live uusmess. , , , . , ., TT „_„ 

and began to reside upon it. He was 

He is a native of Elkhart, Indiana, then a single man. Gunder B. Gunder- 

theson of Mr. and Mrs. O. W. Garri- son, his brother, lived with him dur- 

. , .. , , . ingthe first three years of his resi- 

son. He acquired a practical knowl- , ° ,, _ , ,, „ • „,„„+ +^ 

dence on the farm, and then went to 

edge of the photographer's art in Chi- tne 8tate of Wasn ington, where he 

cago and practiced it for several years has filled with credit to himself the 

in Detroit. In 1884, coming with his office of superintendent of public 

brother to Fort Dodge, under the schools. Gunder taught school 

name of Garrison Bros., they estab- during the winter months for a num- 

lished a fine studio and their name ber of years and taught the first 

was a guaranty of the finest workman- school in the Brinkman school house, 

ship. In May, 1886, he began to do District No. 6, Center township. 



business at Rolfe in a portable gallery 

that was located on the lot where the 

brick building now stands. At that 

...'•,. f v, a,-™ kV,+ iansen, of Wisconsin, and his family 

time this lot was worth $300, but ' 



In 1884 Charles L. married Dena, 
daughter of Iver and Nellie Christ- 



consists of six children: George I. 
Arthur H., John C, Ruth J., Naomi 
H. and Martha C. 



when he bought it, ten years later, he 
had to pay $1000 for it. At first he 
spent one month of each year at Rolfe 
in the portable gallery. In 1889 he He is now one of the most highly 
purchased a building for a gallery; and respected and substantial farmers of 
in April, 1890, dissolving partnership Center township, being the happy 
with his brother, moved to Rolfe with possessor of 480 acres of land on which 
his family, which consisted of his he has erected fine improvements. He 



522 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



served six years as a trustee of Center 
township, 1890-92, '95-97; six years as a 
justice of the peace and was secretary 
of the school board in 1898. He is 
recognized as a man of sterling integ- 
rity, a staunch republican and a firm 
believer in the cause of prohibition. 

Kennedy William Campbell(b. Oct. 
20, 1854,) an enthusiastic Sunday 
School worker, has been a resident of 
the NWi Sec. 10, Clinton township, 
since March, 1881. He is the son of 
David and Martha (Campbell b. June 
19, 1823) Kennedy, who, subsequent to 
their marriage in 1850, lived four 
years near Fort Wayne, Ind., where 
W. C. was born. In 1857 his parents 
located near DeWitt, Clinton county, 
Iowa, where his father died in 1875. 
His mother was a native of County 
Down, Ireland, came to America with 
her father at eighteen, raised a family 
of seven children, six of whom are 
living, and died at Goldfleld, Sept. 27, 
1898. W. O, Feb. 16, 1881, married 
Catherine P. Seifert and a few days 
later, locating on his present farm, be- 
gan the work of its improvement. 
He has since increased its size to 386 
acres, and no one can view the fine 
buildings erected or note their capac- 
ity and conveniences without per- 
ceiving that it is one of the most con- 
veniently arranged stock farms in 
that-part of the county. In the home 
he has endeavored to combine beauty 
with comfort, and on the farm winter 
protection for all his stock and an 
abundant supply of good water. 

He was treasurer of the school fund 
of Clinton township in 1882-83, assessor 
in 1889-92, president of the school 
board in 1890 and a trustee in 1893-95. 

He is a successful raiser as well as 
feeder of cattle, and finds he obtains 
the best results by putting two calves 
to one cow evenings and mornings un- 
til they are eight or ten weeks old, 
providing them other suitable food ac- 
cording to their age and needs. The 
arger cattle in the fall of the year, 



are fed corn on the ear until they are 
observed shelling it from the cob. 
After this the corn is shelled, mixed 
with oats (i) and placed in large self- 
feeders where they can get it at 
any time of the day and as much of it 
as they want. He feeds about six 
months, and it is not unusual for the 
cattle to make an average daily gain 
of four pounds each during that peri- 
od. He raises annually about seventy 
head of hogs, and though he uses no 
stock food or patent medicines he has 
hitherto escaped the cholera. During 
the feeding period many of them are 
allowed to roam in the large feed yard 
with the cattle. The hay-racks 
around the inside of the open cattle- 
sheds rest on wide troughs or tables, 
and underneath these the hogs find at 
night a dry and comfortable resting- 
place, that causes them to be widely 
distributed. Salt is placed where 
they can get it and a little lime oc- 
casionally in their troughs. 

He was raised in a home where he 
enjoyed the sweet and blessed influ- 
ence of the family altar. At the age 
of sixteen be presented himself for 
union with the United Presbyterian 
church to which his parents belonged. 
The fact that he was a comparative 
stranger did not prevent him from 
taking the lead in establishing and 
maintaining a Sunday School in the 
new town of Rolfe in 1881, and he was 
annually re-elected superintendent of 
the Presbyterian Sunday School of 
Rolfe from the time it was organized 
until Jan. 1, 1897, when he organized 
and became superintendent of the 
Home department in it, the first one 
in the county. During the fifteen 
years he was superintendent of the 
church school he was always present, 
except when prevented by sickness or 
absence from home. During the sum- 
mer seasons he has devoted his Sab- 
bath afternoons to the maintenance 
of Sabbath Schools in the school- 
houses in the vicinity of his home. 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



523 



When the Pocahontas County Sunday 
School Association was organized at 
Pocahontas in 1881 he was present, 
was elected vice-president, has attend- 
ed every meeting of the association 
since that date, and has enjoyed the 
honor of serving as its president dur- 
ing a period of ten years. He is now 
a prominent worker in the Iowa State 
S. S. Association. He is a loyal friend 
of the Bible cause and has been presi- 
dent of the Pocahontas County Bible 
Society since 1899. He has been an 
elder in the Rolfe Presbyterian church 
since Oct. 7, 1883. 

His intelligent interest and never 
failing enthusiasm in the Sunday 
School work is suggestive of, his pub- 
lic spirit. It finds in him its expres- 
sion and field of opportunity in a 
faithful endeavor to give a moral and 
spiritual uplift to the present rising 
generation. As a natural result of 
his philanthropic efforts for the bene- 
fit of the young he has become a strong 
advocate of the cause of prohibition. 

He has one son, Leonard William. 
Since the spring of 1880 his wife's 
mother, Mrs. Geo. Seifert, and her 
daughter Anna have occupied a part 
of his home. Ob Feb. 20, 1901, the 
latter married Edward H. Weigman 
and located near Barlow, N. Dak. 

Kent Jobn B. Col., (b. Oct. 26, 
1859,) is a native of Harrison county, 
Ohio, the son of Andrew Jackson and 
Bebecca H. (Arnold) Kent. His father 
was of English and his mother of Ger- 
man descent. He was brought up on 
a farm and received his early educa- 
tion in the public school. In 1879, at 
the age of eighteen, he entered the 
regular army of the U. S. as a member 
of the 7th infantry commanded by 
Gen. John Gibbon and spent five years 
in the military service on the frontier. 
He first attended the military school 
at St. Paul, Minn., and then partici- 
pated in several expeditions against 
the Indians in Minnesota, Wisconsin, 
Colorado and Wyoming. He held the 



position of orderly sergeant at the 
time of his discharge at Fort Laramie, 
Wyoming, March 10, 1884. 

He then located at Rolfe, where he 
first engaged in the hay business in 
partnership with his brother, D. A. 
Kent. Perceiving that the business 
in wild prairie hay would gradually 
decrease as the country became more 
thickly settled, he soon changed to the 
real estate and loan business, to which 
farming was added later. He has 
been quite successful in business, 
having accumulated more than 700 
acres of good farm lands, and lives in 
one of the fine residences at Bolfe. 

He is a fine looking man, has made 
a good record and is popular with all 
classes of people. He has rendered 
efficient service in all the local offices 
at Rolfe from school director to may- 
or. During the period Frank D. 
Jackson was governor of Iowa, 1894-96, 
he was a member of his military staff, 
holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. 
When the Spanish-American war be- 
gan in Cuba he enrolled a company of 
men and expected to go with them to 
the front until the order was re- 
ceived that no new Iowa regiments 
were needed. He was the representa- 
tive of this 76th district, composed of 
Pocahontas and Humboldt counties, 
in the 28th General Assembly of Iowa 
in 1900-01. 

He is a man of sterling good sense 
and a close student of public affairs. 
He has taken an active part in the 
politics and business of this county 
during the last seventeen years and 
his popularity is no doubt due to his 
recognized ability, public spirit and 
the fact he always speaks well of oth- 
ers. He has been a loyal republican 
from principle and has spared neither 
time nor money to achieve an honor- 
able success for his party by the nom- 
ination and election of honest and ca- 
pable men in town, county and state. 
The five years spent in the regular 
army was to him a period of valuable 



524 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



training and his military recognition 
was honorably won. 

On May 21. 1885, he married Susan 
Struthers, and his family consists of 
three sons, Arnold McEwen, Don C. 
and Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver. 

Kerr Samuel H., (b. Nov. 26, 1862,) 
attorney and cashier, Rolfe, is a na- 
tive of Highland county, Ohio, the 
son of James E. and Clara A. (Beatty) 
Kerr, who were of Scotch-Irish de- 
scent. In 1869 he moved with his par- 
ents to Saline county, Mo., where his 
father died, leaving a family of five 
sons and three daughters. In 1875 
his mother and family moved to Jas- 
per county, Iowa. In 1889 he gradu- 
ated from the law department of the 
Iowa State University, and located at 
Eolfe. He engaged in the practice of 
law until June 1, 1900, when he be- 
came cashier of the State Savings 
Bank of Rolf e. On March 24, 1892, he 
married Mary E., daughter of A. O. 
Garlock. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are very 
highly esteemed by all who know 
them. 

Leithead Calvin Page (b. Dec. 10, 
3849) undertaker, Rolfe, is the son of 
William and Sophia Leithead. He is 
a native of Vermont, where he grew 
to manhood and on June 1, 1870 
married Philena, daughter of Calvin 
'and Susan Holt. After marriage he 
was engaged as a carpenter and con- 
tractor, and lived in several different 
localities. In September 1881 when 
the town of Rolfe was indicated by 
only one little shanty he purchased 
the lot on which his house (erected in 
1885) now stands and built thereon 
one of the first houses in Rolfe. In 
1886 he purchased a small building 
and lot on the west side of Garfield 
street and embarked in the furniture 
and undertaking business. Later he 
purchased the adjoining lot and in 
1897 completed the double two story 
building all the rooms of which have 
since been stocked with an assort- 
ment of furniture and undertaker's 



supplies, the largest and finest in 
this section of the country. Here 
may be found, at prices within the 
reach of all, the latest artistic designs 
in furniture and articles of all kinds 
and styles for the adornment of the 
home. The business is transacted 
under the firm name of C. P. Leit- 
head and Sons and this firm, in 1900, 
established another large furniture 
store at Pocahontas that has since 
been managed by his second son, 
Elbert A. Leithead. 

He helped to build the first house 
in Rolfe. It was built for James 
Parks and is now owned by George 
Challand. He has seen an unbroken 
wild prairie, covered with tall native 
grasses, transformed into a thriving 
little city that has some of the most 
beautiful homes and largest business 
houses in this county. He has the 
satisfaction of having nobly performed 
his part in the work of effecting this 
transformation. He has helped to 
erect many buildings and has de- 
veloped an important business inter- 
est until it has become the pride of 
the community. He was a member 
of the first council of Rolfe and 
served four years, 1884-87. He is now 
a trustee of Clinton township and 
served as a justice four years, 1883-86. 

His father was a native of Scotland 
and the rest of his children are dead. 
So far as he knows, C. P. and his 
family are the only ones that bear 
the family name in this country. His 
family consists of three sons all of 
whom are married. 

1. William C. (b. Orange, Vt., May 
25, 1872) married Pearl Denend, lives 
at Rolfe and has four children. 

2. Elbert A. (b. Barre, Vt., 1876) 
married Lilly Chase, located on a 
farm in Center township, and in 1900 
in Pocahontas where he is engaged in 
the furniture business. 

3. Charles Ellsworth (b. 1878) 
physician and surgeon, after a four 
year's course in the Iowa State 





JOSEPH H. LIGHTER, Editor, Reveille. 



WARD FERGUSON. 





REV. CHAS. G. WRIGHT, 

Baptist. 



REV. JOHN W. LOTHIAN, 
Presiding Elder, M. E. Church. 



ROLFE AND VICINITY. 




sy 





SAMUEL H. KERR, ESQ. 


MRS. S. H. KERR. 




: * ■ 


1 


MiHt wP^ 


|^ 





CHARLES E. FRASER. MRS. C. E. FRASER. 

ROLFE. 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



525 



University, graduated from its 
medical department in 1895 and 
located at Rolfe. On March 1, 1898, 
he located at Highmore, S. D. He 
married Queen B. Furman. 

Lighter Joseph Henry (b. Oct. 8, 
1853) editor,, Rolfe, is a native of Car- 
roll Co., 111., the son of Jacob II. (d. 
1883) and Sarah A. Lighter. In 1865 
he moved with his parents to Grundy 
Co., Iowa, where he received his 
education which included two terms 
in the Kriends college in Hardin Co. 
On Oct. 3, 1876 lie married Emma F., 
daughter of Soloman Wilhelm, and 
located on a farm. In July 1880 he 
moved to Conrad and engaged in the 
lumber business. In 1888 he moved 
to Hubbard, Hardin county, where he 
purchased the two papers then pub- 
lished— theTimes and Enterprise — 
and in their place commenced the 
publication of the Hubbard Journal. 
In September 1890 he moved to Rolfe 
and during the next five years was a 
partner in the publication of the 
Reveille. In connection with the 
management of a job printing office 
he then prepared and in 1897 pub- 
lished a plat book of Pocahontas 
county, that contains a description of 
every farm in the county and the 
names of the owners at that time, al- 
phabetically arranged by townships. 
On march 1,1898 he commenced the 
publication of the Rolfe Semi- Weekly 
Tribune aud is still its editor and 
proprietor. 

During his residence at Conrad he 
served as the first mayor of that town 
and also as a trustee and justice of 
the township. At Rolfe he served as 
secretary of the school board in 1893- 
97. He is a man of conscientious con- 
victions and has faithfully performed 
every trust committed to him. 

His family consists of six children, 
Clarence G., foreman in the office of 
the Reveille since 1900, Arthur G. 
and Ervil C. in the office of the 
Tribune, Cora, Mabel and DeBiclu. 



Lothian Robert (b. 1814, d. May 21, 
1896) a pioneer and long-time resident 
of the northeast part of this county 
was a native of Fifeshire near Edin- 
burg, Scotland, where Dec. 6, 1839 he 
married Janet Bruce (b. Jan. 4, 1815, 
d. Rolfe, Feb. 1888). In 1852 with a 
family of five children he emigrated 
to upper Canada. This voyags was 
made on the Shandon, the first iron 
clad ship that crossed the Atlantic, 
and on that trip, losing its course 
among ice bergs, it was delayed three 
weeks. In 1866 with a family of seven 
children (all except Janet, the eldest) 
he located on a homestead on the S 
Wi Sec. 30, Des Moines township, this 
county. Three of his sons, John W., 
James B. and William became owners 
of other homesteads or farms in the 
vicinity of Rolfe. In the spring of 
1894, six years after the death of his 
wife, he went to the home of his son, 
Robert at Seymour, Mo., and died 
there in 1896. 

The early career of Mr. and Mrs. 
Robert Lothian was marked by trials 
and privations, such as the young 
people of this day will never know. 
At the time of their settlement in 
this county Boone was the nearest 
railway station and it took a week to 
haul a load of lumber with oxen. In 
the spring of 1869 he was compelled to 
pay $2.00 a bushel for corn at Spring- 
vale (now Humboldt) and grind it at 
home as best he could for bread. It 
was not unusual for them to walk 
long distances to church. It was 
while making such a journey that his 
wife, while crossing a foot bridge, fell 
in the cr^ek and sustained injuries 
from which she never fully recovered. 
They were never known to turn the 
needy away from the door. 

He united with the Presbyterian 
church early in life and was loyal to it 
as long as he lived, giving cheerfully 
much <jf his time and money to pro- 
mote its interests. He was an elder 



526 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



in the Unity Presbyterian church at 
old Rolfe, a charter member and one 
of the first elders of the Second Pres- 
byterian church of Rolfe, and in his 
old age, became a trustee of the 
Plover Presbyterian church at the 
time of its organization in 1888. 

His family consisted of eight chil- 
dren: 

1. Janet L. (b Sept. 2, 1840) married 
William Addison in Canada and died 
there in 1876. Her children died also. 

2. John W. Lothian, Rev. (b. Scot- 
land April 14, 1843) in 1853 emigrated 
with his parents to upper Canada and 
in 1865 located with them in Pocahon- 
tas Co., Iowa. On April 25, 1866, he 
entered as a homestead the SI SEi 
Sec. 32, Des Moines township, and in 

1872 his right was transferred to his 
brother, William, who obtained the 
patent for it March 30, 1888. On 
Nov. 28, 1868 he married Mary Jane 
Gilman, of Medford, Minn., and dur- 
ing the next three years occupied his 
farm which was so near, that he often 
chased his oxen over the place now 
covered by the town of Rolfe. In 

1873 he entered the ministry of theM. 
E. church as a member of the North- 
western Iowa Conference. As a pas- 
tor he has served the churches at 
Peterson, Forest City, Spencer, 
Emmetsburg, Sibley, Sheldon, Hart- 
ley, Correctionville, Sac City and the 
Whitfield M. E. church Sioux City, 
his present field. He was presiding 
elder of the Ida G-rove district six 
years, 1894-1900, was a member of the 
general conference at Cleveland in 
1896 and at Chicago in 1900. His 
family consists of two daughters, 
Bertha (OveTholtzer, Ireton) and 
Myrtle. 

3— James B., (b. Sept, 18, 1845,) shoe- 
maker, on Sept. 19, 1867, married Rho- 
da Van Natta and occupied for many 
years a homestead on section 20, Des 
Moines township. He is now a resi- 
dent of Rolfe, and his family consists 
of four children, William M,, who 



married Lilly Rose, Rolfe; James R., 
John A. and A. Guy. 

4— Robert B. (b. March 14, 1848,) on 
May 27, 1873, married Kate Farmer, 
lives at Seymour, Mo., and has two 
children, Clarence and Sadie. 

5— William, (b. March 7, 1850,) in 
1876 married Sarah Bickle, and raised 
a family of six children: Janet, who 
married Ira DeWitt and lives at Spir- 
it Lake, Robert, Charles, Mary, Rich- 
ard, Alexander; and their parents live 
in Wisconsin. 

6 — Margaret, in 1868 married George 
Stevens, lived near Plover and died in 
1899, leaving no offspring. 

7— Alexander, (b. Can., 1857,) died at 
Rolfe in February, 1882. 

8— Mary L., in 1877 married Calvin 
Hilton, lives at Hawarden and has a 
family of five children, Laura, Pearl, 
Ward, Calvin and Ina. 

MalcoJm Augustus H., (b. 1832,) is 
one of the very first residents of the 
county. (See page 171.) He located 
in the spring of 1857 in Des Moines 
township, after the Civil war on sec- 
tion 1, Clinton township, and in 1900 
in Rolfe. He is the son of James (b. 
Scotland, Nov. 30, 1786,) and Elizabeth 
(b. N. Y., July 20, 1792,) Malcolm. His 
family consisted of eight children, one 
of whom died in childhood. 

1— Ora P. Malcolm, (b. Old Rolfe, 
Nov. 21, 1865,) after growing up on 
the farm, served as'deputy treasurer 
of this county four years, 1896-99. He 
lives at Pocahontas and is now en- 
gaged in the abstract business. On 
Jan. 23, 1895, he married Clara P. 
Spence and his family consists of two 
sons, Homer and George. 

2— Fred A. Malcolm, (b. Mar. 1, 1867,) 
Rolfe, was county surveyor four years, 
1894-97, and is now engaged as a civil 
engineer. On Dec. 25, 1885, he mar- 
ried Carrie M. Brown and has one 
child, Daphne. 

3— Addie E., Sept. 21, 1887, married 
John Seifert, resides in Clinton town- 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



527 



ship and lias three children, Myrtle, 
Fern and Thurlow. 

4— Carrie E., Aug. 26, 1892, married 
Fred A. Mullen, superintendent of 
the electric light and water plant, 
Webster City, and has two children, 
Jean and Malcolm. 

5— May, Aug. 26, 1892, married Wm. 
G. Bennett, lives at Ft. Dodge and has 
two children. Evan and Robert, 

6— Leon, Dec. 21, 1898, married Mat- 
tie Kellogg and has one child, Leone. 

7 — Frank lives at Livermore. 

During the Civil war A. H. Malcolm 
participated in the siege of Yorktown, 
the battle at Blackwater river and 
siege of Suffolk in 1862; in the engage- 
ments at Frazer's Farm and Beaver's 
Dam in connection with Butler's ex- 
pedition to Richmond in 1863; and in 
engagements at Bottom's Bridge, 
Ream's Station, in Kautz' raid on 
South Side railroad, Petersburg, June 
10-15, in Watson's raid and at the 
Welden railroad in 1864. 

Matson William, in 1867, coming 
from Chicago with wife and two chil- 
dren, located at Old Rolfe and was 
the first to establish a blacksmith 
shop in Pocahontas county. After a 
few years he moved to the SWi Sec. 
16, Clinton township, where his wife 
died May 10, 1884. "Ben Lomond," 
the first postofflce in Clinton town- 
ship, was located at his home from 
1876 to 1878. His son William died 
May 27, 1885, at the age of 24 years, 
and Jennie, his daughter, became the 
wife of William D. McEwen. (See 
McEwen.) He died at Pocahontas 
M ay 6, 1888. 

Ratcliff John, (b.July, 19, 1843. d. 
Rolfe, Jan. 8, 1900.) Ex-Sheriff of this 
county, was a native of Morgan City, 
Ohio. His parents were Virginians 
and members of the Friend's church. 
During the civil war he enlisted in an 
Ohio regiment, the one that was sent 
against Morgan when he made his fam- 
ous raid into West Virginia-and threat- 
ened the North. In 1866 he located at 



Humboldt, la., where in 1874 he mar- 
ried Hattie Connor. In 1889 he moved 
to Rolfe, where he died in 1900. He 
was sheriff of Humboldt County from 
1873 to 1875, and of this County two 
years, 1898-99. He was a member of 
the Rolfe school board five years. In 
1879 he was the mail carrier between 
Pocahontas and Humboldt. He pos- 
sessed many excellent traits of char- 
acter, was a conscientious official and 
won many friends both in this and 
Humboldt Counties. 

His family consisted of five children, 
of whom one died young and Julia, a 
graduate of the Rolfe high school in 
1893 and subsequently a teacher of 
unusual talent and success, died Feb. 
16, 1900, at the age of 23. Hortense, a 
teacher, William, a Rolfe graduate in 
1897, and Nellie are at home. 

Reed Samuel Seibert, (b. June 29, 
1848), banker, Rolfe, is a native of 
Franklin County, Pa. and in 1861 mov- 
ed with his parents to a farm near 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1880 he mov- 
ed to Dallas County where in Decem- 
ber 1881 he entered the employ of S. P. 
Mellick. A few months later he be- 
came a partner with him and on April 
27, 1882, landing at the new town of 
Rolfe Junction with a stock of dry 
goods, began to keep store in what 
is known as the First National bank 
building. In June 1883 he sold his 
interest in the store and engaged in 
the grain business until Jan.l. 1889, 
when he became a partner with J ohn 
Lee in the banking business that in 
1893 was sold to Farmer, Helsell & Co., 
but with which he continued to be 
identified until March 1, 1901, when 
he moved to Mitchell, S. D. to engage 
in farming and stock raising. He was 
treasurer of Rolfe during the last ten 
years of his residence there ,1891-1900. 

On Dec. 11, 1889, he married Anna 
D. Whittaker of 111. and has two 
children, Earl and Fay. 

Sandy William (b. April 14, 1834) 
Rolfe, a native of South Brent, Eng., 



528 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



in 1856 came to America with his 
sister Mrs. Wm, Jarvis and located at 
Dubuque, Iowa, where he married 
Charlotte Durston (b July 25, 1839) 
Aug. 11, 1863. The latter had come 
to America with her parents in 1858. 
On Sept. 1, 1864 he bought a farm on 
section 1, Clinton township and oc- 
cupied it from that date until 1900, 
when he moved to Rolfe, leaving 
three of his sons on the farm which 
now contains 200 acres. He also owns 
160 acres in Minnesota. During his 
residence of 36 years on the farm he 
experienced with others the trials of 
pioneer life and has proved himself a 
good farmer. He was assessor and 
justice of the peace in Clinton town- 
ship in 1870-72. 

His family consisted of seven child- 
ren all of whom were born on the 
farm in Clinton township. The se- 
cond and fifth died in childhood. 1 — 
Minnie M. Nov. 18, 1891 married F. H. 
Sherman, merchant and lives in Rolfe. 
2 — Mary Alice, 3 — James W., 4— Geo. 
H. (b. 1876) on April 14, 1900 married 
Gertie Sanford and has one child; 
5 — Frank A. George and Frank cul- 
tivate the old home farm and James 
looks after everything relating to the 
cattle. 

Seely Elijah Davis (b. 1813) was a 
native of Oneida county N. Y., where 
in 1848 he married Almira Frink (b. 
1814) and soon afterward located at 
Rome, Wis., where he found 
employment as a cabinet maker. In 
1860 he moved to Border Plains, Web- 
ster county, Iowa, and in 1864 to sec- 
tion 11 Clinton township. In 1879, 
after a residence 19 years on this farm 
he went to Sauk Center, Minn., but 
after one year returned to Rolfe where 
his wife died July 14, 1891. He died 
in the summer of 1898 in Wisconsin. 
His record shows that he took a very 
active part in the management of the 
affairs of Clinton township in the 
early days. He was a trustee three 
years, 1865-7; assessor two years, 66-67; 



justice of the peace eight years, 69-70, 
'74-75, '79-82; township clerk seven 
years, '70, '75, '78-82 and was president 
of the school board in 1875. 

His family consisted of six children, 
three of whom are living. 

1 — Eliza in 1862 married Park C. 
Harder and lived in Clinton township 
until 1876 when they moved to Sauk 
Center, Minn., and in 1898 to Nebras- 
ka. Mr. Harder in 1869-72 served as 
the first secretary of tne school board 
of Clinton township. He was town- 
ship clerk, 1867-69 and a trustee, 1870- 
72. His family consists of seven child- 
ren, Clifton, Evarts, Daniel, Fred- 
eric, Hattie, Lilly, Maude and Clara. 

2 — Harrison P. Seely, a carpenter, 
in 1876 married Henrietta Norman 
and has lived at Meriden since 1895. 
His family consists of three children 
of whom Buzzwell has been rendering 
military service in the U. S. Army in 
the Philippines. 

3— Willard F. Seely, married Effie 
Hayden and lives at Rolfe. He has 
one son, Claude, who has become well 
known as a local correspondent of 
several of the newspapers in this 
county. Willard was assessor of Clin- 
ton Township in 1875-76, and Secre- 
tary of the school board in 1875-79. 

Schultz Alva L. (b. Dec. 26, 1861) 
editor, is a native of Clinton county, 
Iowa. In 1886 he began to engage in 
newspaper work at Winfield, Kan., 
and the next year became part owner 
of the Winfield Daily Visitor. In 
1889 he returned to Iowa and the next 
year started the Blade at Wall Lake. 
Three years later he went to Traer 
and with H. C. Mann, as a partner, 
started the Traer Globe. In April 
1894 he relinquished his interest in 
this paper, bought the Rolfe Argus 
and continued its publication until 
Dec. 1, 1898, when he moved to Poca- 
hontas and established the Pocahon- 
tas Herald. At Rolfe he served as 
secretary of the school board two 
years, 1896-97, and at Pocahontas has 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



529 



been justice of the peace and secretary 
of the school board during the last 
two years. 

Struthers Eobert, (see page 172), 
the first representative from this 
county in the legislature of Iowa, was 
a resident of Des Moines township 
from 1857 to 1893, when he moved to 
Rolfe where he died Sept. 18, 1898, 
and his wife June 9, 1897. He was one 
of the very first pioneers to locate in 
the northeast part of this county and 
his wife j oined him a few months 
later. By their, sterling integrity and 
noble lives this worthy couple, during 
the first forty years of the history of 
this county, exerted a potent influence 
for good that was felt not merely in 
their own neighborhood but through- 
out this county and in the legislative 
halis of this commonwealth. The 
good are a mighty power and they 
exert an influence long after their de- 
parture from earth. They are grate- 
fully remembered in the home, the 
social circle and the church. 
"That man exists but never lives, 
Who much receives but nothing gives, 
But he, who marks his devious way 
By generous acts from day to day, 
Treads the same path his Saviour trod, 
The path to glory and to God." 

His family consisted of three sons 
and four daughters. 

1. William E. (b. Mar. 19, 1857) is a 
native of Aurora, 111., where his par- 
ents tarried a few months while on the 
way to the frontier. He is the owner 
and occupant of a farm of 160 acres on 
section 3, Des Moines township. He 
has been secretary of the school board 
in this township since 1889. On April 
6, 1882 he married Alice Price of 
Lizard township and has three chil- 
dren, William, Alec and Ernest. 

2. Ellen (b. Jan. 1, 1859) on March 
19, 1878 married Richard S. Mathers 
owner and occupant of a farm of 320 
acres on Sec. 3, Clinton township. 
Her family consists of seven children, 
William, Susie, Mary, Robert, Archie, 



Maggie and Nellie. 

3. Susan married Col. John B. 
Kent. (See Kent.) 

4. Maggie J. lives at Rolfe. 

5. Andrew J. (b. Aug. 22, 1865) oc- 
cupies a farm of 220 acres, Sec. 11, Des 
Moines township. April 26, 1893 he 
married Etta Parkin of Humboldt 
county and has one daughter, Mary. 

6. Grace, Sept. 12, 1887 married 
James McClure, a mechanic, lives at 
West Bend and has a family of two 
children, Gilbert G. and Walton M. 

7. Robert A. (b. Feb. 1, 1871), 
farmer, lives at Rolfe. 

Spence George Francis, (b. Aug. 
23, 1842,) Rolfe P. O., is a native of 
Kenosha county, Wisconsin. In 1869 
he located in Hamilton county Iowa, 
and remained fourteen years. In 1883 
he located on his present farm of 200 
acres on section 11, Center township, 
two and one-half miles southwest of 
Rolfe. He has erected good improve- 
ments on this farm and made it a de- 
lightful home. He has been identi- 
fied with the history of Center town- 
ship, having served as a trustee five 
years, 1885-89, and as a justice of the 
peace and president of the school 
board in 1888. • It is, however, by 
reason of the long continued and effi- 
cient public service rendered as post- 
master at Rolfe that he became most 
widely and favorably known. He had 
charge of the Rolfe postofflce seven 
years and three months from April 1, 
1890. He has been an elder in the 
Presbyterian church of Rolfe since 
1889 and superintendent of the Sun- 
day school during the past five years. 
He is a veteran of the civil war, hav- 
ing enlisted in May, 1864, at Kenosha, 
as a member of the 39th Wis. Volun- 
teers and continued in the service in 
the western department of the army 
until the fall of that year. 

In 1S72 he married Etta Gould, of 
Grundy county, and his family con- 
sists of two children, Clara Hell, who 
married Ora P. Malcolm, (see Mai- 



530 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



colm) and Walter A., who lives at 
Rolfe. 

Tilley Matthew, (b. Dec. , 1811) 
and his wife, Sarah Pether, were both 
natives of Somersetshire, England, 
where they were married in February, 
1836. In 1855 they came to America 
and located at Dyersville, Iowa, where 
they remained seven years. In the 
spring of 1862 they located on the NEi 
Sec. 23, Des Moines township, later 
known as the Wm. Struthers farm, 
one and a half miles north of Old 
Rolfe. Here she died Feb. 16, 1868. 
In 1869 he married Abbie A. Blood and 
a few years later moved to Ness coun- 
ty, Kansas, where he built a fine stone 
house and remained seven years. On 
his return to this county he located 
at Rolfe, where he died April 18, 1901, 
in his 90tb year. He was a stone ma- 
son all his life and a first-class work- 
man. He built the First Congrega- 
tional church, a stone building, at 
Dyersville in 1860, and later a stone 
school house in Humboldt county. He 
served twelve years as a clerk in one of 
the churches of England, and as a tax- 
collector before he came to this coun- 
try. He treasurer of the school funds 
a few years in Des Moines township 
during the sixties, and was identified 
first with the Methodist and after 
removing to Kansas with the Presby- 
terian church. 

His family consisted of four chil- 
dren: 

1 — Mary, the eldest, in 1858 at 
Dyersville, married Henry Jarvis. 
(See Jarvis.) 

2— Ellen Tilley (b. July 17.1837,) is a 
native of Ware, Somersetshire, Eng- 
land, where she learned dressmaking. 
At twenty she came with her parents, 
sister and two brothers to Dyersville, 
Iowa, the trip across the ocean occu- 
pying eight weeks. In 1857 she mar- 
ried Henry Hay ward i>f Dyersville, 
and about five years later moved to a 
farm in the northeast part of Poca- 
hontas county. He was proprietor of 
a meat market during the first ten 



years of their residence at Rolfe. 
Their family consisted of ten children, 
of whom three died in infancy. 

Albert James, a farmer, married 
Lizzie Pike of Fonda, has two sons 
and lives near Emmetsburg. 

Darley Cornelius, a farmer, married 
Mary Schirgogle of La Conner, Wash., 
where he now resides, and has three 
children. 

Abbie Louisa, a dressmaker, Rolfe. 

Watson Henry, a butcher, married 
Florence Drake of Rolfe, lives at 
Eagle Grove and has two daughters. 

Mary Isabella. 

Hephzibah Sarah married Wm. O. 
Forsythe, a cigar-maker, lives at Ma- 
sun City, and has one daughter. 

Susan E., Rolfe graduate in 1898, 
has since been a compositor in the 
Reveille office. 

3— Henry Tilley, in the fall of 1862, 
at the age of nineteen, enlisted with 
three others from Old Rolfe — Wm. S. 
Fegles, Charles Jarvis and Dennis 
Quigley— as a member of Co. B, 4th 
Iowa cavalry. He was bugler for the 
regiment and remained in the service 
until the fall of 1865. On his return 
to this county he entered as a home- 
stead the NEi- Sec. 14, Powhatan 
township, 160 acres, and received the 
patent for it Sept. 25, 1872. A few 
years later he moved to Kansas, where 
he still resides. He learned masonry 
from his father and when not other- 
wise engaged sought employment as a 
mason He married Belle Hancher 
and his family consists of two sons 
and one daughter. 

4 — Edward Tilley, a farmer, Have- 
loclr, on Sept. 15, 1867, married Anna 
Jane, daughter of Edward P. Ham- 
mond, and they occupied the Ham- 
mond farm on section 1, Clinton town- 
ship, until the year 1888, when they 
moved to Powhatan township, and in 
1897 to Havelock. 

His family consisted of twelve chil- 
dren, two of whom died young: 

1— Mary E. in 1892, married John B. 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



531 



Harris and lived at Havelock until 
1901, when they moved to Ware. 

2— Edward Wm., a merchant, mar- 
ried Celia Estella Campbell, and lives 
in the state of Washington. 

3— Adlaide, Dec. 7, 1898, married 
John Johnson, (b. 1865) who has been 
superintendent of the Shannon ranch 
in Center township, since 1897. He is 
a native of Denmark, came to this 
country in 1887 and began to work on 
the Shannon ranch in 1893. They 
have two children, Grace and Grant; 
twins. 

4 — Agnes, in 1898 married Frank 
Spornetz, a harnessmaker, and lives 
in North Dakota. 

Charles Henry, Sarah A., Minnie G., 
Harold B., Edna May and Olney D. 
are at home. 

Tollefsrude Christian Hansen, (b. 
May 1, 1845,) Rolfe, is a native of Rock 
county, Wisconsin, the son of Hans 
C. and Bereth Tollefsrude, of Rusk. 
His early da) s were spent on the home 
farm. He attended Beloit college 
1864-67, and taught several terms in 
the public schools of Wisconsin. In 
1869 he married Maria G. Shirley, of 
Avon, Wis , and in 1870 settled on a 
homestead, the E£ SWiSec. 28, Grant 
township, this county. He engaged 
in farming and teaching until 1882, 
when he became county auditor and 
moved to Pocahontas. At the end of 
four years of faithful public service 
he became the assist ant cashier of the 
Farmers Bank at Pocahontas, and la- 
ter its cashier, when it was reorgan- 
ized as the Pocahontas Savings Bank. 
In 1888 he became also the account- 
ant and corresponding secretary of 
the Pocahontas Land & Loan Co., and 
in 1893 the assistant cashier of the 
State Savings Bank of Rolfe, having 
moved to that place that year. He 
built and occupies a fine residence in 
Rolfe. He still owns the old home- 
stead and altogether about 360 acres 
in Grant township. Owing to failing 
health he severed his connection with 



the Loan Co. and State Savings Bank 
June 1, 1900, and since that date has 
given his attention to the care of his 
own interests. 

He participated in the organization 
of Grant township in 1870, and had 
the honor of serving as the first j us- 
tice of the peace in that township, 
serving altogether eight years, 1870-72, 
'77-81. He was clerk of that town- 
ship eight years, '72-79; president of 
the school board in 1872, and secretary 
of it three years, 1874-75, '78. During 
his residence at Pocahontas he was 
president of the Center township 
scnooi board three years, 1885-87, and 
county auditor four years, 1882-85. 

He is a very neat penman, a 
ready writer aud strictly methodical 
in the transaction of business and 
keeping accounts. In early life he 
formed the habit of keeping a diary 
in which he noted every important 
local event. By the aid of this diary 
he wrote a very minute and accurate 
history of the early settlement of 
Grant township, first for the public 
press of this county and later for this 
volume. 

Shirley, the first postofflce in Grant 
township, established in 1876, was 
named in honor of his wife, and he 
was the postmaster until their re- 
moval to Pocahontas in 1882. They 
have one daughter, Charlotte I. B., 
whose birth in 1871, was the fourth 
one in Graut township. On May 19, 
1897, she became the wife of Aionzo 
R. Thornton, Rolfe, and has two 
children, Norma Emily and Charlotte 
1. B. On August 4, 1900, she became 
associate publisher of the Reveille 
with her husband. 

Van Hlstine Sewell (b. Oct. 24, 
1824), farmer, Gilmore City, came to 
Pocahontas county with wife and 
seven children in 1871 and located on 
the Wi sec. 25, Clinton township. 
Later he purchased alio trie N. W. i 
sec. 36 on which he is now living one 
mile northwest: of Gilmore City and 



532 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the W. i sec 31 Avery township, Hum- 
boldt county. Some time afterward 
he purchased 200 acres more on sec- 
tion 25, Clinton township. Some of 
these lands have been transferred to 
members of his family, but he is still 
the owner of 640 acres of rich and 
highly improved lands in this and 
Humboldt counties. 

He is a native of New York state, 
the son of Leonard and Sophia (Pratt) 
Van Alstine, who lived on a farm and 
had four children of whom he was the 
youngest. At fifteen iu 1840, he 
moved with his parents to Illinois 
where Dec. 6, 1848 he married Ellen 
C. daughter of Edward and Harriet 
(Spicer) Hawley. He then located on 
a farm near his parents and remained 
on it twenty three years. All of his 
children were born on this farm. 

When he arrived with his family in 
Ciinton May 8, 1871 there were only 
about a dozen families iu the town- 
ship. He built a house 18x24 feet 
on the S. W. i sec. 25 and occupied it 
till 1884 when he built the large 
mansion 34x34 feet on sec. 36 with 
verandas on ihree sides of it and sup- 
plied within with every necessary 
modern convenience. 

He is recognized as one of the large 
and successful farmers of Pocahoutas 
county. He has been a thorough 
tiller of the soil -uid has been accus- 
tomed to rest, renovate and enrich 
it with crops of clover every six years. 
He regards clover as the farmer's best 
sub soiler since it rests the surface 
while it draws nutriment from 
the sub soil. In a single year on the 
land farmed by himself and family 
he has raised 10,000 bushels of corn 
and 5,000 bushels of oats. He used to 
raise large numbers of fac cattle but 
during recent years has given more 
attention to raising hogs. 

He has never had a desire to hold 
office but on the other hand has not 
refused to perform his duty as a citi- 
zen, having been president of the 



school board one year, a trustee four 
years, a justice of the peace ten years. 
Mrs. Van Alstine in March 1878 was 
appointed postmaster of Clinton town- 
ship and the office at their home was 
called Prairie View. She continutd 
to be postmistress until July 1, 1881 
when the office was established at 
Gilmore City. 

Their family is located as follows: 

1 — Inez in 1870 married Ira Scran- 
ton of Greene county, Iowa, and they 
lived there three years. In 1873 they 
located on the N. W. isec. 35, Clinton 
township, improved it with good 
buildings and fences and occupied it 
until 1893 when they moved to Polk 
county, Mo. They however still own 
this farm. 

During their residence in Clinton 
township he was a trustee of the 
township two years, president of the 
schoolboard four years and assessor 
six years. She was an active christian 
worker and was secretary of the Poca- 
hontas County Sunday School Associ- 
ation several years. They have a 
family of five children, Charles S. 
a teacher; Grace E. who in 1894 mar- 
ried Oliver Graves and having one 
child, Cecil, lives in Nebraska; 
Robert Graves, Harold L. and Cath- 
erine. 

2— Clarence L., farmer, in 1885 mar- 
ried Gertrude Brooks of Humboldt 
county and liyes on sec. 31, Avery 
township, near the old home. He has 
a family of six children, Edward C, 
Greta E., Annie EL, Paul P., Ruth A. 
and Elizabeth, twins. 

3 — Rollin, proprieterof the Security 
bank at Gilmore City since 1894, in 
1878 married Ada Jackson of Hum- 
boldt county and his family consists 
of two children, Winnifred P. and 
Robert L. 

4— Altha, who died at the age of 30 
in October 1875. 

5— Leslie H., joint owner with his 
younger brother Howard, of the Ex- 
change bank of Gilmore City, since 



CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 



533 



1881, in 1891 married May, daughter of 
Dr. F. W. Coffin then of Gilmore 
City now of Cleveland, O. He has 
two children Enid M. and Reginald 
M. 

6— Blanch E. at home. 

7 — Howard S. banker, Gilmore City, 
in 1896 married Bertha, daughter of 
F. E. Beers an old settler of Lake 
township, and has two children, Lois 
and Dana. 

Leslie and Howard established the 
Exchange bank and Rollin the Securi- 
ty bank when they embarked in the 
banking business, and they have erec- 
ted substantial buildings, brick and 
stone, respectively, for them. 

Wright Charles Gilbert, (b. Jan 
14, 1864,) pastor of the Baptist church, 
Rolfe, from Jan. 1, 1896, to Jan. 1, 
1900, was a native of Onondaga county, 
N. Y. In 1885 he graduated from 
Munro Collegiate Institute near Syr- 
acuse. In 1881 he came to Kossuth 
county, Iowa, and engaged in busi- 
ness. In 1893, assured of a call to the 
ministry, he became pastor of the 
Baptist church of Bradgate. Three 
months after its organization in 1895 
he became pastor of the Baptist 
church of Rolfe and secured 
the erection of a church building be- 
fore the close of his first year. He 
also supplied at intervals the Baptist 
church of Havelock. After an en- 
couraging pastorate of four years at 



Rolfe he relinquished the field that 
he might enjoy a couple of years of 
special training for the ministerial of- 
fice. 

In 1891, he married Addie A. Carter 
of West Bend, and his family consists 
of two children, Carroll C. and 
Jessie L. 

CLINTON ASSESSMENT IN 1870. 

In the spring of 1870, the 11th year 
of its settlement, there were only four 
persons in Clinton township liable to 
perform military duty, namely, D. W. 
Hunt, Wm. Sandy, Henry Clason and 
Mallard Seely. 

The assessment of live stock for 
that year was as follows: 

Horses Cattle Hogs 
A. H. Malcolm 2 4 2 

Wm. Sandy 2 10 16 

D. W. Hunt 1 4 

Ora Harvey 2 13 

Elijah D. Seely 1 I 4 

Almira Seely 1 1 

Mallard Seely 1 

Harmon Seely 4 

Joseph Clason 3 2 

Henry Clason 2 9 

Parker O Harder 7 3 

Benj. Messenger _2 1 

Total 15 61 28 
Assessed value '$525 $912 $14 
Total value $1,431 

The assessment of 1900, not includ- 
ing Rolfe, shows 115 persons subject 
to military duty, 540 horses, 1,688 cat- 
tle, 1,255 hogs, 2.785 sheep; and their 
value is $77,912.00. 




534 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



6©LFHX TOWNSHIP. 



XYI. 



"The wind on the prairie crept through the grass, 
A subtler sigh than in boughs of trees, 
The gray of the twilight fell, one great mass, 
Unbroken, blotting the pathless prairie." 

— BATES. 




[OLEAX township was 
named in honor of 
Schuyler Colfax, of 
Indiana, Speaker of 
the House of Repre- 
sentatives 186 3-6 9, 
and Vice-president of the United 
States 1869-73. It formed a part of 
Lizard township until Sept. 6, 1870, 
when it was annexed to Cedar, and it 
was established as a separate town- 
ship Sept. 4, 1871. 

The surface of this township is a 
level or slightly rolling prairie. At 
the time of its survey it contained "a 
great number of irreclaimable marshes 
containing one to one hundred acres 
each," but now nearly all of them are 
under cultivation or have become 
profitable pastures. The soil is of the 
best quality. 



Muskrat slough, that originally in- 
cluded nearly all of section 8 in the 
northwest part of it, used to be a 
great place for trapping. The little 
stream that flows from it, crossing the 
Garlock homestead in Cedar town- 
ship and then emptying into Hell 
slough in Calhoun county, was called 
"Fast creek," because many teams 
stuck fast in the effort to ford it in 
the early days. The head of Purga- 
tory slough appears in the southeast 
part on section 35, and its outlet in 
Calhoun county is called Lake creek. 
Hell slough in Calhoun county and 
Purgatory slough, a few miles east of 
it, were on the main route westward 
from Fort Dodge, and these signifi- 
cant names were given them by the 
emigrants who passed over these prai- 
ries before the time of their settle- 



COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 



535 



ment, on account of the difficulty ex- 
perienced in crossing them. In the 
spring of the year horses would stick 
fast and fall in them, and the only 
sure means of drawing a loaded wagon 
through them was a string of oxen so 
long that when the wagon would be 
nearly covered with water in the 
deepest part of them some of the oxen 
would be on the more solid ground on 
the other side. Eight to ten yoke of 
oxen would sometimes be hitched to 
one wagon. Coal and other necessary 
supplies had to be hauled from Fort 
Dodge and, during the cold weather, 
many a teamster, in breaking the ice 
before the oxen found himself in 
water to the armpits. Although 
they furnished an abundant supply of 
wild fowl of the best quality and 
other game both in the fall and 
spring of the year, they got the repu- 
tation of being the worst places in 
the whole country. They were 
drained in 1890 and have since been 
converted into productive and 
valuable farms. 

There was not a tree in the town- 
ship when the first settlers located in 
it and the first grove was planted in 
1871 by R. C. Stewart on section 34. 
It consisted of one acre of forest trees. 

FIRST SETTLERS — 1869. 

The first settlers of Colfax town- 
ship were Fred C. Smith (Schmidt) 
and Fred Matheis, two young men 
who, locating on adjoining home- 
steads on section 28, March 1, 1869, 
built a frame shanty on the line be- 
tween them and occupied it together. 
Fred Smith turned the first furrow 
in the township soon after their ar- 
rival with two yoke of oxen they 
bought in partnership. They broke 
about fifty acres on each of their 
homesteads that year, and then 
plowed for other settlers that arrived 
later. In the fall of that year Smith 
built a house and married Eliza 
Briggs, a native of England and a res 
ident of Calhoun county. 



In lune Gad C. Lowrey, Jason his 
son, and Edward B. Clark his brother- 
in-law, arrived and they immediately 
began to improve their homesteads 
on section 28 by the erection of small 
houses. A month later Fred Jentz 
and family and Herman Speik, a 
young man, located on sections 14 and 
22. Charles Peterson, John and Gus 
H. Johnson, Harry and John A. Nel- 
son, five young men who came to- 
gether from Sweden, walked from 
Des Moines, carrying their luggage 
and entered five homesteads on sec- 
tion 12 on the same day — March 3 1869. 
Andrew O. Long, a Swede, located on 
section 34, but after a few months 
moved to section 2, Bell ville township. 

August Prange, Rudolph and 
Amandus Zieman in 1869 located 
their homesteads on section 20, and 
then working on the railroad lived 
along it. 

1870. 

Others that located and entered 
homesteads in the latter part of 1869, 
but did not occupy them until the 
spring of 1870, were Charles and Peter 
Peterson, Theodore Dunn, John A. 
and Charles Johnson, Jnlia A John- 
son, Ludwic D. Turner, John Reimer, 
John E. Morien, Joseph Fells, Devlin 
Brown, Carl F. Hillstrom, August 
Samuelson, John Soder, Wm. Zieman 
and August Malmburg. Other fam- 
ilies that located in 1870, in addition 
to those just named were those of 
Robert C. Stewart, Charles G. Per- 
kins, Thomas Walker, Henry Russell, 
John Murphy, James Little, Jacob L. 
Williams, Geo. W. Gearhart, Wm. 
Sanborn, James B. Chapin, James 
Hite, Fred Yohnke, N. C. Synstelien 
and John Russell. 

1871. 

In 1871, or soon afterward, the fol- 
lowing families located on home- 
steads: Torrence Murphy, John, 
Charles J. and August Johnson, Gus- 
tave Hagg, John Carlson, Peter J. 
Gustafsen, Andrew Wass, Augusta 



536 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Lindell, Richard Lory, Archibald 
Stigney, Swan P. Munson, George Guy, 
Wm. B. Harris, John Kruchten and 
W.C. B. Allen. 

It will be perceived that nearly all 
of the early settlers of Colfax town- 
ship were homesteaders. Ceo. Wal- 
lace aud a few others were purchasers. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The first election in Colfax town- 
ship was held at the home of James 
B. Chapin, afterward owned by Dan- 
iel N. Boyd, onNWiSec. 15, and at 
the time of the general election, Oct. 
10, 1871. The persons appointed to 
hold this election were Geo. Wallace, 
R. C. Stewart and James B. Chapin, 
judges, Theodore D/lnn and Hiram H. 
Wallace, clerks. The local officers 
elected were Geo. Wallace, R. C. Stew- 
art and Wm. B. Harris, trustees; Geo. 
Wallace and J. B. Chapin, justices; 
Theodore Dunn, clerk; Jason H. Low- 
rey, constable; and R. C. Stewart, as- 
sessor. 

On March 2, 1872, Wm. Sanborn was 
appointed constable and Geo. Wal- 
lace a road supervisor. On Oct. 7th, 
following, the township was divided 
into four road districts, one road 
scraper was purchased for each dis- 
trict and for 1873 Geo. Wallace, L. D. 
Turner, Wm. Sanborn and Richard 
Hood were appointed supervisors. 
The annual levy for road purposes in 
'71, '73-75 was two mills; in '72 and '76- 
84 it was five mills, and it has been 
four mills since that date. In 1881 
the township was divided into six 
road districts of six sections each, but 
on Oct. 5, 1896, it was re-districted and 
divided into two districts — east and 
west— and for the ensuing year J. P. 
Gustason- aud Amandus Zieman were 
the supervisors. In 1889 a road grader 
costing $196.00 was purchased. 

SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees: Wm. B. Harris 1872-73; 
Geo. Wallace, '72-75; R. C. Stewart, 



'72; Charles G. Perkins, '73, '94-1900; 
Hiram H. Wallace, '73-75, '78; Geo. W. 
Gearhart, '74-76; Jason H. Lowrey, '74; 
John Murphy, '75; Fred Smith, '76, 
'90-92; John Barrett, '76; R. A. Hor- 
ton, '77; Daniel N. Boyd, '77, '79-82: 
JohnSoder, '77; R. B. Adams, '78-81; 
Fred Yohnke, '78; J. Fell, '79-80, David 
Spielman, '81-89; Alba Miller, '82; 
Alex. G. Maxwell, '83-88; Alex. Peter- 
son, '83-90; James H. Hogan, '89-93, '99- 
1901. J. A. Holmes, '91-94; Charles Pe- 
terson. '93-1901; Frank Peterson, '97- 
1901; J. F. Gustason, '98-1900; David 
Welander. 

Clerks: Theodore Dunn, 1872-73; 
Geo. Wallace, '74-75, '77; R. C. Brown- 
ell, '76; Henry Pearce, '78; J. A. 
Holmes, '79, '84-86, '88; Amandus Zie- 
man, '80-82; R. C. Stewart, '83; J. L. 
Sanquist, '87; S. N. Maxwell, '89-90; 
John Barrett, '91; O. A. Merrill, '99; 
J. W. Clancy, '92-98; C. G. Perkins, 
1900-01. 

Justices: Geo. Wallace, 1872-74; R. 
C. Stewart, '72-73, '79-84; O G. Per- 
kins, '74-86; D. N. Boyd, '75-77; George 
Convy, '78; A. G. Maxwell, '85-90; S. 
P. Boyd, '87-90: S. W. McKinney, '91- 
95; J. F. Parker, '91-95; Alex Peterson, 
'96-1901; Wm. Brieholtz, '97-1900; 
Louis Benshoof, 1901. 

Assessors: R. C. Stewart, '72-73 
'77; James B. Chapin, '74; C.G. Perkius, 
'75-76; J. B. Rickman, '78-80; John 
Barrett, '81-84; James H. Hogan, '85- 
88; James Doyle, ''89-'95; Edward Flah- 
erty, '96-98; C. A. Hartley, '99-1901. 

SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

Presidents of the Board: W. B . 

Harris, 1872-73; R. C. Stewart, '74-82; 
C. G. Perkins, '75; Geo. W. Wallace, 
'76-77; R. A. Horton, '78-81; O. C. 
Wood, '83-86; R. Hodd, Fred Smith, J, 
II. Hogan, John Doyle, James Clancy, 
'91-92, '94; Charles Peterson, '93, '95-97; 
J. F. Gustason, '98-1900. 

Secretaries: C. G. Perkins, '72- 
73; J. H. Lowrey, '74-75; R. C.Stewart, 
'76-81, '83; D. N. Boyd, J. F. Parker, 
'84-95; J. H. Hogan, '96-1900. 




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Jason HIowrey: 



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COLFAX TOWNSHIP AND VICINITY. 




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COLFAX TOWSNHIP. 



537 



Treasurers: Tlieo. Dunn, 1872-73; 
Ray C. Brownell, '74-81; Niles L. 
Brownell, '82-90; diaries A. BIschoff, 
'91-1901. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

On April 8, 1871, Colfax being in- 
cluded in Cedar township, a public 
school was established in the home of 
Gad C. Lowrey on section 26, and it 
was taught by his daughter, Ida D< 
Lowrey. In the fall of that year G. 
C Lowrey, as a member of the Cedar 
township school board, was authorized 
to establish two schools in his district 
(Colfax) and these were held one in 
his own home and the other in Lock- 
ey's house which was bought for $140 
for that purpose. 

The Colfax school district was or- 
ganized March 2, 1872, at the home of 
K. C. Stewart by the election of Wm. 
B. Harris, L. D. Turner and R. C. 
Stewart as the first board of directors. 
At this meeting Gad C. Lowrey pre- 
sided and J. H. Lowrey served as sec- 
retary. Charles G. Perkins was ap- 
pointed secretary of the board and 
Thos. Dunn, treasurer. That sum- 
mer the first school house was built 
on the Stewart farm, NWi Sec. 34, by 
A. O. Garlock and his father, and the 
first teacher in this building was Gus- 
tave Perkins, now Mrs. Alpheus 
Fuller. .The second school building 
was built that fall in the Lowrey dis- 
trict and the first teacher in it was 
Theo. Dunn, who taught several 
terms. The Center school house in 
the Boyd district was built in 1874, 
and the first teacher in it was Lizzie 
Wallace, now Mrs. A. G. Maxwell, 
who also taught several successive 
terms. The fourth school house was 
built in the Turner district on SE Cor. 
Sec. 6 that same year, and the first 
teacher in it was Eliza J. (L. D.) Tur- 
ner. School houses were erected in all 
the other districts of the township a 
few years later and at this date all the 
first buildings have been replaced by 



new and good ones that are a credit 
to the township. 

Teachers that taught school in this 
township in the early days in addition 
to those already named, were Mrs. 
Geo. Wallace, A. G. Perkins, Emma 
T. Lowrey, J. M. Fickle, Sadie Dar- 
ling, S. A. Firield, Miss Westlake, 
Wm. J. Boyd, Ida Garlock, W. W. 
Frost, S. E. Reamer, Emma Jentz, 
James Darling, Mrs. J. and Romeo 
Wilbur, Alice Dorton, Mary Ward, 
Matie Turner, Lydia Gould, S. T. 
Clark, Charles E. Stewart, Fannie 
Fen ton, Julia O'Kiefe, Lizzie 
Kruchten, Mrs. Chas. Bleam, 
Carrie Parker, Maude Perry, Ella 
Wood, Alice, Florence and Job*a Dal- 
ton, Maggie Eaton, Fred B. Chapman 
and others. 

BREIHOLZ CREAMERY. 

The principal place of business in 
Colfax township is the Breiholz 
creamery. It was built by Theo. 
Dunn in the spring of 1889, on land 
bought of Geo. Guy in the northeast 
corner of section 28. In the fall of 
that year he sold it toiJohn Brieholz 
who continued to own it until his 
death in 1895. Since that date it has 
been owned by Mrs. Breiholz, his 
wife, who is a resident of Pomeroy, 
and Wm. Breiholz, her nephew, has 
been its manager. It has received a 
liberal patronage from the farmers in 
its vicinity and is operated all the 
year, but milk is received only every 
other day during the winter months. 

CHURCHES. 

The first religious services in Colfax 
township were held in the homes of 
the Swedish Lutherans by Rev. C. 
Malmbergof Dayton, during the years 
of 1870 and 1871. 

The first public services in English 
were held by Rev. Charles S. Perkins, 
a resident of the township, In the 
Stewart-Brownell school house on sec- 
tion 34 in the fall of 1872. 

The first Sunday school was organ- 
ized in 1874 under John Reckman, as 
superintendent, and it was main- 



538 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tained until his removal to Dakota 
about four years later. 

Two Swedish churches have been 
organized in this township and both 
of them have good houses of worship, 
cemeteries, parsonages and resident 
pastors. Both of them are located 
near each other on the north side of 
section 13 and both have a good sup- 
ply of sheds for teams. They are 
called the Swedish Evangelical Luth- 
eran and Swedish Mission of the Unit- 
ed Brethren. 

Swedish Lutheran Church— The 
Swedish Lutheran (Elfsborg) church 
was organized March 13, 1873. The 
original members consisted of the 
families of Nels Anderson, J. P. An- 
derson, A. Burgeson, R. F. Cedarstrom, 
John Carlson, J. F. Gustason, H. 
Hanson, C F. Hillstrom, John A. 
Johnson, Hans Johnson, Johannes 
Johnson, Andrew O. Long, John Mil- 
ler, S. P. Magnusson, (now Munson) 
Aaron Erikson, J. E. Moren, Aug. 
Malmberg, Lars Olsson, Gust F. 
Johnson, Gustaf Olson, Gustaf Pe- 
terson, Peter Peterson, John Peter- 
son, Lars Sandquist, John Soder, Peter 
Soder, Aaron Himan, Peter Eliasson, 
John Larson, Aug. Johnson, Carl Lun- 
gren, and Messrs. Claus Cedarstrom, 
Chas. P., John and Frank Peterson, 
J. G. Anderson, Mrs. Hedvig S. Holm- 
berg, Aug Samuelson and Anton John- 
son— 64. The membership now is over 
100. The board of trustees recent- 
ly consisted of Charles Peterson, J. F. 
Johnson C. F. Hillstrom, Charles and 
Gust F. Johnson and Aug. Samuelson; 
and the deacons, O. P. Samuelson, A. 
G. and S. L. Johnson, Alfred B.Olson, 
J. E. Moren and C. J. Murner, who 
was also superintendent of the Sunday 
school. 

The parsonage and other buildings 
belonging to it are located on the 
north side of the road, the church 
and cemetery on the south side of It. 
The parsonage was built in 1876, and 
the church building, 30x40 feet and 



costing $2,000, was dedicated Decem- 
ber 3, 1884. 

The services were first conducted by 
Rev. C. Malmberg of Madrid and 
they were occasionally held by other 
ministers from Dayton, and Madrid. 
The succession of pastors has been as 
follows: Rev. Mr. Peterson in 1873, 
Rev. J. Swanson 1874-80, Mr. Melin, a 
theological student, in 1881, when the 
church remained vacant two years; 
Rev. A. M. Broleen 1884-90, Rev. C. J. 
Maxwell, 1890-93, Rev. C. E. Olsson, 
the present pastor, since Aug, 1, 1894. 

The cemetery belonging to this con- 
gregation is the only one in Colfax 
township. 

Swedish Mission— The Swedish Mis- 
sion of the United Brethren of Colfax 
township was organized in 1882 by 
about fifteen families agreeing to 
maintain public worship. They con- 
sisted of the families of Alex. Peter- 
son, John A. Holmes, Rudolf Cedar- 
strom, Charles Ekstrom, John and 
John W. Anderson, John Sanquist, 
Alfred Nelson, A. O. Long and others. 
In 1882, during the pastorate of Rev. 
L. Larson, they erected a building on 
the northeast corner of section 13, at 
a cost of $1,000 that was used for five 
years as a church and parsonage. In 
1887 this building was removed and in 
its place they built a house of worship 
costing $1200 and a parsonage, costing 
$800. The shedding provided is the 
largest in the county, being sufficient 
for forty-four teams. All the im- 
provements are in tine condition. The 
cemetery belonging to this congrega- 
tion is located on the northwest cor- 
ner of section 18, Bellville township, 
one-fourth mile east of the church. 
Frederick Johnson (see page 339) was 
the first one buried in it. 

About forty-five families are now 
identified with this church. The 
board of deacons for the year 1901 con- 
sists of John Swalin, Solomon John- 
son and John Welander; trustees, 
John Swenson, John Carlson and John 



COLFAX TOWSNHIP. 



539 



Peterson. P.eter Long is treasurer, 
Albert Kingstrom, secretary, and 
John Swalin is superintendent of the 
Sunday school. Others that have 
served as superintendents of the Sun- 
day school were John W. Anderson, 
1895; Alfred Nelson, '96-97, and John 
Welander. Eev. L. Larson, the first 
pastor, served fourteen years, from 
the spring of 1882 to February, 1896. 
His successors have been Rev. John 
P. Lindell from Nov. 1, 1896, to Nov. 
15, 1899, and Eev. N. A. Blomstrand, 
the present pastor, since March 13, 
1900. ! 

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
is administered four times each year 
and those who receive it are first ap- 
proved or commended by the pastor 
and committee on the sacrament, as 
persons who give evidence of a desire 
to live a christian life. 

PIONEERS OF COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 

Barrett John, (b. 1833,) who locat- 
ed on section 11 in 1872, is a native of 
Ireland, came to Illinois in 1848 and 
married there Hannah Mullen. She 
died in 1871, leaving a family of three 
children— Jennie, Edward and Joseph. 
The next year he located in Colfax 
township and has lived on the same 
farm ever since. He was a trustee in 
1874, clerk in '91 and assessor four 
years, '81-84- 

Jennie married John Sanquist, who 
died soon afterward leaving one child, 
Edward. Later she married Edward 
Hogan, a carpenter, and lives at Pom- 
eroy. 

Edward married Anna Samuelson, 
and lives in Manson. 

Joseph in 1899 married Mary O'Brien 
of Pocahontas, lives on the home farm 
and has one child, John. 

Bischoff Charles August, (b. June 
23, 1839,) owner and occupant of NWi 
since 1873, is a native of Statten, 
Prussia. Sixteen years of his early life 
were spent as a sailor on the seas and 
great lakes at the head of the St. 
Lawrence river. During this period 



he was a sailor in the Prussian navy 
eighteen months, visited the east and 
west coasts of Africa, the East and 
West India Islands, Australia and 
Zanzibar. During a part of the time 
he served as mate or second officer on 
the vessel, and two years, 1856-58, as 
foreman of the workmen employed by 
the Hamburg Ship and Trading Co., 
on the island of Zanzibar, situated 
less than 100 miles east of the east 
coast of Africa. At this time there 
were only 11 white people on this 
island and they consisted of three 
Frenchmen, three Germans, three 
Englishmen and an English doctor 
and his wife, all of whom had been 
sent there by trading companies, and 
their agreement required them to re- 
main three years. The other inhab- 
itants consisted of Arabians, who 
were black, and a few Portuguese. 

In 1856 he left the fatherland and 
located in Westchester county, N. Y., 
and in 1862 passed from the ocean to 
the Great Lakes. 

On Jan. 15, 1866, he married Louisa 
Brinker, (b. 1848; d. Dec, 1870,) a na- 
tive of Mechlinburg, Germany, and 
they began the voyage of life together 
on a farm near Columbus, Wis. In 
1869 they moved to Jackson county, 
Iowa, and soon afterward to Webster 
county, where he remained two years. 
After making this last change his 
wife visited her father, Joseph Brink- 
er, in Grant township, Pocahontas 
county, and two months later died 
there, leaving one child, Annie, (b. 
1868,) who in November, 1893, became 
the wife of John Wart, lives in Buena 
Vista county and has one child, An- 
nie Myrtle. 

On Dec. 23, 1871, he married Sarah 
M. Beekman, (b. Oct. 1, 1842,) a na- 
tive of the state of New York, and 
during the next two years he lived 
south of Manson, in Calhoun county. 
In February, 1874, he bought and be- 
gan to occupy his present farm con- 
sisting at first of 240 acres, but now of 



540 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



400 acres on sections 22 and 27, Colfax 
township. This farm has been the 
scene of the longest period in his life, 
and the place where- his family has 
been raised. Here his rugged earn- 
estness and sturdy pluck have had 
full opportunity both for manifesta- 
tion and development, in the effort to 
found a home on the frontier. By in- 
dustry, frugality and good manage- 
ment, elements of character that in 
sure success in any pursuit, he has be- 
come the happy possessor of 640 acres 
of unincumbered, highly improved 
and well stocked land in Pocahontas 
and Calhoun counties. His success il- 
lustrates that which may be achieved 
by raising stock on the farm. His 
large dwelling house was built in 1886. 

He and his noble wife are active 
members of the German Lutheran 
church in Pomeroy. The latter is by 
descent a German Reformed and has a 
photo of the second church built in 
the state of New York, the Dutch Re- 
formed, at Tarry town, the first one 
being Trinity Episcopal church in 
New York city. This church at Tar- 
ry town, which was on the old stage 
route from New York to Albany, was 
built in 1669 of quarried rock, by 
Catherine VanCourtland, (wife of 
Philip Van Courtland) her great grand- 
mother on her father's side, and pre- 
sented to the congregation. During 
the Revolutionary war Gen. Washing- 
ton kept a number of prisoners in the 
basement of this church. Gerard 
Beekman, her grandfather, donated 
80 acres of land to it for a cemetery, 
reserving two acres in it for his o?vn 
family and descendants; and her 
mother is buried there. 

Their family consists of seven chil- 
dren: Irwin; Theresa, who July 8, 
1891, married Anton Sohmer, lives in 
Des Moines and has two children, 
Rosa and Elizabeth; Wilhelmina, 
in 1898 married Adolph Timan. In 
November, 1900, he purchased the old 
home of her father and they now oc- 



cupy it. Augusta, Ophelia, Frederick 
and Carl are at home. 

Boyd Simon Pratt, (b. Sept. 26, 
1826,) owner and occupant of a farm 
of 80 acres on section 20, Colfax town- 
ship, from 1883 until 1896, is a native 
of Washington county, N. Y. On 
Feb. 16, 1859, he married there Jane 
N. Irvin and, after one year's residence 
in Illinois, located in Winneshiek 
county, Iowa. After seven years he 
moved to Worth and four years later 
to Butler county, where he remained 
until the time of his location in this 
county. Since 1896 he and his wife 
have been living in comparative re- 
tirement at Pomeroy. They possessed 
many excellent traits of character 
and are kindly remembered by all who 
knew them. He was chosen one of 
the elders of the Presbyterian church 
in Fonda at the time of its organiza- 
tion in 1886 and continued to serve in 
this capacity until his removal to 
Pomeroy, where he was soon after- 
ward called to the same office. 

Their family consisted of four 
children: 

1— Eliza on June 30, 1881, married 
Wesley A. Straight, for many years a 
farmer and resident of Calhoun coun- 
ty, but since 1899 proprietor of a mill 
at Winterset. Their family consists 
of three children— Grace, Harry and 
Nellie. 

2— Irwin married Lula Richardson, 
lives in Montana and'has a family of 
four children. 

3— Edward S. married Emma Stott, 
lives in Nebraska and has two chil- 
dren — Palmer and Opal. 

4— Palmer in 1892 died in his 20th 
year. 

5 — Gertie (Stott) an' adopted daugh- 
ter, in 1896 married Andrew T. Pom- 
roy, a farmer, and they have one 
child, Walter. 

Boyd Daniel N., a brother of S. P , 
and his family were among the early 
residents of Colfax township. He 
lived on section 15, and served as a 



COLFAX TOWSNHIP. 



541 



justice 1875-77, as a trustee '77, '79-82, 
and as secretary of the school board in 
1882. He left the county about tbis 
date and is now living with his oldest 
son, "William, in the state of Wash- 
ington. His first wife dierl, leaving 
one child, William, who has been lo- 
cated in Washington for many years. 
His second wife was Mrs. Margaret 
(Darling) Wallace, who by her first 
husband had one daughter, Elizabeth, 
who became the wife of A. G. Max- 
well. (See Maxwell). Their family 
consisted of two children— Thomas, 
who lives at Piano, 111., and Nettie. 
a dressmaker, Minneapolis, Minn. The 
first school in the Boyd or Center dis- 
trict was tauyht in his home in the 
fall of 1873 by James S. Darling, who 
later became the superintendent of 
Sac county. 

Brownell Thomas J., (b. 1818) who 
improved aid occupied the SWi Sec. 
31, from 1872 to 1890, was a native of 
Bennington county, Vermont, where 
in 1843, he married Mary Ann Carpen- 
ter. In 1854 he moved to Winnebago 
county, 111., and in 1872 to Colfax 
township. Bay, his oldest son, pre- 
ceded him by locating in 1870 on a 
tract of 120 acres on Sec. 34, that his 
father had bought as early as 1858. 
Before the arrival of his father, Bay 
bought 120 acres on the same section 
that bad on it a house built Dy C. F. 
Dewey. This house was the home of 
the fanrly until 1882, when Bay sold 
this tract of land to his father and 
moved to Manson. Mr. Brownell 
then improved the home by the erec- 
ti n of an ado'ition that made it the 
largest dwelling house at thiat time in 
the township. The beautiful grove 
planted mound it was the largest in 
the vicinity and included a fine or- 
chard and vineyard. About thn date 
he bought 400 acres more in that vi- 
cinity, making a farm of 040 acres. 

In 1887 his wife died, and in 1890 he 
sold the farm to Bay and moved to 
Pomeroy. Three jeafs later his 



health began to fail and, sustaining 
serious injuries from the tornado of 
1893, died on September 9th, following. 

During the period of his residence 
in it he was one of the most intelli- 
gent, upright and highly respected 
citizens in Colfax township. When 
the Presbyterian church of Pomeroy 
was organized in 1876 he was chosen a 
member of its first board of eldership. 
His family consisted of four children, 
of whom Morrell, the second son, died 
at 22 during his residence in Illinois. 

1— BayC, (b. Vt., Jan. ]8, 1845,) 
in the spring of 1870 located on Sec. 
34, Colfax township, and remained 
there twelve years. In 1882 he mar- 
ried Ella Blackinton of Bockford, 111., 
and after a brief residence in Manson, 
located in Pomeroy, where after en- 
gaging in mercantile business one 
year, he became a partner with J. A. 
Gould in the Exchange Bank. In 
1890 he relinquished his interest in 
the bank and moved to the farm 
again. Two years later he sold the 
farm and after one year's residence in 
Pomeroy located at Ogden, Utah. 

He received a good education in his 
early youth and as soon as he became 
a resident of this county took an act- 
ive part in the management of its 
public affairs. He was a member of 
the board of eounty supervisors three 
years, 1873-75. In Colfax he was treas- 
urer of the school fund e'ght years, 
1874-81, and clerk in 1876. His family 
consists of two children— Madge and 
Meade. 

2— Sarah A , (b. Vt., July 20, 1852,) 
in 1873 married B. A. Horton of Illi- 
nois, and after a year's residence 
there they bought and began to occu- 
py the NEi Sec. 25, Colfax township. 
In 1878 they moved to Manson, where 
he became a member of the board *of 
supervisors of Calhoun county, and 
she die' I in 1895. Her family consisted 
of four children, of whom three — Ar- 
thur, Mary and Margie are living. 

3— Niles L., (b. III., Dec. 1, 1854,) 



542 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



was a resident of Colfax township 
from 1872 until 1890, when he moved 
to Pomeroy and engaged in the real 
estate and insurance business. He 
was treasurer of Colfax school funds 
nine years, 1882-90, and has been post- 
master at Pomeroy since Dec. 18, 1899. 
In 1895 he married Mary Palmer of 
Davenport, and his family consists of 
two sons— William and Donald. 

Gedarstrom Rudolf Frederick, (b. 
1833,) owner and occupant of a farm 
of 240 acres on section 14, is a native 
of Sweden. In 1869 he came to Amer- 
ica accompanied by his brother, Claus 
Anton, and, securing adjoinirjg home- 
steads on section 36, Grant township, 
they lived together. In 1880 they 
sold their homesteads and located in 
Colfax township, where his brother 
Claus (b. 1835) died later that year. 
In 1873 R. F. married Johanna F. 
Burg, and she died in 1885. He is a 
tall, portly man and became a mem- 
ber of the Colfax Swedish Lutheran 
church at the time of its organization 
in 1873, and of the Swedish mission in 
1882. His father, Gustaf Adolph, was 
captain of a company of cavalry in 
the Swedish army and his brother, 
Carl F., captain of a company of in- 
fantry. 

Clancy James, (b. 1832) is a native 
of Ireland. In 18.64 he came to Amer- 
ica, located in Illinois and lived there 
fifteen years. In 1879 he located in 
Webster county, Iowa, and remained 
four year3. In 1883 he located on a 
farm of 80 acres on section 15. Colfax 
township, and still resides upon it. 
He has since increased this farm to 
280 acres and improved it with good 
buildings. He was president of the 
school board of the township three 
years. He has raised a family of 
eight children. 

Charles F. in 1899 enlisted as a mem- 
ber of the 1st S. D. infantry and spent 
one year in the Philippines as a hos- 
pital steward. In 1900 he returned to 
Sioux Falls, married and is now en- 



gaged in the drug business. James 
lives at Marshalltown, where he is en- 
gaged in railroad construction. John 
W. in 1900 married Maggie Donahoe. 
He owns and occupies a farm of 240 
acres on section 21, that he has im- 
proved with good buildings. He was 
township clerk '92-98. Mary taught 
school eleven years in Pocahontas and 
Calhoun counties and is now engaged 
in clerking. Maggie in 1897 married 
John O'Brien, a prosperous farmer of 
Colfax township. Edward, Henry and 
Joseph are at home. 

(grookten (Kruchten) John, (b. 18- 
37,) owner and occupant of a home- 
stead on section 28, is one of the hardy 
and successful pioneers of Colfax 
township. He is a native of Germany 
and coming to this country lived a 
few years in New York state, where 
in 1867 he married Helen Holtzmeyer. 
In 1871 he located on his present farm 
and began the work of its improve- 
ment. He has done this finely and in- 
creased it to 240 acres. He is a mem- 
ber of the Catholic church and a dem- 
ocrat. He enjoys the reputation of 
being an honest and upright man, an 
industrious and successful farmer. 
During the civil war, as a member of 
the 27th-N. Y. infantry, he spent four 
years in the military service of this 
country. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren: Annie in 1884 married Henry 
Kreul and lives at Pocahontas; Mary 
in 1894 married John Doyle and lives 
at Pomeroy; Lucy in 1892 married 
Charles Drummer, a farmer, and lives 
in Calhoun county; John W., in 1897 
mariied Helen Tennies and is now liv- 
ing on his own farm on section 22; 
Elizabeth married James Wood and 
lives in Grant township; Sylvester, 
James, Edward and Louisa H. are at 
home. 

Ekstrom Charles John, (b. Sept. 9, 
1840,) is a native of Sweden, the son of 
Eric and Catherine Ericson. When 
his father entered the army of Sweden 



COLFAX TOWSNttlP. 



543 



his name was changed from Erickson 
to Ekstrom, according to the usage of 
the country. Charles, his son, retains 
this name and was so baptized. In 
1864 he married Augusta Carolina, 
daughter of Gustave and Hadah So- 
phia Holmberg. In 1869 he came to 
America and remained that year at, 
Charles City, Iowa. The next year 
was spent in Blackhawk and Webster 
counties and he was joined by his 
wife, who came with two children and 
her parents to Webster county, where 
her father died soon after their ar- 
rival. In 1871 he located on a home- 
stead of 80 acres on the SE£ Sec. 36, 
Grant township, for which he received 
the patent in 1878. During the first 
summer he and his family lived on 
this homestead, they occupied a frame 
shanty 12x12 feet. In the fall of the 
year a layer of sod was built around it 
and during the next six years this 
unpretentious structure constituted 
the family residence. He thinks it 
was the warmest house he ever built, 
but he could not keep the rain from 
coming through the roof. In 1878 he 
moved to Bellville township and three 
years later to section 20, Colfax town- 
ship, where he again began the work 
of improvement. He has now a valu- 
able farm of 240 acres that has two 
sets of good farm buildings, all built 
by him. The buildings are nicely 
painted and look beautiful amid the 
shady groves planted around them. 
They are also provided with pretty 
gardens and fruit-bearing orchards. 
His family consisted of two daugh- 
ters, the eldest of whom died in 1889. 
Selma Augusta (b. Sweden, Dec. 5, 
1868,) in 1888 married John Peter 
Swanson, who now farms her father's 
farm. Her family consists of seven 
children: Alice O., Arthur W., Oscar 
II., Carl E , John Elmer, Clarence E 
and Roy, The mother of Mrs. Ek- 
strom died at her name Sept. 5, 1897, 
in her 82d year. Mr. Ekstrom and 
Mr. Swanson and Iheir famili' s are 



regular attendants of the Swedi h 
Mission church of Colfax township. 

Guy George, (b. 1827) was a native 
of Ontario, where in 1861 he married 
Ann Patilla McCulloch (b. Scotland, 
1828,) and five years later located in 
Wisconsin. Seven years later, 
or in 1873, they located on 
the NEi of section 28, Colfax town- 
ship, thiscounty. They improved and 
occupied this farm until 1893, a peri- 
od of twenty years, when they moved 
to Pomeroy. During the cyclone of 
that year their residence was de- 
stroyed and they were both severely 
injured. As soon as they had suffi- 
ciently recovered they were taken to 
the home of their daughter, Dinah 
Riley, near Jolley, He died there 
August 23, 1897 in his 70th year. He 
was an industrious and successful 
fanner, an honorable and upright man 
and was highly respected by all who 
knew him. The farm, increased to 240 
acres and divided into three 80s, is 
still held by his three daughters, of 
whom Maggie, the eldest, married 
Elmer Anstine, a farmer, and lives 
near LeMars; Dinah married Clayton 
Riley, who is now serving his second 
term as auditor of Calhoun county; 
and Addie married Wilford Riley, a 
farmer, and lives near Lytton. Mrs. 
Guy, a woman of devout and reverent 
spirit, died at the home of her daugh- 
ter Addie, August 9, 1901. 

Hogan James Henry, (b. Feb. 9, 
1855,) resident of Colfax township 
since 1880, is a son of Peter and 
Bridget (Murray) Hogan, who were 
natives of Ireland, came to Cook 
county, 111 , and in 1875 to Webster 
county, Iowa, where they still reside. 
James is a native of Cook county, 111 , 
and came to Pocahontas county in 
184:0. Two years later he bought 160 
acres on Sec. 24, Colfax township. He 
was the first to occupy this land and 
improved it by the erection of a good 
house and barn. After two years he 
sold this farm and bought the SEi 



544 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Sec. 10 and improved it in the same 
manner. In 1889 he exchanged 120 
acres of this farm for 80 acres on sec- 
tion 15, adjoining. One of the improve- 
ments made on this property that is 
greatly appreciated is a well drilled to 
the depth of 157 feet, that furnish- 
es a never-failing supply of good water. 

As he has passed from one farm to 
another he has left the marks of his 
presence and industry in the neat and 
handsome buildings erected. He has 
been a member of the Colfax school 
board many years, secretary of it 
since 1896 and president of it in 1889. 
He was assessor four years, 1885-88, 
and is now one of the trustees. 

On January 6, 1879, he married 
Eliza Jane Doyle, (b. March 1, 1856,) 
of Webster county, who died Dec. 29, 
1892, leaving a family of six children- 
Margaret W., William P., Mary J., 
James A., Alice C. and Florence A., 
three having died in childhood. On 
August 6, 1895, he married Kate, 
daughter of Thomas Byrne of Rolfe, 
and their family consists of two chil- 
dren—Grace E. and Rose Lillian. 

Hogan Edward, (b. 1857) a younger 
brother of James, in 1881 located in 
Pocahontas county and the next year 
bought 80 acres on section 15, Colfax 
township. He now owns a fine farm 
of 120 acres on section 10. In 1891 he 
married Jennie, only daughter of 
John Barrett, an early settler of the 
township. At the time of this mar- 
riage she was the widow of John L. 
Sanquist, whose family consisted of 
one sen, Edward. Their family now 
consists of two children — Mary Ellen 
and Philip Emmet. 

BEAUTIFUL, HOMES. 

If one familiar with Colfax town- 
ship were asked to name the most in- 
teresting place in it, he would most 
likely suggest the locality on section 
13, where the two Swede churches are 
located near each other with their 
resident pastors, cozy parsonages, 
sheltering sheds, beautiful groves and 



silent cemeteries. But if he were 
asked to name some of the largest 
and prettiest houses he would doubt- 
less begin by naming those ot John A. 
Holmes and Alexander Peterson. 
These homes are situated near each 
other, on opposite sides of the road 
running north between sections 15 
and 16. All the buildings are among 
the largest in the township, are com- 
paratively new and have an exception- 
ally fine location on the brow of a 
broad declivity, gently sloping south- 
ward. Their owners came from Swed- 
en about the same time and are 
brothers-in-law. They are fine repre- 
sentatives of the sturdy yeomanry of 
their native land and they have made 
a splendid record in the land of their 
adoption. Locating on the prairie a 
few years ago, with capital sufficient 
to make' only. a small purchase of land, 
they have become owners of 600 acres 
each, and their improvement, which 
is the embodiment of their own ideas, 
discovers their skill, energy and good 
judgment. When one visits these 
premises and sees the ample buildings, 
cultivated fields and growing crops, or 
the herds of swine and droves of 
cattle grazing contentedly on the lux- 
uriant pastures, the conviction that 
is expressed is, "This is fine. '? < 

Holmes John Alfred, (b. Oct. 1, 
1848,) one of the most prosperous farm- 
ers of Colfax township, is a native of 
Sweden, the son of Peter and Mary 
(Burke) Holmes. At the age of 18 
in 1867, he came alone to America 
having no capital except his health 
and habits of industry. During the 
first ten years he accepted employ- 
ment as a farm hand in Henry coun- 
ty, Iowa. On January 11, 1876, he 
married Matilda, (b. Oct. 22, 1853,) 
sister of Alexander Peterson, and lo- 
cated on the S Wi Sec. 15, Colfax town- 
ship, which he had bought five years 
before. He was the first to occupy 
and improve this land and today the 
improvements on it are among the 




MR. AND MRS. ALEXANDER PETERSON 
(County Supervisor 1891-96.) 




MR. AND MRS. JOHN A. HOLMES 
Colfax Township. 




REV. CARL E. OLSON 
Swedish Mission. 




REV. JOHN P. L1NDELL 
Swedish Lutheran. 






REV. AND MRS. CHARLES PERKINS 
Colfax Township. 



COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 



545 



finest in the township. In 1897 the 
first dwelling house was replaced by a 
large one, 30x30 feet, 18 feet high with 
an addition 14x22 feet, 16 feet high, 
that is very handsome in its appear- 
ance and is supplied with modern 
conveniences. In addition to a num- 
ber of large sheds and other outbuild- 
ings he has two large barns, one for 
hay and the other for stock. 

He keeps 20 to 25 cows and raises a 
great deal of stock He aims to keep 
a little more stock than his own land 
will support so he may feed on it all 
itproduc s. By following this prin- 
ciple he has been very successful. He 
is now the hippy owner of 600 acres of 
highly improved land that is either 
covered with flocks and herds or is 
growing a crop for the bin. He be- 
lieves the farmers of this section will 
make a great deal more money when 
they abandon the unprofitable prac- 
tice of selling grain for the eastern 
market and learn how to condense it 
in the form of beef, butter, pork, 
mutton, etc , thereby greatly increas- 
ing the profit on the raw material 
and reducing the freight on the prod- 
ucts shipped. It is only in this way 
that the Iowa farmer can obtain the 
highest compensation for his labor. 
Many having farms not half so large 
have more acres than he under the 
plow, but their efforts have not been 
so profitable. 

He has a fruit-bearing orchard of 
nearly two acres that was planted 
in 1878, and ten acres of forest trees 
planted from 1875 to 1881. 

He has been an official member of 
the Colfax Swedish Mission church 
ever since the time of its organization 
in 1881. He was clerk of Colfax town- 
ship four years, 1879, '84-86; and a 
trustee four years, '91-94. 

His family consists of three chil- 
dren: Mabel in 1899 married Peter 
M. Morrison and has one child, Juvey 
Eldora; Juvey and Alexander are at 
home. 

Mr. Holmes died August 9, 1901, 



after the above was sent to the press. 
He died at the home of his friends in 
Henry county, where he stopped for a 
few da.\s on his return fr<>m Chicago, 
whither he had gone with two car- 
loads of fat cattle. He was a modest, 
manly man and has left the impress 
of his industrious hand and noble 
spirit, in the home, on the farm, in 
the church and also in the commu- 
nity. 

floppy Christopher, who in 1872 se- 
cured a homestead on sect' on 20, was 
a native of Germany. He improved 
and continued to live upon his home- 
stead until the time of his death in 
1881; Margaret, his wife, continued to 
live upon it until 1895, when she moved 
to Fonda. At this date she had ac- 
quired the ownership of 240 acres in 
Colfax and Cedar townships. Their 
family consisted of three children. 
Grace married Andrew Anderson, a 
ditcher, and lives at Fonda. Adelia 
lives with her mother. Mary married 
Wm. Gezer and lives on section 4, 
Colfax township. 

Johnson August, (b. 1840.) owner 
and occupant of a homestead on Sec- 
12, 1873-99, was a native of Sweden, 
where he married Micheis Munson in 
1864 In 1869 they came to America 
and, after a residence of three years 
in Fort Dodge, located on their farm 
in the spring of 1873. The raw prai- 
rie on which they located was finely 
improved with a good house, barn and 
other outbuildings, all conveniently 
arranged amid a pretty grove of trees 
planted with their own hands. Their 
farm was increased to 120 acres. 
They were members of the Swedish 
Lutheran church and had one son, 
Arthur. In 1899 they sold the home- 
stead and reiurned to Sweden, with 
$6,000 as the result of a few years' 
work on an Iowa farm, to spend the 
remainder of their lives in their na- 
tive land. 

Johnson John A., (b Aug. 25,188*) 
owner and occupant of a homestead 
on section 12, is a native of Sweden. 
In 1869 he came to America and filed 



546 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



a claim for this homestead. He be- 
gan the work of its improvement by 
the erection of a sod house in the 
spring of 1870, and there lived with 
him in it that year Charles and John 
Peterson and John Carlson. This was 
the first sod house in that part of the 
township. On October 12, 1872, he 
married Christina Anderson, (b. Swed- 
en, Sept. 17, 1852,) who came to Amer- 
ica in 1870. They began housekeeping 
in a frame building 12x12 feet, and 
this is still in use as a part of their 
present home which was built in 1881. 
In 1888 the farm was enlarged to 250 
acres by the purchase of 170 acres ad- 
joining it in Bellville township. Mr. 
and Mrs. Johnson are highly esteemed 
members of the Swedish Lutheran 
church. They have experienced the 
trials and hardships of pionrer life, 
but are now surrounded with all the 
comforts that a gnod home on the 
farm can supply. Their family con- 
sists of seven children — Jennie, Oscar, 
Edward, Minnie, Alfred, Victor and 
Ida. 

Johnson GustF., owner of a farm 
of 160 acres on section 18, is a native 
of Sweden, came to America in 1886 
and located near Rockford, 111. In 
1872 he married Helen Sophia Gusta- 
son and located on his present farm 
then occupied by Andrew and Chris- 
tina Gustason, his wife's parents. 
His family consists of six children — 
Ida, Alma, Ernest, Amanda, Joseph 
and Hannah. 

Johnson John E., (b. 1820,) owner 
and occupant of a homestead on sec- 
tion 10, is a native of Sweden. In 1873 
he and wife Christiana, came to this 
country and located in Colfax town- 
ship The homestead was improved 
and increased to 120 acres. Jn 1895 
his wife died at the age of 72 years. 
Since that date h's nephew, John 
li'umberand family have occupied the 
homestead and he lias lived with them. 

Lindell John P. Rev., (b. Dec. 1, 
1832,) pastor of the Swedish Mi^sicn 



church of Colfax township from Nov. 
1, 1896, toNov. 15, 1899, is a native of 
Sweden, the son of Jonas Swanson 
aud Anna Breta Johanson. The chil- 
dren in Sweden are not named after 
the last names of their parents as in 
this country, but after the first name 
of their father as in the Old and New 
Testaments, where Isaac is called 
Abraham's son, or son of Abraham. 
The name of the subject of this 
sketch according to this rule was 
John P. Jonason. 

At the age of 18 in 1851, he entered 
the army of Sweden and remained in 
it during the next twenty years, serv- 
ing as a corporal at. the time of his 
discharge in 1871. It is of interest to 
note that service in the Swedish ar- 
my then was very different from what 
it is in this country where the gov- 
ernment employs the soldier and sup- 
ports him. There each farmer was 
expected to support a soldier or a 
soldier and his horse. This was done 
by assigning the soldier a piece of 
land on which he was expected to 
live and support himself and family. 
Only about twenty days each year 
(now increased to sixty) were occu- 
pied in the performance of strictly 
military duty and the remain- 
der of the year could be spent in 
looking after his own interests. Ev- 
ery one, however, that went into the 
army received a^ new and a short 
name, one unlike that of any other 
member of thesamecompany. When 
he was enrolled as a soldier his name 
was changed from Jonason, which has 
three syllables, to Lindell, which has 
only two. The children of soldiers 
bear the last name of their father. 

In 1859 he married Johanna Solo- 
mon, who died in 1868, leaving three 
children— John E., August and Anna 
Christine. In April, 1871, he came 
with these three children to this 
country and located in Illinois. In 
June, 1876. he was ordained to the 
gospel ministry by the Swedish Mis« 



COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 



54} 



sion Synod at Princeton, 111. His 
pastorates have been at Rockford, 
Joliet and Lockport, 111.; White Hall, 
Mich.; Chicago, Betesta, Neb., '89-96, 
and Colfax township, '96-99. 

In 1882 he married Mary Monson 
and their family consists of two chil- 
dren, Frank W. and George Terah. 
During the three years of his ministry 
in Colfax township he rendered a 
faithful service and made nlany 
friends. 

Lowrey Gad C. (b. May 6, 1827), 
Pomeroy, one of the pioneers of Col- 
fax township, is a native of Connecti- 
cut, the son of Ira L<\ and Jane (Ja- 
cobs) Lowrey. At eight years of age 
lie moved with his parents to Lacon, 
111., where he grew to manhood. On 
Aug. 30, 1819 he married Emeline F. 
Snell (b.Ind. Dec. 28, 1830) and 4 years 
later moved to LaFayette where he 
engaged in the manufacture of wagons 
and carriages as a member of the firm 
of Smith & Lowrey, Abraham Smith, 
his partner being his brother-in-law> 
Four years later he moved to Mineral, 
Bureau Co., 111., where he remained 
eleven years. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War 
his interest was manifested by mak- 
ing a number of stump speeches to en- 
courage enlistments. Later he him- 
self enlisted in a regiment of mechan- 
ics. After a short time this regiment 
was disbanded and he then be- 
came a member of the 93d 111. He 
served until the close of the war under 
Gen. Logan and participated in the 
engagements at Vicksburg, Champion 
Hills, Black River and others of less 
importance. At the time of his dis- 
charge he was 2d Lieut, of Co. H. 

In the fall of 1868 he moved to Des 
Moines, Iowa, and a few months later 
to Fort Dodge. In June 1869 he loca- 
ted on a homestead of 80 acres on Sec. 
26, Colfax township erecting a good 
one and one-half story house for 
which he prepared the frame at Fort 
Dodge. This was the first house on 



section 26 and lor several years was 
the largest one in the township. 
Whilst several young men had preced- 
ed him, his was the first family to 
locate in the township and Jason, his 
son, who preceded him a short time, 
was one of the first to do breaking in 
it. He planted a large grove and or- 
chard, and added 80 acres to the farm; 
but in March, 1878 moved to Pomeroy 
where he still resides. The house on 
the farm was blown away by the 
cyclone of April 21, 1878, and his home 
in Pomeroy experienced the same fate 
in 1893. 

He has proven himself a good citi- 
zen and noble minded man. When 
Colfax belonged to Cedar township he 
was chosen a member of the school 
board as the first representative from 
that district, and the first school in it 
was taught in his home in 1871 by his 
daughter, Ida. He has been a highly 
respected elder of the Presbyterian 
church of Pomeroy since 1883. His 
wife, a lady of unusually fine conver- 
sational powers, has shared with him 
cheerfully the hardships of 'pioneer 
life and given him hearty encourage- 
ment in all matters relating to the 
promotion of morality and piety. In 
1899 they celebrated the 50th adver- 
sary of their marriage and received 
the congratulations of many friends 
who expressed the hope they might be 
spared to enjoy many more years of 
happy wedded life. 

Their family consisted of seven 
children. 

1. Jason H. Lowrey (b. 111. June 29, 
1850), president of the State Bank of 
Pomeroy, came to Iowa with his pa- 
rents in 1868. Locating, in Pomeroy 
in 1878 he found employment in the 
post office and insurance business un- 
til July 1, 1886, when he became cash- 
ier of the Farmers Loan & Trust Co. 
bank. In July, 1892, when it was re- 
organized as the State Bank through 
his instrumentality, he became its 
cashier and is now president of it. 



54S PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The large and well appointed dwelling 
house lie now occupies was built in 
1900. He lias made the public school 
of Pomeroy a generous gift of a library 
of 300 carefully chosen volumes. By 
this manifestation of public spirit he 
laid the foundation of a worthy object 
that will perpetuate his name among 
Iris people as one that has wisely en- 
deavored to promote the public wel- 
fare. 

On Nov. 6, 1876, he married Eliza- 
beth Garlock of Cedar township who 
died July 21, 1892,' leaving one child 
that died soon afterward. July 16, 
1893. he married II at tie, daughter of 
Thomas and Sarah Wells, of Calhoun 
county, and they have two children, 
Genevieve and Vivian. 

He was a trustee of Colfax township 
in 1874, and secretary Of the school 
board 1871-75. He was recorder of Po 
cahontas county in 1878 and postmast- 
er at Pomeroy five years, Jan 1, 1879 
to Jan. 1, 1884. 

2— Ida D. (b. 111. March 11, 1854) a 
teacher, on Feb 21, 1872, became the 
wife of Samuel 11. Gill (see Gill) and 
died April 25, 1878, from injuries re- 
ceived during the tornado that de- 
stroyed their home in Colfax township 
four days previous. 

3— Charles F. Lowrey, (b. 111. Jan. 
11, 1856) on May 2, 1881, married Laura 
J., daughter of Alexander and Ella 
Lockey. They live in Fort Dodge and 
have a family of seven children, Clara, 
Jay, Frances, Lyle, Wayne, Ava and 
Ross. 

4— Emma (b. July 19, 1858) a teacher, 
on June 16, 1878, married R. M. Wil- 
bur, a traveling salesman They re- 
sided rin-t .at Pomeroy where she 
taught school several years, then at 
Fort Dodge, Council Bluffs and St. 
Paul, where she died March 15, 1836. 

5— Mary E., died in childhood. 

6— Judd (b. Jan. 21,1862) in 1890 mar- 
ried Emily Wego of Minn. He is a 
train dispatcher at Escanaba, Mich., 
and has one child, Madge. 



7— Smith G , (b. Jan. 13, 1865) a car- 
penter, on Oct. 23, 1888, married M-ary 
Miller, lives at Pomeroy and has two 
children, Clyde and Bernice. 

Maxwell Alexander G., (b. Jan 
11, 1852), owner and occupant of the 
NEi sec. 25 from 1878 to 1890, was a 
native of Albany, N. Y., and lived in 
that state until 1875, when he moved 
to Summit county, Ohio, and during 
the" next three years had charge of a 
farm. On Feb. 27, 1878, he came to 
Pocahontas county, Iowa, and the 
same day married Martha Elizabeth, 
daughter of Matthew and Margaret 
( Darling) Wallace, who three years be- 
fore, had located in Colfax township 
with her stepfather, Daniel N. Boyd. 
They planted around their new home 
on the prairie one of the largest groves 
in the county, consisting of walnut, 
catalpa, oak and maple trees. They 
greatly enlarged and improved the 
buildings and occupied this farm 
twelve years. In 1890 they moved lo 
Pomeroy and later to Storm Lake, 
where for several years he was custo- 
dian of the buildings and grounds of 
Buena Vista College. In 1899 they 
returned to Canastota, Madison coun- 
ty. N. Y. 

Mrs. Maxwell was the first teacher 
in the Colfax Center school hou^e and 
taught that school for several succes- 
sive years. She took an active part 
in effecting the organization of the 
Presbyterian church in Pomeroy. Mr. 
Maxwell was for several years a justice 
in Colfax township and an elder in the 
Presbyterian church of Pomeroy. In 
1892, as a commissioner from the I'res- 
bvtery of Fort Dodge, he attended the 
meeting of the general assembly of 
the Presbyterian church at Portland, 
Oregon. Their family consists of 
three children. Genevieve E., Wallace 
Glenn and Margaret Augusta. 

Mayer Christian (b. 1837), owner 
of a farm of 480 acres on section 29. 
was the first to occupy and improve 
this land. Two sets of buildings have 



COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 



549 



been erected and they are kept in fine 
looking condition. He is a native of 
Germany and in 1886 married there 
Dora Hesterman. In 1869 he came to 
America and located in Page county, 
111. He has been a resident of Colfax 
township since 1880, Henry G., bis 
oldest son, in 1893 married Matilda 
Vossand lives on the NWi of section 
29. During his spare moments he has 
made a couple of clocks that are quite 
ingenious in their construction and 
novel in their performances. August, 
William and Emma, the other chil- 
dren, are at home. 

McKinney Samuel W. (b. Oct. 
10, 1859), owner and occupant of a farm 
of 179 acres on section 7, is a native of 
Illinois, the son of James and Eliza- 
beth McKinney. On March 30, 1884, 
while residing in Story county, Iowa, 
he married Ida V. White. In 1888 he 
became a resident of Pocahontas 
county, and two years later bought 
his present farm, four miles northeast 
of Fonda. His skill and good judg- 
ment as a farmer have been very man- 
ifest in the improved appearance and 
greatly increased productiveness of a 
neglected and previously unprofitable 
farm. The old dilapidated buildings, 
one after the other soon disappeared, 
and in their places new and larger 
ones have been erected that are kept 
nicely painted. The places once oc- 
cupied by rank and unsightly weeds 
have been invaded with the plow that 
leaves a neatly turned furrow and 
prepares the way for a sure and profit- 
able crop. He is an intelligent and 
progressive farmer, a staunch repub- 
lican and was elected a member of the 
board of County Supervisors in the 
fall of 1900. His family consists of 
three children Marion G , Alice H. and 
Ida. 

Munson Swan Peter (b. Aug. 27, 
1831), owner of a farm of 360 acres in 
Colfax township, is a native of Swed- 
en, where in 1858 he married Lena 
Johnson. Ten years later they came 



to America with a family of three 
children and lived the next eighteen 
months in Illinois and Indiana. In 
September, 1870, they located on a 
homestead of forty acres on section 18, 
Colfax township. The first improve- 
ment on it was a sod house, 16x18 feet, 
and it was the home of the family un- 
til 1873, when it was replaced by the 
purchase of the second building erect- 
ed in Fonda and used there for school 
purposes. The latter now forms the 
dining room of the large two story 
building occupied by the family. In 
1883 he built a large barn for horses 
and in 1888 another one for cows. He 
has become a prominent and success- 
ful farmer, and has increased his farm 
to its present size by the purchase of 
only forty acres at a time, except in 
one instance. 

He is a well built man and has en- 
joyed the reputation of being the 
strongest man in the township. Dui- 
ing the seventies he worked eight 
years on the track of the I. C. R. R. 
under Wm. Bott, and it was not an 
uncommon occurrence for him to lift 
a steel rail 32 feet long and weighing 
500 pounds. He never attended school 
a day in his life, but learned to read 
his native language in the home of 
his parents. The only office he has 
been willing to hold has been that of 
road supervisor. He is a highly es- 
teemed member of the Swedish Luth- 
eran church, having been choeen a 
deacon in the church organized at Ft. 
Dodge iu 1871, where he continued to 
attend until the organization was ef- 
fected in Colfax township, when he 
was again chosen one of the first dea- 
cons. His family consisted of five 
children. 

Hilda, who in 1880, married August 
Samuelson (see Samuelson.) 

Charles August (b. Sweden 1863) 
came with his parents to America at 
the age of five years, and in 1870 locat- 
ed with them in Colfax township. In 
1894 he married Selma Johnson (b,. 



550 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



1875) and occupies a farm of 160 acres 
on section 19. He has two daughters, 
Esther and Ellen. 

Christina (b. 1866) in 1889 married 
Andrew Gilbert, from whom, after the 
birth of two children, Ada and Arthur, 
she was divorced. In 1892 she mar- 
ried Peter Palmer. They now live on 
her father's farm and have a family 
of three children, Elizabeth, Rosa and 
August Walter. 

Anna (b. 1871) in 1888 married Gus- 
tave Palmer, who died in 1890, leaving 
one child, Frederick. In 1901 she 
married Albert Johnson, afarmer,and 
lives in Colfax township. 

Emily in 1898 married Peter E. 
Backstrom, lives on the farm and has 
two children, Alflld and Helen. 

Murphy Patrick (b. 1836), owner 
of a farm of 600 acres having the home 
buildings on the SEi Sec. 11, is a na- 
tive of Ireland and in 1851 came with 
his parents to LaSalle county, 111. In 
1861 he married Ellen Cunnon, a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, and locating on 
a farm in Bureau county, 111., remain- 
ed there until the spring of 1873 when 
he located on 200 acres of raw prairie 
in Colfax township that he had visit- 
ed and purchased in September 1869. 
He came to the frontier with an out- 
fit that filled two cars and proved of 
great advantage to him. He had 
previously been engaged in raising 
Durham cattle and brought with him 
some thoroughbreds of this strain. 
By making frequent purchases as the 
years have passed he has maintained 
a prominent position as one of the 
leading fine stock raisers of Colfax 
township. He has become the owner 
of 600 acres of land and the fine per- 
manent improvements erected there- 
on discover both his thrift and excel- 
lent judgment. His dwelling house 
is a commodious structure fifty-one 
feet in length. He has half an acre 
planted with currants and grapes, 50 
apple trees in good bearing condition 
and a grove of ten acres of forest 



trees, of which four acres are black 
walnuts. Peace and good will have 
been his watch words and he has 
never been a party to a lawsuit, He 
has served many years as a school di- 
rector and has endeavored to give to 
all the members of his large family 
the heritage of a good education. 

His family consists of nine children. 
John (b. 111. 1861), in 1894 married 
Elizabeth Taylor and occupies the 
NWiSeo. 15, Grant township. Pat- 
rick (b. 111. 1866), in 1890 married Mary 
Kennedy of Calhoun county, occupies 
the SWi Sec. 3, Grant township and 
has two children, Mary Agnes and 
Maude. Michael (b. 1873), Mary, 
Ambrose, Elizabeth, Philip, Agnes 
and James are pursuing their educa- 
tion or are at work on the farm. 

Olsson Rev.C. E. (b. Apr. 17, 1866), 
pastor of the Colfax Swedish Lutheran 
church, is a native of Sweden, the son 
of Peter and Anna Olsson, with whom 
he came to America in 1869 and locat- 
ed at Moline, 111. His mother died a 
few months after their arrival and 
his father the following spring, at 
which time he was only four years of 
age. He was taken to the orphan 
home of the Swedish Lutheran church 
at Andover, 111. He received his ed- 
ucation at Rock Island, graduating 
from Augustina College in 1890, and 
from the Theological Seminary in 
1894. Two months later he became 
pastor of the Swedish Lutheran 
churches in Colfax township and Man- 
son, living in the parsonage at the 
former. During his pastorate of seven 
years these churches have made a 
gratifying growth, both in numbers 
and resources. On Jan. 29, 1896, he 
married Hannah E. Fair, of Andover, 
Illinois. 

Parker Frank J. owner and occu- 
pant of a farm on Sec. 28 from April 
1, 1879 to 1896, was a good citizen and 
fairly successful farmer. He com- 
menced with 80 acres and was the 
happy owner of 240 acres in 1896 when 



COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 



551 



he moved to Pomeroy. He has since 
been engaged in the life insurance 
business. Securing recognition first 
as a constable, he rendered faithful 
and efficient service in all the town- 
ship offices, serving eight years as a 
justice and fourteen as secretary of 
the school board. His family consists 
of six children: Carrie, Frederic, 
Roy, Niles, Howard and Pearl. 

Perkins Charles Gustavus 'b. Mar. 
17, 1841), one of the early pioneers of 
Colfax township, is a native of Wood- 
stock, Oxford Co., Maine, the son of 
Rev. Charles and Amazina (Cushman) 
PerKins. On August 28, 1861, at the 
beginning of the civil war, he enlisted 
and on Sept. 2d following he was mus- 
tered in at Canton as a member of Co. 
F. 9th Maine infantry. On Dec. 31, 
1863, in South Carolina, he re-enlisted 
as a corporal in the same company and 
regiment for three years. He was 
honorably discharged at Raleigh, N. 
C, Aug. 3, 1865, after nearly four years 
of faithful service in the army of his 
country. His regiment formed a part 
of the tenth army corps and served in 
the department of the Gulf under 
Gen. Sherman, on the James River 
under Gen. Butler and in the Army 
of the Potomac under Gen. Grant. 
It traversed every state along the At- 
lantic coast from Maine to Texas and 
participated in a larger number of en- 
gagements than any other. He par- 
ticipated in those at Moore's Island, 
Siege of Ft. Wagner, Port Wallhall, 
Arrowfield Church, Drewry's Bluff, 
Bermuda Hundred, Ware Bottom 
Church, Cold Harbor, Chapin's Farm, 
Darby House Road and Wilmington. 
In June 1864, at Cold Harbor, Va., he 
was wounded and taken to the hospi- 
tal at Alexandria, thence to German- 
town and later to Camp Keys at Au- 
gusta, Maine, where he remained until 
Aug. 22, 1864, when he returned to 
his regiment. 

In 1865, at the close of the war, he 
came with his parents to Winthrop, 



Buchanan Co., Iowa, where on March 
28, 1870, he married Sarah J. Pierce. 
Two months later they came to Poca- 
hontas county and located on a home- 
stead of 80 acres on the Si SEi sec. 32, 
Colfax township* which they still own 
and occupy. The farm has been in- 
creased to 260 acres and all the im- 
provements upon it are in excellent 
condition. His buildings being in the 
course of the terrible tornado of 1893, 
were completely destroyed, and only 
the twisted trunks or broken stumps 
remained of the many rows of beauti- 
ful shade trees planted around them. 

He has become widely and favorably 
known Dy reason of his intelligence, 
uprightness of character and long res- 
idence in the same place. He has 
taken a prominent part in the affairs 
of the Fonda G. A. R. Post and served 
as its commander three successive 
years, 1898-1900. In the history of 
Colfax township he has left more foot- 
prints than any other. He was secre- 
tary of the school board in 1872-1873, 
and president of it in 1875. He was 
assessor in 1875-1876, and a justice for 
thirteen years, 1874-1886. He was a 
trustee in 1873 and '94-97 and has been 
clerk since 1900. He was a member of 
the board of county supervisors in 
1884. His family consists of one 
daughter, Grace A., and she is still at 
home. 

Perkins Charles Rev. (b. Feb. 22, 
1815), father of Charles G., was a resi- 
dent of Pocahontas county most of the 
time from 1870 to 1887, and lived in 
Fonda from 1874-76. He received his 
early education in the public schools 
of Maine and at the age of nineteen 
became a member of the Calvanistic 
Baptist church. About the year 1852 
at Androscoggin he was ordained a 
minister of the Baptist denomination 
and seived pastorates at North Paris, 
Bridgeton and Hartford in Maine, and 
Randolph in New Hampshire. In 
1865 he was appointed a missionary by 
the Cedar Valley Baptist Association 



552 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of Iowa and was located at Winthrop 
four years. la 1869 he relinquished 
his commission and located on a farm 
in that vicinity. The next year he 
came with his son, Charles G., to Po- 
cahontas county and. preached as he 
had opportunity. He delivered the 
first sermon in Butler township, Cal- 
houn county, in a temporary school 
house on section 3, in 1872, and held 
the first public services in English in 
Colfax township that same year, in 
the Stewart-Brownell school house on 
section 34. His wife, Amazina Cush- 
man (b. 1817), was of Puritan descent, 
came to this county in March, 1872, 
and died in December following. Two 
years later he married Mrs. Elizabeth 
Bicknell, of Pomeroy. About the 
year 1887 he returned to Paris, Maine, 
and died there July 6, 1892. 

Perry Clark (b. 1844), resident of 
Sec. 5 since 1886, is a native of Winne- 
bago county, 111., the son of David and 
Charity Perry. On Nov. 27, 1877 he 
married Alice Lamb and located on a 
farm at Cherry Valley. In 1881 his 
father visited Pocahontas county and 
bought 480 acres on Sec. 5, Colfax 
township. Five years later Clark and 
family located on this farm and began 
the work of its improvement. Hand- 
some buildings have been erected on 
a beautiful elevation and the place 
has been made very homelike by the 
planting of an orchard and several 
groves. The apples from this orchard 
are large size, excellent quality and 
demand a ready sale on the market. 

His family consists of five children: 
Maude, a teacher, David, Ethel, 
Frank, and Earl; Jessie Mabel having 
died at sixteen in 1899. 

Peterson Alexander (b. Jan. 16, 
1850), one of the supervisors of Poca- 
hontas county 1892-97, is the son of 
Andrew Peter (b. May 18, 1818), and 
Charlotte Kauntson (b. Sept. 8, 1823) 
Peterson. His parents were united 
in marriage in 1848 and their family 
consisted of two children, Alexander 



and Matilda who became the wife of 
John A. Holmes (see Holmes). In 1867 
they came together to America and 
located at Andover, Henry Co., 111., 
arid three years later in Henry Co., 
Iowa. Here Alexander on March 22, 
1879 married Sophia Swanson(b. Swed. 
Aug. 27, 1858), who, as the only rep- 
resentative of her family, had come 
to America in 1875. Two years later 
he bought 160 acres of prairie on Sec. 
16, Colfax township and bringing his 
wife and parents located on it and be- 
gan its improvement. By frequent 
subsequent purchases this farm has 
been increased to 600 acres; and the 
first set of buildings have been re- 
placed by new and larger ones that 
rank among the largest and finest in 
the township. In 1891 a large two 
story mansion house was built and in 
1893 a barn 56x80 feet that has a capa- 
city for 90 tons of hay. Several other 
important buildings have been erected 
apd all are kept brightly painted. He 
keeps his farm well stocked with hogs 
and cattle and milks about 25 cows. 
In 1883 he planted six acres of forest 
trees and 80 fruit trees that are doing 
nicely. 

The marked success achieved by 
Alexander Peterson is a practical il- 
lustration of what an Iowa farm will 
do when rightly managed. No one 
can pass his premises without observ- 
ing the manifest evidence of careful 
management. Everything about the 
farm suggest s a systematic and orderly 
arrangement of facilities for caring 
for a sufficient amount of stock to con-, 
sume all the grain raised on the farm. 

Andrew P. Peterson his father died 
Dec. 22,1900 at the age of 82 years and, 
including his children and grandchil- 
dren, this was the first death in the 
family. When he read his first ac- 
count of the United States, giving a 
glowing description of the vast do- 
main of rich and fertile prairies that 
awaited new settlers, he experienced 
a desire to emigrate to this great 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 



553 



land. As the years passed away and 
he had opportunity of witnessing the 
increasing prosperity of his children 
in their new homes, often did he ex- 
press his gratitude to the favoring 
providence that led him and his fam- 
ily to Iowa and in particular to Poca- 
hontas county. 

Alexander, by his intelligence and 
thri ft, has forged his way to the front 
and secured recognition as one of the 
leading and most influential men of 
the township. He has been a trustee 
of the Swedish Mission church of Col- 
fax township since the time of its or- 
ganization in 1882. He was a trustee 
of the township from 1883 to 1890, a 
justice of the peace 1896 to 1899 and a 
member of the board of county super- 
visors six years, 1892-97. 

His family consists of four children, 
Melvin Oliver, Alice Matilda, Emma 
Cecelia and Elmer Alexander. 

Peterson Charles P. (b, 1844), own- 
er and occupant of a farm in, Colfax 
township since March 17, 1869, is a 
native of Sweden, came to America in 
1868 and lived one year in Boone coun- 
ty, Iowa. On March 3, 1869, he en- 
tered and two weeks later began to 
occupy, as a homestead, the Si NWi 
section 12, 80 acres. 

Four other young men from Sweden 
that were his personal friends, name- 
ly, John A. Johnson, Gust H. John- 
son, John A. Nelson and Harry August 
Nelson (died the next year), entered 
homesteads on the same section the 
same day with him, all having walked 
together from Des Moines. When 
the/ went to locate their claims there 
was no house west of the Blandon 
farm, eight miles east. They had to 
have their claims surveyed three times 
at a cost of $20 each before they got 
their boundaries satisfactorily located. 
Each built a sod house on his claim 
before the end of that summer and 
worked on the railroad when not need- 
ed on his homestead. At the time 
Of the great snow storm, March 8-10, 



1870, they were all at the cabin of 
John A. Johnson, and not until the 
third day were they able to return to 
their own homes to feed and water 
their stock. 

The first home of Charles P. Peter- 
son was a sod house, or more correctly, 
a dugout, 12x16 feet, excavated two 
feet below the surface, built with sods 
three feet above it and covered with 
a roof of boards. It ha'd one window 
in the rear gable facing southward. 
He occupied this humble but comfort- 
able dwelling until 1871, when he 
built a frame shanty that lasted the 
next eight years. In 1879 he married 
Hilda Nelson (b. Sweden 1857) and be- 
gan to occupy a new house completed 
at that time. In 1891 he sold the 
homestead and bought 240 acres on 
section 26. He has here a beautiful 
home with attractive surroundings, 
he has met with a good degree of suc- 
sess on the farm, raising good crops 
and raising stock with profit. He is a 
man of intelligence and strict integ- 
rity. He is a liberal supporter of the 
Swedish Lutheran church and has 
taken an active part in the manage- 
ment of the most important affairs of 
the township. He was president of 
the school board four years, 1893, '95- 
97, and a trustee six years, '93-98. His 
family consists of five children, Alfred, 
Frank, Henry, Melvin and Amy, four 
having died in childhood. 

Peterson Frank (b. 1851), in 1873 
secured as a homestead the Si SWi 
section 12, improved and occupied it 
until 1892. He then sold it and bought 
160 acres on the NWi sec. 23, which 
he has improved and still occupies. 
He is a native of Sweden, came to 
America in 1869 and located first near 
Des Moines. He has been a trustee 
of Colfax township since 1897. In 1875 
he married Turina Henricks, a step- 
daughter of Nels Anderson. She died 
May 2, 1899, leaving a family of eight 
children, Hilda O, Ida, Ina, Amanda, 
Verner, Carl, Lawrence and Nellie. 



554 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Peterson John (b. Sweden 1875), 
brother of Peter, in 1881 married Cath- 
erine Larson and located on section 
24. She died in 1887, leaving two 
children, Anna S. and Minnie M. In 
1889 he married Martha Johnson and 
their family consists of two children, 
Esther W. and Arvad. 

Peterson Peter (b. Sweden 1842), 
in 1869 located on a homestead on sec- 
tion 24, which he improved and in- 
creased to 160 acres. He married 
Christine Welander and occupied the 
homestead until the spring of 1901, 
when he moved to Pomeroy. He was 
a mason as well as a farmer. 

Prange August (b. 1835), who in 
June 1869 entered as a homestead the 
Si NEi section 20, is a native of Prus- 
sia. Coming to America in 1867, he 
located first in Webster county, Iowa, 
and two years later in Pocahontas 
county. His first improvements were 
a cabin and a blacksmith shop, the 
walls of the latter being built of sod. 
This was the second blacksmith shop 
established in this county, and it was 
maintained on the farm for 15 years, 
the sod building after four years be- 
ing replaced by one of lumber. He 
occupied the homestead, farming and 
blacksmithing until 1883, when he es- 
tablished a large shop at Pomeroy 
and supplied it with the most im- 
proved machinery. He is still the 
proprietor of it and enjoys the reputa- 
tion of being a very skillful workman. 
In 1874 he married Augusta Zimmer- 
man, relict of a brother killed in the 
Prussian army. His family consists 
of five children, Albert, Alma, Wil- 
liam, August and Emma. 

Frank Prange, son of his brother, 
deceased, married Rose Randall, lives 
at Pomeroy and has two children, 
Bertha and Charles. 

Prange William (b. Sept. 6, 1830), 
in July 1882 bought and began to oc- 
cupy the N£ section 19. He improved 
this farm with buildings that cost 
$3,500 and planted pretty groves 



around them. In 1895 he moved to 
Cedar township, where he has nicely 
improved a smaller farm. He is a na- 
tive of Prussia where in 1851 he 
married Ida Mallest. The next year 
they came to America and located in 
Chicago, where for twenty-six years he 
continued in the same grocery store. 
In 1868 his wife died and he soon after- 
ward married Agnes Zimmerman, who 
died in 1873 leaving two children, 
William and Frederic, who are resi- 
dents of Chicago. In 1874 he married 
Emma Storch and their family con- 
sists of three children, Emma, George, 
who in 1899 married Anna Hout, aDd 
Lizzie, an adopted daughter. 

Russell Henry (b. Dec. 31, 1834), 
who secured a homestead on section 6 
in 1870, was a native of Yorkshire, 
England. He came to Canada with 
his parents and on Aug. 19, 1862, mar- 
ried there. In 1870, accompanied by 
his brother John and his own family 
consisting of his wife and five children, 
he located on his homestead in Colfax 
township, and his brother John on an 
adjoining one. They built a shanty 
on the line between them and occu- 
pied it together one year. After a 
residence of thirteen years on this 
homestead he sold it and bought 160 
acres on section 6, Grant township, 
which he improved and increased to 
440 acres. In 1899 he sold -this farm 
and moved to Oklahoma. 

He was a man of considerable ener- 
gy and was very positive in expressing 
his convictions. He was the first to 
cast a democratic vote in Grant town- 
ship, became an ardent advocate of 
the people's party and heartily en- 
dorsed tne cause of free silver. He 
was a trustee of Grant township six 
years, 1893-98. 

His family consisted of thirteen 
children of whom James, the oldest, 
died in 1883 at the age of twenty. 
Those that are living are William, 
Nellie, Mary, Lizzie, Hattie, Chris- 



COLFAX TOWNSHIP. 



555 



topllefj John, Harry, Rose,Effle, Alice 
and Carrie. 

ISfelhe married Claude Kay, a farmer 
for a few years, but now an engine 
hostler at Rockwell City, and has a 
family of four children, Ernest, Guy, 
■&<ase and Paul. 

Mary married Charles Brown and 
lives in Grant township. 

Lizzie married Wesley Ellison and 
^ives in Grant township. 

Hattie married David Shippen and 
^lives in Kansas. 

John married Mary Coykendall and 
3ives In Grant township. 

^ose married Fred Coykendall and 
lives in Colfax township. 

Ettie married Hartley Eobeitsand 
lives at Fonda. 

Russell John, brother of Henry, 
in 1870 built a sod house on his own 
homestead and occupied it alone for 
several years. In 1876 he built a frame 
house and married Sarah Lovering. 
He continued to occupy the homestead 
until 1883, when he died, leaving a 
family of five children. Arthur, Wil- 
liam, Elijah, John and Mary. Two 
ySars later their mother became the 
wife of Henry Bentz, and they now 
live in the southern part of the state. 

Samuelson August (b. Aug. 22, 
1843), who secured a homestead on 
section 18 in 1869, is a native of Sweden, 
came to America in 1868 and located 
at Rockford, III. The next year he 
found employment on the I. C. rail- 
road and located his homestead. He 
has improved it with good buildings, 
increased it to 200 acres, and still oc- 
cupies it. In 1876 he married Hilda, 
daughter of Swan P. Munson, and has 
; a family of nine children, Selma, Min- 
nie, Otella, Esther, Mabel, Emil and 
Freda, twins, Genie and Lorence. 

Samuelson Peter Otto (b. 1832) 
an older brother of August, is a native 
.of Sweden, where he married Caroline 
Albertina, and about the year 1884, 
with a family of six children, all born 
.in Sweden, located on section J 7, He 



was the first to occupy this farm of 80 
acres and has finely improved it. Of 
his family of seven children, four are 
living, Ernest, Charles, who married 
Ida, daughter of G. B. Carlson of Col- 
fax and lives in Texas; Anna, who 
married Edward Barrett and lives in 
Manson, and Henry, who in 1896, mar- 
ried Amanda Haag of Colfax township. 
Otto Arvid in 1898, died at the age of 
22. 

Smith (Schmidt) Fred C. (b. June 7, 
1837), one of the first two men to lo- 
cate in Colfax township and who turn- 
ed the first furrow in it, is a native of 
Germany, came to America in 1867 
and located in Wisconsin. Two years 
later he came to his homestead on sec- 
tion 28, accompanied by Fred Mat- 
theis, who took an adjoining home- 
stead and at first shared with him his 
cabin, which was built on the line be- 
tween them. Improving and enlarg- 
ing the old homestead to 160 acres he 
occupied it until 1897, when he moved 
to Pomeroy. He was highly esteemed 
as a citizen and served six years as a 
trustee of the township. On Nov. 15, 
1869, he married Eliza Briggs of Cal- 
houn county, and his family consisted 
of two children, Louie, who died in 
1896 at twenty-six, and Emma. 

Stewart Robert Charles (b. Sept. 
10, 1829), who in 1870 secured a home- 
stead on section 34, and located upon 
it with a family of five children, was 
the son of William M. and Mary Stew- 
art and a native of Glasgow, Scotland. 
He grew to manhood in the state of 
Maine and in 1855 married Lucy Ann 
Lander in Massachusetts. He then 
located at Fulton, 111. In the spring 
of 1870 he drove across the country, 
secured a homestead in Colfax town- 
ship, and built a small cabin on it. 
This work of preparation occupied 
about six weeks. Returning to Fort 
Dodge he met his family and they 
came together to Pomeroy on the con- 
struction train that carried the first 
mail from Fort Dodge to Pomeroy. 



556 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHOETAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



At that time the town of Pomeroy 
did not exist except as the name of 
the terminal station of the railroad, 
and where we now see cultivated fields 
and comfortable homes there ' was 
•naught but a treeless, trackless prai- 
rie profusely covered with ponds, 
sloughs, and the slough grass houses 
of the house-building muskrats. Only 
those who experienced the trial can 
tell of the hardships endured by the 
early settler in the effort to found a 
home and provide for a large family 
on the frontier. In the fall i if 187 . 
in order that he might supplement 
the summer's earnings he started a 
shoeshop at Pomeroy. He occupied a 
little corner in the general store of 
Nicholas Kiefer, the only business 
house in the place. Deriving a small 
revenue from this source he continued 
to work at the shoemaker's trade the 
remainder of his days, walking or 
driving to and from the homestead 
until 1883, when he sold it and moved 
to Pomeroy, where he died April 17, 
1899. 

He was a man of excellent spirit 
and took such an active part in the 
organization first of Cedar township 
in 1870 and of Colfax in 1871 that his 
name will always be remembered. By 
previous appointment he served as one 
of the judges at the first election held 
in Cedar township and was that day 
elected one of its first trustees. In 
the fall of 1871, when Colfax was set 
off from Cedar, he was again appoint- 
ed and served as one of the judges at 
the first election. He was then elect- 
ed and was the first to hold three of 
the township offices, namely; assessor, 
justice and trustee. He served as as- 
sessor three years, as a justice eight 
years, clerk one year, president of the 
school board two years and secretary 
of it seven years. After his removal 
to Pomeroy he continued his interest 
in public affairs, national as well as 
local. He was an enthusiastic repub- 
lican, and manifesting pleasure in giv- 



ing the reasons for his own political 
views, he recognized it as the privil- 
ege of those who differed from him to 
do the same. 

His family consisted of four child- 
ren. Charl s Edwin, in September 
1883, married Relief B. Mackey and 
died one month later at 25. Herman 
William, a druggist, in 1884 married 
Elizabeth V. Gould, lives at Omaha, 
Neb., and has two children, Ray and 
Genie. George, a painter and,paper 
hanger, in 1888 married Mary J. Frost, 
lives at Pomeroy and has two child- 
ren, Irwin W. and Bay Frost. Eliza- 
beth died in 1883 at 15. 

Swanson Joseph Rev., pastor of 
the Colfax Swedish Lutheran church 
from March 1876 until the fall of 188<>, 
was a native of Sweden, came to 
America in his youth and locating in 
Illinois married there Betty (Eliza- 
beth) Anderson. In 1875 he located 
on section 13, Colfax township, and re- 
ceiving a license to preach the gospel, 
served as pastor of the Swedish Luth- 
eran churches of Colfax township and 
Manson from 1876 to 1880. In 1885 he 
located on section 14 where he died in 
1895, at the aye of 58, and was buried. 
He left a family of nine children who 
still own and occupy his late home on 
section 14, namely, Elmer, Martin, 
Elizabeth, Justus, Richard, David, 
Mary, Hannah and Esther. 

Turner Ludwig D. (b. 1841), who 
in 1S69 secured a homestead in Colfax 
township, was a native of Warren 
county, N. Y., where in 1868 he mar- 
ried Eliza J. Russell (b. N. Y. 1845) 
and' located in Jones county, Iowa. 
The next year, accompanied by Mrs. 
Julia A. (Turner), widow of Marshall 
Johnson, they came in wagons to Po- 
cahontas county and located on home- 
steads on section 6, Colfax township. 
Ludwig began the work of improving 
his homestead and occupied it until 
June 6, 1877, when he died from par- 
alysis. His family consisted of three 
children, two of whom, Gertrude and 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP 



557 



John, at the ages of 14 and 13 years 
died of diphtheria in 1886. Matie L., 
a teacher, in 1891, married Frank E. 
Bailey, and lives at Fonda where her 
mother also resides. 

L. D. Turner participated in the 
organization of Colfax township, and 
in 1872 served as a member of its first 
school board. Daring the civil war 
he enlisted twice and served over four 
years in the army of the Potomac un- 
der Generals McClellan and Grant, 
first as a member of the 2d. Reg. N. 
Y. Infantry and later of the 22d N. Y. 
Cavalry. He had four brothers. An- 
drew, George, Joseph and John that 
also enlisted at the beginning of the 
war, and rendered patriotic service 
during its continuance. 

Mrs. Julia A. (Turner) Johnson was 
a native of New York, where she mar- 
ried Marshall Johnson. At the out- 
break of the civil war he enlisted and 
died in Andersonville prison, leaving 
a wife, two sons, George and William, 
and two daughters. After the war 
was over Julia A. came to Iowa and 
assisted by her two sons, secured a 
homestead on section 6, Colfax town- 
ship, erecting first a sod house. Four 
years later she became the wife of 
Robert, a brother of Henry Russell, 
and built a good frame house that 
they continued to occupy until 1894, 
when with two daughters, Nettie and 
Mary, they located in Oklahoma. 

George Johnson, her oldest son, 
about 1881 married Ida Willard and 
lives at Laurens where he is engaged 
as a mason and plasterer. William, 
his brother, a carpenter, about 1881 
married Eunice Pierce and lives at 
Laurens. Lourinda, the eldest daugh- 
ter of Mrs. Johnson, lives in New 
York state, and Lillias, her sister, in 
Jones county, Iowa. 

Walker Thomas (b. 1820), owner 
and occupant of a farm of 80 acres on 
section 28, from 1870 until the time of 
his death in 1889, was a native of Eng- 
land, where in 1840 he married Eliza- 



beth May (b. 1820). Two years later 
they came to America and lived in 
Ohio and other eastern states until 
1870, when they located in Colfax 
township. They had one daughter 
and she died in Ohio. Mrs. Walker 
continued to live on the farm until 
1895. when she moved to Pomeroy. 
Thomas and Elizabeth Walker are 
kindly remembered by all who knew 
them. 

Wallace George (July 29, 1836), re- 
corder of Pocahontas county 1879-80, 
was a native of Summit county, Ohio, 
the son of James Waugh and Adaline 
(Hancher) Wallace. He was raised on 
a farm near Boston and received his 
education at Northfield, Ohio, where 
in 1861 he married Cassandra McKes- 
son. In 1871 he located on section 13, 
Colfax township, erected some good 
improvements and experienced all the 
vicissitudes and trials incident to 
frontier life during the hard times in 
the seventies. 

In 1871 he was elected and served 
three years as one of the justices of 
Colfax township. He was two years 
president of the school board and 
three years clerk of the township. In 
1878 he was elected recorder of the 
county and held this important office 
until the time of his death, Aug. 20, 
1880. He was a capable and efficient 
public offi;er, a man of unquestioned 
integrity, a devoted Christian and 
for many years an honored member of 
the Presbyterian church. 

In 1881 his family moved to Pome- 
roy, where Cassandra, his wife, re- 
mained until 1892, and then went to 
the home of her son, James, at Ober- 
lin, Ohio. His family consisted of 
four children, one of whom died in 
childhood. 

James Waugh, after taking a thor- 
ough course in instrumental music, in 
1891 married Lenora Mershon, of Des 
Moines, and located at Oberlin, Ohio, 
where he has since been engaged as 
an instructor in music. Evalina mar- 



558 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ried Foster E. Blackinton, for a num- 
ber of years an implement dealer at 
Pomeroy, but now a resident ot Og- 
den, Utah. William R., a carpenter, 
married Martha Hank, and lives at 
Platteville, Wisconsin. 

Zieman William, and his two sons, 
Rudolph (b. 1844) and Amandus (b. 
1851) in 1869 located three homesteads 
of 80 acres each on section 20. They 
were all natives of Germany and the 
two brothers worked several years on 
the track of the I. C. railroad. Their 
mother died soon after they came to 
Pocahontas county and William, their 
father, in 1895. Amandus in 1885 sold 
his homestead and bought another 
farm on the same section which he im 
proved and occupied until 1898, when 
he sold it and moved to Murray coun- 
ty, Minn. Rudolf after some years sold 
his homestead to his sister, Mrs. Lu- 
zetta Valentine, and they continued 
to live on it until 1900, when they 
moved to Matlock, Minn. 

Sod Shanties. Sod shanties were 
built or occupied in Colfax township 
from 1869 to 1873 by the following 
early settlers: Fred C. Smith, Fred 
Jentz, John A. Johnson, Gust H. 
Johnson, JohnSoder, Peter Gustaf son, 
Charles P. Peterson, Swan P. Mun- 
son, August Prange, Henry A. Nel- 
son, John A. Nelson, John Russell 
and Mrs. Julia A. Johnson. 

IN PURGATORY. 

Unpleasant experiences that come 
unexpectedly and are not attended 
with any serious consequences often 
become the occasion of considerable 
merriment when the story of them is 
told. Of this fact the following inci- 
dent in the early experience of two of 



the old settlers of this township, both 
of whom are still living, is a good il- 
lustration. 

When Patrick Murphy and John 
Barrett made their first purchases of 
land in this county in September 1869\ 
they undertook to walk the entire dis- 
tance from Fort Dodge to Colfax 
township. When they came to Purga- 
tory slough, which is now dry nearly 
all the year, the water was then about 
sixty rods wide. An Irishman, who 
had found employment on the rail- 
road agreed to ferry them safely across 
it on a raft made of a few fence boards. 
When they got about the middle of it 
the raft sunk to the bottom with all 
on board, and they realized !what it was 
to be unceremoniously ducked in a 
slough (Purgatory). In order to get 
them out of it the Irishman helped 
Barrett to get on the top of a musk- 
rat mound and left him there while 
he took Murphy to the other side. He 
then returned to the rescue of Barrett, 
who, in his lonely situation in the 
meantime, had endured all sorts of 
dire forebodings, not so much because 
he was helplessly surrounded by so 
much water, but because of the omin- 
ous movements that he occasionally 
detected as taking place underneath 
him among the musky proprietors of 
the frail house, the top of which he 
was occupying as a place of refuge. 

COUNTY^ OFFICERS. 

Colfax township has furnished the 
following county officers: 

Supervisors— Ray C. Brownell 1873- 
75; Charles G. Perkins '84; Alexander 
Peterson '91-97; S. W. McKinney 1901. 

Recorders— J ason H. Lowrey 1878; 
Geo. Wallace '79-80. 




RESIDENCE OF S. H. KERR, ROLFE. 




RESIDENCE OF DUNCAN FERGUSON, ROLFE. 




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XVII. 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 



Hail to the hardy pioneers! 
The men that cleared the forests, 

And built log cabins rude; 
The wives that shared the hardships 

Of toil and solitude; 
Founders of institutions, 

Upholders of the right; 
Keformers brave, and leaders 

From darkness into light. 
Hail to the hardy pioneers! 



SURFACE FEATURES, TIMBER, ETC. 




T» m^ ^ SJ~| es Moines township 
rl7flWi?^ KflfrlS was named after the 
river that flows south- 
easterly through the 
eastern part of it. 
The following notes 
made by the government surveyors in 
1854 are suggestive of the erroneous 
notion that prevailed in their minds 
in regard to the value of treeless 
prairies: 

"Des Moines township is principally 
prairie; its surface is generally rolling 
and the soil is mostly first-rate. There 
is some timber on the west branch of 
the Des Moines river, which enters 
the township on section 3 and leaves 
it on section 36. There is sufficient 
timber in this township to warrant 



only a few settlers, at least for some 
time to come. There are a few 
marshes in the northwest corner of 
the township. If there was more 
timber it would be excellent for agri- 
culture." 

The belt of timber along the west 
branch of the Des Moines river in this 
township was very much larger than 
any found elsewhere in this county, 
and the timber was superior in size 
and quality. Many of the larger trees 
in 1860 were utilized in the erection 
of the first court house, the first 
bridge over the Des Moines river and 
numerous other structures built about 
that time. The logs were sawed at 
the saw mill of W. H. Hait, which 
was located near old Rolfe and was 
the only one ever set in this county. 

The value of this timber for fuel 



560 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTASICOUNTY, IOWA. 



and building purposes to the settlers 
who came before the arrival of the 
railroad may not be too highly esti- 
mated. One section of it, commonly 
called the "Cabbage Lot," was owned 
by a non-resident, and for many years 
the settlers traveled long distances 
and got all they wanted for nothing, 
save the labor of cutting and hauling 
it. The annual supply of fuel for the 
old court house was 25 cords and dur- 
ing its existence about 400 cords were 
used in it. 

The history of this township ante- 
dates that of all the others in tbe 
county except that the early settle- 
ment of Lizard township precedes it 
about one year. The stream of immi- 
gration moving westward from Fort 
Dodge passed up Lizard creek to the 
southeast part of the county in 1856, 
and up the Des Moines river to the 
northeast part of it in 1857. The 
early settlers of this township taking 
the lead at the time of the county's 
organization in 1859, secured most of 
the public offices and the next year 
the public buildings of the county. 
The pre-eminence thus gained by this 
extreme corner of the county was 
maintained for a period of seventeen 
years, or until 1876, when the public 
records and offices were moved to Cen- 
ter township. For an account of the 
early settlement of this township the 
reader is referred to page 169. 

PRE-EMFTORS AND HOMESTEADERS. 

The first settlers in this township 
were pre-emptors* who secured their 
claims under the act of congress ap- 
proved Sept. 4, 1841. Among the 
number of these were the families of 
A. H. Malcolm, Guernsey Smith, Rob- 
ert Struthers, Wm. Struthers, Wm. 
Jarvis, Henry Jarvis, Samuel 1ST. Har- 
ris, David Slosson, Orlando Slosson, 
John Strait, James Smith, John A. 
James, James Edelman, Perry (Julia 
A.) Nowlen and Daniel W. Hunt. 

The homestead act of May 20, 1862, 
*See Pages 236 and 237. 



went into effect Jan. 1, 1863, which 
was a national holiday and the land 
offices were not opened. One claim 
and so far as known only one claim 
was filed that day. This was done by 
Dr. Daniel Freeman at the land office 
at Brownsville, Neb., for a homestead 
five miles west of Beatrice on Cub 
Creek, Gage county. Meeting the 
clerk of the land office a little before 
midnight of the day previous he pre- 
vailed on him to go to the office and 
at 12:05 on the morning of Jan. I, 1863, 
secured the first homestead, to 
which he had previously acquired a 
squatter's right, by building a log 
cabin, stable, a little fence and plow- 
ing about 20 acres of the land. 

The drift of settlers to the public 
lands that commenced at the close of 
the civil war and continued during 
the remaining years of the 19th cen- 
tury greatly surpassed that of any 
previous period in our national his- 
tory, and has never been equaled in 
the history of the world. Hundreds 
of thousands of claims have been lo- 
cated, millions upon millions of acres 
of the public lands have been taken 
by homeseekers, and states and terri- 
tories have been created out of the 
public domain— all in half the lifetime 
of one man. 

Those that secured homesteads in 
Des Moines township were Beriah 
Cooper and his two sons, Henry and 
Thomas, Roswell Drown, Richard 
Chatfield, Wm. Clason, Robert Loth- 
ian and his two sons, John W. and 
Wm. Lothian, Roderick Harris, Chas. 
J. Campbell, Benjamin L. Inman and 
David Bishop, his brother-in-law. 

SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

Des Moines township wasorganized 
at the home of Henry Jarvis, section 
24, on March 15, 1859, the same day 
the organization of the county was 
effected. No record was made of the 
trustees elected at this time, but from 
some very suggestive data we infer 
that those who served in this capacity 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 



561 



in 1859 were Wm. Jarvis, Perry Now- 
len and Robert Struthers, Robert 
Struthers and S. N. Harris were elect- 
ed justices and W. H. Hait clerk. 
Soon afterward W. H. Hait was ap- 
pointed assessor for tbe county, and 
later a justice in place of S. N. Harris. 
The records of tbe trustees of Des 
Moines township from the time of or- 
ganization in 1859 to 1874 are no longer 
available for reference. The succes- 
sion of officers for this period has been 
gleaned, with a great deal of labor, 
from incidental references to them in 
the various county records. 

The succession was as follows: 

Trustees — Robert Strutbers 1859, 
'61-64, '67-71; Wm. Jarvis ,59-65, '67- 
72, '75-77; Perry Nowlen '59-60. '80-82; 
Oscar Slosson '60, '66-69; Isaac N. Bel- 
knap '62-63; Henry Jarvis '64, '68. '72- 
73; Orlando Slosson '64; Jeremiah 
Young, Henry Thomas '65-66; Henry 
Cooper, E. C Brown, Geo. Vannatta 
'70-71; B. L.Inman '72-78; J. A. Heald 
'73-74; W. H. Hait '73-77, '94-99; Thos. 
Baker '75-76; Alfred Hewlett, Robert 
B. Lothian, Ora .Harvey' 78-79; J. J. 
Bruce, Claus Johnson '79-81; Thomas 
Cooper '80-84, '95-97; Peter Williams 
'82-84; John W. Broadwell '83-85, '87- 
95; Peter Jensen '85-94; Ed Hammond 
'85-86; Henry Ham '86-93; P. H. Sher- 
man '96-98; Geo. F. Smith '98-1900; 
W. S. Butler '99-1901; I. F. Fisher, 
Clarence Jensen and Litteny Webb. 

Clerks— W. H. Hait 1859-63, '78-79, 
'84-90; Fred A. Metcalf '64-65; W. S. 
Fegles '66-74; John W. Farmer '75-76; 
B. L. Iuman '77-82; A. H. Lorimer '80- 
81; Claus Johnson '83; 8. J. Ritchey 
'91-1900; A. J. Struthers. 

Justices— Robert Struthers 1859-93; 
W. H. Hait '59-71, '79-80, '91-93; A. H. 
Lorimer '72-74, '82-85; Owen Bromley 
'74-75; S. N. Harris '77; R. Mather '81; 
R. B. Fish '85-86; Henry Cooper '87-90; 
I. C. Thatcher '94; S. J. Ritchey, M. 
Lathrop '95; J. Warford, Wm. Mc- 
Aneny '99; I. F. Fisher '97-99; L. How- 
ell, W. S. Dean '98-1900; Peter Jensen, 
W. Hansell and A. W. Ralph. 



Assessors— W. H. Hait 1859; Oscar 
Slosson, Henry Jarvis '61-63; Fred A. 
Metcalf, Robert Struthers '65, '68, '77- 
80, 84-92; W. H. Metcalf '66; Lot Fish- 
er, B, L. Inman '69, '71, '76; D. J. 
Bishop '70; Owen Bromley '72-73; R. 
S. Frost '81-83; J. J. Ruff '93-96; J. 
Hollenbeck '97-1900; H. Miller. 

It is worthy of note that during a 
period of seven years, 1887-93, the af- 
fairs of this township were managed 
by the same persons as trustees, John 
W. Broadwell, Peter Jensen and 
Henry Ham. W. H. Hait served eigh- 
teen years as a justice, and Robert 
Struthers fifteen as assessor and about 
thirty-five as a justice. These long 
terms of service are very creditable to 
the incumbents and suggest an era of 
good feeling. 

On May 23, 1881, a special election 
was held at old Rolf e to vote aid to 
the Des Moines & Fort Dodge R. R. 
Of the 58 votes cast, 50 were for, and 
8 against the proposed aid. 

SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

Des Moines township, embracing 
the northern half of the county,- was 
organized for school purposes in the 
spring of 1861. 

The population of Clinton tovn- 
ship, not as at first organized, but as 
embracing only township 92-31, during 
the sixties was as follows: In 1859 to 
61, 6; in 1862, 10; in 1864, 17; in 1866, 
24, and in 1867, 42. Owing to the fact 
there were so few children in the 
township and some of these were able 
to attend school at old Rolfe, the 
Clinton township school district was 
not organized till the spring of 3869. 
Previous to this date it continued to 
to be included in the Des Moines dis- 
trict and was represented in that 
school board. 

The school records of this township 
previous to 1870 are no longer availa- 
ble for reference. The data during 
this period has been supplied by inci- 
dental references in the county records 



562 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and by the recollections of those who 
were unconsciously making history at 
that time. The succession of school 
officers has been as follows: 

Presidents of the Board— Ora 
Harvey 1860-62; John A. James '63; 
Robert Struthers '64-71, '78-81; Wm. 
D. McEwen '72-75; J. J. Bruce '76-77; 
Claus Johnson '82; A. E. Dickey, Per- 
ry Nowlen '84-85; Lot Fisher, Henry 
Ham 87, '96-98; R. B. Fish, Thomas 
Rogers, R. H. Gifford '90-91; J. J. Ruff 
'92-94; W. N. McAneny, J. A Budolf- 
son '99-1900. 

Secretaries— Roderick Harris 1860- 
65; W. S. Fegles '66-74; J. W. Farmer 
'75-77; J. J. Bruce ,78-80; Geo. W. Hor- 
ton, B. L. Inman, Claus Johnson ; 83- 
88; Wm. E. Struthers '89-1901. 

Treasurers— Wm. H. Halt 1860-63, 
'83-88; Fred A. Metcalf '64-65; Mat- 
thew Tilley '66; Wm. Jarvis '67-82; 
Claus Johnson '89-1901. 

The board of directors in 1900 con- 
sisted of nine members who repre- 
sented the districts in the following 
order: J. A. Murray, G. J. Peck, J. 
A. Budolfson, Niels Truelson, I. F. 
Fisher, S. J. Ritchey, O. Clapsaddle, 
Thomas H. Fisher and Geo. F. Smith. 

EARLY TEACHERS. 

The district of old Rolfe, which was 
the first one organized in the north- 
east part of the county, was called 
Highland, and this name occurs fre- 
quently in the early county records. 
The first school in this district was 
taught in 1860 by Miss Helen M. Har- 
vey in the home of W. H. Hait. In 
1861 a brick school house was built 
near the court house and she taught 
school in it th at and the next two years, 
when she was succeeded by Mrs. Agnes 
Kinney, sister of Fred E. Metcalf. 
Wm. D. McEwen taught it three win- 
ter terms, from Jan. 1, 1866, to the 
spring of 1868. Of the other teachers 
that taught in this township during 
the 70s the names of the following have 
been preserved: Jane Hammond, Ann 
E. Slosson, Jane Hargrave, J, W. 



Farmer, Mattie A. Wilson, Hattie E. 
Barnes, Mrs. Rebecca W. MacVey, 
Mrs. Mary A. Umbarger, O. W. Strong, 
Orrin Keeler, L. Keeler, J. J. Jolliffe, 
O. I. Strong, Ellen Porter, W. E. Esk- 
ridge, Hattie Drown, S. A. Smith, 
Owen Bromley, Martha E. Rowley, 
Phoebe C. Hewlett, Delilah Hamble, 
Mrs. Sarah P. Farmer, L. M. Harris, 
Maggie J. Lind, Anna B. Campbell, 
Sarah Slosson, Kate Mattern, Carrie 
Haviland and Fannie Barnes. 

DES MOINES VOLUNTEERS. 

Des Moines township did her full 
share to put down the rebellion by 
furnishing alone more volunteers than 
was required of the entire county, ac- 
cording to its population. This fact 
has always been a just source of pride 
to the citizens of the township. The 
list includes all that entered the army 
of the civil war from this county, and 
is as follows: 

A. H. Malcolm, Co. A 11th Penn. Cav. 
Henry Cooper, " 11th " " 
Oscar Slosson, " 11th " " 
Hiram Evans, " 11th " " 

These, the first to enlist were 
sworn in at Fort Dodge Sept. 2, 1861. 
Others that followed in 1862 were: 

James Hood 11th Penn. Cav. 

Andrew Mills 11th " " 

John Gaylor 11th " " 

Wm. H. Sherman, Delaware Infantry 
Richard Barnes. 

Others that followed later were: 

Wm, S. Fegles 4th Iowa Infantry 

Chas. W. Jarvis.. 4th " " 

Henry Tilley 4th " " 

Dennis Quigley. .24th " Cavalry 
Thomas Quigley. 27th " Infantry 

Whole number, 14. 

In the fall of 1860 there were only 
nine votes cast in Des Moines town- 
ship and 28 in the county. In 1862 
the population of the county was 122 
and the whole number of votes cast 
was 24. There were then three town- 
ships in the county and the fourteen 
volunteers furnished by Des Moines 
township alone was just one half 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP 1 . 



563 



the whole number of votes cast 
in the county at that time. It is only 
when these facts are recalled that one 
is able to rightly estimate the patriot- 
ic spirit developed in Des Moines 
township during the civil war. Each 
man had caught the patriot spark; 
old man and stripling, priest and 
clerk. 

The absence of so large a portion of 
the able bodied men of the township 
completely checked the work of im- 
provement and their families being 
left on the extreme frontier, at a great 
distance from all sources of supplies, 
experienced a recurring series of trials 
and privations in summer and of se- 
vere exposures in winter. 

For an account of the 11th Penn. 
Cavalry, to which seven of them be- 
longed, the reader is referred to page 
215. 

Eichard Barnes was killed at Pe- 
tersburg. 

Andrew Mills was wounded and cap- 
tured at the time of the Wilson Raid, 
near Richmond, the object of which 
was to prevent the enemy from receiv- 
ing further supplies on the south side 
or Weldon railroad. He was impris- 
oned at Andersonville from June 1864 
to March 1865, and died soon after 
his exchange. 

Of the survivors A. H. Malcolm, 
Henry Cooper, Henry Tilley, Oscar 
Slosson, Wm. S. Fegles, Dennis and 
Thomas Quigley returned to this 
county. 

Wm. H. Sherman located in Dela- 
ware, John Gaylor in Kansas and 
Charles W. Jarvis just across the 
line in Humboldt county. Hiram 
Eyans located in Montana, married 
and died there. 

Wm. S. Fegles previous to his en- 
listment, married Elizabeth Harris 
and theirs' was the first wedding in 
Pocahontas county. He had learned 
to set type and while in the army he 
was often detailed for that purpose. 
He owned and occupied all of section 



13 east of the Des Moines river until 
1878, when he moved to Holt Co., Neb. 
He was clerk of Des Moines township 
nine years, 1866-74, and secretary of 
the school board from 1867-74. 

Dennis Quigley married before en- 
listing and after his return engaged 
in farming in Des Moines township. 
He is now living near Mallard in Palo 
Alto county. 

OLD ROLFJS, THE FIRST COUNTY SEAT. 

The site of old Rolfe. the first coun- 
ty seat, was on the northeast corner 
of the SWi of section 26, Des Moines 
township, which was entered by Wm. 
E. Clark and soon afterward conveyed 
to John M. Stockdale of Fort Dodge, 
his brother-in-law. The knoll at this 
place is a very pretty one and the 
highest in that locality. 
g The first name suggested for this 
place was Highland or Highland City, 
and the use of this name prevailed 
during the year 1860, when the court 
house was built and the first session 
of the court was held in it. In January 
1861, Stockdale employed Egbert Bagg 
of Fort Dodge to survey and plat the 
town around the court house. At the 
request of W. H. Hait and with the 
approval of the people the name of 
the town platted was called Milton, 
after the town in New York from 
which Mr. Hait had come. The pub- 
lic records show that the use of this 
name prevailed as late as Jan. 2, 1866, 
(p. 217) but when application was made 
for a postoffice by that name the re- 
quest was refused on account of the 
previous establishment of an office by 
that name in Van Buren county. In 
the fall of 1862 the name of Rolfe, 
who married Pocahontas, was adopted 
at the suggestion of Charles Crozat 
Converse, who in May that year pur- 
chased several thousand acres of land 
in this county, principally in Des 
Moines township, resided in it that 
and the next year and by appointment 
served as county judge from June 2, 
1862 to Oct. 19, 1863. This name, by 



564 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



reason of its brevity and historic in- 
terest, received popular approval and 
was supposed to be a permanent fix- 
ture, but in 1882 when the railroads 
crossed each other at a point four 
miles southwest of it, a fatality sim-- 
ilar to that which in 1876 robbed the 
township of the county seat ruthless- 
ly robbed the town of its pretty, ro- 
mantic name and left it to be called 
by another new one — Parvin. 

No letter however ever came to Par- 
vin. This accumulation of vicissi- 
tudes was too much. Too many 
changes will kill any town. This last 
one proved to be the "last straw that 
broke the camel's back." After it 
Rolfe, the pioneer town of Pocahontas 
county, was dead. 

"Behold I go the way of all mankind; 
I've done the work by changeless fate 

assigned. » 

I've been a city, but now my finished 

towers— 
Oh, that the Trojan had not touched 

these shores." — Virgil. 

The plat of the town contained 
eight blocks east and west and seven 
north and south. On the second 
avenue from the east side, called Des 
Moines, there was a square embracing 
the- avenue and half the adjoining 
blocks on the east and west sides of it 
that was called the "Stockdale Reser- 
vation." This he gave and granted 
to Pocahontas county to be used as a 
site for the court house and other 
public buildings, but with the proviso 
that if the county seat should be 
changed the grant should be void. 

On May 20, 1862, Mrs. Leida Lewis, 
wife of C. C. Converse, purchased 26 
of the 56 blocks of this town for $268, 
and on Feb. 8, 1864, sold them to Je ■ 
mima Thallon of New York City for 
$300. Later W. H. Hait became own- 
er of the entire site, with the excep- 
tion of the school house grounds, and 
also of the land owned by Stockdale 
around it; and it is all now, though 
once an Indian burying ground, (p. 
132) a part of his large farm. 



PALMY DAYS. 

The palmy days of old Rolfe began 
with the erection of the court house 
and the establishment of the saw mill 
in i860, and continued until the re- 
moval of the county records in 1876. 
The brick school house built in 1861, 
the residence of W. H. Hait, one block 
east of the cour.t house site, the old 
store building of McEwen & Bruce 
and a few clumps of trees are now the 
only reminders of those historic times. 

During that period in addition to 
the county officers the business inter- 
ests of the place were represented by 
two general stores, two blacksmith 
shops, a hotel, a printing and a post- 
office, a resident physician and clergy- 
man. The store of McEwen & Bruce 
was established in the spring of 1870 
and Geo. W. Horton became their suc- 
cessor in 1876. The other store was 
established by Andrew G-. Lorimer, 
also in 1870, and E. C Brown became 
his successor in 1874. The hotel was 
built by Albert Davy in 1872. The 
first smith shop was established by 
Wm, Matson in 1867, and he was suc- 
ceeded by Thomas B. Nixon in 1874. 
The other shop was established by 
Peter Williams. 

Peter Williams was a native of Den- 
mark, where he learned his trade. He 
was remarkable for his ingenuity in 
repairing broken machinery. He died 
several years ago and his son, Niels H. 
Williams, is proprietor of one of the 
leading shops at Rolfe. He enjoys 
the reputation of being an expert in 
shoeing horses. 

Andrew fl. Lorimer was a sea far- 
ing man in the early part of his life. 
During the period of the civil war he 
was on a merchant vessel carrying 
lime and cement to the dry Tortugas 
that was captured by the rebel barge, 
Alabama. The vessel and cargo were 
burned and the crew were taken pris- 
oners. He was first mate on the ves- 
sel and spent several months in cap- 
tivity. After the war he located at 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 



565 



old Eolfe and in 1874 bought and 
moved to the farm of E. C. Brown on 
section 34. He served as a justice of 
the peace of Des Moines township 
1872-76 and as clerk '80-81. 

Dr. J. C. Maxwell, the first resident 
physician and surgeon, left in 1876. 
He was succeeded by Dr. J. C. Carey 
in 1878-79, and Dr. W. W. Beam in 
1880. 

The first religious services were held 
by Rev. David A. McComb (p. 219) of 
Algona in 1859, when the Unity Pres- 
byterian church was organized. Oth- 
ers that held occasional services were 
I. 1ST. Belknap, Fred E. Metcalf, resi- 
dent farmers, and Rev. Franklin. The 
succession of resident pastors of the 
M. E. church dates from the year 1869 
and was as follows: Lieys. D. M. 
Beams, John E. Rowen, Rufus Ranch- 
er, Win. McCready, R. W. Thornberg, 
C. W. Clifton and F. J. Cuthbert. 

POST MASTERS. 

The list of post masters at old Rulfe 
was as follows: 

W. H. Halt 1862 to March 29, 1867 

E.C.Brown.... '67" Sept. 30,3 869 
Win. D. McEwen '69 " Jau. 1, 1877 
James J. Bruce '77" March 1,1879 
Geo. W. Horton '79 " March 31, 1882 

The name of the town was then 
changed to Parvin and R. B. Fish was 
appointed post master, but he did not 
open an office, Henry Tilley having 
re-established the Rolfe office at the 
new town of Rolfe, April 1, 1882. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

Des Moines township, taking the 
lead at the time of its organization, 
has furnished more officials for Poca- 
hontas county than any other town- 
ship in it. The list is as follows: 

Representative— Robert Struth- 
ers 1872-73. 

County Judges— David Slosson '59; 
Isaac N. Belknap '60; Perry Nowlen 
'61; C. C Converse '62-63; Fred E. Met- 
calf '64-65; Samuel 1ST. Harris '66-68; 
Wm. D. McEwen '69, the last one. 

Auditor— Wm. D. McEwen '69-73. 



Clerks of the Court— A. H. Mal- 
colm 59; Samuel N. Harris '6C-61; W. 
H. Hait '65; Wm. D. McEwen '67-72. 

Treasurer and Recorder— W. H. 
Hait '59-60. 

Treasurer — Wm. H. Hait '66-69, 
Wm. D. McEwen '74-83, '86-87. 

Recorder— Robert Struthers '65 66; 
E. C. Brown '67-68. 

SH3RIFF— Oscar Sli-sson '59, '68-71; 
Henry Jarvis '60-63, '65-67. 

Superintendent— Perry Nowlen 
'59; Oscar F. Avery '60; W. H. Hait 
'61; Fred E. Metcalf '64-65; Wm. D. 
McEwen '66-67. 

Surveyor— Guernsey Smith '59; 
Robert Struthers "'60-69. 

County Supervisors— David Slos- 
son elected, Perry Nowlen served '61; 
Isaac N. Belknap, David Slosson '63- 
67, '70, '7-79; David J. Bishop '&■- 9; 
.John A. Heald '71; R, B. Fish '72-73; 
Glaus Johnson '98-1900. 

DES MOINES FAMILIES IN 1880. 

Humpty Dumpty, a correspondent 
of the Times in 1880, gavea list of tbe 
families residing in the township in 
the following interesting paragraph: 

"Let it Hale as long as we have 
plenty of Wood to burn, Hams to fry. 
a Baker to bake our bread, and Fish- 
ers to catch Fish when the water is 
n )t to deep too Drown. Although we 
would Hait to see a flood we think we 
would come out all right as the bot- 
tom is Sandy. We have a good Sea- 
man, Campbells to ride and Porter to 
drink, which, if freely indulged in will 
Heal (d) all misfortunes Plants of 
Sweet Williams just at the foot of the 
Clifton which we must ascend with 
Care and Prudence lest we fall into 
the Broad-well and be Eaton up. A 
Mason that always rises at .Cox-crow 
to commence the labors of the day. 
Then we are blessed with plenty of 
Hay-wood always at hand without 
money and without Price. We never 
considered ourself very Sharp, not 
quite sharp enough to be a doctor like 



566 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



our Sharp neighbor over in Clinton,* 
but he may make a mistake some day 
and be obliged to call for a Coffin. 
When we are afraid of bursting we 
send for our Coopers." 

COOPBRTOWN. 

The locality of the school house in 
district No. 3 has been called Cooper- 
town since the early settlement of the 
township. This was due to the' fact 
that Henry Cooper located on a home- 
stead in that vicinity in 1861, and his 
brother, Thomas, and their father, 
Beriab, located on two others in 1865. 

Cooper Beriab (b. 1807— d. 1873), 
was a native of Vermont, the son of 
Thomas E Cooper. .He grew to man- 
hood in New York state, where he 
married Joanna Vaughn (b. 1812 — a. 
1883) and located on a farm. In 1853 
he moved to DeKalb Co., 111.; two 
years later to Clayton Co., Iowa, and 
in the spring of 1865 to the home of 
his son, Henry, in Pocahontas county, 
having wife and two other children, 
Thomas E. and Caroline. He secured 
a homestead on section 6, adjoining 
that of Henry, his son. The first 
shanty was constructed by placing up- 
right pieces of timber close together 
for the interior lining, covering them 
with a roof of boards and surrounding 
them with walls of sod. It had one 
window in the rear gable. The next 
year a log house was built that lasted 
till 1875, when it was replaced by 
the large building that is now occu- 
pied by Thomas. He was a man of 
excellent principles, a member of the 
Methodist church, and very soon se- 
cured the establishment of public 
worship in the community where he 
lived. His family consisted of six 
children. 

1. Elizabeth, married John Barker, 
lives in California and has raised a 
family of three sons and four daugh- 
ters. 

2. Hiram lives in Clayton county, 
Iowa. 

*Page 483. 



3. ©ooper Henry (b. N. Y. Sept. 
18, 1837), has been a resident of the 
township since May 1861. On Sept. 2d 
following he enlisted at Fort Dodge 
as a member of Co. A, 11th Penn. Cav- 
alry (p. 215). After completing his 
term of service in the army he mar- 
ried Mary M. (b. 1810), daughter of 
Roswell Drown of Ogle Co., 111., and 
relict of a soldier by the name of 
Wells, who died in the army. He 
then located on a homestead of 160 
acres on section 6, Des Moines town- 
ship, which he has finely improved 
with good buildings, groves and orch- 
ard, and still occupies. He has Deen 
a trustee of the township and has 
served as a justice four years. His 
wife died in 1891 and in 1897 he mar- 
ried Clara, daughter of James and 
Harriet (Nichols) Grant. His family 
consisted of six children of whom 
four died in early youth. Helen B., 
in 1889 married David Rud and lives 
at Dow City. Orrin Alburtis (b. Dec. 
3, 1875) is at home on the farm. 

4. eooper Thomas E. (b. N. Y. 
1844), at the age of 17 in Clayton Co. 
enlisted in the 18th Missouri Infantry 
in Oct. 1861, and served three years 
under Gen. Sherman in the valley of 
the Mississippi. He participated in 
the siege of Vicksburg and the battles 
of Chattanooga and Atlanta. On his 
return from the war he came to Poca- 
hontas county with his father and se- 
cured a homestead of 160 acres on sec- 
tion 6. Des Moines township. He im- 
proved and held it many years. He 
now occupies the homestead left by 
his father. He served as a trustee of 
the township eight years. 

5 Lois'married Robert Lowrey and 
they live with her brother Thomas on 
their father's homestead. 

6. Caroline married A. II. Handier 
(see Handier). 

Fisher Lot (b. June 30, 1835), resi- 
dent of Des Moines township from 
1864 to 1895, is a native of Somerset 
shire, England, where in 1856 be mar- 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP. 



567 



ried Sarah Peters and soon afterward 
located in Dubuque Co., Iowa. In 
1864 he located in Des Moines town- 
ship and the next year permanently 
on a farm of 129 acres on section 2, 
which he improved, increased to 240 
acres and occupied until 1895, when he 
moved to Rolfe. He was president of 
the school board in 1886 and assessor 
in 1887. 

Of his family of eight children seven 
are living. Mary Ann in 1877 married 
Niels A. Lind (see Lind). Susanna in 
1879 married Thomas Rogers, who lo- 
cated first in Linn Co., then in Des 
Moines township and in 1893 in Rolfe. 
He owns two farms containing 400 
acres in Des Moines township and was 
president of the school board in 1889. 
His family consists of three children, 
Mabel, Rose and Lulu Viola. Thomas 
Fisher (b. Iowa 1861), a farmer, mar- 
ried Cora Harris, owns and occupies a 
farm of 160 acres in Des Moines town- 
ship, and has a family of three child- 
ren, Earl, Lee and Ray. John (b. 
1866), in 1894 married Emma Cline, 
occupies a farm of 120 acres in Palo 
Alto county, and has a family of two 
children, Susanna and John Walton. 
Henrietta in 1893 married Harry Sea- 
man, lives on a farm of 120 acres in 
Humboldt county and has one child, 
Leonard. Rosalina, a milliner, and 
Lottie, a Rolfe graduate in 1898 and a 
teacher, are at home. 

Jensen Peter, owner of a farm of 
200 acres on section 8, is a fine repre- 
sentative of Denmark, his native land. 
He came to this country in the fall of 
1869, accompanied by his neighbor, 
Claus Johnson, and together they 
leased the farm of Perry Nowlen for 
the next year. In the fall of 1870 
Peter Jensen married and rented an- 
other farm. The next year he bought 
80 acres on section 8 and broke as 
much of it as possible while he worked 
the rented farm. The next year he 
erected buildings and moved to his 
own farm. He has been industrious, 



attentive to his own interests and 
quite successful as a farmer. He was 
a trustee of the township ten years 
1885-94, and a justice in 1900. His 
family consists of four children, Anna, 
a clerk; Mary, a teacher; Clarence and 
Peter. 

Johnson Claus (b. 1847), ex-county 
supervisor and owner of a tine farm 
on section 6, is a native of Denmark 
and came to America in 1867. In the 
fall of 1869 he came to Des Moines 
township with Peter Jensen and found 
employment as a farm laborer. In 
the fall of 1870 he bought 80 acres on 
section 8. located on it the next year 
and began the work of its improve- 
ment. After the lapse of thirty years 
he is still living on this farm, but it 
has been increased to 240 acres and 
improved with fine buildings. He has 
become prominent as one of the lead- 
ing stock raisers of the township, es- 
pecially of thoroughbred Short-horns. 
His sales of them to private purchas- 
ers in 1900 amounted to $3,000 and at 
a public sale in September 1900, 44 an- 
imals brought $6,835, an average of 
nearly $160 each. 

He began life without a dollar and 
the success achieved has been the re- 
sult of his industry and excellent 
management of the farm. He served 
as a trustee of the township three 
years, 1879-81, as president of the 
school board in 1882, as secretary of it 
1883-88, and as treasurer of it since 
that date. These 23 years of consecu- 
tive service in the most important of- 
fices of the township tell of his public 
spirit and the esteem in which he is 
held. He was also a member of the 
board of county supervisors 1898-1900. 

On Feb. 19, 1877 he married Claud- 
ina C. Lind, of Powhatan, and his 
family consisted of six children, Em- 
ma F., who in 1897 married George 
Hewlett and resides in Des Moines 
township; Andrew W., a jeweler at 
Spencer; Fred J., Claus O, Christina 
and Albert L.« 



568 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



©onverse Charles Crozafc, ex-coun- 
ty judge, was a native of Massachu- 
setts, a graduate in music at Leipsic 
in 1857, and in law in 1881. Accom- 
panied by his wife, who was a south- 
ern lady, he spent two years, 1862-63, 
at Milton, the first county seat in Des 
Moines township. To him belongs 
the honor of proposing and also of se- 
curing the adoption of "Rolfe" as the 
name of the 'post. office at that place 
in 1862. He was appointed county 
judge of this county June 2, 1862, and 
held the office until October 19, 1863. 

At the close of the war he became a 
teacher in an educational institution 
in Virginia and is now located at 
Highwood, N. J. He is the author of 
the familiar hymn, "What a Friend 
We Have in Jesus," of the Standard 
Hymnal, published by Funk & Wag- 
nails, and of several otner publications 
on musical and literary subjects. 

Lind Hans Anderson (b. 1831), Rolfe 
is a native of Denmark, the son of 
Niels Anderson and Mary Holm Lind. 
In 1856 he married Christina Buck and 
engaged in the jewelry business un- 
til 1871, when he and his family came 
to America and located on a farm on 
section 9, Powhatan township. In 
1876 he moved to section 3, Clinton 
township, and in 1883 to the town of 
Rolfe where he resumed the jewelry 
business. He is now the owner of sev- 
eral business blocks and four good 
dwelling houses in that city. He was 
a trustee of Clinton township eight 
years, 1878-85; treasurer in 1884 and a 
member of the Rolfe school board 1889- 
90. His family consisted of six chil- 
dren of whom Christina, the fourth, 
died at twenty. 

1. Lind Niels Anderson (b Denmark 
1857), farmer and fine stock breeder. 
in 1880 married Mary, daughter of Lot 
Fisher, and located in i'es Moines 
township. He is now widely known 
as the proprietor of the Beaver Creek 
stock farm, containing 400 acres and 
located on sections 19 and 20. He has 



planted on this farm a large number 
of shade trees, distributed in several 
groves, so as to provide shelter for 
stock; also a large orchard that is now 
bearing fruit. His home is ample for 
the needs of his family and farm, and 
in the fall of 1900 he erected a large 
stock L barn, 64x100 feet and 24 foot 
posts. An elevated tank filled by a 
windmill furnishes the supply for a 
system of water works that extends 
to all the buildings and yards, all of 
which are very conveniently arranged, 

During the last ten years he has 
been raising fine stock, showing a pref- 
erence for the Cruickshank, Bates and 
Scotch-topped Shorthorn cattle, Po- 
land China hogs and Shropshire sheep. 
In starting his herd of Shorthorns he 
spared neither trouble nor expense 
and has now some of the finest stock 
in this country. He is the first citizen 
of it that has gone to the old country 
and imported pure bred cattle directly 
to Pocahontas county. In May 1900 
he started on a trip that occupied 100 
days, during which he traveled nearly 
4,000 miles in France, England and 
Ireland, and imported 18 head of pure 
bred Short-horns from the famous 
herds of Deane Willis, Philo Mills and 
Robert Bruce of Scotland, returning 
via Quebec, where they were quaran- 
tined ninety days. Later that year 
he paid $1,040 for a cow in whose veins 
flows the very finest Short-horn blood 
in the world. In February 1898 he 
bought the entire herd of Charles 
Stuckey, Lincoln, 111., a breeder who 
had been in the business tw T enty years. 

At his second public sale held April 
4, 1900, 53 head brought $11,880, an 
average of $221 each. At his third or 
last annual sale, March 14, 1901, near- 
ly a hundred buyers were attracted 
from a distance in this and neighbor- 
ing states, and 58 head sold for $8.50o, 
an average of $148 each. For this oc- 
casion a large tent was erected and 
Col. F. M. Woods, of Lincoln, Neb., 
who cried the sale, in his preliminary 



DES MOINES TOWNSHIP 



569 



remarks, said: "Gentlemen, we have 
before us an example of what a young 
man may do on these Iowa prairies. 
Fifteen years ago Mr. Lind was work- 
ing on a farm for $15 to $20 a month. 
Today he is on this finely improved 
farm of 400 acres, stocked with the 
finest of cattle, and, no matter how 
this sale may go, the proceeds will pay 
every dollar he owes and leave him a 
nice balance in the bank. He has 
achieved success on the farm not by 
selling grain or raising scrub cattle, 
but by planting that golden seed- 
rich blood— from which the crop is al- 
ways golden. A man in Colorado 
may dig in the right place and strike 
it rich, but while one is lucky thous- 
ands toil on fruitlessly. . But these 
Iowa prairies are every where under- 
laid with golden ore waiting for the 
well-directed hand and the shaft sunk 
with a check-rower to bring it forth. 
When you pass the rich ore, the .ears 
of the golden corn, through the.stamp- 
ing mills and refineries— the cattle, 
hogs and sheep — you take the finished 
product to the market and receive 
your gold." 

By improving the quality of its 
stock Mr. Lind has done much to pro- 
mote the prosperity of this section. 
His ambition is commendable and he 
has already attained an enviable rep- 
utation as one of the successful and 
reliable stock breeders of the west. 
His success has been achieved by ad- 
hering to these maxims: "Buy good 
cattle but no more than you can take 
care of. Take good care of them, in- 
crease their number as fast as possible 
and keep posted on the quality and 
treatment-of the kind you are raising. 
If you are trying to make money by 
raising grain and scrub cattle you will 
make more by selling half your land 
and putting good stock on the other 
half." 

His family consists of four chil- 
dren, John, Agnes, Bessie and Cora. 



2. Claudina married Claus Johnson 
(see Johnson). 

3. Mary in 1879 married Anton 
Williams, proprietor of the Fairview 
stock farm on section 27, Clinton town- 
ship. At a public sale of pure bred 
Shorthorns April 5, 1900, 40 animals 
brought $5,750, an average of $144 each. 
They have one child, Bertha. 

4. Christina in 1893 married Ed- 
ward McMahon, who for a number of 
years, occupied his farm on section 3, 
Clinton township, but is now a resi- 
dent ot Rolfe, where he found employ- 
ment as a harness maker. Their fam- 
ily consists of five children, Leila, Jay. 
Gladdis. Esther and Chester, twins. 

5. John Maurice, a graduate of the 
Parsons Horological and optical insti- 
tute, Laporte, Ind., in 1889, found em- 
ployment as a jeweler, first with his 
father at Rolfe, three years in Ne- 
braska and in Rolfe since 1894. In 
1898 he completed a post graduate 
course in optics in Chicago, and since 
1900 has occupied his father's old place 
of business in the Masonic building. 

Metcalf Fred E. Rev. (b. 1817— d. 
1873), county judge and superintend- 
ent, 1864-65, was a native of Connecti- 
cut. He taught school in his youth 
and at 21 commenced preaching in the 
M. E. church. In 1854 he located in 
Clayton county, Iowa, and in 1862 on 
section 27, Des Moines township. He 
was the first M. E. minister to hold 
public services in the north part of 
this county and served as county 
judge and superintendent of the pub- 
lic schools of this county two years, 
1864-65. He died while on the road, 
as a missionary, to Kansas. 

In 1840 he married Ruhamah Pary 
and his family consisoed of four chil- 
dren of whom Jane Etta, the third, 
married J. B. Jolliffe (see Jolliffe) and 
still lives in this county. Wm, Henry 
married Lois Cooper; Harriet Louise 
married Dennis Quigley, and Corintha 
married Wm. H. Nading, who is now 
living in Clayton county. 

Ritchey Solomon J. (b. 1849) owner 



570 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and occupant of a farm of 240 acres 
on section 24, is a native of Wisconsin, 
the son of Josiah and Clarissa Ritch- 
ey. At two years of age his father 
died and at 24 he came to Grundy Co., 
Iowa, where in 1878 he married. Nettie 
Munson. Two.years later he located 
in Butler county, and in 1883 on his 
present farm in Pocahontas county, 
which he has finely improved. He 
has been clerk of Des Moines town- 
ship during the last twelve years. His 
family consists of four children, Carrie, 
Frank, Daisy and Fay. 

Drown Roswell (b. 1806, d. 1894), 
was a native of New Hampshire. 

In 1865 he entered a homestead of 
80 acres on the SEi Sec. 6, Des Moines 
township and the next year located 
on it with a wife and family of five 
children, who had grown to manhood 
in Jefferson county, N. Y. He began 
the work of improvement by the erec- 
tion of a frame shanty, a stable and 
the planting of a grove. He continu- 
ed to live on this homestead until his 
decease in his 89th year in 1894. His 
wife died in 1881. Their family con- 
sisted of seven children: 

1. George (b. Can. 1837), married in 
Jefferson county, N. Y. and in 1866 
located on a homestead on Sec. 10, 
Powhatan township which he improv- 
ed and occupied many years. He 
then moved to Merrimac, Wis., where 



he died in 1891 leaving a large family. 

2. Mary Ann (b. N. Y. 1840), mar- 
ried Henry Cooper. (See Cooper). 

3. Benjamin enlisted in Jefferson 
county, N. Y. as a soldier in the civil 
war and died in a hospital at New- 
bern, N. C. ■ 

4. James in 1876 married Elizabeth 
Yanderright and for a number of 
years occupied the Barney Hancher 
farm on Sec. 34, Powhatan township. 
He then moved to Palo Alto county 
and in 1894 to Missouri, where he died 
in 1896 leaving a family of ten chil- 
dren, two of whom were married. Tne 
next year his wife and family return- 
ed to Powhatan township. 

5. Eliza married Orlando Strong. 
(See Strong).. 

6. William H. 

7. Hattie married Philo M. Waite 
and they located on Sec. 12, Powhatan 
township, where he died in 1895 leav- 
ing two children, Iva and Irvin. 

BEAVER CREEK. 

Beaver creek, that flows in a south- 
easterly direction through the south 
part of the township, to the Des 
Moines river on section 36, derived its 
name from a large beaver dam near its 
outlet. The trail from Fort Dodge to 
Spirit Lake crossed this stream near 
this dam, and a temporary bridge was 
built there before Pocahontas was de- 
tached from Webster county. 



XVIII. 



DOVER T0WNSHIP. 



"Where the soil produces free and fair, 

The golden, waving corn; 
Where fragranr, fruits perfume the air 

And fleecy flecks are shorn." 




he first assignment of 
the territory included 
in Dover township, 91- 
34, was made on June 
4, 1861 (p. 194), when 
for the purpose of 
taxation, the north half was assigned 
to Des Moines township and the south 
half to Lizard. Dec. 1, 1862, the north 
half was assigned to Clinton,, and this 
assignment continued until it was es- 
tablished as Dover township, Sept. 6, 
1870. The petition of request for its 
estab'ishment was circulated by Alex 
F. Hubbell, the first settler in it, and 
the privilege of naming it was accorded 
to him, his brother Charles and Bern- 
ard Reilly, the oldest settler in it at 
that time. 

Marshall township, (92-34), was at- 
tached to it from June 7, 1871, to June 
5, 1882, and during this period it was 
called North Dover, 



The first entry of lands in Dover 
was made by Hans C. Tollefsrude for 
the SEi and Si NEi section 12 on Oct. 
6, 1868, when he secured other lands 
in Grant township. 

FIRST SETTLERS. 

The first settler in Dover was Alex. 
F. Hubbell, who purchased section 26 
in May, 1869, and accompanied by 
Charles F. Hubbell, his brother, lo- 
cated upon it in April, 1870. In May 
following Alvin C. Blakeslee located 
on section 32 and D. M. Woodin on 
section 24, both of them having fam- 
ilies and entering their lands as home- 
steads. Others that arrived and were 
enrolled as voters previous to the es- 
tablishment of the township, Sept. 6, 
1870, were Bernard E. Reilly and his 
father, Bernard Reilly, Wm. W. Rath- 
bun, Wm. M. Carpenter, A. C. Clos- 
son, James O'lSTiel and John B. O'Niel, 
Irs brother 



572 PIONEEE HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

The first election was held at the 
home of A. F. Hubbell on Oct. 11. 
1870, when by previous appointment 
A. F. Hubbell, B. E. Beilly and A. C. 
Closson served as judges and C. F. 
Hubbell and W. W. Bathbun as clerks. 
A. F. Hubbell, B. E. Beilly and W. W. 
Bathbun were elected trustees; A. F. 
Hubbell and B. E. Beilly, justices; 
Charles F. Hubbell, clerk, and B. E. 
' Beilly, assessor. The succession of 
officers has been as follows: 

Trustees: Alex F. Hubbell 1871- 
75; Bernard E. Beilly '71-74, '76-77; W. 
W. Bathbun '71; W. H. Sherwood '72; 
John J. Brower '73; Bufus Greene '74; 
Wm. Fitzgerald '75-84; Wm. Gilson 
'75; Harvey Eaton '76; James H. Cole- 
man '77; Frank Hogan '78; J. E. Moore, 
Geo. O. Pinneo '79-80', '85-87; D. M. 
Woodin '79; M. J. Lynch '80-85; A. F. 
Burdick '81-84; T. F. McCartan '85; 
Wm. Eaton '86-88; M. J. Kearns '86- 
87; Clark B. Lampman '88-97; Frank 
A. Thompson '88-91; Edward Lilly '92- 
97; J. P. Griffin 98-1901; Benj. Grote 
'98-1901; J, T. Fitzgerald '98-1901. 

Clerks: A. F. Hubbell 1871, '76-80; 
W. W. Eathbun '72-74; B. E. Beilly 
'75; J. H. Barnes '81-84, '91-94; M. W. 
Lianan '85-88; J A. Carroll '89-90; M. 
J. Lynch '95-1901. 

Assessors: B E. Beilly '71-72; J. J. 
Brower '73-75; Win. Gilson '76; W. W. 
Bathbun '77-78, '80-84; C. H. Hough 
'79; J. H. Coleman '81-82, '91-92; M. J. 
Kearns '83-84; J. H. Barnes' 85-90; J. 
J. McCartan, J. D. Fitzgerald '94-1900; 
Joseph Lilly. 

Justices: A. F. Hubbell '71-83; W. 
W. Bathbun '74-77; John A. Belden, 
John Buckner '82; Wm. Gilson '81-88; 
George Watts '85-91; F. A. Thompson 
'92-95; J. J. McCartan '96-97; J. D. 
Fitzgerald 1901. 

This township during the 80 's was 
divided into only two road districts. 
The annual tax levied for road pur- 
poses was four mills and the two su- 
pervisors, using this entire tax in the 



township, constructed all the grades 
in their respective districts instead of 
having them done by the county. The 
township is traversed by both branches 
of the Cedar and this circumstance 
made necessary more grades and 
bridges than in some of the others. 
Drainage district No. 2 (p. 307) is in 
the western part of it. 

school officers. 

Dover township was organized for 
school purposes in the spring of 1872, 
and the first board of directors con- 
sisted of A. F. Hubbell, D. M. Woodin 
and Wm. H. Sherwood. W. W. Bath- 
bun was elected clerk and Charles F. 
Hubbell , treasurer. The succession of 
school officers has been as follows: 

Presidents of the Board: A. F. 
Hubbell '72; J. J. Brower, Harvey 
Eaton, Geo. O. Pinneo '74; Wm. Gil- 
son '75-81; B. E. Beilly '82-83; George: 
Watts '84-85; C. B. Lampman, J. A. 
Carroll, Horace M. Needham, S. P. 
Lampman '89, 95-97; J. H. Barnes '90- 
94; Joseph Morrison '98-1901. 

Secretaries; W. W. Bathbun '72- 
81; M. J. Lynch '82 1901. 

Treasurers: Charles F. Hubbell 
'72; A. F. Hubbell, Bufus Greene '74- 
77: J. H. Coleman '78-81; Wm. Fitz- 
gerald '88-1901. 

The first school house in Dover was 
built in 1872 in the Hubbell district 
and the first teachers in it were Julia 
Kearns (Lynch) and Frances M. Hub- 
bell. In 1873 three new houses were 
built. In the one on section 31, Pin- 
neo district, W. W. Bathbun and Mrs. 
Geo. O. Pinneo were the first teachers. 
The other buildings were located in 
the Gombar (section 36) and Gilson 
(section 17) districts. Another build- 
ing was erected by the board that 
year but it was near the Thornton & 
Greene farm in North Dover. In 1886 
five teachers were employed. Now 
ten teachers are employed in as many 
buildings, Varina having two. Among 
others that taught in the early day 
were Sarah Wells, Lyman Clark, Kate 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



573 



Reilly, Fannie ThorntoD, Wm. Wells 
and James H. Osborne. 

The first annual commencement of 
the rural schools of Dover township 
was held at Yarina in June, 1901. The 
graduates were Lura P. Thornton, 
Eunice L. Fitzgerald and Nellie R. 
Fitzgerald, from sub-district No. 6, 
Janie Fitzgerald, teacher, and John 
Clampitt, Odell Metcalf, Bertha Mor- 
rison and Leah B. Morrison from sub- 
district No. 9, Bertha Thompson, 
teacher. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

Dover township has furnished three 
representatives for the board of county 
supervisors: Wm. Fitzgerald 1889-91; 
Frank A. Thompson '92-94; M. A. Ho- 
gan '95-1900; and J. F. Clark, superin- 
tendent, '75-77. 

CEMETERIES. 

The Dover township cemetery, con- 
taining five acres, was" located on the 
northwest corner of section 22 in 1880, 
and to this date only three persons 
have been buried in it, namely: Mar- 
tin Bergren, a Swede stone mason sub- 
ject to epilepsy, who, while blasting 
rock, blew off his head by putting a 
dynamite cartridge in his mouth, at 
the age of 31; Mrs. Sarah Smith, wife 
of Charles Henderson, and a child by 
the name of Netrick. It is probable 
that this site will soon be disposed of 
and a new one selected near Varina. 

The Calholic church (p. 373) and 
cemetery are located on the SEi of 
section 34. This has been a popular 
burying ground ever since it was es- 
tablished. Many of the settlers of 
Dover township and vicinity were 
natives of Ireland and members of the 
Catholic church. Many of those that 
have passed away are buried here and 
beautiful monuments mark their last 
earthly resting place. Rev. J. F. 
Brenuan, of Fonda, has supplied the 
church at this place since the removal 
of Rev. S. Butler in the spring of 1901. 

LILLY CREAMERY. 

In the spring of 1897 a number of 



the farmers in the northeast part of 
Dover township formed an incorpora- 
tion, known as the Lilly Creamery 
Co., for the purpose of establishing 
and operating a creamery in their 
midst. The incorporators were M. 
W. Linnan, Wm. Fitzgerald, F. A. 
Thompson, Edward Lilly and John P. 
Griffin, trustees. The officers chosen 
were Theodore Lilly, president; John 
D. Fitzgerald, secretary, and Joseph 
Lilly, treasurer. The capital stock of 
$2500 was divided into shares of $10 
each. A building 26x40 was erected 
on the farm of John Eichler, SWi 
section 11, and it was opened for busi- 
ness June 3, 1897. This creamery is 
located in a section of country where 
a number of intelligent farmers have 
permanently located. They have been 
developing and improving their farms 
finely and have discovered the ability 
and energy to make this undertaking 
a financial success, and a source of 
profit to all who patronize it. M. W. 
Linnan has been secretary since 1901. 
Joseph T. Reagan, in the spring of 
1897, established a store and postoffice 
at this place, and, in the fall of 1899. 
the young men of the neighborhood 
organized a cornet band of sixteen 
pieces, under the leadership of B. M. 
Lamb, butter maker at the creamery. 

VARINA. 

The town of Varina was located on 
the lands of Jacob Hauser, NEi Sec. 
31, along the survey of the C. M. & 
St. P. Ry., about July 1, 1899. Its 
pretty and romantic name was adopt- 
ed one month later by the railway 
company at the suggestion of the au- 
thor of this work. He noticed that 
in the nomenclature of this county 
the names of Rolfe and Powhatan, 
her husband and father, had been ap- 
propriated from the story of Pocahon- 
tas. Varina was the name given to 
her home after marriage, on the 
James river, Virginia. The use of 
this name tends to complete the list 
of proper names found in her story. 



574 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The track-laying machine (p. 301) 
reached Varina Nov. 23, 1899. The 
first train load of stock was shipped 
southward from there Dec. 17th, 1899. 
It consisted of three cars of cattle 
sent by M. W. Linnan and four cars 
of hogs sent one each by Thomas 
Fitzgerald, Joseph Lilly and F. Pick- 
ing, W. T. and James Fitzgerald, and 
Mullen, Mayo & Co. The train was 
gaily decorated with banners upon 
which were printed in large letters: 
"First consignment of stock from Va- 
rina." Regular train service was es- 
tablished Dec. 25th, 1899, and mail 
service March 5, 1900. Frank A. 
Thompson was appointed postmaster 
Feb. 1, 1900, and the office was opened 
in Pilkington's hardware store. 

The plat of the town was filed by 
the Milwaukee Land Co., Oct. 2, 1899, 
and four days later the town was 
opened to the public by the public 
sale of twenty-six lots. August 
Porath bought the first business lot, 
25x142 feet for $92.50. Among others 
who made purchases that day were 
B. W. Pilkington, Mullen, Mayo & Co., 
John Taylor, J. D. Fitzgerald, Her- 
man Schultz, J. A. Thompson, Thom- 
as Thompson and James Keefe. On 
Dec. 26, 1899, Jacob Hauser filed the 
plat of Hauser's First addition, and 
the public sale of these lots occurred 
Jan. 2, 1900. 

The first buildings erected were a 
lumber office by Orville U. Miracle 
and a blacksmith shop by John Tay- 
lor, both being movable buildings 
that awaited location after the town 
should be platted. When the track 
was laid Miracle had his sheds com- 
pleted and a fine stock of lumber on 
hand hauled from Fonda. Loren 
Green and wife were occupying their 
new house, the first one in the town, 
now owned and occupied by Allen F. 
Thompson, and Carl Peters and fam- 
ily were occupying the rear of his 
store building. Wm. Morrison had 
the third house enclosed and about 



fifteen other buildings were in process 
of erection, 

vakina in 1901. 

Mayor— Edward B. Wells. 

Bank — Bank of Varina established 
July 20, 1900; E. B. Wells, president; 
Allen F. Thompson, cashier. 

Blacksmith — Harry Waterman, in 
1901, successor of Edward Durkee and 
John W. Taylor. 

Carpenters — Ulyses S. Reed, Chas. 
J. Moore. Henry L. Ellis of Newell, 
built most of the first buildings. 

Churches— Presbyterian and Meth- 
odist, both built in 1901. 

Draymen — John Carroll, Thomas 
J. Logan. 

Druggist— B. Bevelhymer, 1903. 

ELEVATORS-Wilson & DeWolf , 1899, 
Frank A. Thompson, Mgr.; Pease 
Bros., 1900, J. D. Fitzgerald & Co.. 
Mgrs. 

FuRNiTURE-Geo. W. Clampitt, 1900. 

General Merchants— Carl Peters 
& (Wm. C. H.) Son, 1899; D. Z. Roland, 
1900; Guy Blair, 1901. 

Grocery— George A. Secord, 1899. 

Hardware— B. W. Pilkington; Au- 
gust Porath, successor to John A. 
Thompson in 1901. 

Harness- Maker— L. S. Maulsby, 
at Pilkington's. 

Hotel — Varina Hotel built by Wm. 
Kenyon, 1899; Mrs. J. F. Newland, 
1900; Wm. French, 1901. 

Implements— J. ' D. Fitzgerald & 
(W. T. and Thos.) Co., successors to 
Mullen, Mayo & Co., in 1901. 

Liver k— Wm. Morrison, in 19C0 
successor to T. J. Logan. 

Lumber and Coal— J. & W. C. 
Shull 1899, Patrick Shanley, Mgr.; 
Frudden Lumber Co., in 1900, suc- 
cessors to Miracle & Miracle, A. In- 
gooldstadt, Mgr. 

Postmaster— Frank A. Thompson, 
since March 6, 1900, office in Pilking- 
ton's hardware store. 

Physicians — Andrew Emmett Car- 
ney, since 1900; W. C. Porath. 

Railway Agent— O. M. Conner, 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



575 



Dec. 1, 1899; R. Wright, Oct. 1, 1901. 
Shoemaker— 1ST. W. Raines. 

FIRST OFFICER S. 

At a special election held Dec. 28, 

1900, the incorporation of the town, 
including all of the NEi of Sec. 31, 
and NWi of Sec. 32, was approved. 
The first officers, elected March 25, 

1901, were: Edward B. Wells, mayor; 
Jacob Hauser, John A. Thompson, 
Matthew L. Chase, John D. Fitzger- 
ald, George W. Clampitt and George 
A. becord, councilmen; R. W. Pilking- 
ton, treasurer; Allen F. Thompson, 
recorder; W. C. Peters, assessor; Wm, 
Morrison, marshal and street com- 
missioner. 

RELIGIOUS SERVICES. 

The first Protestant services in Do- 
ver township were held in the Pinneo 
(now Varina) school house. As early 
as 1871 occasional services were held 
in the Sunk Grove school house, two 
miles south, by Rev. L. C. Woodward, 
(M. E.) of Newell. Two years later 
an aged resident of Buena Vista 
county by the name of Clothier, as- 
sisted by Rev. Mr. Johnson, endeav- 
ored to organize an M. E. class after 
one week of special meetings. In 
1876 these occasional services were 
transferred to the Pinneo schoolhouse 
by Rev. A. J. Whitfield of Fonda, 
and continued by his successor, Mr. 
Kenyon. Revs. Faus and Winter, 
their successors, transferred them to 
the Gombar school house. 

In 1879 at the request of W. H. Bur- 
nett, a First-Day Advent, Rev. Mr. 
Willoughby of Jefferson, began to hold 
occasional services at the Sunk 
Grove school house and the next year 
he was succeeded by Rev. George Em- 
ory of Sac City, who organized a class 
of eighteen members and served them 
once a month. In 1882 these services 
were transferred to the Pinneo school 
house and maintained during the 
summer seasons until 1886, when they 
were discontinued. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

In 1887, Rev. R. E. Flickinger of 



Fonda, began to hold occasional serv- 
ices during the summer season in the 
Pinneo school house. In the spring 
of 1893 he began to hold the services 
on alternate Sabbaths and has con- 
tinued to do so since that date. 

On May 12, 1889, a Sunday school 
was organized that was maintained 
several summers under Geo. O. Pin- 
neo as superintendent, and from 1893 
to 1896 under Mrs. Sarah T. Pinneo. 
After a lapse of three years this Sun- 
day school was reorganized in the 
school house April 22, 1900, by the 
election of Carlos E. Pinneo and Em- 
ory R. Fox, superintendents; Hattie 
Pinneo, secretary, and Ai Watts, 
treasurer. 

In January, 1901, the services were 
transferred to Pilkington's hall, Va- 
rina, and on the 29th of that month a 
Presbyterian church was organized 
with seven members, of whom Carlos 
E. Pinneo and Ai Watts were or- 
dained elders. Geo. Watts, (president), 
Hattie Pinneo, (secretary), Ai Watts, 
(treasurer), C. E. Pinneo, E. R. Fox 
and Mrs. E. B. Wells were elected 
trustees. It was then decided to 
erect a church building on the three 
lots secured by the pastor January 2, 

1900, and donated by him for that 
purpose. The contract for the erec- 
tion of a building 28x48x14 feet with 
tower and pulpit extensions was given 
to Ulyses S. Reed for $1,660. It was 
completed, furnished and dedicat- 
ed December 8, 1901, at a cost of 
$2,000. 

METHODIST CHURCH. 

Occasional services by the M. E. 
church were held in the Pinneo school 
house in the fall of 1900 by Rev. J. M. 
Tibbetts, of Pomeroy. In January, 

1901, Herbert J. Calkins, a stu- 
dent, located in the town and began 
to maintain the services on alternate 
Sabbaths in Pilkington's hall. A 
class was organized a few months later 
and a church building was erected 
that year for which the corner-stone 



576 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



was laid July 11th, 1901. It was dedi- 
cated September 22d, following. The 
first board of trustees consisted of 
Jacob Hauser, Thomas J. Logan, L. 
A. Robbins and G-eorge A. Secord. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Carey John, (b. 1843) is a native of 
Made county, Ireland, and coming to 
America with his parents in 1846, lo,- 
cated in Massachusetts and two years 
later near Rome, Oneida county N. 
Y. In 1857 they came in wagons to 
the vicinity of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 
where they remained during the next 
twenty-seven years. John was the 
oldest member of a family of six chil- 
dren, of whom Matthew and Lawrence 
and their families came with him to 
Pocahontas county in 1884. Ann, his 
sister, married Thomas Lynch, Mary 
married Thomas Jones and Bridget 
married Garrett Mackey. All are 
members of the Catholic church. 

John in 1873 married Maggie, a sis- 
ter of John McCafferty, and she died in 
1883 in Linn county, leaving a family 
of five children; Maggie, James, Law- 
rence, John and Mary. The next 
year he purchased and located on a 
farm of 320 acres on section 15, Dover 
township, which he improved and 
still owns. Soon after his arrival in 
this county in the spring of 1884, 
three of his children, James, Law- 
rence and John, died of scarlet fever. 
On May 2, 1887, he married Mary, a 
sister of Jerry S. Sullivan, and their 
family consists of one daughter, An- 
nie. In 1898 he built a house and lo- 
cated in Fonda. 

Maggie, his eldest daughter, in 
1894 married James Webb, an express 
messenger on the O, M. & St. P. Ry., 
and lives in Chicago; Mary in 1899 
married James, a son of Matthew 
Burns, and lives in Omaha. 

Carey Matthew, (b. Ireland, 1845; 
d. 1889) in 1867 married Bridget Lally 
and located on a farm in Linn county, 
Iowa. In 1884 he located on a farm 
of 160 acres on section 25, Dover town- 



ship, which he improved and occupied 
until his death in 1889. It is still oc- 
cupied by his family which consisted 
of five children. 

William, (b. Iowa, 1871) in 1900 mar- 
ried Susan Marx, lives on his own 
farm on section 34. which he bought 
in 1896 and improved by the erection 
of a new house and barn since his 
marriage. He has a good orchard 
and vineyard, and a large plot planted 
in small fruits. He has one child, 
Margarite. 

Mary married William T. Fitzger- 
ald and lives at Varina. Maggie, 
John and Hazel are at home. 

Carey Lawrence, (b. 1847) is a na- 
tive of Massachusetts. In 1874 he 
married Mary, sister of John McCaf- 
ferty, and located on a farm in Linn 
county, Iowa, and in 1884 on 160 acres 
on section 16, Dover township, which 
he improved with good buildings, in- 
creased to 240 acres and still occupies. 
Three of his children died of scarlet 
fever in the spring of 1884, soon after 
his arrival in this county. Eight 
children are living: Annie, William, 
Frank, Joseph, Nellie, Raymond, Jen- 
nie and the baby. 

Coleman James Henry, (b. 1850) 
resident of Dover township from 1876 
to 1892, is a native of Derby, Conn., 
the son of William and Margaret 
Coleman. In 1868 he came with his 
parents to Allamakee county, Iowa, 
wherein 1876 he married Kate Mc- 
Guire and settled on a farm of 80 
acres on theSEi Sec. 13, Dover town- 
ship, this county. He improved this 
farm with good buildings, enlarged it 
to 200 acres, still owns it, but moved 
to Fonda in 1892. His administrative 
ability was immediately recognized in 
Dover township by his appointment 
as treasurer of the school funds in 
1876, a few months after his settle- 
ment there. He held this responsible 
office nearly four years and during the 
winters of 1876 and '77 made several 
trips across the prairies covered with 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



577 



snow, on foot, to Pocahontas and 
Fonda for school funds or necessaries 
in the home. He was also assessor of 
the township four -years, 1881-82, '91- 
92. In Fonda he has been a member 
of the school board since 1894 and was 
elected president of it in 1901. 

His wife died in 1880, leaving three 
small children, all of whom died of 
scarlet fever in the spring of 1881. 
That same year he married Victoria 
Leslie and their family consists of 
four children: Lottie, a Fonda grad- 
uate in 1901, George, Allen and John. 

Elsasser John, (b. 1841) owner of 
a farm of 280 acres on sections 5 and 
8, is a native of Germany and one of 
the most influential of his country- 
men in the township. On coming to 
America he located at Cedar Rapids, 
Iowa, where he married Kate (b. Ger. 
1851), sister of John and Peter Fix, 
who are also now residents of Dover 
township. After a few years he lo- 
cated in Sac county, and in 1890 on a 
farm of 80 acres on section 5, Dover 
township, which he increased to 280 
acres and improved with good build- 
ings and grove. In 1899 he moved to 
Pocahontas, leaving the farm in care 
of his sons. 

His family consisted of five children: 
Mary in 1895 married Patrick Ryan 
who occupies a farm of 160 acres in 
Marshall township, and has a family 
of four children; William, Edward, 
Estella and Ethel. John G. and Hugo 
M. occupy their father's farm, the 
latter in 1901 having married Adelia, 
daughter of Edward Gerrick. Emma 
and Clara live with their parents. 
All are members of the Catholic 
church. 

English Joseph H., (b. 1849) owner 
of a tine farm on section 6, is a native 
of Germany, where in 1872 he married 
Sophia English. Six years later he 
came to America and located near 
Odebolt, Iowa, and engaged in rais- 
ing sheep, keeping usually 1^500 head. 
After four years he moved to Nebras- 



ka and in 1885 to his present farm, 
which he was the first to occupy and 
improve. He has now a fine dwelling 
house, large barn and a number of 
other smaller buildings. He keeps 
about 150 head of' sheep and raises 
considerable stock. 

His family consisted of five chil- 
dren. Charles in 1895 married Bertha 
Geddesand lives in Marshall town- 
ship; Annie in 1893 married Wenzel 
Geddes, who works her father's farm, 
and has three children, Maggie, Ada 
and Clara; Michael, Mollie and Millie 
are at home. 

Fitzgerald John and Margaret, 
parents of Patrick, John, William 
and Daniel Fitzgerald were natives of 
Ireland and members of the Catholic 
church. They were married about 
the year 1833 and with a family of five 
sons and one daughter, in 1850 came 
to America and located near Bridge- 
port, Conn. In 1857 they moved to 
Allamakee county, Iowa. Here their 
children grew to manhood, married 
and two of them, Margaret, who mar- 
ried Thomas Reagan, and David, per- 
manently located. During the years 
of 1873 and 1874 four of their sons, 
Patrick, John, William and Daniel lo- 
cated in Pocahontas county aud in 
1879 they also came and lived here the 
rest of their days. Both are buried in 
the Dover Catholic cemetery. Their 
family consisted of five sons and one 
daughter. 

1— Fitzgerald Patrick (b. 1834; d. 
189*8) was a native of Cork county, Ire- 
land, came with his parents to Amer- 
ica in 1850 and to Allamakee county in 
1857. In 1871 he married Mary 
Mackey. Two years later he located 
on the SEi Sec. 23, Dover township, 
which he improved and occupied until 
the time of his death in 1898, when he 
was the owner of 320 acres. His fam- 
ily consisted of eleven children, two 
of whom died in childhood. 

William Timothy (b. Iowa, 1871) in 
1894 married Mary J., daughter of 



578 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Matthew Carey. In 1900 he moved to 
Varina and engaged in the implement 
business as a member of the tirm of 
.J.D.Fitzgerald & Co. His family 
consists of four children: Margaret 
M., Matthew, John P. and William E. 
Maggie E , Mary A. James Edward, 
Sarah Jane, a Fonda graduate in 1899, 
John P., Hannah, a Fonda graduate in 
1901, Catherine, Nellie R. and Charles 
Lewis are at home. 

2— Fitzgerald Jolm (b. Ireland, 
1836) in 1862 married Mary, daughter 
of Philip Qnillian, of Allamakee 
county. In 1873 he located on the 
NWiSec. 23, Dover township, which 
he has finely improved and increased 
to 310 acres. His family consisted of 
eight children. 

Margaret Ann in 1888 married M. 
W. Linnan, (see Linnan); Mary Ellen 
in 1888 married John Eichler, owner 
of a farm of* 160 acres on section 11, 
Dover township, and has a family of 
three children. Lucy, John and Ray. 
John David, (b. Iowa, 1867,) secretary 
and business manager of the Lilly 
Creamery Association 1897-1900, and 
dealer in implements 'and grain at 
Varina since the spring of 1900, in 
1896 married Ann Quinlan of Fort 
Dodge and has a family of two chil- 
dren, John Vincent and Mary Ethel. 
He was assessor of Dover township 
from 1894 to 1900, and a justice in 1901. 
Elizabeth in 1899 married Joseph 
Eichler, who lives on his own farm of 
160 acres in Dover township, and has 
one child, John Francis. Thomas 
Philip in 1900 married Mary, daugh- 
ter of Terrence Mullen of Fonda, and 
located at Varina, where he is en- 
gaged in the implement business 
He has one child, Mary Genevieve. 
Agnes and Winnifred are at home. 

3— Fitzgerald William, (b. Ireland 
Mar. 11, 1840) in 1862 in Allamakee 
county, enlisted as a member of Co. 
F, 6th Iowa Cavalry, (pp. 43-45) and 
spent three years in the frontier serv- 
ice of his country. In 1866 he mar- 



ried Ann Jane Williamson and lo- 
cated on a farm. In the spring of 
1874 he located on the SWi Sec, 13, 
Dover township, his three brothers, 
Patrick, John and Daniel having pre- 
ceded him one year. He has im- 
proved this land by the erection of a 
fine dwelling hou^e, two large barns 
and other outbuildings, and by plant- 
ing several groves He is now the 
owner of 240 acres that is in a high 
state of cultivation, having been 
thoroughly tile drained. He was a 
trustee of the township nine years, 
1876-84, treasurer of the school fund 
since 1882— nearly twenty years— and 
was a member of the board of county 
supervisors three years, 1889-91. 

His family consisted of five children. 
Margaret E. in 1891 married Martin 
F. White, who located on section 12 
and remained there until 1900, when 
he moved to Perry. Their family 
consists of five children, two sons and 
three daughters. Esther Ellen is at 
home. Mary Jane married Andrew 
White, who died in October, 1897, 
from injuries received in an effort to 
stop a runaway team at Laurens, 
leaving one child, Charles W. Isa- 
bella Ann and Edward are at home. 
Mrs. Margaret A. Williamson, 
mother of his wife, lias made her 
home with William since 1878. 

4— Fitzgerald Daniel, (b. Ireland, 
1844) in 1867 in Allamakee county, 
married Margaret Coleman (b. Maine, 
1849) and in June, 1873, settled on his 
present farm on the NEi Sec. 23, Do- 
ver township. He has improved this 
land with good buildings and is now 
the owner of 320 acres. 

His family consisted of ten chil- 
dren, one of whom died in childhood. 
Mary Agnes in 1890 married Joseph 
D. Reagan, (see Reagan); John T. was 
a trustee of the township 1898-1901, 
and has been business manager of the 
store since the death of Joseph D. 
Reagan. Margaret H., after spend- 
ing three years pursuing special stud- 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



579 



ies at Chilicothe, Mo., and Washing- 
ton, la., in 1901 married Hugo Fix 
andlivesin Dover township. Cathe- 
rine Ellen in 1898 married Henry Dor- 
ton, (see Dorton); Alice Theresa, 
Daniel Edward, James J , Eunice L., 
and Lewis Patrick are at home. 

Fix John, wife and family, natives 
of Germany, in 1885 came with Em- 
manuel Gerrick and located on a farm 
of 80 acres, now increased to 120 acres, 
on the NWi Sec. 8. Be has a fine 
grove and is now in very comfortable 
circumstances. His family consisted 
of five children. George in 1893 mar- 
ried Lehina 1ST ace and lives in Mar- 
shall township. Alfreda in 1890 mar- 
ried Christ Toma, (seeToma); Hugo in 
1901 married Margaret H. Fitzgerald ' 
and lives in Dover township. Joseph- 
ine and Rudolph are at home. 

Garton William Henry, owner and 
occupant of a farm of 200 acres on 
section 17, in 1865 in La Fayette, 
county, Wis., married Sarah Josephine 
Latin and located at Williams, Iowa. 
Returning to Wisconsin for a short 
period, in 1880 he located on his pres- 
ent farm in Pocahontas county, which 
he has improved and since occupied. 
His family consisted of six children. 
Jennie in 1889 married William Sel- 
lick and after six years' residence in 
this county moved to Buffalo county, 
Neb., with two children, lzaand Etta. 
In 1901 they returned to this county 
and began to occupy a new house 
built on her father's farm. Clifford 
R. in 1897 married Irene Titus and 
occupies a farm of 80 acres on section 
18. He has one child, Alice. Inez M. 
in 1896 married Frank M. Titus and 
lives in Calhoun county. Ida Ellen, 
Eunice Editb and Anna are at home. 

Garvey John, (b. May 5, 1848) is a 
native of Ireland. In 1864 he came 
alone to America and located in New 
York state, and in 1867 in Allamakee 
county, Iowa, where in 1873 he mar- 
ried Sophia Williamson. In the 
spring of 1873 he located on his pres- 



ent farm on the NEi Sec. 21, which 
he has finely improved and increased 
to 240 acres. 

His family consists of five children: 
James, a well-digger, Jane and Eliza, 
teachers, Henry and Albert. 

Gerrick (Gehrig) Emmanuel and 
family accompanied by his brother 
Edmund and family, all natives of 
Germany, in 1885 came to Pocahontas 
county and located on section 8, Do- 
ver township. Two years later their 
brother Nicholas and family arrived 
and located on the same section. 
These three brothers have become 
permanent residents of the township, 
have erected good improvements and 
are all members of the Catholic 
church. The family of Emmanuel 
consists of five children of whom the 
names of the four oldest are Frank, 
Annie, Takala f Adelia) and Edmund, 

Gerrick Edmund, married Takala 
(Adelia) Swink and has one daughter, 
Adelia. 

Gerrick Nicholas (b. Ger. 1814) in 
1874 married Johanna Dabors, who 
came with him to this country in 1887 
and died in 1901 leaving a family of 
three children. Kate in 1892 married 
Michael Schneitter, lives in Dover 
township and has two children, Dora 
and Lois. Dora in 1900 married Con- 
stantine Schneitter, lives in Dover 
and has one child, Katie. Emmanuel 
is at home 

Gombar Frederick Michael, (b. 
1853) is the son of Frederick 
and Rosa (Steiner) Gombar. He is ; 
native of Broadhead, Wis., where he 
grew to manhood and in 1873 married 
Alice McCarl. In 1878 he came to Po- 
cahontas county with the family of 
David Steiner and lo3ated on section 
30, Dover township. Two j ears later 
he located on his present farm on sec- 
tion 35, which he has improved with 
good buildings. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren, one of whom died in childhood. 
Rosa in 1894 married James Dough- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



erty, a barber, lives at Pocahontas and 
bas four children: May, Lilian, Eugene 
and Gladdis. Jennie, Lilian, Trussie, 
Grace, William, Frank and Hazel. 

Hauser Jacob (b. Germany 1864), 
came to Americi in 1879 and located 
at Odebolt, Iowa, and three years 
later at Correctionville, where in 1890 
he married Minnie Porath, of Buena 
Vista County. In 1895 he located on 
the NEi of section 31, Dover town- 
ship, on which the town of Varina 
was located in 1899. Hauser's first 
addition to Varina was platted by 
him Dec. 26, 1899, and in 1901 he was 
chosen a member of the first town 
council of Varina. 

He is a son of David Hauser who, 
with wife and three other sons, David, 
Nicholas and Matthew, in 1880 came 
to tbis country and located in South 
Dakota. His family consists of four 
children, Alice, Edmund and Edwin 
A., twins, and Janet. 

Hogan Michael Augustus (b. 1855), 
ex-County Supervisor, is a native of 
Delaware county, Iowa, the son of 
Patrick and Catherine (McNamara) 
Hogan. In 1877 he located on a farm 
of 80 acres on the NWi of Section 23, 
Dover township, which he improved 
and occupied until 1896 when he 
moved to Fonda. He was a member 
of the board of County Supervisors 
six years, 1895-1900. 

In 1886 he married Catherine, daugh- 
ter of Michael and Catherine Cullen, 
of Dover township, and she died in 
1894, leaving a family of three child- 
ren, Frank, Nellie and Edward. 

His two sisters, Catherine and Mag- 
gie, a teacher, have been residents of 
this county many years. Catherine 
married Hugh J. Murray, an insur- 
ance agent, and Margaret married 
Jacob Coyle, a merchant, and both 
live at Pocahontas. 

Hubbell Alexander Fullerton (b. 
March 28, 1844; d. Doc. 7, 1894), was 
the first settler in Dover township 
and a prominent resident of it from 



the spring of 1870 until the spring of 
1894, when he moved to Cedar Falls, 
where he died a few months later in 
his 51st year. 

He was the fourth son of Frederic 
A. and Frances L. (McNeil) Hubbell 
and was a native of Champlain, Clin- 
ton, county, N. Y. His father was 
an eminent attorney but died in 1853, 
when Alexander was only nine years 
of age. He was of Welsh descent and 
they are able to trace the family line 
on his side not only to Wales but as 
far back as the Danish conquest of 
England, a period of 800 years. His 
mother (b. 1808) was of Scotch descent 
and made her home with Alexander 
in Dover township from 1872 until 
her decease, May 29, 1890. She was a 
native of Charlotte, Vermont, in 1833 
married F. A. Hubbell, Esq., and lo- 
cated at Champlain, N. Y. Their 
family consisted of six children, four 
sons and two daughters. The early 
death of her husband left her respon- 
sible for the care and training of this 
family. In this respect she perform- 
ed her duty so nobly and well as to 
give the fullest proof that she belong- 
ed to that grand army of mothers 
who, years before the civil war began, 
were preparing for the nation's crisis 
by teaching the lessons of piety and 
patriotism in the home. When the 
call was issued for volunteers she had 
the patriotic pleasure of sending to 
the front ranks four loyal and brave 
sons with her most gracious benedic- 
tion. Two of them died during the 
war; Henry at Antietam, and James 
at the Military hospital at Albany, on 
his way home; and Charles F. died a 
few years later from the disease then 
contracted. Throughout the long 
struggle of the war this patriotic 
mother gave her unceasing support to 
the cause of the Uryon, and never 
complained of her own costly sacrifice. 
She became a member of the Presby- 
terian church in her 16th year and 
the sweet influence of her piety and 





ALEXANDER F. HUBBELL 



MRS. LOIS A. WOOD HUBBELL 





MRS. FRANCES McNEILL HUBBELL MR. AND MRS. W. J. CURKEET 

Fonda and Vicinity. 




RESIDENCE OF A. S. WOOD, 1896. 




RESIDENCE OF R. F. BESWICK. 
Fonda. 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



581 



patriotism was felt throughout a cir- 
cle that was much wider than her 
own home. 

Alexander owed very much. to the 
good influences of his mother and 
united with the church at fourteen. 

On Sept. 21, 1861, in his 18th year, 
at Ogdensburg, he became a member 
of Co. H, 60th N. Y. Volunteer?. 
When fully equipped for service he 
was sent with the regiment to Wash 
ington, D. O, and ten days later to 
Baltimore to guard the' railways in 
that vicinity. 

In the spring of 1862 he and six com- 
panies of his regiment were sent to 
Harper's Ferry and later into the 
Shenandoah Valley under Gen. Mc- 
Dowell. During one terrible week 
the two armies were in constant col- 
lision and battles were fought at Oak 
Grove, Mechanicsville, Gaines Hill, 
Peach Orchard, Savage's Station, 
White Oak Swamps and Malvern Hill, 
in which the Union army lost 15,000 
men. At the time of Pope's defeat at 
the second battle at Bull Run, Aug. 
30th, he was guarding supplies at 
Bristoe Station, was cut off from the 
main army by its precipitate retreat 
and to avoid capture was compelled 
to make a detour of twenty miles. 

In the battle of Antietam, Elenry, 
his brother, fell and he was wounded in 
the limb. The next engagement was 
at Fredericksburg, Dec. 12-I3tb. Af- 
ter these engagements he remained 
with the army of the Potomac until 
the fall of 1863, participating in the 
battlesat Chancellorsville and Gettys- 
burg, serving at the latter under Gen. 
Slocum. 

In the fall of 1863 he was sent with 
the 11th and 12th army corps under 
Generals Howard aud Slocum to Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn., to reinforce Gen. 
Rosecrans, whose line of communica- 
tion and supplies had been cut off. 
He was then in the army of Gen. 
Grant, and soon afterwards partici- 
pated in the battle at Wauhatchie, 



when several regiments under Gen. 
Geary were nearly annihilated re- 
sisting a night attack by the rebels 
under Longstreet. On Nov. 24th he 
was in the storming column that led 
the way in driving Gen. Bragg and 
his forces from the summit of Look- 
out Mountain and in this "battle 
above the clouds" received his second 
wound — a severe injury in the left 
side. In December he re-enlisted for 
three years and was granted a brief 
furlough. 

In 1861 he belonged to the 20th 
army corps under Gen. Sherman and 
participated in his campaigns in Ten- 
nessee, Alabama and Georgia, follow- 
ing him as far as Atlanta. On ac- 
count of sickness he was there sent 
back to the hospital at Chattanooga 
and remained seven weeks. He was 
then sent under Gen. Steadman to 
the battle of Nashville, where, after 
a two days' fight, Dec. 15-16, 1864, 
Hood's army of 30,000 was completely 
annihilated by the Union forces un- 
der Gen. Thomas. 

In the spring of 1865 he participated 
in Sherman's famous march from At- 
lanta to the Sea and arrived at Char- 
leston in time to see Major Ander- 
son's old flag re-hoisted over Fort 
Sumpter, on the day that Henry Wa, d 
Beecher delivered a patriotic address 
at that place by request of President 
Lincoln. A few days later Gen. 
Joseph E. Johnson and his army of 
Confederates surrendered near Ral- 
eigh and then he started on one of 
the hardest and most forced marches 
of the war from that place to Wash- 
ington, where he participated in the 
grand review in May following. On 
July 3J, 1865, he was honorably dis- 
charged, having rendered his country 
nearly four years of faithful service. 

His experience as a soldier, com- 
mencing with the first year of the 
war and lasting until its close, took 
him over the whole scene of the con- 
flict. He made the circuit of the 
Confederacy and it often seemed to 



582 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



him that he was always in that por- 
tion of the army that was doing the 
fighting. 

After the war he attended the busi- 
ness college at Schenectady, N. Y., 
and served three years as a book keep- 
er fur Sturges & MacAllister, whole- 
sale dealers in Chicago. 

In May, 1869, he visited Pocahontas 
county, riding horseback from Fort 
Dodge, and purchased all of section 26, 
Dover township, later called the 
"Large Pasture." In the spring of 
1870 he and his biother Charles F, 
became residents of the township and 
each the next year secured a soldier's 
claim of 160 acres on the Wi of sec- 
tion 24, on which they located their 
home. In the spring of 1872 they 
weie joined by their mother and sis- 
ter, Frances M. A few years later 
another quarter section was purchas- 
ed, making him. after the death of 
his brother, Charles, in 1875, the 
owner of 1120 acres. His large man- 
sion was built in la83. 

In 1870 he took the lead in propos- 
ing the name and effecting the organ- 
ization of Dover township. Tue first 
election was held in his home on sec- 
tion 26, Oct. 11, 1870, wh.-n he served 
as one of the judges and Charles, his 
brother, as one of the clerks. The 
latter served as the first treasurer of 
the school funds in 1872. Alexander, 
at the first election, was chosen a 
trustee and served 1871 75; a, justice, 
and served 1871-83: clerk, and served 
1871, '76-80. He served as the first 
president of the school board in 1872 
and as treasurer of it in 1873. On 
Jan. 2, 1877, he was appointed deputy 
County Superintendent on the recom- 
mendation of Supt. J. F. Chirk, and 
leoeived $9 60 for the s rvices thus 
rendered. 

In 1886, when the Presbyterian 
church in Fonda was organized, 
though living e'ght mi es distant, he, 
his sister and mother gave it their 
hearty co-operation, theieby enabling 



it to secure so soon its fine church ed- 
ifice and comfortable parsonage. .The 
encouraging growth of this church 
was largely due to their continued 
fidelity, energy and liberality. He 
served as one of its trustees and as 
secretary of that board 1886-94; as 
superintendent of the Sunday school 
Jan. 1, 1887-Mar. 1, 1894; and as an eldr-r 
of the church 1888-94. Its silver com- 
munion set is a souvenir from Ids 
mother and sister; and the latter, who 
was one of the first teachers in Dover 
township, taught a class in the Sun- 
day school 1886-93 Alexander's loy- 
alty to the church embraced all its 
interests, and his liberality was meas- 
ured only by the enlarging demands of 
the work, his last gift being a legacy 
of $200.00 that covered a deficit on the 
Manse. His uuiform kindness, ster- 
ling integrity, excellent judgment 
and firm adherence to the right 
won for him the confidence and re- 
spect of all who kue.vhim. He be- 
lieved 

"That right is right since Cod is God, 
And right the day must win; 

To doubt would be disloyalty, 
To falter would be sin." 

In 1887 he married Lois A., daugh- 
ter of A. B. P. Wood, (see Wood) and 
at the time of his decease, at Cedar 
Falls, left a family consisting of four 
children: Frederic Augustus, Alia, 
Wolcot Wood and Helen. 

His sister Julia died in 1859. 

Larapman Clark R. (b. Dec. 16, 
1823), resident of section 29 since 1883, 
is a native of Oswego Co., N. Y., the 
son of Stephen P. and Susan (Lowing) 
Lampman. He was one of ten sons 
in the same family, all but one of 
whom grew to manhood. Freeman, a 
younger brother became a minister of 
the M. E. church and lives at Green- 
castle, Jasper county. Two others, 
Wilson and Durell live in Ohio. In 
1850, while living at Seneca, O., Clark 
married Eunice Baker and two years 
later located in Iowa, first in Decatur 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



583 



county and in 1883 in Pocahontas 
Having acquired a knowledge of car- 
pentry in his younger days, he has 
frequently worked at this trade while 
living on the farm. He was a trustee 
of Dover township ten years, 1888-97 
and president of the school board in 
1886. 

His family consisted of two children 
ren: 

1— Stephen P (b. O. 1851) who in 
Decatur county married Lydia K. 
Wooley. He is the owner and occu- 
pant of a well improved farm of 118 
acres principally on sestion 29, Dover 
township. He was president of the 
school board four years, 1889, '95-97. 
His family consists of five children, 
Mary, a teacher, Durell, Kate, Frank, 
Ella J., and Frederick, El ward having 
died at nine. 

2— Etta C. in 1874 in Decatur coun- 
ty married Homer A. Davis, who, af- 
ter a brief residence in Pocahontas 
county returned to Decatur county 
and later muved to Oregon, where he 
died in July, 1883, leaving two chil- 
dren, Alice and Abbie, both of whom 
are teachers. In 1893 Mrs. Davis be- 
came the wife of Eohan J. Pinneo, a 
farmer, and now resides in Dover 
township. 

Lilly Joseph (b. April 22, 1810, d. 
June 5, 1895,) resident of Dover town- 
ship, 1888-95, was a native of Mary- 
land. While living in Fairfield coun- 
ty, Ohio, he married Mary Fanning, a 
native of Virginia, and located on a 
farm. In 1855, with a family of eight 
children he moved to Linn county, 
Iowa. Here his wife died in 1873, and 
all of his children except John, mar- 
ried. In 1888 he came to Pocahontas 
county and spent the remainder of his 
days with his sons in Dover township. 
He was a devout Catholic and all his 
children .became members of that 
church. His family consisted of ten 
children, five of whom — Edward, 
Theodore, Elias, John and Rebecca 
located in Pocahontas county. 



1. Lilly Edward S., (b. O., May 17, 
1839) on Oct. 22, 1868, married Geneva 
Beuter and located on a farm in John- 
son county, Iowa. In 1888 he settled 
on the NWi Sec. 15, Dover township 
He is now the owner of three farms in 
that vicinity containing 480 acres, 
each supplied with good improve- 
ments that he has erected. He was a 
trustee of Dover township, 1892-97, 
and has been a trustee of the Lilly 
Creamery Association since its organ- 
ization in 1897. 

His family consisted of six children: 
Joseph, who was assessor in 1901; 
Tuomas and Raymond, who in 1897 
married Cynthia Vanhorn, occupies a 
farm on section 11, and has a family 
of two children. He has arranged for 
raising fine poultry, especially Ply- 
m"Uth Rock chickens and Pekiu 
ducks. Arthur in 1901 married Ma- 
bel Murphy and occupies the NWi 
Sec. 27. Annie and Agnes are at 
home. 

2. Theresa (b. 1841) married John 
D. White, a sawyer, lives in New 
Mexico, and has four children. 

3. Belinda, (b. 1843) married Wm. 
J. White, lives at Grand Junction. 
Iowa, and has a family of eight chil- 
dren. 

4. Lilly Theodore (b. Nov. 5, 1845) 
in 1876 in Linn county married Mary 
Eichler and located on a farm. In 
1884 he settled on the SW-i- Sec. 15, 
Dover township, which he was the 
first to occupy and improve. He 
erected a large square house in 1S98, 
and has a fine grove for the protection 
of his buildings and stock. He has 
been president of the Lilly Creamery 
Co. since its organization. 

His family consists of nine children: 
Erauk E., Herman J., Cora, Gertrude, 
Clement, Guy, Florence, Eulana and 
Louise. 

5. Joseph (b. 1848) lives at Cedar 
Rapids. 

6. Alexander F., (b. 1850) married 
Catherine Mackey, lives in Buena, 



584 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Yista county and has five children: 
Joseph, Lawrence, Ellen, Martin and 
Theresa. 

7. Rebecca (b. 1853) married Legel- 
ius Denman, an engineer, who died in 
1884. She lives in Fonda and has two 
children; Lester, a clerk, and Earl. 

8. Lilly Elias (b. 1855), in Linn 
county, married Margaret Mackey and 
in 1891 located on Sec. 10, Dover town- 
ship, where he owns a pretty home 
and a good farm of 120 acres. He has 
a family of six children; Lewis, James, 
Philip, Cora, Margaret and Ella. 

9. Mary A., married J. W. Woods, 
a farmer, and died near Cedar Rapids 
in 1885. 

10. Lilly John (b. Linn Co., la., 
1860) in 1897 married Mary McCartan 
and occupies a farm of 120 acres on 
Sec. 2), Dover township, on which he 
has erected fine improvements. 

Linnan Michael W. (b. 1859), is a 
native of Polk county, the son of John 
and Julia (Flynn) Linnan, whose fam- 
ily consisted of ten children, three of 
whom— Michael, Mary and Charles — 
became residents of this county, the 
first two in 1881 and the last in 1882, 
and all at first on the same farm. 
Michael, in childhood, moved with 
his parents to Warren county and in 
the spring of 1881, accompanied by his 
sister Mary, settled ontheSWiSec. 
1, Dover township. He is now the 
owner of a finely improved farm of 440 
acres on which he has erected good 
buildings, the large square house in 
1896. He is one of the largest stock 
feeders in Dover township, carrying 
usually about 400 head of cattle. He 
was clerk of Dover township four 
years, 1885-88. He took an active part 
in effecting the organization of the 
democratic party in this county, and 
receiving the nomination for county 
recorder in 1888 and 1890, lacked only 
43 votes of being elected in 1888. . 

Tn 1888 he married Margaret A., 
daughter of John Fitzgerald, and she 
died the next year. In 1891 he mar- 



ried Elizabeth Kelleher and their 
family consists of five children, John 
Charles, Alice E., Michael F., William 
J. Bryan and Elizabeth. 

Linnan Charles Francis (b. 1868), 
is a native of Warren county and lo- 
cated with his brother in Dover town- 
ship in 1882. In 1891 he went to 
Texas and remained two years. In 
1894 he became a partner in the gen- 
eral store of Crahan, Linnan & Co., 
and continued in the mercantile busi- 
ness until 1899, when he embarked in 
the real estate business. He is now 
the owner of a pretty home in Fonda 
and 550 acres of land in the vicinity. 
In 1894 he was nominated for the of- 
fice of clerk of the court and received 
the largest vote cast in this county 
for any democratic candidate that 
year. 

In 1897 he married Emma, daughter 
of James A. Carroll, and his family 
consists ol two children, James M. 
and Ruth Frances. 

Mary Linnan, after a residence of 
seven years in this county, married 
Thomas E. McCahilland lives In War- 
ren county. 

James Linnan, an uncle of Michael, 
has been a resident of Fouda since 
1895. ■ 

McSafferty John, a native of Ce- 
dar county, Iowa, in 1886, bought a 
farm of 160 acres in Dover township 
and the next year married Johanna, 
sister of Garrett Mackey. He now oc- 
cupies a farm of 240 acres on sections 
9 and 10, Cedar township. His family 
consists of six children; William, 
Mary, Thomas, James. Maggie and 
the baby. 

McGJarty Ann, Mrs. (b. 1815; d. 
1890), accompanied by her two sons, 
William and Michael, and her daugh- 
ter, Maggie, located in Dover town- 
ship in 1876. Michael, her husband, 
died in Waterford county, Ireland, in 
1870. She died in 1890. She was high- 
ly esteemed for her many virtues and 
was well known throughout a large 



DOVER TOWNSHIP 



585 



section of country as one of the old 
settlers. 

William, in 1881, married Elizabeth 
Coleman and became owner of a farm 
of 160 acres on sections 27 and 34. In 
1900 he moved to Elmore, Minn. Bis 
family, consisted of six children, Mary, 
Stella, Martha, Bessie, Theresa and 
Vada. Maggie, in 1876, married 
Michael J. Kearns (see Ivearns). 

Michael (b. Ireland, 1859), came to 
Dover township in 1877 and located on 
Sec. 34. In 1899 he moved to Mitr- 
dock, Minn. He married Katie (Kel- 
ley) Hefner and his family consisted 
six children; Annie, Alice, Mary, John, 
William and the baby. His wife had 
two children, Margaret and Elizabeth, 
by her first husband, John Hefner, 
who died in Oct., 1881. 

Merchant Peter (b. 1818), was a 
native of Pennsylvania, where he mar- 
ried Susan Weaver, and later located 
on a homestead in Green county, Wis. 
In 1871, with a family of seven chil- 
dren, he located on a homestead of 80 
acres on Sec. 30, Dover township, 
which he improved and occupied un- 
til 1890, when he moved to Fonda, 
where his wife died Jan. 21, 1892, in 
her 66th year. Since that date he has 
made his home with his daughter, 
Mary Frazee. His family consisted 
of eight children: 

1. Mary, in Green county, Wis., 
married George Frazee, and a few 
years afterward located in Palo Alto 
county, where he died later, leaving 
two children, "Nettie and George. 

2. Elizabeth married Zane, 

of Lake City, and died soon afterward, 
leaving one son, Burr. 

3. Albert married Nellie Spear and 
after a brief residence in this comity 
moved to Dakota with a family of 
three children. 

4. Sarah married Columbus Logan 
and after a few years located in 
Sioux City. 

5. William married Eila Westlake 
Manson and went west. 



6. Sophia married M. B. Keifer, 
an attorney, who lived a few years at 
Fonda and then moved to Sioux City. 

Edward went westward and Emma 
died at 17 in 1884. 

Morrison Moses (b. Can. 1816), 
came to Pocahontas county in 1883 
with Peter, his son, and has since 
lived with him. His wife, Lucinda 
Beauregard, died in 1870, Pecatonica, 
111. Three of his son?, William, Jos- 
eph and Peter located in Pocahontas 
county. 

Morrison William (b. Can. 1843), 
married Jane Webster. After living- 
three years on a farm at Cherokee he 
moved to the farm of Charles A.Sayre 
in Marshall township. Later he lived 
four years in Cedar township, and in 
1900 located in Varina, where he is 
engaged in the livery business. 

His family consists of .seven chil- 
dren: Orrin in 1900 married Iva Fur- 
nas and lives at Cherokee; Bay, Lu- 
eila and Bertha, teachers, Blanche, 
Erne and Dewey. 

Morrison: J oseph (b. 1853), in 1886 
married Lucretia, daughter of George 
Watts, and occupies the SEi Sec. 28, 
Dover township. . He has been presi- 
dent of the school board during the 
last four years. His family consists 
of five children: Ora, Leah, Neva, 
Nellie and Mildred. 

Morrison Peter (b. 1869), Is a na- 
tive of Canada and at the age of four 
years came with his parents to Peca- 
tonica, 111., where in -1881 he married 
Euretta N. Benson, who died the next 
year. In 1883 he located on Sec. 28 
Dover township. In 1891 he moved to 
Fonda and two years later to his pres- 
ent farm on Sec. 18, Cedar township. 
In 1S85 he married Henrietta C. Sayre 
and they have one daughter, Lorena 
Bell. ■ 

Meednam Horace Moulton (b. 1849 
is a native of Massachusetts, the son 
of. Allen and Eunice Needham. At 
the age of ten he came with his par- 
ents to WinnebaRO county, III., where 



586 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



in 1872 he married Emma C. Atwood 
and two years later located on his 
present farm on Sec. 21, Dover town- 
ship. He has improved this farm of 
240 acres with good buildings and 
groves. He was president of the 
school board in 1888. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren. Nellie, in 1900, married Wm. 
C. H. Peters, a merchant, and lives at 
Varina. Eunice is a seamstress; Cas- 
par, Frank, Guy, Fay and Mabel are 
at home. 

©'Conner James (b. 1842), a native 
of Ireland, in 1862 came to America 
and located in Illinois. In 1870 he 
came to Warren county, Iowa, where 
in 1872 he married Margaret Jane 
Durigan and located on a farm. Here 
he was joined by his brother, Patrick 
(b. Ireland, 1850), who in 1874 married 
Ellen Durigan. In 1878 these two 
brothers and their families came to 
Pocahontas county and located, Pat- 
rick on Sec. 25, Dover township, and 
James on Sec. 19, Grant township. 
Patrick, their father, at the age of 
sixty-five, and their mother at sixty, 
in 1880, also came to this country and 
lived with these two sons until they 
died, their mother in 1881, and their 
father in 1888. Barney, their brother, 
resident of Fonda, came to this coun- 
ty in 1883. 

James is now the owner of 240 acres 
that he has laid out to good advant- 
age and has finely improved with good 
buildings, groves and orchard. His 
orchard is one of the best in Grant 
township. Of his family of eleven 
children ten are living: Agnes in 1899 
married Peter Callinan, an electrician, 
lives in Sioux City and has one child, 
Joseph. Catherine in 1901 married 
Marion Argenbright, a painter and 
carpenter, and lives at Pocahontas. 
The others are William, Celia, Pat- 
rick, John, Clara, Emma, Arthur and 
Alice. 

Patrick O'Connor in 1892, moved to 
Buena Vista county and later to South 



Dakota. His family consisted of ten 
children. Anna married Wm. Hogan 
and lives in Des Moines, where Gertie 
and Sadis, two of her sisters also live. 
The others are Frank, Ambrose. Ray, 
Edith, Vincent, Lagora, Valley and 
the baby. 

©'Wiel James and his brother, 
John B. and wife, were among the 
first settlers in Dover township, locat- 
ing there in 1870. In 1873 John and 
his family moved to Nebraska, and in 
1874 James died at the home of John 
Garvey. 

Peterson Nels (b. 1839), a native 
of Sweden, came to this country and 
in 1877 in Alameda county, Cal., mar- 
ried Mary Samuelson (b. Sweden 1845). 
After a short settlement there they 
returned to Sweden and in 1881 locat- 
ed at Des Moines, where he found 
employment on the railroads. In 1885 
he located on a farm on Sec. 3, Dover 
township, which he has finely improv- 
ed and increased to 320 acres. In 1900 
he bought another half section near 
Albert City, making him the owner 
of 640 acres. He is a careful, hard 
working farmer and succeeds well both 
in raising good crops and fat stock 
for the market. His family consists 
of four sons, Charles, William, Oscar 
E. and August Emil, who were born, 
one each at their ^successive places of 
residence, in California, Sweden, Des 
Moines and Pocahontas county. 

Picking Franklin (b. 1862), owner 
and occupant of Sec. 9, 640 acres, is a 
son of Patrick B. and Charlotte (Green- 
wait) Picking, and a native of Frank- 
lin Co., Pa , where he lived until he 
was twenty-eight. During the next 
eight years he was engaged in the 
meat business at Milledgeville, 111. 
In 1898 he located on his present farm 
and began the work of its improve- 
ment by the erection of a good stock 
barn and a large square house that is 
remembered by the traveler for its 
prominence, and the fact it marks the 
half way place between Fonda and 



DOVER TOWNSHIP 



587 



Laurens. Hunter's Rock may still be 
seen in the field a short distance north- 
west of it, but surrounded by waving 
corn instead of a pond of water. 

Mr. Picking lives with the family, 
(J. F. Shaw) he employs to assist him 
in working the farm. He keeps 25 
head of horses and is endeavoring to 
improve the farm, raise hogs and fat- 
ten cattle. Although he is a recent 
settler he is rapidly gaining recogni- 
tion as one of the most enterprising 
and successful men in the township. 

Pinneo George Oliver (b. 1838; d. 
1891), was a native of Yates Co., N. 
Y., the son of James R. and Eunice 
(Bingham) Pinneo. At seventeen, his 
mother having died seven years be- 
fore, he came to Cedar Co., Iowa, 
where in 1862 he married Sarah Towne 
(b. Seneca Co., O., 1838), daughter of 
Ethan and Elizabeth (Baker) Smith 
who came with her parents in wagons 
from Ohio to Tipton, Iowa, in 1851. 
After marriage they located on a farm 
and remained six years in Cedar Co., 
and then three in Decatur Co. In the 
fall of 1871 they came to Pocahontas 
Co. and secured a homestead of 160 
acres on the SE£ Sec. 30, Dover town- 
ship, which they began to occupy Feb. 
22, 1872. 

In the spring of 1873 he planted 
2,000 forest trees and 20,000 fruit trees 
expecting to establish a nursery, but 
the grasshoppers so completely ruined 
his prospects he did not repeat the ex- 
periment. He was one of the early 
pioneers who sustained the loss of 
four crops during the 70s from the 
ravages of the grasshoppers, and other 
serious losses from prairie fires. The 
former covered the stalks of corn like 
swarms of bees and the latter, in the 
falls of '71 and '75 coming from the 
south, swept over all the country in 
that vicinity, consuming the hay and 
outbuildings and destroying the newly 
planted groves and orchards. In 1890 
this section was also visited by the 
chinch bug. 



About the year 1888 in partnership 
with F. M. Gombar, he purchased a 
six-foot ditcher and did a large 
amount of drainage work in Dover, 
Center, Clinton, Washington and 
Swan Lake townships. 

On May 2, 1864, Mr. Pinneo enlist- 
ed as a member of Co. I, 46th Iowa, 
and served until the close of the war. 

He was a man of strict integrity 
and was highly respected for his ex- 
emplary christian character. He serv- 
ed as a trustee of the township five 
years, and as president of the school 
board in 1874. He died in 1891. Mrs. 
Sarah T. Pinneo, his wife, taught the 
school in their district in the fall of 
1874, and after his decease, served sev- 
eral years as superintendent of their 
Sunday school. 

Their family consisted of four chil- 
dren. 

1. Ethan J. (b. 1866), a farmer, in 
1893 married Etta C. (Lampman) Davis 
andlives in Dover township. 

2. Carlos Ernest (b. 1867), in 1895 
married Lizzie B. Whitney, lives on 
the old homestead and has a family of 
five children, Frances Henrietta, 
Elizabeth B., Lois Gilbert, George 
Oliver and Ruth Emily. He is an 
elder and trustee in the Varina Pres- 
byterian church. 

3. Bessie, in 1887 married Ai Watts 
(see Watts). 

4. Hattie, a graduate of the busi- 
ness department of B. V. college and 
a teacher, lives with her mother at 
Varina. 

Rathbun William Wallace (b. 1813), 
is a native of Lee Co., Iowa, and in 
1850 moved to Clayton Co., where in 
1871 he married Harriet Robinson, 
having previously secured in the fall 
of 1870 a homestead of 80 acres on the 
NEi Sec. 32, Dover township. At 
this period his principal occupation 
was teaching school, and he taught 
the first school in the Pinneo district 
during the winter of 1873-4. He also 
taught at Fonda and other places in 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS.1COUNTY, IOWA. 



the vicinity, as well as in Clayton 
Co. He improved the homestead and 
occupied it until 1882, when he moved 
to Fonda, where he has been engaged 
first as a grocer and later as a shoe- 
maker. He was clerk of Dover town- 
ship three years, a justice two years, 
assessor three years and as the first 
secretary of the school board served 
ten years, 1872-81. 

His family consists of ten children; 
Edmund C, Albert and Frank are tile 
ditchers; Maude in 1897 married Her- 
bert Beardsley, a ditcher, and lives at 
Fonda; the others are Minnie, a Fonda 
graduate in 1901, Annie, Hattie, Es- 
tella, Nellie and Arthur. 

Reagan Joseph D. (b. 1865), the 
pioneer merchant of Dover township, 
came to Pocahontas Co. in 1881, and 
worked three years on the farm for 
Wm. Fitzgerald, then three years as a 
clerk for Crahan & McGrath at Rolfe, 
and then returned to the farm. In 
1890 he married Mary A., daughter of 
Daniel Fitzgerald, and after a year 
each at Atlantic and Gilmore City, in 
1893 became a member of the mercan- 
tile firm of Crahan, Linnan & Co., 
Fonda. In the spring of 1897 he open- 
ed a general store and postoffice at 
the Lilly creamery, where in 1900 he 
died, leaving three children, Margaret 
A., Norene and Francis Steven. He 
was a man of robust constitution and 
highly esteemed by all who knew him. 
His wife still maintains the store and 
postoffice. 

Reilly Bernard, Sr. (b. 1816; d. 18- 
87 ), was a native of Louth Co. , Ireland, 
where he married Ann McCough (b. 
1818; d. 1891). In 1856 he came to 
America and lived at Watertown, 
Wis., until 1870 when he came to Po- 
cahontas Co., accompanied by his 
wife, two sons, John and Bernard E., 
and one daughter, Kabe. He and 
John entered homesteads of 80 acres 
on the SWi Sec. 34, and Bernard one 
on Sec. 20, Dover township. He and 
his wife occupied his homestead until 



1886 when they moved to the home of 
Bernard, where he died the next year, 
and his wife a few years later. He 
took an active part in the organiza- 
tion of Dover township. He was the 
oldest in the township at that time 
and was a member of the committee 
that suggested Dover as the name for 
it. He was a member of the Catholic 
-church and a man of excellent spirit. 
His family consisted of nine children 
of whom one died in childho'od. 

1. John (b. Ireland 1847), still owns 
and occupies his homestead on Sec. 
34, which he has enlarged to a finely 
improved farm of 280 acres. The 
Dover Catholic church is located on 
his farm. 

2. Mary married M. J. O'Connor 
and lives in Wisconsin. 

, 3. Bernard E. (b 1851), owns and 
occupies a farm of 400 acres. He was 
one of the judges- at the first election 
held in Dover township, served as its 
.first assessor in 1871-72, as a trustee 
six years, as clerk in 1875 and presi- 
dent of the school board two years. 
He and his brother John live with 
the families engaged to assist in work- 
ing their farms. 

4. James, a teacher, lives in Cali- 
fornia. 5. Margaret A. married John 
Miller and lives at Vinton. 6. Eliza- 
beth is supposed to have been lost at 
the time of the great fire in Chicago 
in 1871. Ellen, a teacher, lives in 
California. 

8. Kate married Francis Farrell 
(b. 1850), who came to Pocahontas Co. 
in 1880 and located on a farm of 80 
acres on Sec. 33, which he has improv- 
ed and increased to 320 acres. His 
family consists of five children; Thom- 
as, who is pursuing a collegiate edu- 
cation; Frank, Mary, Maggie and Ray. 

Rice Herman Peter (b. 1847), owner 
and occupant of a farm of 240 acres 
principally on Sec. 5, Dover township, 
is a native of Germany, came to 
America in 1873 and located in Ben- 
ton Co., Iowa. In 1878 he passed to 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



589 



Ida Co , where in 1880 he married 
Mary Thomas and located on a farm. 
In 1881 he moved to Sao Co., and in 
1891 to his present farm, which he 
has improved by the erection of large 
and fine buildings that are kept 
brightly painted. During the years 18- 
69 to 1872, he was a member of the 2d 
Co., 9th Inf. Reg. of the South Ger- 
man army and participated in several 
battles during the Franco-Prussian 
war. Three of his. children, died in 
childhood, eight are living; Christian, 
Maggie, Leo, Anton, John, Augusta, 
Paulina and Katie. 

Sayre Mahlon (b. N. J. 1817; d. 
1890), was the eighth in a family of 
nine sons. After learning to make 
brooms in New Jersey he moved to 
Winnebago Co., 111., where he mar- 
ried Lucinda Haven. In 1873 two of 
his children, Albert and Elnora, hav- 
ing preceded him, he came to Poca- 
hontas Co. with the others and locat- 
ed on Sec. 20, Dover township. He 
died in 1890 and his wife a few months 
previous. 

1. Elvira married William Gilson 
(see Gilson). 

2. James Albarnus (b. 1852), in 1875 
married Fannie Thompson and locat- 
ed on a homestead in Buena Vista Co. 
He died in 1891 leaving one daughter, 
Pearl, who in 1900 married E. D. Sny- 
der and located in Oklahoma, where 
her mother also lives. 

3: Albert (b. 1854), in 1872 married 
Mary, daughter of FrankA. Burdick. 
He owns a farm of 110 acres in Dover 
township and has a family of two 
children, Dora and Budd. 

4. Melinda in 1867 married Lewis 
K. Johnson and continued to live in 
Illinois until 1873, when they located 
in Dover township. Their family 
consists of three children all of whom 
live in Idaho. Jennie married Daniel 
Finnelson, William married Daisy 
Ingram and Lulu married Charles Ir- 

win. In 1887 Meliocla married Wash- 



ington Snyder and the next year 
moved to Idaho. 

5. Elnora married Eugene Evans 
(see Evans). 

6. Sayre Charles A. (b. 1859), in 
1886 married Flora Watts and locatetl 
on a farm of 320 acres on Sec. 31, Mar- 
shall township, which he still owns. 
Three years later he moved to Sec. 32, 
.Dover township, where he has since 
resided except during the year 1892, 
which he spent in Idaho. 

In November 1900 he secured five 
telephone instruments and, utilizing 
the top wire on the intervening wire 
fences, established a local telephoee 
system that connects him with four 
of his relatives in that vicinity, name- 
ly, Ai Watts, Joseph Morrison, Albert 
Sayre and Peter Morrison. This in- 
expensive and independent line has 
been a source of great convenience. 
A telegraphic arrangement prevails 
on this line and no central office is 
needed. Every message can be receiv- 
ed at every home and the one for 
which it is intended is indicated by 
the number of rings. 

His family consists of four children; 
Fay, Crystal, George Watts and Ruby. 

7. Henrietta married Peter Morri- 
son (see Morrison). 

8. Mahlon Sylvester (b. 1863), is a 
resident of Fonda. 

Sayre Electa (b. 1826), who in 1877 
with three sons, Lewis, Eugene and 
Charles, located on Sec. 21, Dover 
township, and is now a resident of 
Fonda, is a native of Vermont, the 
daughter of James and Melinda (Hem- 
en way) Haven. In 1837 with her par- 
ents she located in Winnebago Co., 
111., where in 1844 she married Wil- 
liam Sayre. In 1855 they moved to 
Allamakee Co., Iowa, where he died 
in 1861, leaving a family of seven chil- 
dren. In 1865 she moved to Dyers- 
ville and in 1877 to Pocahontas Co. 

Lionel (b. 1845), in Dubuque Co., 
married Polly Mountsey, and in 1875 
located in Dover township. Later he 

moved tio Fonda and in 1886 to Sell- 



590 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



wood, Oregon, where he died in 1901, 
leaving a family of two children, Ad- 
die and Nellie. Frances married Wil- 
liam Spence and lives in the state of 
Washington. Lewis (b. 1848), lives 
with his mother. 

'Julia, in 1871, married Mark A. (son 
of Solomon) Haven, a carpenter, and 
lives in Fonda. He was a member of 
the town council three years, 1886-88, 
and mayor four years, '89-92. Their 
family consists of two children, Albert 
and Harrold. 

Ellen, in 1877, married Edward 
O'Donnell (see O'Donnell). Eugene 
(b. 1860), in 1886 married Lula Beards- 
ley, lives in Cedar township, and has 
two children, Guy and Clay. Charles 
(b. 1862), in 1887 married Elizabeth 
Gilson, a milliner, lives in Fonda and 
has one child, Zola. 

Electa (Haven) Sayre was the sec- 
ond in a family of ten children, six of 
whom located in Pocahontas county, 
namely, Lucinda, who married Mahlon 
Sayre; Electa, Sophia, who married 
Horace Haven and lives at FOnda; 
Minerva, who married A. F. Burdick; 
Henrietta, who married Mannis 
O'Donnell; and Charles. The others 
were Sylvester, a soldier in the civil 
war; Ellen, James and Lydia. 

Steiner David (b. 1826), is a native 
of Germany, where he grew to man- 
hood. In 1852 he emigrated to Mil- 
waukee and four years later to Green 
Co., Wis. On Aug. 11, 1862, he be- 
came a member of Co. F., 21st Reg. 
Wis. infantry and continued in the 
military service of this country until 
June 25, 1865, when he was honorably 
mustered out at Reedsville, Ky. He 
was in the army of Gen. Sherman and 
participated in the battles near Sa- 
vannah, Atlanta and numerous other 
places. 

At the close of the war he returned 
to Wisconsin, where in 1867 he mar- 
ried Sarah Harrison, relict of Gilbert 
Thompson, who died in 1861, leaving 



four children, Thomas, Christina, 
Carrie and Gilbert. 

On Oct. 1, 1871, accompanied by his 
wife and their families of seven chil- 
dren, and by Peter Merchant and fam- 
ily of seven children, he located on 
172 acres on Sec. 30, Dover township, 
and Merchant on a homestead of 80 
acres on the same section. At this 
early date there were only a few scat- 
tered cabins in it and the arrival of 
this colony of eighteen more than 
doubled the population of Dover town- 
ship. He improved this farm with 
good buildings and grove, and contin- 
ued to occupy it until 1892, when he 
moved to Fonda. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren, all of whom were born in Green 
Co., Wis. 

William F., in 1894 married Mary 
Kinney, occupies the old home in 
Dover township and has a family of 
three children, William David, Yer- 
nie and Mary Gladdis. 

Rose, a clerk, and Lily, a seamstress, 
are at home. 

The four children of Gilbert and 
Sarah Thompson continued to reside 
in this county a number of years. 

1. Thomas Thompson (b. 1857), in 
1893 married Sarah Carroll, of Buena 
Yista Co., occupies a farm of 80 acres 
on Sec. 30, Dover township, and has a 
family of three children, Ruth, Eu- 
gene and George. 

2. Christina married Joseph T. 
Maiden, a grain dealer, lives at Man- 
son and has five children, Gene, Claude, 
Earl, Lloyd and Joseph. 

3. Carrie married Robert Kleebur- 
ger, a harness maker, lives at Aurelia 
and has three children, Millie, Grace 
and Jay. 

Gilbert Thompson in 1880 located 
at Tacoma, Washington. 

Taft Harrison (b. 1844), owner and 
occupant of the NEi Sec. 28, is a na- 
tive of St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. At 
the age of six he came with his par- 
ents to Greene Co., 111., where he en- 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



591 



listed as a member of Co. E., 65th 111. 
infantry and spent three years and 
seven months in the army during the 
civil war. Soon afterward he located 
at Manchester, Iowa, and in 1872 on 
the homestead in this county which 
he has improved and still occupies. 
In 1872 he married Martha Melinda, 
daughter of A. F. Burdick, and she 
died in 1901, leaving a family of five 
children. Harriet Blanche in 1899 
married Charles W. Taft, lives in 
Waterloo and has two children; Claude 
H., Maude A., Lutie and and Lottie, 
twins are at home. 

Thompson Frank A. (b. 1849), is a 
son of Abram and Selina (Downs) 
Thompson and a native of Winneba- 
go Co., 111., where in 1870 he married 
Maria S., sister of Horace M. Need- 
ham, and located' on a farm. Four 
years later he moved to Rockford and 
worked at the moulding trade until 
the spring of 1882, when he settled on 
the S Wi Sec. 16, Dover township, and 
began the work of its improvement. 
The site of his home is one of the 
prettiest in the township. The build- 
ings, which are kept in fine condition, 
front southward and may be seen a 
long distance, the groves on the north 
forming a beautiful background. 

He is the leading horticulturist of 
Dover township. His orchard and 
groves cover fifteen acres and include 
300 grape vines that in good years 
yield about two tons of grapes. Of 
these the best bearing varieties are 
Worden, Concord, Gainesville, Rogers 
No. 20 (red), Martha (green), and Clin- 
ton. He began to plant apple trees 
in 1883 and secured the best results 
from the Duchess, Wealthy, Haas, 
Whitney No. 20, Harry Compt, Long- 
field, Snow and Waldbridge. His list 
of unsatisfactory varieties includes 
the Winesap, Roman Stem, Ben Davis, • 
Red Astrachan, Janeton and Bowles 
Janet. The trees of the last named 
varieties soon disappeared. Since 1 890 
an acre has been devoted to strawber- 



ries for which he found a good home 
market. He has had two acres in 
raspberries, chiefly of the Turner and 
Cuthbert (red) varieties, which are 
easy to raise and good bearers. Of 
the black varieties the early Ohio 
prove best. Half an acre has been de- 
voted to currants, the red and white 
Dutch varieties, both of which gave 
good results. The Downing gooseber- 
ry has proven to be hardy and a good 
bearer. His experience with other 
fruits has enabled him to commend 
for this locality the Early Richmond 
cherry, the Wyant, DeSota, Wolfe, 
Rolling Stone, Hawkeye and Minor 
plums, but the last, though hardy, is 
a shy bearer, and like the Crescent 
strawberry, needs to be planted alter- 
nately with other varieties. 

He was a trustee and justice of 
Dover township four years, and a 
member of the board of county super- 
visors three years, 1892-94. In 1900, 
leaving the farm in care of two of his 
sons, Ned and Herva, he moved to 
Varina, where he has since served as 
postmaster and manager of the eleva- 
tor of Wilson & DeWolf . 

His family consisted of five sons, 
two of whom died, Homer at four and 
Abram in 1896 at twenty. 

Allen F., after taking a business 
course in B. V. College and serving as 
bookkeeper for the Farmers Loan & 
Trust Co. bank at Fonda, and later 
the Commercial bank, Storm Lake, in 
1900 became cashier of the Bank of 
Varina. In 1900 he married Levona 
Watts and has one child, LeClair. 

Ned in 1901 married Josephine 
Murphy and Herva in 1900 married 
Emma Point, of Newell; both live at 
the old home. 

Thompson Albert (b. 111. 1854), 
brother of Frank, in 1875 married 
Mary Frances Chapman and located 
on a farm in Winnebago Co., 111. In 
1882 he settled on the NWi Sec. 16, 
Dover township, which he improved 
and occupied until 1899, when he 



592 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



moved to Cedar township, where lie 
died in 1901. He possessed some in- 
ventive genius and just before his 
death perfected and patented a valua- 
ble contrivance for fastening cattle in 
stanchions. Of his family of eleven 
children eight are living: Bertha and 
Elizabeth, teachers;. Clarence, Lola, 
Wilber, Judd, Charles and Nellie. 

Watts George (b. 1832), resident of 
Dover' township since 1882, is a native 
of New Hampshire, the sod of Joseph 
and Mahala (Smith) Watts. At the 
age of live years he moved with his 
parents tO' New York state and in 1838 
to the vicinity of SpriDgfield, 111., 
where both Of them lived the remain- 
der of their days. In 1852 he went to 
Council Bluffs and remained nearly a 
year prospecting. In 1854 he went to 
California and engaged in mining and 
ranching. Two years later he return- 
ed to Illinois via the Isthmus of Pan- 
ama, and while, coming down the river 
from Lake Nicaragua on a steamer it 
was captured by the Costa Ricans who 
had organized an insurrection for the 
expulsion of- Gen. William Walker, 
the filibuster, who during the previous 
year, had gained control of the Nic- 
araguan government. 

In T85S he went to Lenawee Co., 
Mich., where that same year he mar- 
ried Lydia. P., daughter of Ai and 
Hannah fcStephepson Gould. In 1873 
he went to Sacramento City, but four 
months later returned to Michigan. 
In 1882 hecametO' Iowa and located 
on the SWi Sec. 28 v Dover township, 
which he has improved and still occu- 
pies. He purchased this and other 
lands five years before he located upon 
it and is now the owner of about 600 
acres in that vicinity. 
' He has pursued the policy of buying 
rather than selling grain from the 
farm and during recent years has not 
raised more oats than .he expected to 
feed' in the sheaf. He has not made 
a specialty of raising fine stock but 
lias (• red to maintain a liigli 



grade. He kept large herds of sheep 
for a few years, more than any other 
farmer in the township. He believes 
in the principles of right, equity and 
justice. From his youth he has been 
an ardent advocate of the utter ex- 
tinction of the traffic in intoxicating 
liquors and on several occasions has 
voted for the nominees of the prohi- 
bition party. He served as a justice 
in Dover township seven years and as 
president of the school board in 1885- 
86. He was treasurer or the Farmers' 
Mutual Insurance Association of Po 
cahontas Co. four years and has been 
a director of it since it was organized 
in 1890. He has been president of the 
board of trustees of the Varina Pres- 
byterian church since its organization 
in 1901. 

His family consists of five children, 
all of whom are located near him in 
Dover township. 

1. Paralee in Lenawee Co., Mich., 
in 1878 married Wm. A. Metcalf (b. 
1853), a native of Michigan, who came 
to this county in 1882 and occupied 
the SE1 Sec. 32, Dover township, un- 
til 1891, when he died, leaving two 
children. Herman and Odell. In 1897 
she married John W. Taylor and in 
1900 located in Varina. 

5. Ai Joseph in 1887 married Bessie 
Pinneo, occupies the SEi Sec. 29, 
which has been improved with fine 
buildings, and has' a family of two 
children, Zella and Xena. He is an 
elder and treasurer of the Varina 
Pre- by terian church. 

3. Flora in 1886 married Charles A. 
Sayre (see Sayre). 

4. Lucretia in 1883 married Joseph 
Morrison (see Morrison). 

5. Levona in 1900 married Allen F. 
Thompson (see Thompson). 

Barnes John (b. 1852), is a native 
of Dubuque Co., Iowa, the son of Geo. 
W. and Asenath (Smith) Barnes. In 
1876 he located in Monona Co , and 
the next year on the NEi Sec. 27, 
Dover township, which lie improved- 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



593 



and still occupies. He was clerk of 
Dover eight years, 1881-84, '91-94; as- 
sessor four years, and president of the 
school board five years, 1890-94. In 
1877 be married Phoebe Edith Miller, 
of Calhoun Co., and his family con- 
sists of six children; Franklin H., 
George A., John E., Jesse M., Lola R. 
and James h\ 

Burdick Algernon Franklin (b. 18- 
29), is a native of Susquehanna Co , 
Pa. In 1849 he came to Winnebago 
Co., Ill , where in 1852 he married 
Minerva (b. 1830), daughter of James 
and Melinda Haven. In 1854 he mov- 
ed to Allamakee Co., Iowa, and in 
July, 1864, to Dubuque Co., wbere in 
October following he enlisted in Co. 
K., 6th Iowa cavalry and spent thir- 
teen months in the frontier service 
(pp. 43-46). In 1881 he located on a 
homestead in Buera Vista Co and 
four years later on Sec 21, Dover 
township. In 1888 he moved to Ore- 
gon but six months later returned to 
Dover township, locating on his pres- 
ent farm on Sec. 28. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren: Eugene (b. 1853). a carpenter; 
Mary who in 1871 married Albert Say re 
lives on Sec. 28, and raised a family of 
two children; Dora, who married John 
Thompson and lives in Varina; and 
Budd. M artha married Harrison Taf t 
(see Taft). A. F. Burdick was a trus- 
tee of Dover four years, 1881-84. 

(gfcamberlln Percius R. (b. 1823), is 
a native of Vermont, where he mar- 
Vied Angeline C. Baird. In 1857 he 
located near Oshkosb, Wis., and ten 
years later near Woodstock, 111. In 
the fall of 1873 he located on a soldiers' 
claim of 160 acres on Sec. 20, Dover 
township, which he improved and oc- 
cupied until the death of his wife in 
1889, when he sold it to his son* Or- 
land and moved to Newell, where he 
found employment as a painter. Two 
years later he moved to Fonda where 
he still resides. On Sept. 26. 1864 he 
became a member of Co, R, nib Wis. 



infantry and, passing through the 
states of Kentucky and Tennessee, 
continued in the seivice until July 2, 
1865. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren: Ada married Frank Holbrook 
and located at Newell, where she died 
in 1885, leaving four children; A zore, 
Earl, Jerediah and Rollin. Lena 
married Hiram Baxter, located at 
Sioux City and has a family of four 
children, Lula and Lola, twins; Berma 
and Clarence. Orland E. married Ef- 
fie Henthorne, occupies the old home- 
stead and has a family of three chil- 
dren; Hiel, Merl and Floyd. 

Whitney Allen H. (b. 1853), is a 
native of Oswego Co., N. Y. At the 
age of seventeen lie came with his un- 
cle, George Allen, to Shelby Co., Iowa, 
and his parents followed him the next 
year. In 1874 he married Frances H. 
Baird and located on a farm. In 1885 
they came to Pocahontas Co. and lo- 
cated in Marshall township, and in 
1890 on the NEJ Sec. 18, Dover town- 
ship. This farm includes a part of 
the homestead of B. F. Osburn and 
the tree .claim of Joseph Southworth, 
on which the latter planted in 1876 
about twenty acres of forest trees, 
making it the largest grove in the 
township and the source of a good 
supply of fuel. He is an industrious, 
upright and highly respected citizen. 

His wife died in 1891, leaving a fam- 
ily of nine children: Luella, a seam- 
stress; Lizzie, who in 1895, married 
Carl E. Pinneo (see Pinneo); Rhoda 
M., who in 1897 married Emory R. 
Fox, a farmer and carpenter; William 
R., Thomas F., Burton S., Allen II., 
Frances E. and Chester C. 

FIRST DEATH. 

The first death that occurred in 
Dover township was that of Mrs John 
A. Belclen at their home on the SE:} 
Sec. 14, in the spring of 1872. They 
arrived in 1871 and were livhsg in a 
frame shanty. They had two sons 

about twelve and fourteen years of 



594 



DOVER TOWNSHIP. 



age, who were permitted to handle 
the gun about as they pleased. One 
day while one of them was doing 
something with it outside the house 
it went off unexpectedly while pointed 
towards it. The load, passing through 
the shanty, struck Mrs. Belden in the 
groin and caused her death two weeks 



later. She was about forty years of 
age. As no place had yet been set 
apart for burying the dead her re- 
mains were interred on the farm of 
Ephraim Garlock and later removed 
to the Fonda cemetery.. Mr. Belden 
returned the next year to Wisconsin. 





MR. AND MRS. DAVID BRINKMAN. 




CHARLES L. GUNDERSON AND FAMILY. 
Center Township. 




THOMAS REAMER. 
Grant Township. 




JACOB CARSTENS. 
Lizard Township. 





MR. AND MRS. JOHN A. CRUMMER. 
Grant Township; Sheriff, J 890-97. 



XIX. 



GRftNT T©WWSHIF. 



"Green be the turf above thee, 
Friend of my better days; 
None knew thee but to love thee, 
Nor named thee but to praise." 

"The loyal people of the nation look to you, under the providence of God, 
to lead their armies to victory."— Lincoln to Grant, when he handed him his 
commission as Lieutenant General. 



Grant township (91-33), at the time of its establishment, June 6, 1870, was 
named in honor of Gen. U. S. Grant. 

The main part of this chapter is a contribution from Mr. C. II. Tollefs- 
rude, one of the pioneers of the township, who was later elected county 
auditor and now resides at Rolfe. Appreciating their historic value in future 
years he made a record of events as tliey occurred during the early days in a 
diary. His valuable contributions therefrom to the public press of the 
county in the past have caused him to be recognized as the historian of Grant 
township. His true historic instinct appears in the fact that Ms interest 
embraced all the families in the township and every event worthy of men- 
tion. He will be gratefully remembered by the citizens of this township for 
the loving service he has thus rendered by placing the experiences and deeds 
of their fathers in everlasting remembrance. The author of this work is 
greatly indebted to him for other literary contributions to it; for a number 
of photographic views of places and objects of historic interest in the north- 
east part of the county, and for valuable services rendered by constantly 
acting as a special correspondent. 

EARLY 

T^ ^_ «^l J ^t I HE first entries of 

f\lwi Br^lVJ land in Grant town- 
ship are of date Aug. 
6, 1858, when several 
persons purchased 
most of sections 14 

and 20, and all of 12, 22 and 24. The 

remainder of section 14 and all of 18 

were sold a few days later, Very soon 

afterward all the lands north of the 




Dubuque & Sioux City railway grant 
were purchased by speculators, and 



HISTORY. 

there remained for homestead entry 
only about 3,200 acres on the even 
numbered sections in the southern 
part of it. 

1868. The first homestead entry 
in this township was made Sept. 19, 
1868, by C. H. Toilefsrude, of Eock 
Co., Wis., for the Ei SWi Sec. 28. 
Hans C. Toilefsrude, his father, on 
the same day made the first cash en- 
try of government lands within the 
limit of the railroad grant, consisting 



596 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of 400 acres on Sec. 28. Ole Moe, of 
Chicago, on the same day, bought the 
Wi Sec 30. Two months later Elisha 
M. Tollefsrude entered as a home- 
s read the Wi SWi Sec. 28, but none 
of these persons located that year up- 
on these lands. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 

5869. The first permanent settle- 
ments were made May 3, 1869, when 
F. W. Parris-h and I. E. Parrish, of 
Warren Co., located, the former on 
the Si NEi Sec. 36, and the latter on 
the M SEi Sec. 26. The first break- 
ing was done by these brothers four 
days later on the homestead of Felix 
W. About this elate Joseph Br inker 
and Fred Steendorf, of Columbia 
Co , Wis., homesteaded the NWi Sec. 
26; and Stephen W. Norton and Herk- 
imer L. Norton, his son, from Sauk 
Co., Wis., located on homesteads on 
the SEi Sec. 20. 

In June Rev. John A. Griffin and 
Chas. H. W. Payne, both of Dallas 
Co., located on homesteads, the for- 
mer on the NWiSec. 36, and the lat- 
ter on the SEi Sec. 34; and a Mr. 
Comstock, of Illinois, located on the 
SEi Sec. 36. In July Alexander Mc- 
Guffey, of Wisconsin, located on 
Sec. 36, and N. D. Noyes on Sec. 20. 
In August Rudolph F. Cedarstrom 
and his brother, Claus A. Cedar- 
strom, Hans Hammer and Anna An- 
derson, a widow lady, all from Sweden, 
located on the Ei Sec. 36, Mrs. An- 
derson entering a homestead of 40 
acres, R. F. Cedarstrom purchasing 
the interest of Felix W. Parrish, who 
returned to Warren Co , and Claus 
Cedarstrom and Hans Hammer buy- 
ing out Mr. Com<tock, the former 
taking the N-A and the latter the Si 
of the SEi. In September Geo. W. 
Smith and Samuel Jeffrey, of Cedar 
Co., located on Sec. 26; and M. and H. 
Thompson, of Fort Doclge, on the 
SWi Sec. 34. During this season 
about 80 acres of. land were broken, 

most of it being dune by Squire 



John H. Johnson and Daniel John- 
son, of Lizard township. The first 
birth occurred July 9, when CharlesE., 
son of F. W. Parrish, was born. Dur- 
ing the winter of 1869-70, owing to 
the fact tbat only temporary dwell- 
ings, consisting of small shanties and 
sod houses, had been erected, only 
eight of the settlers, namely, I. E. 
Parrish and family, Rudolph and 
Claus Cedarstrom and Mrs. Anderson, 
their cousin, remained in the town- 
ship; the others having sought em- 
ployment or the comfort of a home by 
going to Lizard township, Fort Dodge 
and elsewhere. H. L. Norton, after 
removing to Bellville, returned to his 
cabin and engaged in trapping. 



In the spring of 1870 Asher 
W. Rake of Bureau Co., 111., purchas- 
ed McGufTey's farm on Sec. 36, and 
Thomas Reamer, of Jones Co., bought 
Jeffrey's homestead on Sec. 26. Tor- 
kel Larson and A. N. Monkelien, both 
of Rock Co , Wis., purchased railroad 
lands on Sec. 27, and began the work 
of their improvement. Hans C. and 
Elisha M. Tollefsrude located on Sec. 
28, the former building a shanty in 
February. On June 6th the township 
was severed from Lizard and Clinton 
townships, with which it had been 
connected since Dec. 1, 1862, and es- 
tablished under the name of Grant. 
In the fall C. H. Tollefsrude and N. P. 
Rude located on' their homesteads, 
the former on Sec. 28, the latter on 
Sec. 34; and Henry Brown, of Lizard, 
bought and located on Noyes' farm on 
Sec. 20. During that year fifteen 
dwellings were built and 220 acres of 
land were broken. 

For several days previous to Oct. 
14, 1S70, prairie fires were seen raging 
in the country north and six days 
later the wind changing to the north- 
west drove the fire over the settled 
portions of Grant township, destroy- 
ing the hay and stables of Reamer, 

BrinKer iuv\ Steenctorl 



GRANT TOWNSHIP. 



597 



The continuous line of fire seen that 
night was the sight of a lifetime. 

FIRST ELECTION, SCHOOL AND DEATH. 

At the first general election, held 
Oct. 11, 1870, at the house of A. W. 
Rake, six votes were cast, namely, by 
C. H. Tollefsrude, A. W. Rake, Geo. 
W. Smith, Thomas Reamer, S. W. 
Norton and H. L. Norton. Messrs. 
Reamer, Smith and H. L. Norton 
were elected trustees; S. W. Norton, 
clerk; A. W. Rake, assessor; H. C. Tol- 
lefsrude and A. W. Rake, justices; H. 
L. Norton, road supervisor; H. L. Nor- 
ton and Geo. W. Smith, constables. 
The first death in the township occur- 
red at the home of Joseph Brinker on 
Dec. 20, when his daughter, Louise, 
wife of Charles Bischoff (Colfax) died. 
She was buried at Fort Dodge. A. 
W. Rake taught the first public school 
during the winter of 1870-71 in a sod 
house opposite the residence of I.- E. 
Parrish. The population at the end 
of the year had increased to 49. 

1871. In March, 1871 the township 
was organized for school purposes by 
the election of a school board, consist- 
ing of Rev. John A. Griffin, Thomas 
Reamer and H. L. Norton. The first 
school house was built that year on 
the northeast corner of Sec. 35. 

Early in the spring Lars Hanson 
homesteaded 40 acres on Sec. 26. Asa 
W. Harris, of Dubuque Co., located 
on M. Thompson's farm on Sec. 34, 
and Wm. Wharton, of Illinois, on H. 
Thompson's 80 on the same section. 
During the summer E. P. Rude of 
Clayton Co., bought Wharton's 80, T. 
Larson bought the homestead qf F. 
Steendorf, and Charles Ekstrom set- 
tled on the 80 -of Hans Hammer. 
Stephen and H. L.Norton discovering 
that their homesteads on Sec. 20 were 
on lands that had been deeded to 
other parties secured new locations 
on Sec. 32. On June 2d the first work 
. on the roads was done by H. L. Nor- 
ton on the line between sections 35 
and 36. On Oct. 1, 1871, and for sev- 



eral days previous prairie fires again 
passed over the township and Brinker 
was entirely burned out. When his 
sod house caught tire they carried hhe 
bedding, clothing, etc , twenty rods 
distant to a lot of plowed land, but 
the fire was carried to them by burn- 
ing tumble weeds and most of them 
were destroyed. 

At the general election that fall 11 
votes were polled and A. W. Rake was 
elected a member of the board of 
county supervisors. The population 
had increased to 78. 

1872. In 1872 Andrew Jackson, of 
Cedar Co., bought out Brown on Sec. 
20, and M. J. Synstelien, of Rock CO., 
Wis., located on the W* NEi Sec. 28. 
J. P. Anderson, of Boone Co., 111., and 
Hans Johnson located on homesteads 
of 40 acres each on sections 36 and 22 
respectively. 

A post office called "Hard Times" 
was established that spring at the 
home of I. E. Parrish, but owing to the 
lack of a carrier, it was soon discon- 
tinued. The second school house in 
the township was built that year on 
Sec. 34. At the presidential election 
that fall 12 votes were cast, all repub- 
lican, and the population had increas- 
ed to 85. 

1873. On April 2. 1873, the Grant 
Grange of Husbandry was organized 
with 33 charter members; A. W. Bake, 
Master. In the spring A. T. Omt- 
vedt, of Will Co. t 111., settled on the 
Wi Sec. 30, and A. N. Monkelien on 
Sec. 27. In June N. C. Fossum, of 
Rock Co., Wis., located on the NEi 
Sec. 33, and Frank P. Anderson home- 
steaded the last vacant government 
lot in the township, the NEi SWi 
Sec 36. C. H. W. Payne returned to 
Dallas Co. 

During the same month swarms of 
grasshoppers came and destroyed the 
greater part of the growing crops. 
The first marriage occurred Aug. 23, 
1873, when E. P. Rude and Clara Han- 
son were married. According to the 



598 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



census taken in April by Thomas 
Reamer, assessor, the population had 
increased to 93, 51 males and 42 fe- 
males, of whom 17 were voters and 9 
had not yet been naturalized. At the 
election that fall 15 votes were cast. 

On Oct. 7-8 large prairie Ares were 
raging all around and the settlers were 
compelled to work day and night 
breaking and burning lire guards. 

5874. In 1874 the grasshoppers re- 
appeared, but considerable grain was 
raised. Bonifacius Erne, of Pocahon- 
tas, who had successfully contested 
S W. Norton's homestead on Sec. 32, 
was the only new settler. The num- 
ber of votes cast that fall was 16, and 
the township went into winter quar- 
ters with a population of 99. 

1875. In 1875 no new settlers ar- 
rived except Felix W. Parrish, who 
returned from Warren Co., and bought 
the farm of his brother, Isaac E , on 
Sec. 26. Rev. John A. Griffin, Andrew 
Jackson and Isaac. E. Parrish moved 
away. At the election that fall 20 
votes— 18 republican and 2 democratic 
— were polled, and the state census 
showed a population of H4. 

1976. During the Centennial year 
only two families were added to the 
settlement, Messrs. Gibson and Noble, 
the former on the Jackson farm and 
the latter on the SWi sec, 24. The 
Pocahontas and Fonda mail route 
having been established in the spring, 
Shirley, P. O. was established at the 
home of C. H. Tollefsrude; He was 
appointed postmaster, the office was 
named in honor of Maria G. Shirley, 
his wife and the first mail was re- 
ceived June 27th. An M. E. class was 
organized and regular services estab- 
lished by Rev. A. J. Whitfield of 
Fonda. 

SUMMARY OF PROGRESS. 

On Aug. 1, 1876, 3,409 of the 23,206 
acres in the township were owned or 
held by actual residents, 1,160 acres 
were under cultivation, 34 acres hf 
artificial groves and 1,600 rods of wil- 



low hedge had been planted. A little 
work had been done on the highways 
and two bridges had been built. No 
one had yet built any fence or done 
any ditching or tiling. 

The population had increased to 132 
and consisted of 44 Americans, 4 Irish, 
6 Germans, 22 Swedes, and 56 Norweg- 
ians. The population included 17 
that had been born in the township, 
37 church members, 18 grangers, 24 
voters, 36 school children, one widow, 
3 widowers, 7 young ladies and 13 
young men of a marriageable age. Of 
the families ten had come from "Wis- 
consin, 3 from Illinois and 4 from oth- 
er parts of Iowa. Four persons had 
died and ten had married. 

The following persons had been em- 
ployed as teachers in the township: 
A. W. Rake, Flora Russell, of Web- 
ster county, J. M. Brown, of Lizard, 
Nellie R. Remtsma (Swingle) of Web- 
ster county, Mary Fifield, Pomeroy, 
John A. Griffin, Delilah Hamble 
(McEwen)of Washington township, 
C. H. Tollefsrude. S. A. Smith, of 
Calhoun county, and Sarah Reamer 
(Hamerson). 

1877. The year of 1877 was a very 
quiet one in Grant township: no 
changes were made in the settlement. 

1878. In 1878 N. C. Fossum having 
sold his farm to H.C. Tollefsrude who 
took possession in June, returned to 
Wisconsin. Wm. J. Curkeet, of Dar- 
lington, Wis., settled on the SEi sec. 
27 and R. F. Hull, of Davenport, took 
the place of A. W. Rake, who moved 
to Creighton, Neb. Henry H. Felch, 
of Colorado, bought the farm of Anna 
Anderson on sec. 36. J. F. Burg 
bought the land of Claus Cedarstrom 
and John Soder, of Colfax, the land of 
Rudolf Cedarstrom. Rudolf and Claus 
Cedarstrom then located in Colfax. 
Fred Steendorf soon afterward bought 
the farm of John Soder, sec. 36, And- 
rew Oleson. of Fort Dodge, the farm 
of Charles Ekstrom, sec. 36, and Rub- 



GRANT TOWNSHIP. 



599 



ert Russell, of Colfax, the farm of 
Andrew Jackson, sec. 20. 

On Feb. 4, 1878 the Norwegian 
Lutheran church was organized and 
Rev. Anion Johnson, of Aurelia, was 
called as pastor. At the general elec- 
tion that fall 27 votes were cast. 

1879. The summer of 1879 was 
very dry. Odin and Martin Anderson 
purchased lands on sec 31, Grant, and 
on sec. 6, Colfax, where they located 
their buildings. David Terry moved 
from Dover to the WiNWi sec. 31. A. 
W. Warren, of Marengo, 111., purchas- 
ed sec. 17 and built in the fall. Many 
of the old shanties and sod houses 
were replaced by the erection of com- 
fortable dwellings and a great deal of 
land was broken. "Learned" post- 
office was established at the home of 
H. H. Felch on the NEi sec. 36, on 
the Pocahontas and Pomeroy mail 
route. Thirty-three votes were cast 
and the population had increased to 
130. 

1880. This was another dry seas- 
on. W. J. Curkeet having become 
paralyzed moved to Fonda. R. F. 
Hull traded his farm to A. C. Knight 
and moved to Fonda. N. N. Wallow, 
of Beloit, Wis , settled on the NWi 
sec. 30 and James O'Connor, of Dover, 
bought the EiNWi sec. 19 and built. 
Henry Russell, of Colfax, settled on 
sec. 7 and D. C. Ferguson, of Cass Co., 
on sec. 22. Rev. Amon Johnson 
bought the SWi sec. 29. 

The third school was established in 
January 1880 and the three teachers 
employed, H. T. Willey, Sarah Ream- 
er and Ida Norton were all residents 
of the township. John Hamerson, a 
young Swede, organized and taught 
two singing schools, one in the Ream- 
er schoolhouse and the other in the 
Murphy schoolhouse, Colfax town- 
ship. He also conducted religious 
services at the Enfield schoolhouse in 
Lincoln township. Andrew N. Monk- 
elien died in the fall. At the gener- 
al election Garfield received 31 and 



Hancock three yotes. The population 
had increased to 151. 

1881. The winter of 1880-81, com- 
mencing with a great snow storm on 
Oct. 16-17th, was the severest on rec- 
ord. Deep snows were frequent and 
as a result fuel and feed became 
scarce. Many cattle died from ex 
posure and lack of food. 

D. C. Ferguson sold his farm to 
Peter Knudson, of Pomeroy. and S. 
W. Norton sold his to N. N. Wallow. 
Charles E. Brown, of Appanoose Co., 
bought land on sec. 20, M. G. C >leman 
on sec. 18 and Anton P. Rude on sec. 
22. John A. Crummer bought the 
farms of H. H. Felch and Fred Steen- 
dorf on sec. 36. A. W. Warren re- 
turned to Marengo, 111., and Mrs. Geo. 
Smith died on Sept 20th. Thirtyone 
republican and four democratic votes 
were cast at the election. 

1882. C. H. Tollefsrude, elected 
county auditor, moved to Pocahontas 
in January. T. Larson sold his farm on 
sec. 26, to Geo. Spiess, of Calhoun Co., 
and settled on the NWi sec 29. Thor 
Mathison sold to Martin Nelson and 
moved to Dakota. Fred Steendorf al- 
so moved to Dakota and Geo. W. 
Smith to Pomeroy. Wm. C. L : eb 
built on the NWi sec. 20 and Charles 
Levene on the "NEi sec. 35. Hans and 
Ole Noss, of Mitchell county bought 
on sec. 22; Ole J. Synstelien settled on 
sec. 27 and Peter Byrne on sec. 18. 
Mrs. Geo. Spiess and A. C. Knight 
died, the latter in Fonda. 

RECENT GROWTH. 

1883=1901, During recent years 
the increase in population and the 
material development in Grant has 
kept pace with the progress in the 
neighboring townships. For more 
than a decade during the period of iis 
early settlement, the wet seasons, the 
limited means of the pioneers and 
their distance from railways retarded 
its settlement and development; but 
after a few years of incessant toil, re- 
warded by the ingathering of good 



600 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



crops there was ushered in a period of 
prosperity and rapid development 
that has continued until the present 
time. Whilst some during the pre- 
liminary struggles were compelled to 
seek "greener fields" their places were 
speedily taken by men of push and 
practical energy who- have left the 
impress of their good judgment in the 
fine permanent improvements they 
have made. The footprints of the 
early drones have been entirely '-b- 
literated. 

The people of Grant now form i 
community of industrious and intelli- 
gent' farmers who have grasped the 
true import of advanced husbandry 
and are pursuing their avocations in 
accordance with' the most approved 
methods. In every part of the town- 
ship beantiful homes, furnished with 
modern conveniences, may now be 
seen, and large barns many of which 
are filled with graded stock or large 
supplies of feed. Luxuriant pastures 
and dairy appliances may be seen on 
every hand. Nearly all the farms are 
well stocked with cows and many 
farmers are feeding hogs and cattle on 
a large scale. 

RUSK. 

Rusk, a brisk little village located 
near the pioneer home of Elisha M. 
Tollefsrude, along the road between 
sections 27 and 28, is - the business cen- 
ter of the township. It was named 
after the late Gov. Rusk, of "Wiscon- 
sin, at the suggestion of C. H. Tollefs- 
rude. That which gave rise to this 
village was the erection at this place 
of a creamery in the fall of 1888 by 
Eric O. Christeson and Fred Dilmuth. 
It has now in addition thereto a good 
general store and postoffice, both un- 
der the management of E O. Christe- 
son, a blacksmith and a harness shop, 
a Norwegian Lutheran church, a 
school house and a few residences. 
The mail facilities consist of ; a daily 
mail' by carriers both ways between 
Fonda and Pocahontas. 



THE GRANT CREAMERY. 

The Grant creamery building was 
erected by Eric O. Christeson and 
Fred Dilmuth, who opened it for busi- 
ness May 2, 1889. After operating it 
that year the latter removed its ma- 
chinery to Bell vi lie township. In the 
spring of 1890 t he-Grant Creamery As- 
sociation, consisting of A. N. Monkel- 
ien, Hans C. Tollefsrude, E. M. Tol- 
lefsrude, Torkel Larson, E. P. Rude. 
B G. and Andrew Carlson, E. O. 
Christeson, M. J. Syustelien and L. E. 
Hanson, was organized on the co-oper- 
ative plan with a capital of $2500, by 
the election of E:-P. Rude, president; 
L. E. Hanson, secretary; and E M. 
rollefsrude, treasurer. The building 
was supplied with new machinery and 
it was operated for this company by 
E. O. Christeson until 1895. It is 
now (1901) operated by Oscar Peter- 
son. The operations of this creamery 
have gradually increased in volume 
and now it is considered one of the 
best enterprises in the county. Dur- 
ing the year 1896, there were received 
1,498,500 pounds of milk that made 
59,620 pounds of butter, that netted 
$9,241,or 151 cents a pound. It; has ' 
been a source of untold benefit to 
many of its patrons. Many of the 
farmers who have hitherto looked up- 
on a creamery as an institution in- 
tended only for the benefit of its pro- 
prietors, now perceive that a proper 
appreciation of it fs one of the best 
ways of lifting a mortgage from the 
stock or farm. 

The Grant Creamery Association 
was incorporated in January, 1895. 
The trustees are E. O. Christeson, T. 
Larson and A. N. Monkelien. The 
officers at the present time are the 
same ones that were elected at the 
time of organization in 1890. 

! SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS^ 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees— Geo. W. Smith, 1870-72; 
Thomas Reamer, '70-73, '81-89;' H. L. 



GRANT TOWNSHIP 



601 



Norton, '70-71, '79-81; E. M. Tollefs- 
rude, '72-76, '78-80; Andrew Jackson, 
'73; A. H. Harris '74; I. E. Parrish, '74; 
Geo. W. Smith, '75, '77-78; S. W. Nor- 
ton, '75-76; T. Larson, '76-79, '89-96; 
N. P. Rude, '77, '82-84, '91-1901; David 
Terry, '80-82; A- T. Omtvedt '83-88; A. 
N. Monkelien, '85-90; J. W. Anderson, 
'90-92; Henry Russell, '93-98; O. E. 
Christeson, '97-1 90J; Wra. C. Lieb, '99- 
1901; Oren Phillips, 1902. 

Clerks— S. W. Norton, '70-71; C. H. 
Tollefsrude, '72-79; Asa H. Harris, '80- 
84; Wm. C. Lieb, '85-92; C. E. Brown, 
'93-96; L. E. Hanson, '97-98; J. A. 
Crummer, '99-1900; H. M. Larson, '01- 
02. 

Justices— A. W. Rake, '70-71, '75- 
78; C. H. Tollefsrude, '70-74, '77-81; A. 
H. Harris, '72-82; John A. Griffin, '73- 
74; W. J. Curkeet, '79-80; H. T. Willey, 
'81; Thomas Reamer, '82-90; David 
Terry, '83; S. W. Norton, '84-86; J. A. 
Crummer, '87-90; L. E. Hanson, '91-96; 
Henry Russell, '91-93; C. F. Pattee, 
'94-96; O. E. Christeson, '97; W. P. 
Rude, '98-1900; E. T. Reamer, 1901-02. 
' Assessors — Thomas Reamer, '71-75; 
A. W. Rake, '76; A. H. Harris, '77-79; 
Geo. W. Smith, '80; C. H. Tollefsrude, 
'81; E. P. Rude, '82-88: L. E. Hanson, 
'89-96; C. E. Hunter, '97-98; A. B. Ol- 
son, '99-1900; Matt Butterton, 1901-02. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Grant township school district was 
organized at a meeting of the electors 
on March 4, 1871, S. W. Norton serv- 
ing as chairman and John A. Griffin 
as secretary. At this meeting it was 
decided to levy a tax of ten mills for 
school purposes; John A. Griffin, 
Thomas Reamer and H. L. Norton 
were elected directors, and the various 
powers conferred by law on the dis- 
trict meeting were delegated to the 
board of directors. The directors met 
on March 20 and organized by electing 
John A. Griffin, president; Asher W. 
Rake, secretary, and Geo. W. Smith, 
treasurer. 

On June 13th the board met at the 



home of John A. Griffin and engaged 
E. B. Clark to build school house No. 
1 on Sec. 25. Flora Russell taught 
the first school in this building that 
winter and there were enrolled 23 
pupils— 12 boys and 13 girls. A. W. 
Rake taught the first term of school 
in the township the previous winter 
in a sod house built for that purpose 
opposite the home of I. E. Parrish. 

In 1872 A. D. Moore built school 
house No. 2 on Sec. 34, and when it 
was completed the township was di- 
vided into two districts diagonally by 
the section lines extending from the 
west sides of sections 4 and 35, so that 
No. 1 embraced the NE1 and No. 2 
the SWi of the township. 

In 1874, owing to the great distance 
of some of the pupils from these two 
school houses, the board adopted the 
plan of boarding some of the pupils in 
their vicinity. It also built an ele- 
vated foot walk 18 inches wide and 16 
rods long, across the slough near the 
Russell school house to enable a few 
families to get to it. These buildings 
were protected from prairie fires in 
the fall of the year by plowing fire 
guards of considerable width around 
them when the grass began to mature. 
The annual term of school was in- 
creased from four to eight months 
and each school was furnished with 
wall maps at a cost of $55. 

In 1880 the third school house was 
built on Sec. 32, and the schools were 
supplied with copies of the unabridg- 
ed dictionary. 

In 1881 the fourth school was estab- 
lished in the home of Henry Russell, 
who lived in the third district, and 
the next year a temporary building 
12x14 feet was built for the conven- 
ience of his family. 

In 1883 shade trees were planted 
around each of the three permanent 
buildings by F. W. Parrish, H. C. 
Tollefsrude and Irwin Boyd, respect- 
ively. 

In the spring of 1886 the fifth school 



602 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



was established in the home of N. N. 
Wallow, and the fourth school house 
was built that fall by T. L. Dean on 
Sec. 17. In 1889 the Center school 
house was built by Ira D. Drake on 
Sec. 21, and the text books of the 
American Book Co. were adopted. 

In 1880 another temporary school 
house was built in what is now dis- 
trict No. 2, by T. L. Dean. The next 
year a copy of the Teachers' Anatom- 
ical Aid were placed in each of the 
seven schools at a cost of $250. In 
1892 a good building was built in place 
of the temporary one in the Russell 
district by August Levene for $650. 
In 1895 the arrangement of all the 
districts was completed and two years 
later the last of the permanent build- 
ings was erected. 

SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

Presidents of the Board— John 
A. Griffin, 1871; C H. Tollefsrude, '72; 
Andrew Jackson, '73; Thomas Ream- 
er, '74-75; E. P. Rude, '76, '92-95; Geo. 
W. Smith, '77-79: David Terry, '80; A. 
H. Harris, '81; Felix W. Parrish, '82- 
83; A. N. Monkelien, '84-85; Elisha M. 
Tollefsrude, '86; N. P. Rude, '87-88; 
Martin Nelson, '89; C. E. Brown, '90; 
Peter Gralton, '96; Thomas Byrne, '97- 
98; L. O. Crummer, E. T. Reamer. 

Secretaries— Asher W. Rake, 1871; 
C. H. W. Payne, E. M. Tollefsrude, C 
H. Tollefsrude, '74-75, '78; A. H. Har- 
ris, '76-77; Thomas Reamer, '79-89; L. 
E. Hanson, '90 99; John A. Crummer, 
1900. 

Treasurers— Geo. W. Smith, '71; 
Thomas Reamer, '72-73; Torkel Lar- 
son, '74-77; E. P. Rude, '78-88; A. T. 
Omtvedt, '89-92; L. J. Lieb, '93-1001. 

CHURCHES. 

The moral and religious progress of 
the people has kept pace with their 
material prosperity. Rev. John A. 
Griffin, one of the early settlers, but 
now pastor of the Congregational 
church atSherrard, 111., held the first 
religious services soon after the first 
frame school house was built in 1871. 



During the summer of 1876 Rev. A. 
J. Whitfield, of Fonda, held services 
in the school houses and a class was 
organized consisting of Mr. and Mrs. 
A. T. Omtvedt, Mr. and Mrs H. L. 
Norton, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Reamer, 
Mr. and Mrs. N. P. Rude, Mr. and 
Mrs. F. W. Parrish, Mr. and Mrs. A. 
W. Rake and Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Say- 
lor. In 1889 the services were trans- 
ferred to the Saylor school house, Lin- 
coln township, and a church was built 
there in 1899. 

In 1896, after some special services 
hf'.ld in the Omtvedt school house by 
Rev. W. J. Dodge, of Pocahontas, a 
Christian church of 21 members was 
organized. During the next two years 
it was served on alternate Sabbaths 
by Rev. L. E. Huntley, of Fonda, and 
then the services were discontinued. 

NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The Norwegian Lutherau church of 
Rusk was organized February 4, 1878, 
and incorporated February 5. 1894. 
Rev. Amon Johnson, of Aurelia, later 
of Sioux Rapids, and now deceased, 
in 1877 began to visit this section oc- 
casionally and held services in the 
houses of those who became charter 
members. Through his efforts the 
church was organized the next year 
and a call being extended to him he 
became its first pastor and continued 
to serve it in an able and acceptable 
manner once a month until the year 
1896, a period of 18 years. On May 10, 
1896, he was succeeded by Rev. N. 
Tosselancl, of Dows, the present pas- 
tor. 

The original members were Lars 
and Mary Hanson, L. E. Hanson, E. 
P. and Clara Rude, Torkel and Helen 
Larson, A. N. and Julia Monkelien, 
Andrew and Karen Monkelien, E. M. 
and Sarah Tollefsrude, C. B. and 
Maria G. Tollefsrude, Nils C. Syn- 
stelien and A. H. Vestrum— 17. 

The first trustees were Lars Han- 
son, T. Larson and E. P. Rude. C. 
H. Tollefsrude was elected secretary, 



GRANT TOWNSHIP 



603 



and E. P. Rude, treasurer. The 
trustees now are A. N. Monkelien, A. 
Johnson and E. M. Tollefsrude. Sec- 
retary, L. E. Hanson; treasurer, O. E. 
Christeson. 

On December 9, 1894, a church build- 
ing 40x28 feet, with vestibule 10x10 
feet and costing $1200, was dedicated 
at Rusk. The adult membership now 
numbers 57, and public services are 
held once a month. A Sunday school 
has been organized and it meets every 
Sabbath. The society is free from 
debt and is making a substantial and 
steady growth. 

UNIFORMLY REPUBLICAN. 

Grant township has always cast a 
majority for the republican party. At 
the first five general elections, 1870-74, 
all the votes cast were republican. 
Two democratic votes were cast the 
next year. On local issues party ties 
have not always been observed. Dur- 
ing the 90s, the democrats and popu- 
lists, increasing in-numbers and influ- 
ence, joined forces and quite closely 
contested the field. After the me- 
morial free silver campaign of .1896, 
173 votes were polled, more than in 
any other strictly rural township in 
the county, and the republicans had a 
majority of 15. In 1901, when 134 
votes were polled, their majority was 
32. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

The following residents of Grant 
township have been elected to county 
offices: 

Supervisor— A. W. Rake, 1872-73. 

Auditors— C. H. Tollefsrude, 1882- 
85. F. G. Thornton when elected in 
1894; L. E, Hanson, 1899-1902. 

Sheriff— John A. Crummer, 1890- 
97. 

COUNTY FARM. 

In 1890 the county house and other 
necessary out buildings were erected 
on the NEi Sec. 4. In 1898 an asylum 
was built for the care of the insane of 
this county. The farm (p. 315) was 
recently increased to 4U9 acres and is 



under the management of Win. A. 
Elliott. During 1901 there were 22 
persons cared for at this farm, of whom 
12 were inmates of the asylum. This 
institution was visited by the State 
Board of Control in 1900 and Its man- 
agement was heartily approved. 

WELLINGTON FARM. 

The Wellington farm in this town- 
ship is one of the large stock farms in 
this county. During the early 80's 
W. E. Wellington of Dubuque bought 
all of sections 13 and 23, the Si Sec. 14 
and Ni Sec. 24—1920 acres. In 1884 a 
strip 20 feet wide, that had been pre- 
viously broken around the entire farm 
of three sections, was planted with 
choice timber. It was then divided 
into quarter section lots of 160 acres 
each, and two rows of trees were plant- 
ed around all of them. In 1885 some 
good buildings were erected and 900 
acres were seeded to timothy and 
bluegrass. Wellington gave his per- 
sonal attention to the improvement 
of this large farm and manifested 
real pride in converting wild and 
waste prairies into beautiful and fer- 
tile fields. At the home he occupied 
that year, he raised a flock of forty 
wild geese that became sufficiently 
tame to eat out of one's hand, and 
formed a beautiful sight. About 1895 
this farm was bought by Moody & 
Davy of Pomeroy and it is now owned 
by the former. 

elk and deer. 

In January 1870 I. E. Parrish shot 
and wounded an elk in the large pond 
on the NWi Sec. 35, that was pursued 
and captured on the breaking of C. H. 
Tollefsrude on 28. It added materi- 
ally to the supply of meat in the set- 
tlement. 

In 1871 another large elk was seen 
passing in a southwesterly direction 
over Sec. 28. 

In December 1874 C. H. Tollefsrude 
and his brother, E. M. Tollefsrude, 
concealing themselves for a short time 
in an old well that had been partly 



604 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tilled, secured a fine deer that came 
within range of their guns. Soon 
afterward H. L. Norton and N. A. 
Palmatier shot three deer at Devil's 
Island, on Sec. 5. During the early 
days this was one of the best localities 
in the county for game. During the 
winter of 1877-78 H. L. Norton and 
Geo. E. Hughes shot four deer in this 
vicinity and three more in January 
1879. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Many of the early settlers who mov- 
ed to other sections or have died are 
still kindly remembered. Joseph 
Brinker and Fred Steendorf, well 
known characters in the early days, 
moved to South Dakota, where the 
former died Oct. 10, 1896, and the lat- 
ter was accidentally killed. Asa W. 
Harris died in Nebraska. N. C. 
Fossum, in 1899, died at Beloit, Wis. 
Frank P. Anderson returned to Swed- 
en and his wife lost her life in the 
terrible cyclone at Pomeroy in 1893. 
Others that have died are Andrew 
Monkelien, Wm. J. Curkeet, Mrs. 
John A. Griffin, Mrs. Geo. W. Smith, 
N. N. Wallow, Mrs. Mary and Mrs. A. 
T. Omtvedt, Mrs. I. E. Parrish, Mrs. 
Bertha Larson, S. W. Norton, Claus 
Cedarstrom, Mrs. Anna (widow) An- 
derson, Asher W. Rake, John P. An- 
derson, John Anderson, Mrs. Joseph 
Brinker, Thor Mathieson, Rev. John 
Crammer, Lars Hanson and Eric P. 
Rude. 

Henry Russell and Charles E. Brown 
are now living in Kansas, O. J. Syn- 
stelien in Minnesota, Felix W. Parrish 
in Sherman township, John F. Burg 
in Bellville township and 1. E. Parrish 
in California. 

There remain, of those that were 
prominent in the early history of the 
township, L. E. Hanson, T. Larson, 
N. P. Rude, David Terry, A. T. Omt- 
vedt, John A. Crammer, Wm. C. and 
L. J. Lieb, A. N. Monkelien, H. C. 
and E. M. Tollefsrude, James O'Con- 
nor, Martin Anderson, M. J. Synste- 



lien, Hans Johnson, Carl Peterson, 
Thomas Byrne, Charles Elg and An- 
drew Olson. 

Of the young people born in the 
township, or residents of it in the 
early days but now permanently re- 
moved, the following ones are recalled: 
Julia (Fossum) Gulack, Ashley, N. D.; 
Caroline (Rake) Allen, who died in 
Oregon in 1899; Sirah (Reamer) 11am- 
erson, Canton, S. D ; Andrew Hanson, 
Texas; Henry Hanson, South Dakota; 
Elwin Reamer, physician, Minnesota; 
John Fossum, who died in Wisconsin 
in 1882; Walter J. Smith, Calhoun Co.; 
Aaron and Edward Harris, Knox Co., 
Nebraska. These are still residents 
of this county: Ida (Norton) Vaughn, 
Effie (Norton) Riley, Elmer Reamer, 
Rose (Tollefsrude) Christeson, Lottie 
(Tollefsrude) Thornton, William and 
Louis Rude, Horace and Ira Larson, 
Maria and Henry Monkelien, L. E. 
and Eric Hanson, Emma and Cyrus 
H. Tollefsrude. 

PIONEER WOMEN. 

It seems eminently appropriate to 
make brief mention of a few of the 
pioneer women who, by their perse- 
verance, economy and good judgment, 
contributed so much toward securing 
the comfortable homes that are now 
so numerous in Grant township. 

"Man cannot advance in the march 
of progress except by the side of 
woman." This saying is fully con- 
firmed in the early history of our coun- 
try. Men are very ready to exclaim, 
we settled the country, we struggled 
and labored, we did all this, etc., as 
if they did everything. 

In the early settlement of Grant 
township not a single instance is re- 
called where a bachelor achieved per- 
manent success. The early settlers 
that succeeded best in acquiring a 
competency and in developing a firie 
community, were those who enjoyed 
the co-operation of the pioneer wom- 
an. Those who endured the priva- 
tions and hardships of 1869 and now 
dwell in comfortable homes see in the 



GRANT TOWNSHIP. 



605 



changed conditions a very striking 
contrast. The horrors of the sod 
house, the dugout, the shanty and 
the empty larder, and the drudgery of 
twisting hay for fuel are no longer ex- 
perienced. In many instances the 
sacrifices and exposures of those early 
days meant future suffering and loss 
of health, but in the midst of the 
present improved conditions they are 
seldom mentioned or even recalled. 

Mrs. H. L,, Norton was perhaps 
the first woman to show her ability 
to cope successfully with the hard- 
ships of pioneer life in Grant. Dur- 
ing the month of December, 1869, 
when Mr. Norton was trapping in the 
sloughs on sections 20, 21 and 27 and 
his family was stopping at the home 
of Henry Shields on Sec. 8, Lizard 
township, she could occasionally be 
seen, mounted upon a load of wood 
and provisions drawn by an ox team, 
making a bee-line across the snow 
covered prairies to the camp of the 
hardy trapper, twelve miles distant. 
Having completed her errand the re- 
turn was made with the same uner- 
ring directness. Such trips were ex- 
tremely hazardous and could be made 
only by the most courageous and en- 
during. The modern woman shrinks 
from the idea of taking such a trip. 

Mrs. Norton was always ready to 
nurse the sick, encourage the discon- 
solate and extend friendly assistance 
to the new settler. She seemed to be 
called upon to do more than her share 
in ministering to the needs of others. 
She and her husband are now enjoy- 
ing the fruits of a well earned compe- 
tency and live at Fonda. 

Mrs. N. P. Rude is another of 
the pioneers. She came with her hus- 
band in the fall of 1870, and dur- 
ing all the years since has shown her- 
self a woman of true merit. Courag- 
eous and hopeful she loyally aided her 
husband in his early efforts to secure 
a home and cheered him when diffi- 
culties and discouragements came 



thick and fast. She and Mrs. T. Lar- 
son are now the only resident pioneer 
women of 1870-71. Instances are re- 
called when, their husbands having 
gone to Pomeroy or Fort Dodge, and 
the terrible prairie fire came sweeping 
down from the northwest, these wom- 
en single-handed and alone saved their 
little homes from the flame of the de- 
stroying element. Both of these 
women have raised interesting fami- 
lies and though no longer enjoying 
ruddy health they do enjoy comforta- 
ble homes and are satisfied to forget 
the past in the joyous present. 

Mrs. Thomas Reamer was an- 
other woman who did well her part in 
the early days. By her sweetness of 
temper, cheering words and helping 
hand she did much to allay the home- 
sick restlessness that often prevailed 
among the lonely settlers on the prai- 
rie. Sociable and interesting she is 
kindly remembered by all her former 
neighbors and friends. She died at 
Pomeroy in 1901. 

Mrs. Geo. Smith, who came in 
1870 and died in 1881, is remembered 
as a woman of great energy, though 
small in stature and not possessing a 
very rugged constitution. She was 
one of the best of women in minister- 
ing to the needs of others. She was 
even known to watch her neighbor's 
cattle. Her death was lamented by a 
large circle of friends, 

Mrs. a. T. ©mtvedt who came 
in the early 70's and died in 1901, mer- 
ited more than ordinary credit for her 
part in securing a beautiful home, 
rearing a large and interesting family, 
and acquiring a competency for them 
in future days. She faced all the 
vicissitudes of frontier life with a 
spirit that was always radiant with 
sunshine and hope. She had a rich 
religious experience, the outgrowth 
of a faith that took God into all the 
affairs of life. The result of her 
watchful care and ardous labors in be- 
half of her family must have been a 



606 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



source of great satisfaction to her, 
and now to them. 
Mrs. Elisha M. Tollefsrude, who 

came as a bride in 1872 to assist in re- 
ducing the wilderness, entered into 
the new life with hearty cheer. She 
met all her difficulties bravely, be- 
came tbe mother of a happy family 
and is now enjoying one of the most 
inviting homes in the township. The 
Evergreen Lodge at Rusk looked for- 
ward to a comfortable and easy future 
but disease, a few years ago, that 
caused long and severe sufferings, fin- 
ally reduced her to the condition of 
an invalid. 

Mrs. (2. H. Tollefsrude coming 
in 1870, gave her health and eleven of 
her best years to life on the farm, 
then lived twelve years at Pocahon- 
tas, and since December, 1893, at 
Rolfe. The struggles of life in the 
70's are now almost forgotten, while 
the delightful associations and valua- 
ble lessons of those early days cause 
them to be remembered as the hap- 
piest period in a life of unceasing toil 
and activity. 

Mrs. ft. N. Monkelien, who came 
to the settlement with her husband 
in 1873. has performed her part well. 
In one of the most interesting homes 
in the county she holds an enviable 
position. Her words and deeds of love 
and affection have been showered up- 
on the family and home, and her sun- 
ny disposition has led the home circle 
along easy and pleasant paths. She 
is the mother of twelve children, all 
but one of whom are living, and ten 
of them are still under the parental 
roof. 

Mrs. Lars Hanson, who lost her 
husband in 1889, was a worthy wife 
and mother, and still resides with her 
sons on the old homestead. Her life 
has been one of constant usefulness 
and she developed a character of great 
worth. Dwelling in a comfortable 
home and surrounded by kind rela- 
tives, the period of her old age is not 



chafed by the cares of this life, but 
cheered by the christian's hope of 
newness of life in the wurld to come. 

Clara Hanson, her daughter, 
became the wife of E. P. Rude Aug. 
23, 1873, the wedding taking place at 
the home of her parents on Sec. 26. 
This was the first marriage in Grant. 
She became one of the best of wives 
and mothers and her relation to the 
home, church and society has always 
been that of the true woman, ready 
to respond to the calls of duty. Her 
life has been crowded with work and 
cares but the joy of a large and cher- 
ished family, the possession of a com- 
fortable home and the kindly greet- 
ings of hosts of friends are considera- 
tions that now bring comfort and 
consolation. She did as much as any 
woman in the township to transform 
the wilderness. Her husband died in' 
1901. 

Mrs. Hans Q. Tollefsrude is one 
whose early days of pioneer life did 
not begin with her settlement in 
Grant, but in 1844, when she came in 
a sailing vessel from Norway to New 
York that required 102 days for the 
trip. She passed thence through New 
York state in a canal boat, through the 
great lakes to Chicago in a sail boat 
and thence across northern Illinois 
and southern Wisconsin afoot. Near- 
ly six months were thus occupied in 
making a journey that now requires 
only 12 or 15 days. Her pioneer days 
in Wisconsin during the 40's formed a 
period of constant struggles, hard- 
ships and incessant toil. Courage 
and perseverance were essential to 
success under these circumstances and 
she possessed these requisites in a 
high degree. She now enjoys her 
well-earned temporal reward, and in 
the contentment that has followed she 
has forgotten many of the vicissitudes 
of a half century ago. She is now 85 
years of age and realizes that the end 
of her earthly career is not very far 
distant. 



GRANT TOWNSHIP. 



607 



LEADING CITIZENS. 

Byrne Thomas (b. 1843), owner and 
occupant of a farm of 400 acres on 
Sec. 20, is a native of Ireland. In 1865 
he emigrated to New Jersey where 
two years later he married Ellen Kel- 
ley. In 1 878 he located in Grant town- 
ship on a farm of 80 acres, which he 
has since increased five fold and im- 
proved with good buildings and groves. 

His family consisted of four chil- 
dren, Mary, Thomas, John and Ellen. 
Mary in 1896 married Eugene Kirken- 
dall, a farmer, lives in Grant town- 
ship and has two children, Thomas E. 
and John. 

enristeson Eric O. (b. 1862), post- 
master and merchant at Rusk, is a 
native of Norway, the son of Christ 
and Enger Christeson. In 1870 he 
came to this country with his parents 
and located in Webster Co., Iowa, 
wbere his father died two years later, 
leaving a wife and five children, of 
whom Ole E. and Eric O. were the 
oldest. They supported their mother 
and the other children, first by herd- 
ing cattle and other available em- 
ployments, and later by engaging in 
farming. They had very little time 
left to go to school. 

In 1883 Ole E. married Nettie Flug- 
stad and in 1887 he and Eric located 
in Grant township. In 1900 he bought 
the SEi Sec. 16, on which he now 
lives and has erected good improve- 
ments. He has been a trustee of the 
township since 1897. 

Eric O., in the fall of 1888, forming 
a partnersbip with Fred Dilmuth, 
built the creamery at Rusk and they 
operated it until January, 1890, when 
the partnership was dissolved, and the 
former, retaining the building, effect- 
ed the organization of the Grant 
Creamery Association, of which he is 
sull a member and one of the trus- 
tees. On Feb. 22, 1892, he established 
a general store at the creamery and 
on Jan. 5, 1894, being appointed post- 
master, opened the Rusk postofflce 



Feb. 7th following. In 1893 he mar- 
ried Rose, daughter of E. M. Tollefs- 
rude and has two children, Luverne 
E. and Gladys M. 

Andrew H. Christeson, his brother, 
a clerk in the store, in 1900 married 
Augusta Lundgren and has one child, 
Ethel A. 

©rummer John A. (b. 1848), owner 
and occupant of a farm of 285 acres on 
Sec. 36, is a son of Rev. John and Mary 
S. Crammer. He is a native of Illi- 
nois, where in 1869 he married Mary 
C. (b. Ohio 1849) daughter of William 
Pulley. In 1871 he located in Floyd 
Co., Iowa, but two years later return- 
ed to Illinois. Later he moved to 
Kansas and in 1881 settled on his pres- 
ent farm which, under his develop- 
ment, now ranks as one of the best 
improved farms in the county. His 
dwelling house is 40x48 feet, two 
stories, and the barn and other out- 
buildings are of ample size for the 
protection of stock and the successful 
management of the farm. He keeps 
the farm well stocked with the best 
grades of cattle and hogs and usually 
feeds more grain than he raises. He 
has found the pasturage of stock 
about as profitable as raising grain, 
and aims to keep a fair proportion of 
all kinds. His annual herd of pure 
bred and high grade calves is a beau- 
tiful sight, and many of them are sold 
each year to his neighbors at fine 
prices. He has filled the offices of 
township clerk, justice and secretary 
of the school board. He was sheriff 
of Pocahontas county eight years, 
1890-97, during which period he attend- 
ed 33 full terms of court and proved 
himself a faithful and efficient public 
officer. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren. 

1. Wellington F. (b. 1870), in 1891 
married Ida P. Trenary, lives on his 
own farm of 80 acres in Lincoln town- 
ship and has two children, Ellsworth 
and Loren. 



608 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



2. Lem Ora (b. 1874), on' Jan. 1, 1900, 
married Mary, daughter of Jason N. 
Russell, has one daughter, Leona 
May, and occupies a farm of 85 acres 
in Lincoln township on which he has 
erected good buildings. 

3. Ada B. in 1897 married Wm. J. 
Say lor and lives in Lincoln township. 

Charles C, Clara E., Raymond A. 
and Lorenzo are at home. 

William Pulley, his father-in-law, 
lives with him. He is the owner of a 
farm of 160 acres on Sec. 17, Lincoln 
township, on which he located in 1892. 
His wife, Mary Kuhn, died there in 
1893. His family consisted of three 
sons and five daughters. 

Joseph S. Pulley, his son, in 1886 be- 
gan to occupy and improve his present 
farm of 160 acres on Sec. 35, Lincoln 
township. He is a native of Ohio and 
moved with his parents to Illinois, 
where he married Mary Laughlin and 
located first in Grundy Co., then in 
Pocahontas Co., Iowa. He has been a 
trustee of Lincoln township since 1895. 
His family consists of three children, 
Roy, Tama and Jay. 

Possum N. C. (b. 1837), owner of 
the NEi Sec. 33 from 1870 to 1878, 
was a native of Norway. In 1848 he 
came with his parents to Rock Co., 
Wis., where in 1862 he married Nellie 
Lunde. In 1873 he located on his 
farm in Grant township which he im- 
proved and increased to 240 acres. In 
1878 he sold it to his uncle, Hans C. 
Tollefsrude, and returned to his old 
farm near Beloit, Wis., where he died 
Oct. 16, 1899. 

Griffin John A. Rev., resident of 
Grant township from 1869 to 1875, is 
the son of Henry G. and Isabella (Mc- 
Gaughey) Griffin. His father was a 
native of Stockbridge, Mass., and at 
eighteen came to Illinois, where he 
married and located on a farm near 
Cambridge. His family consisted of 
ten children of whom John A. was the 
oldest. John's grandfather was a sol- 
dier from New York in the war of 



1812, and his father was 1st Lieuten- 
ant Co. D., 112th 111. Inf. in the civil 
war. John remained with his par- 
ents until April 19, 1861, when he en- 
listed in Co. D. , 17 th 111. Inf. He was 
seriously wounded in the battle of 
Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing. He re- 
ceived later from President Lincoln 
an appointment as 2d Lieut. 53d Reg. 
U. S. colored troops, and when mus- 
tered out in March, 1866, had spent 
nearly five years in the army. 

In 1864 he married Mary E., daugh- 
ter of James M. and Elizabeth Payne, 
late of Adel, Iowa, and soon after- 
ward located in this county. He as- 
sisted in organizing Grant township 
for school purposes, served as presi- 
dent of the first school board and held 
the first public services in that town- 
ship. He had previously received 
only a good common school education 
but had an intelligent desire to be 
useful in promoting the interests of 
Christ's kingdom. During his resi- 
dence in this county he accepted an 
appointment from the Rev. Dr. Guern- 
sey, of Dubuque, to establish preach- 
ing appointments in this section. Un- 
der this appointment he organized 
Congregational churches at Newell 
and Fonda, and held services also at 
Pomeroy and as far east as Jackson 
Center, Webster county. Afterward 
he entered the Union Park Theologi- 
cal Seminary and successively served 
the churches at Atkinson, Danville, 
Spring valley, Cable, Quincy, Dan- 
ville again 1890-96, in Illinois; Coal 
Mine Mission, Ind., and Sherrard and 
Cable, 111., living at the former, since 
December, 1897. 

Mary E., his wife, died at Danville, 
in 1887, leaving four children. Ches- 
ter D. is located at Grinnell, Iowa; 
Alice became the wife of Elmer T. 
Reamer (see Reamer); Grace G. mar- 
ried Lou E. Heinley, Litchfield, 111. ; 
and James H. lives at Danville, 111. 

In 1888 he married Margaret Had- 
dick and their family consists of three 



GRANT TOWNSHIP. 



609 



children, Robert T., John H. and Lot- 
tie L. He still preaches three times 
on Sabbath, looks after the Sunday 
schools and is kindly remembered by 
the pioneers of Grant township. 

Hanson Lars H. (b. 1817, d. 1889), 
who located on a homestead of 40 acres 
on the NEi Sec. 26 in 1871, and died 
there in 1889, in his 72d year, was a 
native of Norway where, in 1847, he 
married Mary Loken. In 1869, with a 
family of eight children, he came to 
America and lived two years in Wis- 
consin. 

Previous to his settlement in 
this county he was called Lars Hanson 
Loken, the last name having been 
given him in Norway because he lived 
on one of the three farms that were 
called upper, middle and lower Loken. 
his wife was called by the same name, 
because she lived on the upper Loken 
farm. On meeting at Manson a broth- 
er, who had lived on another farm 
and dropped its name, on coming to 
this section, he decided to do the 
same and was afterwards called Lars 
H. Hanson. 

He served several years in the army 
of Norway and was an officer at the 
time of his discharge. He was a man 
of considerable intelligence and, as a 
citizen, exerted an influence that was 
not limited to the people of his own 
nationality. In matters relating to 
morals and religion, he had very posi- 
tive convictions, and took a leading 
part in the establishment and main- 
tenance of the Norwegian Lutheran 
church at Rusk. His faithful wife 
still lives on the old homestead. Up- 
rightness of character and sturdy 
morality have been characteristics of 
their large family, and during the 
thirty years that have passed they 
have left the indellible impression of 
their influence and work in the his- 
tory of Grant township. 

1. Clara married Eric P. Rude (see 
Rude). 

2. Mary married Lewis Wold, a 



farmer, lives in Colorado and has a 
family of six children. 

3. Miranda in 1880 married Martin 
Anderson, who the year previous came 
from Norway and now owns a farm of 
172 acres on sections 31 and 32, that 
he has finely improved. They have 
two children, Arthur and May. 

4. Henry W. (b. 1855), in 1871 came 
with his wife to Grant township and 
remained until 1877, when he learned 
telegraphy. He is now located at 
Baltic, S. D. 

5. Leonard Edward (b. 1859) occu- 
pies the old home farm with his moth- 
er, and is now the owner of 240 acres 
besides. He received a good educa- 
tion and is an excellent penman, In 
the township he has served as clerk 
two years, as a justice six years, as as- 
sessor eight years and as secretary of 
the school board ten years. He is now 
serving his second term as recorder of 
Pocahontas county. He recently in- 
troduced for use on the records in his 
office a book typewriter, an instru- 
ment that is operated like the ordi- 
nary one, but moves across the page 
instead of moving the paper. 

6. Andrew L., in 1890 married Rosa 
Johnson and has a family of two chil- 
dren. He resides on his own farm in 
Texas. 

Eric and Lars are at home. 

Harris Asa W.,who in 1871 came 
from Dubuque county and located on 
Sec. 34, took an active part in the 
management of the affairs in the 
township during his residence of four- 
teen years in it. He was twice elect- 
ed a justice, served as a trustee, and 
as clerk five years, 1880-84. He was a 
man who commanded the respect and 
confidence of all who knew him. In 
1885 he moved to Star, Knox Co., Neb., 
where he died in 1900. His family 
consisted of nine children, Joseph, 
Henry, James. Aaron, Edwin, Mary 
(Smith), Rhetta (Rake, Johnson), Em- 
iline and Elizabeth. 

Larson Torkel (b. 1845), owner and 
occupant of a finely improved farm of 



610 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



240 acres on Sec. 29, is a native of Nor- 
way and came with his parents, Lars 
and Maggie (Thompson) Larson, to 
Rock Co., Wis., in 1862. Two years 
later they moved to Worth Co., Iowa, 
where his father lived the remainder 
of his days. Torkel in 1870 married 
Helen Shirley, of Rock Co., Wis., and 
the next spring located in Grant town- 
ship, buying the homestead right of 
Fred Steendorf on sec. 26. He im- 
proved and occupied this farm until 
1882, when he moved to his present 
one. He keeps his premises in line 
looking condition and has achieved 
good success as a farmer and stock 
raiser. He is one of the best citizens 
in the township and has taken a lead- 
ing part in the management of its af- 
fairs, having served as treasurer four 
years and as a trustee twelve years. 
He was one of the original promoters 
and has since been one of the leading 
supporters of the Grant Creamery As- 
sociation and Norwegian Lutheran 
church at Rusk. He is also a good 
singer and serves as chorister for the 
church. 

His family consists of five children, 
Horace Moe (b. Wis. 1871) and Ira L. 
(b. 1873), the two oldest, own and oc- 
cupy a farm of 340 acres on tbe Si 
Sec. 17. Cora L. in 1898 married Ira 
Hunter and lives on their own farm 
in South Dakota. Ella M. and Ivah 
Adelina are at home. 

Lieb Louisa, widow of Jacob, ac- 
companied by her three youngest sons 
and one daughter, located on the SWi 
Sec. 33 (McKillip's farm), Cedar town- 
ship. The next year they secured a 
homestead of 80 acres on the NEi Sec. 
12, on which a cabin 12x16 feet had 
been erected. Five years later they 
bought 80 acres more adjoining. In 
1882 she died and the next year Fred- 
erick, the oldest son, married Louisa 
Lichtenburg, of Dubuque county, and 
William C. married Helen Haider. At 
this time they had acquired 240 acres. 
In view of the changes just mentioned 



these lands were sold that year. Wm. 
C. and Louie J. then in partnership 
bought the NWi Sec. 20, 160 acres, 
Grant township. 

Louie J., two years later, bought 
the NEi Sec. 19 and built a good house 




Mrs. Louisa Lieb. 



upon it, having married the previous 
year Sophia Spielman. He still occu- 
pies this farm, having increased it to 
280 acres and improved it with fine 
buildings, orchard and groves. He 
has been treasurer of the school funds 
since 1893. His family consists of 
seven children, May, Adelbert, Louis, 
Florence, Vincennes, Frederick and 
Dorothea. 

William C. increased his farm to 360 
acres and improved it with large and 
beautiful buildings. The barn, 56x60 
feet, built in 1897, is one of the best 
in the township. He raises horses 
and cattle and has the reputation of 
having the best draught horses in that 
section of the county. He was one of 
six that paid $2,500 in 1885 for Match- 
less Wonder, an imported English 
Shire horse. He is now a trustee of 
the township and served as clerk eight 
years. His family consists of eight 
children, Louisa, Ida, Josephine, 
Clemens, Theresa, Francis, Allouise 
and Margarite. 



GKANT township. 



611 



Magdaline, their sister, in 1873 be- 
came the wife of Louis Fuchs (see 
Fuchs). 

Henry, their oldest brother, is a 
druggist at Alton, Iowa. Frederick 
located on a farm near Alton and died 
there in 1897, leaving a family of seven 
children. Otto is keeping store in 
Alton and Cornelius is in Texas. 

Monkelien Anton N. (b. 1845), oc- 
cupant of the NWi Sec. 27 and owner 
of a farm of 480 acres in that vicinity, 
is a native of the parish of Land, Nor- 
way, the son of Nils and Mari Monkel- 
ien, who owned a small farm in the 
mountain districts of that country. 
He became inured to hard work on 
that farm and by rafting logs from the 
pineries in that locality. In 1866 he 
came to Rock Co., Wis., where he 
learned the blacksmith's trade. In 
1869 he married there Julia A., the 
only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hans 
C. Tollefsrude. In 1873 he came to 
Pocahontas county, Iowa, and located 
on 120 acres on Sec. 27, Grant town- 
ship, having previously spent the sum- 
mer of 1870 in this neighborhood as- 
sisting the Tollefsrudes in breaking 
prairie. As the years have passed he 
has devoted his attention to the im- 
provement and enlargement of his 
farm, and he is now the happy pos- 
sessor of one of the largest and best 
improved farms in the county. A re- 
cent inventory of his stock showed 
that he had then on the farm 20 head 
of horses, 150 head of swine and 180 
head of cattle. He has become an ex- 
tensive feeder and each year buys 
large quantities of grain from his 
neighbors. He has thus greatly in- 
creased the income of his own farm 
and provided a home market for some 
of the surplus on neighboring ones. 

He is an enterprising, public spirit- 
ed citizen, an ardent republican and 
liberal supporter of the Norwegian 
Lutheran church. He was president 
of the Grant township school board 
two years and has held other positions 



of trust in the township. His family 
consists of eleven children, Henry, 
Ellen Maria, who in 1900 married John 
Peterson and has one child, Earle; 
Hannah A., who in 1896 married Oscar 
Peterson and has three children, Myr- 
tle S., Herbert L. and the baby; Se- 
bert, Albert, Nellie, Clarence, Eobert, 
John, Theodore and Bertha. 

Andrew N. Monkelien, his brother, 
died at his home in the fall of 1880. 

Norton Stephen W. (b. 1812, d. 1890), 
one of the early homesteaders in Grant, 
was a native of New York state where 
in 1836 he married Jane Paddock and 
located near Milwaukee, Wis. A few 
years later he moved to Lake county, 
111., whereafter a residence of three 
years she died in 1840, leaving a family 
of five sons, Herkimer, Lester, Wil- 
liam, Charles and George. 

Soon afterward he married Elizabeth 
Thatcher and moved to Sauk county, 
Wis., where in 1863 she died leaving 
two daughters, Fannie and Emma. 
In 1869 he came to this county with 
his son Herkimer and family and se- 
cured a homestead in Grant township. 
He participated in the organization 
of the township, served as the first 
clerk in 1871 and later as a trustee. 
He inherited a hardy constitution and 
was a member of the Baptist church. 
Four of his sons located permanently 
in Wisconsin and his two daughters in 
South Dakota. 

Norton Herkimer Lewis (b. 1837), 
is a native of Milwaukee and grew to 
manhood in Sauk Co., where in 1861 he 
married Orilla Kingsley, who has been- 
a faithful helpmeet throughout all the 
vicissitudes and experiences of pio- 
neer life. They were among the very 
first to locate in Grant township, ar- 
riving there May 11, 1869, accompanied 
by his father and their two children, 
Ida and Elias. The two Parrish fam- 
ilies that had preceded them were 
still living in their wagons, and when 
Mr. Norton's shanty 12x16 feet was 
completed in 1870, it was the first and 



612 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



only frame dwelling place in the town- 
ship. 

In the fall of 1869 he found a home 
for his family with Henry Shields in 
Lizard township until January, and 
with Nils Hanson in Bellville during 
the remainder of the winter. For his 
own comfort he constructed a dugout 
near one of the sloughs, engaged in 
trapping and secured furs during that 
winter to the value of $105.00. 

In 1871 he moved to the SEi Sec. 32 
where as the years advanced he erect- 
ed good improvements and planted a 
large grove. He was postmaster and 
the Shirley postoffice was located at 
this place from Dec. 1, 1881, to Dec. 
15, 1887 (p. 285), when it was discon- 
tinued. He continued to live here 
until 1896, when he moved to Fonda. 

He circulated the petition and as- 
sisted in the organization of Grant 
township in the fall of 1870. He was 
one of the first trustees and a member 
of the first board of school directors. 
During the 27 years of his residence 
in the township he became widely 
and favorably known as one of the 
leading citizens of the township. 

His family consisted of five children : 

Ida F. married Ira G-. Vaughn (see 
Vaughn). 

Elias Stephen, proprietor of a chop 
house at Laurens, in 1890 married 
Viola Eaton, who died in 1897 leaving 
two children, Ray and Frances Viola. 
In 1900 he married Alice Reddington. 

Effie May married George Riley, a 
traveling salesman, lives in Fonda and 
has three children, Hazel, Basil and 
Denzel. 

Nathan L., a druggist, in 1896 mar- 
ried Sybil Farnsworth and is now lo- 
cated in Fonda. 

Dottie is at home. 

©mtvedt Anders Thorgrimson (b. 
1835), is a native of Norway and in 1863 
came to Chicago where he found em- 
ployment as a shoemaker. In 1867 he 
married Bea.ta Hanson Rude (b. Nor- 
way 1842) and three years later located 



on a farm in Illinois. In 1873 he be- 
gan to occupy his present farm on the 
Wi Sec. 30, Grant township, which he 
has finely improved and now contains 
380 acres. The buildings he has here 
erected rank among the largest and 
best in the township. His plum or- 
chard seldom fails to furnish a boun- 
tiful supply of delicious fruit. He is 
a man of unquestioned integrity and 
has filled with credit nearly all of the 
township offices, including those of 
trustee and treasurer of the school 
funds. His estimable wife died in 
1901, leaving a family of five children, 
for whose education good opportuni- 
ties have been afforded. 

Matilda H. married Mati Milligan 
and lives in Wisconsin. Martinius T. 
is at borne. Alma Emilie married 
Ernest J.Ch' ngren, a real estate agent, 
and lives in Fonda. Magnus E., Olaf 
A., Laura L., a stenographer, Arthur 
R., Mamie A. and Abraham Clarence 
are at home. 

Mrs. Mary A. Omtvedt, his mother, 
died at his home in her 90th year in 
1893. 

Parrish Isaac Eldridue (b. 1840), 
and Felix VVorden (b. 1844), his broth- 
er, the first settlers in Grant town- 
ship, were born near Louisville, Ky., 
and are sons of Edward Nelson and 
Frances Parrish. On May 3, 1869, they 
and their families located on home- 
steads of 80 acres each, near each 
other in Grant township, the former 
on the Ei SEi Sec. 26, the latter on 
the Si NEi Sec. 36, and four days later 
the first breaking was done on the 
homestead of the latter. 

Isaac E. married Helen Miller, who 
in 1900 died at Fernando, Cal. Their 
family consisted of four children, 
Alice, Frank, Cordelia and Frederic, 
and all of them live in California. 

Felix W. in 1867 married Matilda 
McConnell and two years later located 
in this county. About 1885 he moved 
to Polk county and in 1899 returned to 
this county, locating in Sherman 



GRANT TOWNSHIP. 



613 



township, near Havelock. He was 
president of the Grant school board 
two years, 1882-83. He has been a 
live-long and faithful member of the 
M. E. church. 

His family consisted of eleven chil- 
dren: 

Mary Frances married Oscar Wil- 
cox, a farmer, arid lives near Moville. 

Charles Edward (b. June 30,1869),the 
first child born in the township, mar- 
ried Amanda Bleam and lives near 
Ware. 

Martha married Frank Morse and 
lives in Arkansas. 

Thomas J., a farmer, married Hat- 
tie Doty and lives in North Dakota. 

Louisa Victoria married Philip D 
Wile, a farmer, and lives near Fonda. 

William J., John M., Joseph E., 
Henry O, Kittie E., Bessie E. and 
Bertha A. are at home. 

Peterson Carl (b. 1841), owner and 
occupant of a farm of 160 acres on the 
NEi Sec. 15, is a native of Sweden. 
On coming to this country he located 
in Boone county, 111. In 1882 he be- 
came a resident of Lincoln township, 
this county, and soon afterward of 
Grant. In 1885 he purchased 80 acres 
of his present farm and, locating on 
them five years later, has now a finely 
improved farm of twice that size. 

He married Sophia Olson 'b. Sweden 
1841) and she now enjoys with him the 
results of their many years of toil and 
economy. The results have been very 
gratifying and illustrate what honest 
hearts and willing hands, when in- 
telligently applied, can accomplish in 
this county. They have raised a 
family of thirteen children. 

August married Annie M. Johnson. 
Minnie mariied Fred Dilmuth and has 
two children, Carl H. and Albert. 
John married Ellen M. Monkelien and 
has one child, Earl. Oscar married 
Hannah A. Monkelien and has three 
children. Andrew, Earner, Albert, 
Frank, Annie, Mary, Emma, Julia 
and Carl are at home. 



Rake Asher W., County Super- 
visor in 1871-72, in 1870, came from 
Bureau Co., 111., and located on Sec. 
36. The township was organized at 
his home that fall and he served as one 
of the judges at this first election. He 
taught the first school in the town- 
ship in a sod house erected for that 
purpose. In 1871 he served as the first 
secretary of the school board and as 
one of the first justices. In 1879 he 
moved to Knox Co., Neb., where he 
died a few years ago. His family con- 
sis 1 ed of five children, Joseph, Samuel, 
Elmer, Caroline (Allen), who died in 
Oregon in 1899, and Isabella. 

Reamer Thomas (b. 1839), resident 
of Grant from 1870 to 1892, is a native 
of New York. In 1859 he came to 
Jones county, Iowa, where in 1862 he 
married Margaretta Titus. In April, 
1870, he located on the homestead of 
Samuel Jeffrey on Sec. 26, Grant town- 
ship. He erected the first improve- 
ments on this homestead, which con- 
sisted of a stable for his team and a 
small shanty for himself, wife and 
three children. He experienced all 
the hard times of the early settlers 
but overcame them in a spirit of no- 
ble heroism. He was an industrious 
and thrifty farmer, enlarged the farm 
lo 220 acres and improved it with sub- 
stantial buildings and beautiful 
groves. The house built in 1887 was 
provided with all the modern conven- 
iences of a first cla-s home on the 
farm. 

lie assisted in the organization of 
Grant township, was one of the first 
trustees and school directors, served 
four years as the first assessor and 
eleven years as secretary of the school 
board. In 1872 he effected the organ- 
ization of a Sunday school in school 
house No. 1, now No. 9, and served a 
number of years as its first superin- 
tendent. He has always been a faith- 
ful member of the M. E church and 
performed a loyal part in establishing 
and maintaining religious services in 
Grant township. 



614 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



In 1892, accompanied by his wife 
and daughter, Florence, he moved to 
Pomeroy, where his wife died in 1901. 
His family consisted of two sons and 
two adopted daughters. 

Elmer T., in 1888 married Lou Alice, 
daughter of Rev. John A. Griffin, oc- 
cupies his own farm of 160 acres on 
sections 36 and 25, and has a family of 
four children, Elmer Claudius, How- 
ard T., Louis Hal and Byron Vaughn. 

El win F., M. D., after graduating at 
Epworth Academy, Coe College and 
from the medical department of the 
Northwestern University, Chicago, in 
1894, has since been engaged in the 
practice of medicine at Eveleth, Minn. 

Sarah (Young) in 1897 married John 
Hamerson, who in 1878 came to Grant 
township with the family of Wm. J. 
Curkeet, and entering the ministry 
of the M. E. church, served as pastor 
of the churches at Wall Lake, Fonda, 
Schaller, Duncombe, Hawarden and 
Whittemore, Iowa, and is now at Can- 
ton, S, D. 

Florence (Duer) is at home. 

Reamer John A., brother of Thom- 
as, lived a number of years during the 
80's on Sec. 6, Colfax township. He 
was a member of Co. Ill, N. Y. Inf. 
He and Catherine, his wife, are now 
living at Perry. Their family con- 
sisted of six children. Eugene is lo- 
cated in Minnesota. Eva M. married 
Robert M. Legg and died in 1896. Ly- 
dia married Frieb Legg and lives in 
Calhoun county. Luke is at Spencer, 
Carrie at Keosauqua and John, the 
youngest, died a fe v years ago. 

Rude Eric Peterson (b. 1838, d. 
1901), and Nils P., his brother, are two 
men that have been prominently iden- 
tified with the history of Grant town- 
ship since 1871. 

Peter Erickson, their father, lived 
upon a small farm near Christiana, 
Norway, that was called Ballingrude. 
Both of their parents died when they 
were young, and when they inherited 
their father's homestead they received 



also its name and were called Balling- 
rude. When they were filing their 
claims for homesteads, at the land of- 
fice in Fort Dodge, they were induced 
to drop most of this long name and 
have since been called "Rude." 

In the spring of 1871 they located 
on homesteads of 80 acres each in 
Grant township. They came to their 
homesteads empty handed and just 
before the period of hard times. They 
yielded not to the discouragements 
that confronted them in the early 
days, and both accumulated a clever 
competency for their large families 
and the eventide of their own lives. 

Eric, the oldest, at Christiana in 
1860, married a lady, who in 1869 came 
with him to Clayton county, Iowa, 
where she died later that year, leav- 
ing one son, Peter Eric. August 23, 
1873, he married Clara, daughter of 
Lars Hanson, and of their family of 
eleven children, nine are living, name- 
ly, Lewis M., Ida A., Emil A., Roy 
G., Calvin H., Alfred L., Bert E., 
Mabel L. and Cornelia L. 

He improved his -homestead with 
good buildings and groves and increas- 
ed it to 250 acres. He was a liberal 
member and faithful worker in the 
Lutheran church at Rusk from the 
time it was organized in 1878 until his 
decease Feb. 3, 1901. He performed a 
very prominent part in the manage- 
ment of the affairs of the township, 
serving six years as president of the 
school board, seven as assessor, and 
ten as treasurer of the school funds. 
He was a man whose sense of honor 
was quickly perceived and he was 
widely known throughout the county. 

Peter E. (b. Norway 1861), his oldest 
son, in 1887 married Johanna Calbaken 
and located in Clay county, Minn., 
where he is now the owner of a finely 
improved farm of 240 acres and has a 
family of four children. 

Rude Nils Peter (b. Norway 1841), 
in 1868 emigrated to Wisconsin where 
later that year he married Annetta 



GRANT TOWNSHIP. 



615 



Mallingen (b. Norway 1838). In 1869 
they came to Fort Dodge and the next 
spring to their homestead on Sec. 34, 
Grant township, which he has since 
improved with good buildings and en- 
larged to 180 acres. By working on the 
railroad he saved the funds that ena- 
bled him to erect his humble pioneer 
cabin. He stuck to the farm, when it 
meant hard work and poor pay, and 
is now gratified at the result. He is 
an active and faithful member of the 
M. E. church and has been a trustee 
of the township fifteen years. His 
family consists of six children, Wil- 
liam, Anna, who in 1894 married Syl- 
vester Pierce, a stock dealer, lives at 
Pomeroy and has two children; Irene, 
who in 1896 married Robert Pierce, a 
farmer, lives in Colfax township and 
has one child, Lawrence; Milford, Del- 
la and Alvin. 

Rude Anton Peterson (b. Norway 
1858), brother of N. P., in 1896 married 
Lucy Anderson, a teacher, occupies a 
farm of 120 acres on Sec. 22, and has 
two children, Alvin and Florence 
Irene. 

Smith George W. (b. 1836), resident 
of Grant from 1870 to 1882, was the 
son of John and Olive (Pearsall) Smith 
and a native of New York, where in 
1861 he married Almira C. Henry. In 
1867 he moved to Cedar county, Iowa, 
and in 1870 to Sec. 26, Grant township. 
He participated in the organization 
of the township, served as one of its 
first trustees and as the first treasurer 
of the school funds. In 1881 his esti- 
mable wife, who had been very useful 
in the settlement, died leaving one 
son, Walter J. The next year he 
moved to Pomeroy and engaged in the 
implement business. In 1900 he moved 
to Fort Dodge. In 1882 he married 
Gertrude Whaiey, of Oswego, N. Y., 
and their family consists of one 
daughter, Effle. Walter J., in 1891, 
married Cora G. Holcomb, embarked 
in the insurance business at Pomeroy 
and has a family of five children, Ed- 



na, Iva, Margarite, Elwood and 
Esther. 
Synstelien Matthew J. (b. 1849), 

owner of a fine dairy farm of 160 acres 
on the NEJ Sec. 28, is a native of Nor- 
way and in 1867 came with his parents 
to Rock county, Wis. In 1870 he came 
with his brother, Nils C. Synstelien 
and family, to Grant township, where 
in 1872 he entered as a homestead the 
W* NEi Sec. 28. In 1882 he married 
Maria Hagen (b. 1857) and has one son, 
Bernhard Julius. 

Synstelien Nils C (b. Norway 18- 
41), came to Grant in 1870 and bought 
the Ei SEi Sec. 33. A few years 
later he moved to the NEi Sec. 4, Col- 
fax township, where he still resides. 
His finely improved farm of 106 acres 
is used exclusively for dairy purposes. 
In 1881 he married Kari Amundsend 
and has one daughter, Julia Maria. 

These two brothers are worthy citi- 
zens. By hard work and an econom- 
ical use of the proceeds of the farm 
and dairy, they have secured fine 
homes and a clever competency, and 
they now bless the star of fortune that 
guided them to the rich prairies of 
Pocahontas county. 

Terry David (b. 1834), owner and 
occupant of a farm of 80 acres on Sec. 
31 since 1889, is a native of Vermont, 
where, in 1864, he married Sarah Lane 
and soon afterward located in Livings- 
ton county, 111. In the fall of 1872 he 
secured a homestead on the NEi Sec. 
32, Dover township, whicn he improv- 
ed and occupied during the next seven 
years. He is a man of excellent prin- 
ciples, an industrious worker and is 
highly esteemed as a citizen. 

His family consisted of six children. 
Emma married Millard Butler, editor 
of the Kansas City Daily Journal and 
has one child, Laura. Nellie married 
Owen PhiHips, a farmer, and lives 
near Pocahontas. William A., Arth- 
ur J., Hazel ML and Edith M. are at 
home. 



616 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Tollefsrude Hans Cristopher (b. 
Jan. 1, 1822), resident of Rusk, and 
the venerable bead of the Tollefsrude 
families in Pocahontas county, is a 
native of Torpen, Norder Land, 
Norway, the son of Christoffer Hoovel 
(Oct. 14, 1781—1869) and Marit (Kold) 
Tollefsrude, whose bones rest there 
beneath the sod on the Tollefsrude 
farm. On this farm he grew to man- 
hood and served a carpenter's appren- 
ticeship. 

In 1844 he married B.ereth C. Lunde 
and coming to America, located in the 
wilds of southern Wisconsin. In 1852 
he went to California and during the 
next four years engaged in mining. 
In 1857 he resumed farming in Wis- 
consin. In 1878 he located on Sec. 28, 
Grant township, where he had pur- 
chased 400 acres of land in 1868, and 
his two sons, C. H. and E. M., had lo- 
cated on homesteads in 1870 and '71. 
respectively. The Tollefsrude home 
on this farm was a pretty cottage in 
the center of a shady and grassy lawn. 
Numerous groves and rows of trees 
were planted near it and the farm 
was increased to 680 acres. He has 
been living in retirement since 1892 
and the cottage has been moved to 
Rusk. 

In 1865-6 he visited the place of his 
birth and scenes of his youth; also 
many interesting places in Denmark, 
Sweden, England, Scotland and Ger- 
many. The Guy Mannering, the ves- , 
sel on which he went, was shipwreck- 
ed and lost off the west coast of Scot- 
land Dec. 31, 1865, and he was one of 
the few passengers saved, reaching 
the Island of Iona after terrible hard- 
ship and suffering. 

He has been president of 'the Tol- 
lefsrude family association in America 
since its organization at Rusk May 
17, 1900. The object of this associa- 
tion is to gather and preserve the facts 
relating to the history of the family 
for the promotion of family reunions 
and the edification of future, genera- 



tions. This association was effected 
through the efforts of C. H. Tollefs- 
rude, of Rolfe, its secretary, who has 
already enrolled nearly 300 members 
in America,, 54 of whom, from Iowa, 
Minnesota and Wisconsin, were pres- 
ent at the second biennial reunion, 
held at Rusk Oct. 14, 1901. This as- 
sociation is believed to be the first of 
its kind among the Norwegians in this 
country. 

The Tollefsrude farm in Norway 
has borne the family name for several 
hundred years. It consists of a small 
tract of cultivated land bordering 
large mountain pastures that include 
a lake having good fisheries that also 
pertain to it. Life in these rugged 
and elevated pastures during the sum- 
mer season is arduous and lonely, but 
he who toils there acquires that ruddy 
health and strength that is even bet- 
ter than a fortune. Dairies were lo- 
cated in them at which the milk from 
the sheep and goats was made into 
cheese and butter. The boyhood of 
H. C. Tollefsrude was passed in these 
mountain pastures where he assisted 
those that herded the cattle and other 
stock during the summer months. 
Breathing the pure mountain air 
while engaged vigorously in this out- 
door employment, he acquired there 
that iron constitution that has car- 
ried him through hardships to which 
a man less rugged would have suc- 
cumbed. 

He has taken a leading- part in the 
development of Grant township since 
his settlement in it. His family 
consisted of three children, Elisha M., 
Julia A. (see Monkelien), and Chris- 
tian Hansen (see page 531), who re- 
sides at Rolfe. 

Tollefsrude Elisha M. (b 1848), is 
a native of Newark, Wis., where he 
was raised on a farm. At 16 he en- 
listed as a member of Co. D, 43rd 
Wis. Inf. and continued in the service 
until the close of the civil war. In 
1871 he came to Iowa and located on 




^MRS. LOTTIE fHORHTOHl 



GRANT TOWNSHIP 
First settlers and two of the first children bom in the township, per favor C. H. Tollefsrude. 




1 




o 
h 



GRANT TOWNSHIP 



617 



a homestead of 80 acres on Sec. 28, 
Grant township, which he still occu- 
pies and has enlarged to 200 acres. 
His were the first improvements at 
Rusk and his cozy home, now sur- 
rounded by evergreens and other orna- 
merjtal trees, is called the "Evergreen 
Lodge." He was one of the original 
promoters and has been treasurer of 
the Grant Creamery Association siDce 
it was organized. He was one of the 
original members and is now a trus- 
tee of the Lutheran church at Rusk. 

In 1872 he married Sarah C. Rostad 
of Rock county, Wis., and their fam- 
ily consists of four children. 

Rose May in 1893 married Eric O. 
Christeson (see Christeson); Emma 
Luella, Cyrus Hanford and Winifred 
Blanche are at home. 

Trenary Charles (b. 1842), owner 
of a fine farm of 280 acres on Sec. 36, 
is a native of Cornwall, England. At 
four years of age he came with his 
parents and located near Platteville, 
Wis., where in 1866 he married Caro- 
line Grindrod and located on a farm. 
Five years later he moved to Fayette 
county, Wis., and in 1887 to his pres- 
ent farm on which Rufus F. Hull, 
during his residence on it, erected the 
large square house that is still enjoy- 
ed. He is a successful and aggressive 
farmer and highly esteemed as a citi- 
zen. He is president of the trustees 
and a liberal supporter of the M. E. 
church, in Lincoln township. He 
has raised a family of nine children, 
one having died at five in 1889. 

Leon C. (b. 1867) in 1892 married 
Jennie, daughter of Richard Mates, 
and occupies a farm of 120 acres on 
Sec. 30, Lincoln township, which he 
has improved with good buildings. 
He has one daughter, Mabel. 

Edward (b. 1869) in 1896 married 
Lilly Brown, occupies a farm of 120 
acres on Sec. 30, Lincoln township, 
and has three children, Gertie, Lisle 
and Gladdis. 



Ida Pearl in 1891 married Welling- 
ton F. Crummer (see Crummer). 

Cora in 1900 married James Burling- 
ton who occupies a farm of 160 acres 
in Grant township and has one child, 
Coburn. 

Clarence, Belle, a teacher; Robert, 
Blanche M. and Bessie E. are at home. 

Vaughn Ira Gillis, owner and oc- 
cupant of a fine farm of 160 acres on 
Sec. 32, is the son of Harvey B. 
Vaughn, who with wife and five chil- 
dren, Ira, Henrietta, Eugene and Eu- 
dora (twins, latter dead), and Adele, 
in June, 1869, located on a homestead 
on yEi Sec. 30, Lizard township. 
About 1875 Harvey moved to Webster 
county, but soon afterward returned 
to Lizard township where he died in 
1895. His wife died in 1881. His. 
family consisted of six children. 

Ira G., the oldest, in 1882 married 
Ida F. Norton, located first in Lizard 
township and in 1889 on his present 
farm which he has improved with 
good buildiDgs and groves. He has 
one daughter, Goldie May. 

Henrietta married Byron Moore and 
lives at Council Bluffs; Eugene, a car- 
penter, lives at Denver; Adele mar- 
ried Charles Harris, a farmer, and 
lives at Rolfe; Edward died at 21. 

Wallow Anna Mrs., sister of A. T. 
Omtvedt, occupant of a well improved 
farm of 400 acres on the W£ Sec. 30, 
Grant township, since 1880, is a native 
of Norway. On coming to this coun- 
try she located in Chicago where in 
1865 she became the wife of Ole Moe, 
who in 1868 at Fort Dodge, made the 
purchase of the land above described. 
Later he made other purchases in this 
county while residing in Chicago, and 
after visiting it in 1870, mysteriously 
disappeared, being recognized last at 
Fort Dodge. He left one son, George 
Moe, who on attaining manhood, be- 
came an auctioneer and in 1899 located 
in Idaho. 

In 1873 Mrs. Moe became the wife 
of Nels N. Wallow. In 1880 they lo- 
cated in Grant township where he 



618 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



died in 1893, leaving a family of six 
children; Elmer, Alfred, Aleeda, who 
in 1900 married Arthur L. Norton of 
Keokuk county; Amelia, who in 1901 
married Gust T. Johnson; Elviri and 
Harry. 

rake's salve. 
Asher W. Rake in the early days 
manufactured and sold in Grant and 
other parts of the county a salve for 
the healing of cuts, burns, etc., that 
caused him to be widely and favor- 
ably known. It was called "Kake's 
Salve," was of good quality and sold 



for 50 cents a box. Its formula was 
as follows: Take one pound each of 
rosin, mutton tallow, beeswax, sweet 
oil, and one-half pound of camphor 
gum; dissolve each separately and 
then boil together slightly. 

This incident calls to mind the fact 
that the oldest medical formula, ac- 
cording to a French medical journal, 
was one for a hair tonic for an Egypt- 
ian queen. It is dated 400 B. C. and 
directs that dogs' paws and asses' hoofs 
be boiled with dates in oil. 




XX. 



LftKE T0WNSHIP. 



I count this thing to be grandly true; 

That a noble deed is a step toward God, 
Lifting the soul from the common clod 

To a purer air and a broader view. 

—Holland. 



GENERAL FEATURES. 




AKE township (91-31)1 southeasterly direction by the north 
is situated in the east and west branches of Lizard creek. 



tier of the county, 
and received its name 
from the fact that it 
included several small 
lakes, of which the largest is called 
Lizard lake. This lake is located 
on sections 22 and 27, and is about 
one mile long and a half mile wide. 
It is a body of fresh water and has 
a fringe of natural timber along 
its eastern shore. The other lakes 
are located on sections 10 and 
2o, two on each. The surface of the 



On Sept. 15, 1860, the territory in- 
cluded in this township was assigned 
to Clinton. On Dec. 1, 18f>2, the south 
row of sections, and on Sept. 6, 1870, 
the remainder of it was assigned to 
Lizard. June 5, 1877, it was estab- 
lished under the name of "Burke," 
but on Sept. 3rd following the name 
was changed to "Lake." It was organ- 
ized Oct. 9, 1877. On Sept. 12, 1894, it 
was divided into two voting precincts, 
designated Lake No. 1 and Lake No. 
2, the latter including only the Ei 



township is principally a rich and Sec. 1, on which the west half of Gil- 
fertile prairie and it is traversed in a more City is located. 

(619) 



620 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

As the advance guard of the pioneer 
settlers moved westward from Fort 
Dodge, it reached the southeast cor- 
ner of Lake township in 1856, when 
Caspar Henry Brockshink (p. 161) and 
family located on Sec. 36. On July 8, 
1856, he entered the first claim for 
lands in the township, a pre-emption 
claim for 160 acres on the SWi. He 
built his house, 20x24 and 18 feet high, 
in 1857, from timber obtained along 
the north branch of Lizard creek, 
which crossed the farm. During their 
first two years his family was the 
only resident one in the township. 

In June, 1858, the remainder of this 
section was entered by Patrick Forey, 
Edward Quinn, John Martin, H. M. 
Whedon and Thompson, Martin, Sam- 
uel and Marselaer Rea. The Reas 
and Whedon were purchasers and did 
not become residents. Forey, Quinn 
and Martin filed pre-emptor's claims. 
The only other pre-emptor's claim in 
the township was filed by John W. 
Russell June 7, 1858, for the SEi Sec. 
34. There were no homesteads in this 
township. All of the odd numbered 
sections on Dec. 27, 1858, were assign- 
ed to the grant to the Dubuque & 
Pacific railroad and nearly all of the 
remaining lands were bought by non- 
resident purchasers in July and Aug- 
ust, 1858. 

Of the pre-emptors last named only 
Forey and family resided any length 
of time in the township. 

John W. Russell secured the patent 
for his land in 1861 but lived most of 
the time with his brother, Philip, in 
Lizard township, enlisted in the civil 
war and died soon after it. 

John Martin entered the Wi NEi 
and Ei NWi Sec. 36, and after a resi- 
dence of a few months, moved to Fort 
Dodge, where for many years after- 
wards he kept a boarding house. He 
had been preceded on this claim by a 
German whose name has been forgot- 
ten, and who lived in a cave he had 



constructed in a clump of timber. 
One day in 1858, when his wife was at 
home alone, some troublesome Indians 
surrounded the place, sounded the 
warwhoop, danced about an hour, 
shot the dog at the door of the cave, 
and then sauntered off in the direction 
of the Des Moines river. The poor 
woman was so frightened that when 
her husband returned they left the 
frontier. A few years after Martin 
left this farm, it was purchased by 
Michael Fitzgerald, who still owns 
and occupies it. 

Edward Quinn, who entered the Si 
SEi Sec. 36, 80 acres, was a brother of 
the wife of Patrick Forey, came with 
him from St. Louis in 1856, and had 
also his experience in locating on rail- 
road lands in Jackson township, Web- 
ster county. He was one of the few 
men among the early settlers that had 
a team of horses. He secured a pat- 
ent for the land but resided on it only 
a very short time. He moved to Fort 
Dodge and began to keep hotel. Three 
years later he moved to Colorado and 
it is believed that he and wife were 
murdered by the Indians on the plains 
in 1865, while returning to Fort Dodge. 
He was a graduate of Dublin college 
and a good performer on the piano 
and violin. 

Patrick Forey (p. 165) moving to his 
claim on the Ei SEi Sec. 36, in the 
spring of 1858, a few months later that 
year, leased and began to occupy the 
home of the Brockshinks who then 
moved to Clay county. He continued 
to reside here until the year 1865 when 
he moved to Sec. 2, Lizard township. 
During the last six years of 'his per- 
iod he and his family were the only 
residents of the township. He was a 
man of intelligence and influence and 
became well known to all the early 
settlers in this county. He participated 
in the first election held in this county 
and in 1860 assisted in the organiza- 
tion of Clinton township in which he 
was included. He was elected one of 
the first justices of Clinton township 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



621 



and as one of the first trustees of that 
township served four years, 1861-62, 
'64-65. 

In 1865 Dennis Mulholland, who 
bought the Brockshink farm, became 
the successor on it of Patrick Forey, 
and during the next five years, he 
and his family were the only residents 
in the townsbip. In 1870 Joseph S. 
Thurber and Michael Fitzgerald (b. 
Ireland 1837) became residents, the 
latter on tbe Martin farm on the 
NWi Sec. 36. The next year Michael. 
McCormick (Ireland 1857) located on 
Sec. 22. In 1872 John Oldaker (Ohio 
1839) located on Sec. 6. About this 
period John W. O'Keefe (Ireland 1848) 
located on Sec. 34, George Dickinson 
(N. Y. 1852) on Sec. 30, and John Don- 
ahoe (Ireland 1828) on Sec. 25. In 
1876 H. A. Chipman (Vt. 1843) located 
on Sec. 17, Edwin D. Dunn (Ireland 
1847) on Sec. 26, and Charles Rabdohl 
on Sec. 3. In the spring of 1877 Gerd 
and Charles Elsen located on adjoin- 
ing farms on Sec. 33. There had also 
arrived during these years preceding 
the organization of the township, 
John Buckner, James Cook and Uriah 
Elliott, all of whom were leading and 
influential citizens at that time. 

Other permanent residents that 
came soon afterwards were John 
Lotz (Mich. 1851) who in 1880 located 
on Sec. 8; E. S. Whittlesey (N. Y. 1853) 
who in 1881 located on Sec. 34; Thos. 
Nolan, Levi Garlock and F. E. Beers 
who located at Gilmofe City about 
the same time. In 1883 Hugh Ovens 
(Ireland 1824) located on Sec. 6, and 
John Weaver (Ohio 1843) on Sec. 14, 
and Will E. Campbell, who has be- 
come widely known as a breeder of 
Polled Angus cattle and English draft 
horses, on Sec. 15, but now at Gilmore 
City. In 1884 A. Guernsey located on 
Sec. 12, G. N. Tedford on Sec. 8, Geo. 
B. Jordan and E. H. Osborn on Sec. 
24, and Geo. Landmesser on Sec. 35. 
In 1885 there was a large number of 
new residents among whom were 



Richard Mullen, Albert Rohl, J. H. 
and George Schnug, J. W. and Sam- 
uel Wallace, Ludvig Doeringsfeld and 
James Steele. 

ORGANIZATION AND OFFICKRS. 

Lake township was organized at a 
public meeting held at the home of 
Uriah Elliott Oct. 9, 1877, James Cook 
acting as chairman. James Cook, 
Joseph S. Thurber and John Mulhol- 
land were appointed judges of the 
election held that day, and twelve 
votes were cast. The following offi- 
cers were then elected: John Mulhol 
land, Charles Elsen and Uriah Elliott, 
trustees; H. A. Chipman, clerk; J. S. 
Thurber and James Cook, justices; 
James Cook, assessor. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees— John Mulholland, 1878, 
'88; Charles Elsen '78-79; Uriah Elliott, 
'78-79, '83; LaFayette Chipman, '79; 
Gerd Elsen, '79-84, '97-1902; J. S. Thur- 
ber, '79-83; D. B. Hallock, ; 80; R. J. 
Weber, '81, '84-85; J. W. O Keefe, '82; 
John Oldaker, '84-88; J. Melsen, '85-87; 
David Mulholland, '86-87; George 
Schnug, '88-90; Wm. Minkle, '89-90; 
M. T. Sinnott, '89, '91-93; Henry R. 
Weber, '90-92, '95-97; Wm. Pahre, '91- 
92; Geo. McCormick, '93-94; John Mc- 
Cormick,^^; Wm. Doeringsfeld, '96- 
1902; Denny Donnelly, '98-1900; H. C. 
Wiegert, 1901-02; E. A. Daniels, 1902. 

Glekks— H. A. Chipman, 1878-79; 
Uriah Elliott, John McCormick, '81- 
84; Edward D. Dunn, '85 92; John 
Lotz, '93-94; Aaron Cook, '95-99; Peter 
H. Bendixen, R. E. Stamper, 1901-02. 

Justices— J. S. Thurber, 1878-79; 
Seymour Chipman, '79-80, '83-85; M. 
Leahy, '79; John Buckner, '81-82; Geo. 
Dickinson, '85-86; F. E. Beers, '83-90; 
John Lotz, '87-92; D. Mulholland, '91- 
93; M. Shine, Herman Weigert, '94-98; 
H. C. Jordan, '95-98; E. A. Daniels, '95- 
96; John Oldaker, E. S. Whittlesey, 
John McCormick, H. C. Jordan, E. F. 
Forey. P. H. Bendixen, John Crowell, 
J. M. Resh, T. J. Calligan. 

Assessors— James Cook, '78; H. A'. 



622 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Chipman, John Buckner, '80-81; F. E. 
Beers, '82-3; J. W. 0'Keefe,'84-6; Wm. 
Nolan, '87-88; P. H. McCormick '89; 
Chris Cain, '97-98, 1901-02; E. G'. Fargo, 
'99-1900. 

At a special election held Aug. 20, 
1881, to vote aid to the St. Louis & 
North-Western R. R., 23 votes were 
cast, 8 for and 15 against it. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

During the year 1877, when Lake 
was still included in Lizard township, 
the citizens met several times as elec- 
tors of Lizard township to attend to 
the school interests intrusted to them. 
The first meeting was held March 5, 
1877. At this meeting nothing more 
seems to have been done than to elect 
John Buckner chairman and J. S. 
Thurber secretary of the meeting. One 
week later, pursuant to adjournment, 
they met again and on motion of Geo. 
Dickinson, it was decided to levy a 
tax of $300 on the taxable property of 
the township for school purposes. One 
week later, March 19, the directors 
previously elected met at the home of 
Geo. Dickinson and organized by the 
election of John Buckner, chairman; 
H. A. CLiipman, secretary; Gerd El- 
sen, treasurer. On Oct. 23, the di- 
rectors met at the home of Uriah El- 
liott, one of their number, to arrange 
for one or more schools that winter. 
After the discussion of several propo- 
sitions, however, it was decided to 
have none. On Dec. 29, Thurber 
plead for a three months school at his 
home, but his request was not grant- 
ed. On Jan. 19, 1878, the directors 
met again at the home of Uriah El- 
liott and closed a contract with E. K. 
Cain for the erection of three school 
rooms, all to be completed by April 1. 
He employed Joseph Osborn to assist 
him to build them, and they were lo- 
cated, No. Ion Sec. 17, in the Thurber 
settlement; No. 2 on the farm of 
Michael McCormick, Sec. 22, and No. 
3 on the Mulholland farm on Sec. 36. 

Qn March 4, 1878, the township hav- 



ing been organized the previous fall, 
the electors of Lake township met at 
the home of Uriah Elliott, John Buck- 
ner serving as chairman, and H. A. 
Chipman as secretary. John Buckner, 
J. S. Thurber and Michael Fitzgerald 
were elected as the first board of di- 
rectors of Lake township. At another 
public meeting held one week later 
at the same place it was decided to 
levy a tax of $150 for building pur- 
poses. The powers and duties con : 
ferred by law on the district meeting 
were then delegated to the board of 
directors, who met one week later and 
organized by electing John Buckner, 
president; H. A. Chipman, secretary; 
and Gerd Elsen, treasurer. 

Three schools were established that 
spring and the teachers employed that 
year were J. Sinnott, Lillie Chipman, 
Mary Walsh and Mary E. Mulholland. 
In 1879 they were M. Fitzgerald, Jos. 
S. Thurber, Mary Griffin, Mary C. 
Conley and H. A. Chipman. 

In 1882 the little pioneer school 
rooms were replaced by larger and 
better buildings. 

In 1885 M. A. Leahy was employed 
to plant shade trees around No. 2 and 
No. 5, and the next year Gilmore Uity 
was set off as an independent district. 
In 1893 the board was increased from 
3 to 9 members and the next year the 
seventh building was built by E. G. 
Fargo. In 1897 all the districts had 
been supplied with good buildings and 
the term was increased from 7 to 8 
months. 

Among the teachers that taught 
during the 80's were A. B , C. E. and 
Mary Condon; Annie Kelly, M. J. Cal- 
ligan, W. F. Mulholland, W. F. Por- 
ter, Mary Torpy, Mary and Annie 
McCormick, Addie B. Cain, Florence 
M. Thurber, Wm. Nolan, Lizzie M. 
Ryan, Maggie C. McLarney, Mary J. 
Weaver and B. F. Ford. 

The succession of school officers has 
been as follows: 

Presidents of the board— John 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



623 



Buckner, 1877-78; James Mulholland, 
'79; D. B. Halleck, J. S. Thurber, '80; 
Uriah Elliott, '81; John McCormick, 
'82-83, '96-98; John Oldaker, '84, '87; 
Charles H. Halleck, '85-86; M. Wolfe, 
'88; Wm. Pahre, '89-90; E. G. Fargo, 
'91; Aaron Cook, '92; Michael Donelly, 
'93; Geo. McCormick, '94-95; J. P. Rine- 
hart, '97; J. M. Resh, 1900-01; H. C. 
Weigert. 

Secretaries— H. A. Chipman, '77- 
78; M. P. Leahy, Uriah Elliott, John 
Buckner, Charles Elsen, '81; John W. 
Kief, '82-85; John McCormick, '86-90; 
E. A. Daniels, '91-92, '95-1900; E. G. 
Fargo, '93; P. H. McCormick, J. J. 
Donohoe, 1901-02. 

Treasurers— Gerd Elsen, '77-78, '80- 
84; E. D. Dunn, Levi Garlock, '85-88; 

D. Mulholland, '89-91; John Lotz, '92- 
95; E. S. Whittlesey, 1896-1901. 

GILMORE CITY IND. DISTRICT. 

Presidents— F. M. Coffin, '86-87; P. 
J. Gaughen. F. W. Coffin, L. E. Eng- 
land, '90-92, '95-96; E. H. YanAlstine, 
W. VanSteenburg, A. L. Belt, '97; W. 

E. Campbell, L. E. England, A. 
Guernsey, 1900-01. 

Secretaries— F. G. Wright, '86-87; 
C. B. Moyer, '88-89; C. B. Fitch, '90- 
1902. 

Treasurers— Levi Garlock, '86-87; 
E. P. Jackson, L. E. England, John 
Weise, '90-92; L. H. VanAlstine, '93- 
1901. 

The first teachers in this district 
were Capt. F. E. Beers, in a room over 
Conn's Store in winter of 1882-83; and 
in the school house, Angeline Jackson, 
Charles Sargent, Ida Garlock, Miss 
McCormick and Mrs. E. Blake. 

Recent teachers in this district have 
been: Principals— B. J. Stell, '97; Mrs. 
E. Blake, '98-1902. Assistants— Har- 
riet Eversole, Mrs. Wagner, Ida Por- 
terfield, Mattie Alexander, Mrs. Kate 
Melson, Ida Wallace, Mrs. Beguin, 
Mrs. Harrison and the Misses Wool- 
man, Connor, Jenson and Cowie. 

GILMORE CITY. 

Gllroore City, a pretty town of 700 



people, is located on the line between 
Pocahontas and Humboldt counties, 
on Sec. 1 of Lake, and Sec. 6 of Wea- 
ver township. The site of the town 
is an elevation so high that before the 
view was obstructed by artificial 
groves, there could be seen from it 
the three neighboring county seats — 
Pocahontas, Humboldt and Fort 
Dodge. It is on the line of the Des 
Moines and Ruthven branch of the C. 
R. I. & P. Ry., and was named in 
honor of its superintendent, C. 1ST. 
Gilmore of Des Moines. The track 
was laid to Gilmore City about June 1, 
1882, and this event led to the found- 
ing of the town. It is 18 miles north- 
west of Tara and is in the center of a 
rich agricultural section of country 
that at that time was comparatively 
unsettled, so that only here and there 
could be seen a spot of cultivated 
ground. The prairies, covered with a 
luxuriant growth of grass and flowers, 
and stretching away in every direction 
as far as the eye could reach, like a 
rolling sea of green and yellow hues, 
presented to the observer a scene as 
beautiful as the eye of man ever rested 
upon. It was a splendid range for stock 
and game, and a sporting engineer 
thought it not inappropriate to com- 
memorate this fact in the names of 
the towns further north — Plover, Mal- 
lard and Curlew. The few old settlers 
of this section, who previously had to 
haul their lumber, coal and other 
necessities from Fort Dodge and other 
distant places, and did not leave their 
farms in grasshopper times, because 
they could not sell' them for the price 
of government land, are now happy 
in the possession of valuable farms 
and comfortable homes. 

About one third of the town of Gil- 
more City, including the depot, three 
grain elevators, two churches, the 
postoffice, a number of fine business 
blocks and dwelling houses, is in Lake 
township. The first part of this por- 
tion of the city was surveyed and 



624 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



platted in May, 1884, by Lute C. 
Thornton for the North-Western 
Land Co. The street running north 
and south on the county line is called 
Gilmore street. It is intersected by 
Main street a short distance north of 
the depot. North of it are Whitehead 
and Spafford streets. In June, 1893, 
H. C. Jordan platted Jordan's Addi- 
tion on Outlot No. 3, north of White- 
head street. On Nov. 15, 1895, Gris- 
wold's 2d Addition was platted on 
Outlot No. 4, south of the railroad, by 
M. W. Fitz, cashier of Griswold's bank 
at Manson, having Highland Avenue 
parallel with Gilmore street, and 
View, Fitz and Funk streets inter- 
sected by the avenue. 

Bear the city is a splendid quarry 
of limestone, that furnishes an inex- 
haustible supplv of good rock either 
for building purposes or for use as a 
fertilizer. Many of the business blocks 
have been built of this substantial 
material and the large number of fine 
buildings erected would prove a credit 
to a town of much larger size. One 
of the largest general stores in the 
county will be found here. 

The first store building was erected 
by L. E. Childs in 1882 and soon after 
its completion he was appointed post- 
master. This was a frame building, 
and after the site of the town was per- 
manently arranged, it was moved to 
its present location, where since 1891, 
it has been occupied by the Collins 
Bros. 

POSTMASTERS. 

In March, 1878, when the mail 
route from Pocahontas to Humboldt 
was established Mrs. E.C., wife of 
Sewall YanAlstine, was appointed 
postmistress of '"Blooming Prairie" 
office at their home on Sec. 25, Clinton 
township. This office was maintained 
until about July 1, 1882, when it was 
transferred and the name changed to 
Gilmore City. The office here has al- 
ways been in Pocahontas county and 



the succession of postmasters has been 
as follows: 

L. E. Childs, Rep., July 1, 1882 to 
May 1, 1886; Francis E. Beers, D., May 
1, '86 to Oct. 1, '89; Henry C. Jordan, 
R.,Oct. 1, '89-93; Joseph Collins, D , 
Oct. 1. '93-97; F. J. Tishenbanner, 
Oct. I, '97 to date. 

RAILROAD AGENTS. 

The succession of railroad agents 
has been as follows: 

C. S. Cooley, 1882-90; George Ogilvie, 
'90-92; E. A. Folsom, '92-94; M. A. 
Henry, '94-99; I. W. Brokaw, '99 to 
date. 

newspapers: 

The first newspaper was the Gil- 
more City Times established by C. B. 
Moyer in June 1884. It was printed in 
Sioux City and, after March 1885, was 
edited by Theo. Dunn, who as editor 
was succeeded by Wm, Grove, who 
changed its name to the Gilmore 
Breeze, which was continued only 
a few months. 

The Gilmore Gazette was establish- 
ed by F. J. Tishenbanner Nov. 10, 
1886, and he conducted it until Sept. 
20," 1888, when it was purchased by 
L. A. Woodward, Fred L. Ellis and 
John P. Pederson, each successively 
serving as editor a few months pre- 
vious to this change. W. A. Howell 
became the successor of Woodward 
and in 1891 sold the outfit to Bruce & 
Lighter, proprietors of the Reveille at 
Rolfe. 

The Gilmore City Globe was estab- 
lished in 1892 by W. R. Prewett. In 
1893 he was succeeded by H. C. Mar- 
mon, who is still its editor and pro- 
prietor. 

banks 

The first bank was established in 
1886 by Levi Garlock under the name 
of the Exchange Bank of Gilmore. 
The next year it was purchased by 
Leslie H. and Howard YanAlstine, its 
present proprietors. The other bank, 
the Security, is owned by their broth- 
er, Rollin VanAlstine and Lyman 
Beers. 





DAVID MULHOLLAND. 



DR. F. W. McMANUS. 






PERCY M. BEERS, 
Clerk of District Court. 



HENRY C. MARMON, 
Editor, Gilmore City Globe. 



QILMORE CITY. 





REV. STEPHEN BUTLER. 
Catholic. 



FRANK TISHENBANNER. 




INTERIOR OF ST. JOHN'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, GILMORE CITY. 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



625 



CHURCHES. 

Presbyterian: — During the sum- 
mer of 1887 Eev. Geo. H. Duty, of 
Eolfe, began to hold services on alter- 
nate Sabbath afternoons at Gilmore 
City. In Aug., 1888, a Ladies' Aid 
society was organized and on Oct. 15th 
following, the walls of a church build- 
ing having been nearly completed, a 
Presbyterian church of 15 members 
was organized by a committee of the 
Presbytery consisting of Rev. ft. E. 
Elickinger, Eev. Geo. H. Duty and 
W. C. Kennedy of Rolfe. The char- 
ter members were James Steele, Chas. 
F. Shaffer and Robert Hunter, who 
were elected elders; Mrs. Anna Steele, 
Mrs. Mary J. Shaffer, Mrs. Jennie 
Hunter, Mrs. Mary H. Campbell, Mrs. 
Ida England, Mrs. Mary A. Bigelow, 
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew O. Bobel, Mr. 
and Mrs. Randall Reed and their 
daughter, Blanche. 

On Feb. 3, 1889, a church building 
26x36 feet and costing $1750 was dedi- 
cated. This was the first church 
building in Lake township. In 1900 a 
good parsonage was built and the 
congregation is no win a very flourish- 
ing condition. 

The succession of pastors has been 
as follows: Rev. G. H. Duty, 1887— 
Oct. 1890; Rev. A. C. Keeler, Rolfe; 
Rev. J. Malcolm Smith, Pomeroy; Rev. 
Norman McLeod, D. D., Fort Dodge; 
Rev. O. F. Wisner and Rev. J. R. 
Vance, Pomeroy; Rev. W. C. Pinker- 
ton and Rev. Frank E. Hoyt— 1901. 

Catholic— The St. John's Catholic 
church at Gilmore was organized July 
4, 1889, by Rev. John Hennessey, 
Arch-bishop, Dubuque, of the families 
of P. J. Gaughan, T. C. Connelly, P. 
J. Kelly, J. J. Griffin, D. Mulholland, 
M. McCormick, J. J. Sinnott, N. 
Myers, M. Fitzgerald, T. Comminskey 
and others. Soon afterward they 
erected a church building 72x38 feet, 
costing $2,576, and a parsonage 32x32 
feet, costing $1,873. This church has 
had a steady and substantial growth 



and Rev. T. D. Sullivan was the popu- 
lar pastor of it from the time it was 
organized until April 1, 1901, when he 
was succeeded by Rev. Stephen But- 
ler. 

County Officer — Charles Elsen, 
supervisor since 1897, chairman of the 
board in 1902. 

gilmore city in 1901. 

Postmaster — Frank J. Tishenban- 
ner. 

Mayor— Leslie H. VanAlstine. 

Councilmen — Andrew Bull, Thos. 
J. Calligan, W. A. Pollock, John Mc- 
Bride, Jackson Hunter, Lyman Beers. 
Assessor, C. A. Belt; recorder, Geo. 
W. Spurger 

Attorneys— L. E. England, Percy 
M. Beers. 

Banks— Exchange (E<t. 1886), L. H. 
VanAlstine, cashier; Security (Est. 
1894), Rollin H. VanAlstine, presi- 
dent; Lyman Beers, cashier. 

Bakery— A. H. Keck, since 1896. 

Barber — Charles Kennedy, since 
1888. 

Blacksmiths — I. B. Long, since 
1887; Geo. Lyst, (1895), Williams & 
Lyst. 

Coal — Robert Gibson. 

Ceeamery — A. A. Briggs. 

Carpenters— Wm. Barker, C. L. 
Belt, Albert Freeman. 

Clothing Store — C. L. Hatfield, 
since 1893. 

Churches — Methodist Episcopal, 
built 1888, Rev. Arthur Ward, pastor; 
Presbyterian, 1889, Rev. Frank E. 
Hoyt, successor to Rev. W. E. Pinker- 
ton, pastor; Catholic, 1889, Rev. Steph- 
en Butler, pastor; Christian Church, 
1896, Rev. B. F. Shoemaker, pastor. 

Dentist — J. T. Hambly. 

Dress Maker— Mrs. Hattie Hogan. 

Draymen— McQuarrie & Brown, 
Wm. Rice. 

Druggist ■* — Gilmore City Drug Co., 
L. E. England, Esq., proprietor, since 
1885; John McCormick, 1899. 

Elevators— C. W. Edgington, since 



626 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



1891; Mullen & Hunter; Counselman 
& Co., Thomas Maher, manager. 

Furniture— C. W. Smith, since 
1896. 

General Merchants— Charles L. 
Hatfield, large department store since 
1893; Guernsey & Spargur, 1895; J. J. 
Mulholland, 1899. 

Grocers— Pollock, since 1895; Green 
& Hartnelt. 

Grain Dealers — Mullen & Hunter, 
since 1887; T. F. Maher, 1892. 

Hardware— E. P. McEvoy in 1901, 
successor of C. B. Fitch. 

Harness Maker— C. L. YanAl- 
stine, since 1883. 

Hotel— Gilmore House, R. L. Weir. 

Implement Dealers— Mullen & 
Hunter, since 1887; O W. Edgington, 
1898. 

Insurance— Frank J. Tishenban- 
ner. 

Jewelry — I. P. Davidson, since 
1896. 

Livery— Wm. Cavanaugh, since 
1894. 

Live Stock— Andrew Bull, since 
1894. 

Lumber & Coal— B. L. Willis Lum- 
ber Co , A. L. Gill, manager; Black & 
Neel. 

Masons and Plasterers— Wilkes 
Woolman, O. A. Wiilard. 

Meat Market— City, T. McMahon 
&Co. 

Mill— Horace Keller, since 1896. 

Milliners— Mrs. M. J. Wood, Mrs 
A. Brown. 

Newspaper — Gilmore City Globe, 
H. C. Marmon. 

Painter— Mark Whitcomb. 

Poultry— John McBride. 

Photographer— D. A. Rice. 

Physicians— A. L. Belt, M. D., 
since 1891; U. G. Grigsly, 1896. 

Telephone— N o r t h w estern Co. , 
Emery Eversole, operator; Iowa Co , 
L. E. England, operator. 

RAilroad-C. R. I. & P., I. W. 
Brokaw, agent. 

Real Estate -Rollin YanAlstine, 



F. J. Tishenbanner, T. J. Calligan. 

Restaurant— The Farmers — Ben- 
jamin Kidd. 

Shoe Maker — Joseph Hocking. 

Undertaker— C. W. Smith. 

Wagon Maker— I. B. Long, since 
1887. 

Well Driller — Henry Hocking. 

Yeterinary Surgeon— Wm. Sax- 
by, 1879. 

RURAL FREE DELIVERY. 

On Feb. 1, 1902, two rural free de- 
livery routes were established from 
Gilmore City. J. C. Smith was ap- 
pointed carrier for route No. 1, which 
runs through south Avery, west Cor- 
inth and Weaver townships, Hum- 
boldt county, and D. A. Rice carrier 
for route No. 2'. which passes through 
south Clinton, Lake and north Lizard 
townships, Pocahontas county. This 
last route rendered the Lizard post- 
office unnecessary and it was discon- 
tinued Feb. 1, 1902. 

To keep them warm on cold days 
each carrier is provided with a muffled 
heater, that has the form of a small 
flat muff and is dropped on the floor 
of the conveyance. The fuel for this 
unique contriyance consists of a small 
cake of material resembling carbon, 
that, when heated in a stove a few 
minutes and placed in the center of it 
by means of a drawer, continues to 
burn without flame or smoke an en 
tire day. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Bendixen Peter H, (b. 1837), a resi- 
dent successively of Des Moines, Clin- 
ton and Lake townships, is a native 
of Denmark, the son of Niels and 
Martha M. (Buck) Bendixen. His 
father, from his earliest recollection, 
was the owner and captain of a mer- 
chant vessel, which he sold in the 
spring of 1864, when the family came 
to America. Peter, coming to Mc- 
Henry county, 111., in 1861, found em- 
ployment as a farm hand and clerk in 
a grocery store until the fall of 1863, 
when he. returned to Denmark and 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



627 



married Petra Alberta Svendson. The 
next spring, accompanied by his wife, 
a sister and his parents, he located in 
McHenry county, 111. 

In\ the spring of 1869, making the 
trip in a lumber wagon, he moved to 
a rented farm in Des Moines town- 
ship, this county. The next year he 
bought 80 acres on Sec. 33, Lake town- 
ship, and his father 80 acres on Sec. 
28. Later Peter bought 80 acres more 
on Sec. 27. Their nearest market then 
was Fort Dodge, afterward Manson, 
Humboldt, Algona, Rolfe and finally 
Giimore City. The visits of the grass- 
hoppers made it necessary for him to 
live two years On cornmeal, and to 
keep his horses the same period with- 
out grain. 

His father died on his farm in 1881 
at 81, and his mother in 1898 at 87. 
Both were devout members of the 
Lutheran church and are buried at 
Rolfe. 

After his father's death Peter be- 
came the owner of 210 acres, which he 
occupied until 1893, when he moved 
first to southern Missouri and the 
next year to a farm of 160 acres in El- 
lington, to wnship, Palo Alto county 
In 1898 he moved to a farm in Lake 
township and three years later to an- 
other one adjoining Giimore City on 
the east, where he is now living. He 
is a man of considerable intelligence 
and rendered thirty years of public 
service in Clinton township, as fol- 
lows: Assessor one year, a justice two 
years, a trustee two years, clerk four 
years, and secretary of the school 
board twenty-one years. In Lake he 
served as a justice and clerk in 1900. 
By his strict integrity and faithful 
performance of every duty devolving 
upon him he has won and held the 
confidence and esteem of his fellow 
citizens. 

His family consisted of eleven chil- 
dren. 1— Erasmus Nelson (b. 111. 1864) 
married Elizabeth Christenson, occu- 
pies a farm of 1QQ acres, on Sec. 28, 



Clinton township, and has a family of 
six children. 2— William (b. 111. 1866) 
married Minnie Thompson, lives in 
Minnesota and has one son. 3— Charles 
B. (b. 111. 1868) mirried Carrie Ken- 
nedy, lives on 80 acres on Sec. 32, Clin- 
ton. 4— Maggie (b. Poc. Co. 1870) mar- 
ried Peter Hendrickson, a farmer, and 
has five children. 5— Alice B. married 
Charles Borg, owner of 80 acres ou 
Sec. 32, Clinton, and has two children. 
6 — Matilda B. married Anton Peter- 
sun and lives at Giimore City. 7 — John 
(b. 1876) in 1901 married Emma Han- 
son and is proprietor of a blacksmith 
and wagon-maker shop at Westbrook, 
Minn. 8— Minnie B. married John 
Lynch, a farmer. Albert G., Peter 
Hansen and Nellie B. are at home. 

He died Feb. 11, 1902, three days 
after reading this sketch in The Fon- 
da Times. 

Buckner John, who acted a very 
prominent part in the early history of 
the township, was a professional trap- 
per and fisherman, and also a squat- 
ter. He neither bought nor rented any 
land in Lake township, but built a 
shanty on the bank of Lizard lake and 
occupied it about seven years, from, 
aboui 1876 to 1883. He caught and sold 
fish to the early settlers in that vicinity 
and marketed annually a large amount 
of fur. He was a man of considerable 
influence and was accorded the honor 
of serving as chairman of several 
meetings of the citizens in 1877 and 
1878 for the purpose of organizing the 
school district of the township. He 
served two years as the first president 
of the school board and two years also 
as a justice. 

Daniels Emmet Abram (b. I860), 
owner and occupant of the SWi Sec. 
21 smce 1885, is a uative of Webster 
county, Iowa, the son of David M. and 
Sarah Daniels. In 1884 he married 
Ida Hayes and the next year located 
on his present farm. He was secre- 
tary of the school board seven years. 
His family consists of five children, 



628 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Martin F., Emmet G., Joel V., Clinton 
D. and Frederic J. 

Elsen Henry, accompanied by wife 
and two sons, Gerd and Charles, in 
1870 came from Germany and stopped 
in Lizard township. Three months 
later he located on a homestead of 80 
acres on the Wi SEi Sec. 2, Bellville 
township, which he improved and oc- 
cupied during the next seven years. 
Here in 1876 his wife died at the age 
of 58. In the spring of 1877 he moved 
to a farm of 120 acres on Sec. 33, Lake 
township, where he died in 1884 at the 
age of 62. His family consisted of two 
sons and two daughters, the latter 
coming to this country in 1893. 

Elsen Gerd (b. Ger. 1852), occupant 
of the SWi Sec. 33, Lake township, 
and owner of a farm of 738 acres in 
that vicinity, is one of the most suc- 
cessful men in the township. His 
subsequent purchases have averaged 
80 acres every three years since that 
date, and the buildings he has erected 
are among the largest and best in the 
township. He is a fine illustration of 
thrift on the farm and the success 
that has constantly crowned his labors 
has been no doubt due in great meas- 
ure to the valuable co-operation of 
his excellent wife and family, as the 
latter have become able to render as- 
sistance. He was treasurer of the 
school funds seven years. He has 
been an active member and a trustee 
of the German Lutheran church of 
Lizard township since it was built in 
1885. 

In 1877 he married Louisa Redman, 
a native of Wisconsin, and of their 
family of thirteen children eight are 
living; Charles, William, Gerd, Har- 
mon, Emma, Henry, Louie and Bern- 
hard. 

Elsen Charles (b. Ger. 1855), chair- 
man of the board of county supervi- 
sors in 1902, became a resident of this 
county with his parents in 1870, first 
in Lizard and Bellville townships and 
of Sec. 33, Lake township, since 1877. 



Beginning with a small farm of wild 
prairie he improved it, and, turning 
his attention to raising and fattening 
stock, has now a finely improved farm 
of 480 acres. He assisted in the or- 
ganization of Lake township, served 
as one of its first trustees in 1878-79, 
and as secretary of the school board 
in 1881. He is now serving his sixth 
year as a member of the board of 
county supervisors. 

In 1879 he married Caroline Kron 
and his family consists of eight chil- 
dren, Mary, Henrietta, Louisa, Annie, 
Carl, Bertha, Lena and Gerhard. 

Elsen Carl B. (b. Ger. 1862), mer- 
chant and postmaster, is the son of 
Herman Gretjelina (Mueller) Elsen, 
and on coming to this country in 1881 
located in Lake township. In 1891 he 
married Gerhardina Janssen and in 
partnership with Otto Siebels, estab- 
lished a store and postoffice at the 
old Schoonmaker place on Sec. 4 
Lizard township. In 1893 he became 
sole proprietor of the store and so con- 
tinued until 1900, when he moved to 
Plymouth county. 

Elliott Uriah, at whose home the 
first elections in the township were 
held in 1877 and 1878, was the owner 
and occupant of 40 acres on Sec. 22 
from about 1875 to 1883. His family 
consisted of a wife and two children. 
He served two years as one of the first 
trustees, was, township clerk and sec- 
retary of the school board in 1880, and 
was president of the latter in 1881. He 
was a very successful trapper and 
spent much of his time trapping 
around Lizard lake on the bank of 
which he lived. 

Hatfield Charles L. (b. 1859), mer- 
chant, is a native of Evansville, Wis , 
the son of William H. and Margaret 
(Evans) Hatfield. In 1881 he married 
Seba Shaw, of Dayton, Wis., and lo- 
cated on a farm near Evansville. In 
the spring of 1892 he moved to Scran- 
ton, Iowa, and a few months later to 
a farm in Humboldt county. In 1893 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



629 



be bought a half interest in the gen- 
eral store of W. T. White, Gilmore 
City, and has since been engaged in 
the mercantile business. In 1900 he 
became sole proprietor of this store, 
the largest in the city and one of the 
largest in this county. He is a mod- 
est, unassuming man and gives his 
undivided attention to his business. 
During most of the year a half dozen 
clerks are kept busy arranging the 
goods and waiting on the customers 
that daily throng this popular empor- 
ium of trade. His family consists of 
one child, Harold C. 

Leahy Michael Anthony (b. 1818), 
resident of Gilmore City and owner 
of a good farm on Sec. 22, Lake town- 
ship, is a native of Ireland and, com- 
ing to New York state in 1847, married 
there that year Catherin Roache (b. 
Ireland 1820). He found employment 
in railroad building, which was then a 
new enterprise. After a few years he 
moved to Michigan and two years 
later to a farm in Fayette county, 
Wis. In the spring of 1869 he located 
on 40 acres on Sec. 10, Lizard town- 
ship, making the journey in a wagon, 
and ten years later on Sec. 22 Lake 
township where the family has secur 
ed many acres of land. His sons are 
practical and successful farmers. A 
few years ago he moved to Gilmore 
City. He and his wife are both four 
score years of age. His family con- 
sisted of eleven children, five of whom 
died unler 16. 

Nora married Michael Higgins, and 
Jane married James Saddler, and both 
live at Gilmore City. Michael P., a 
mason, married Ella Crowder and 
lives at Pocahontas. Thomas J. and 
Anna are at home. John, who mar- 
ried in 1895, and Agnes, who married 
Robert Hanke, a farmer, live in South 
Dakota. 

Marmon Henry C. (b. 1856), editor 
of the Gilmore City Globe, is a native 
of Zanesfield, Ohio, the son of Asa 
and Mary Marmon. He was brought 



up on a farm and there became inured 
to steady employment and hard work. 
In 1871 he moved with an uncle to 
Crawfordsville, Ind., and two years 
later to Polk county, Iowa, where in 
1883 he found employment in the office 
of the Mitchellville Index. The next 
year he moved to Holt county, Neb , 
where in 1888 he married Ina A. Bal- 
come. The next year he returned to 
Mitchellville and resumed work in 
the office of the Index. In 1893 he 
moved to Gilmore City where he has 
since been the editor and proprietor 
of the Globe, a five-column quarto' 
He has greatly improved this paper 
by adding to its outfit a good cylinder 
press and increasing the home print 
from two to four pages. He has one 
of the neatest and cleanest offices in 
the county and is an elder in the 
Presbyterian church. His family con- 
sists of two children, Harold A. and 
Ethel. 

Mceormick Michael (b. 1829; d. 
1898), one of the early pioneers, was a 
native of Ireland and in his boyhood 
came with his parents to upper Can- 
ada, now the province of Ontario. In 
1854 in Gray county he married Honora 
Kearns, and in 1871 located on Sec. 22» 
Lake township. He was a lonely set- 
tler on the frontier for a number of 
years but did not become discouraged. 
He improved his farm on the prairie, 
increased it to 320 acres, and occupied 
it until the time of his death. He 
participated in the organization of 
Lake township and two of his sons, 
John, and Patrick, have been promi- 
nently identified with its history 
since that event. 

His wife who was a native of Clare 
county, Ireland, died in 1889 in her 
54th year. Their family consisted of 
eleven children, two of whom, Anna 
and Mrs. Mary Walsh, died in 1895. 

John (b. Can. 1855), owner of the 
old home farm in Lake township, oc- 
cupied it until 1899 when, accompanied 
by Elizabeth and Nora, two of his sis- 



630 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ters, he moved to Gilmore City where 
be lias since been engaged in the drug 
business. In Lake he was a trustee 
two years, clerk four years, president 
and secretary of the school board each 
five years. Michael M. is the owner 
and occupant of 240 acres on sections 
21 and 22. Patrick H. married Bridget, 
daughter of John Cain, and lives at 
Pocahontas. Mary married Philip 
Walsh, a farmer, and died in 1895, 
leaving five children, Margaret, Thom- 
as, Philip, Edward and Nora. Thom- 
as P. is the owner and occupant of SO 
acres on Sec. 21. Margaret married 
William Bollard and lives on the old 
farm. Nellie lives with her sister 
Margaret and Rosa with her brother 
Patrick. 

Mulholland Dennis (b. 1820), one of 
the most prominent of the pioneers of 
Lake township, was a native of Ire- 
land. In his youth he came alone to 
Massachusetts, where he found em- 
ployment in connection with the iron 
industry and married Margaret Mc- 
Ewen. A few years later he moved to 
St. Louis and in 1857 to a farm in Al- 
lamakee county, Iowa. In 1865 he lo- 
cated on the Brockshink farm on the 
SWi Sec. 36, Lake township, with a 
family of six children, and during the 
next five years they were the only 
residents of the township, the next to 
arrive being the families of Joseph S. 
Thurber and Michael Fitzgerald in 
1870. He was a member of the Cath- 
olic church and lived on this farm un- 
til he died in 1873. His wife died at 
72 in 1892. 

Their family consisted of five chil- 
dren: 

1. John J. one ot the first trus- 
tees of the township, later became 
an invalid and died at St. Louis in 
1897. 

2. James J. in 1883 married Mary 
J., daughter of Nicholas Nolan, and 
located first on the old home farm, 
which he still owns. Later he moved 
to G-ilmore City and engaged in the 



hardware business, and since 1901 in 
general merchandise. His family con- 
sists, of three children, William, Frank 
and Christopher. 

3. Mary E., a teacher, is now a 
dressmaker at Dubuque. 

4. David, a real estate agent, in 
1886 married Maggie Condon and be- 
came proprietor of a general store in 
Gilmore City. In 1891 he embarked 
in the land, loan and insurance busi- 
ness, in connection with the purchase 
of hay and grain. Since 1901 he has 
devoted himself to the real estate 
business alone, He is the owner of 
320 acres of land on Sec. 11, Lake 
township, and of other lands in that 
vicinity. He has become well and 
favorably known as one of the leading 
business men of Gilmore City. He 
served as a trustee and justice of the 
peace of Lake township. His family 
consists of four children, Matthias, 
Mary, Emmet and Clement. 

5. William F., an insurance agent, 
in 1889 married Catherine, daughter of 
John Cain, and since 1891, has been 
engaged in the insurance business at 
Gilmore City. His family consists of 
four children, Frances, Margaret, Lu- 
cile and William. 

Oldaker John (b. 1839), a promi- 
nent farmer and stock raiser of Lake 
township for many years, was a native 
of Ohio and located on Sec. 6 in 1872. 
He and his son 'Andrew became the 
owners of all of Sec. 7 and 80 acres on 
Sec. 6, making altogether 720 acres. 
He was highly esteemed as a citizen, 
and served two years as president of 
the school board and five years as a 
trustee. In the spring of 1900 this 
large and excellent family moved to 
Geddes, S. D. 

Tishenbanner Frank J. (b. 1863) 
postmaster, is a native of Whiteside 
county, 111., the son of Peter and 
Catherine (Wiseman) Tishenbanner. 
In 1870 he moved with his parents to 
Chicago, where he went to school 
and worked in a factory. In 1879 they 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



631 



moved to Webster county, Iowa, and 
two years later to Sec. 27, Clinton 
township, Pocahontas county. Nov. 
10, 1896, he began the publication of 
the Gazette, the first newspaper print- 
ed in Gilmore City, and continued its 
publication about eighteen months. 
He then returned alone to Chicago 
and found employment as a school 
teacher, traveling salesman and fore- 
man of a machine shop. In 1889 he 
married Minnie Willette and two years 
later returned to the farm in Poca- 
hontas county. He has been postmas- 
ter at Gilmore City since Oct. 1, 1897, 
and in this capacity has rendered the 
community a very efficient and accept- 
able service. His family consists of 
two children, Floyd and Lena. 

He had two sisters, Lena and Susa, 
that came with him and his parents 
to the farm. Lena in 1889 married 
Eugene W. Otis and located in Des 
Moines, where she died in 1895. Susa 
died in 1891, and his mother in 1893. 
Frank now owns his father's farm and 
the latter lives with him. 

Thurber Joseph S., one of the first 
justices, teachers and school directors, 
was the owner and occupant of 80 
acres on Sec. 17 from 1870 to 1884. He 
served two years as a justice and five 
as a trustee. He came from Straw- 
berry Point, Iowa, with a family con- 
sisting of wife and one son, and after 
a residence of about fourteen years in 
the township moved to California. 

Beers Francis E. Captain (b. 1833), 
one of the most widely known of the 
citizens of Lake township, is a resi- 
dent of Gilmore City and the owner of 
360 acres of land adjoining that town. 
He is a native of Cayuga county, N. 
Y., the son of Lyman and Sally (Ever- 
ett) Beers. His mother died when he 
was four years of age. Seven years 
later he moved with his father to 
Fairfield county, Conn., and in 1854, 
in his 21st year, graduated from the 
civil engineering department of the 
Wesleyan University at Middletown, 



Conn. Soon afterward he came west 
and found employment as a railroad 
agent at Dunton, twenty-two miles 
from Chicago, but now called Arling- 
ton Heights and near the center of 
the city. He was compelled to re- 
linquish this position on account of 
sickness and on recovery taught a 
term of school. May 1, 1856, in search 
of other employment, he came to Fort 
Dodge. In the fall of 1857 he was ap- 
pointed surveyor of Webster county 
and rendered almost constant service 
in this capacity until some time in 
January, 1858 when his work was in- 
terupted by heavy rains and a per- 
sistent overflow of water. 

CAPTAIN OF WHEELBOAT— THE ROLL- 
ING WAVE. 

The incidents that led to his being 
the captain of the first wheelboat and 
also of the first steamer that plied on 
the Des Moines river from Des Moines 
to Fort Dodge have their beginning 
at this period. The story of these 
boats and his connection with them 
not having been published hitherto, 
except a few brief references thereto, 
some of which are incorrect or wholly 
ignore Captain Beers, it has been 
deemed not inappropriate to present 
herewith a correct and quite full ac- 
count of these interesting pioneer in- 
cidents. 

In February 1858, F. E. Beers, Wil- 
liam Beers, a carpenter, and an ac- 
quaintance that had come with him 
from Connecticut, and Oliver Ryall, 
who had entered a pre-emption claim 
up the river near Bradgate, were liv- 
ing together in a cabin in the edge of 
the timber on the river land claim of 
Aaron F. Blackshire, about two miles 
southeast of Fort Dodge. Not one of 
them had anything special to do. 
The financial panic of the previous 
year had put a sudden check on every 
new enterprise and closed nearly every 
avenue of employment. There was 
no railroad, no employment, no mon- 
ey, and the flooded condition of the 



682 PIONEER HISTORY OFoPOCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



streams made travel by team almost 
impossible. As a matter of diversion 
F. E. Beers proposed tbat they join 
together and build a boat. Though 
not one of them had ever been a boat- 
man, the propositioa met with favor 
and a rude plan of a sidewheeler was 
soon approved. About six weeks were 
occupied in its construction, as the 
timber had to be cut from the stump, 
and when completed it was 40 feet 
long and 5 feet wide. Two side wheels, 
5 feet in diameter and having paddles 
6x22 inches, were located at the cen- 
ter, and they weie connected by a 
crank so that four men standing in the 
middle of the boat might propel it. It 
was built in the ravine opposite the 
gypsum quarries, a mile from the 
river, and was drawn to the latter on 
a pair of bob sleds by Jacob Miracle 
about the first day of April, 1858. All 
efforts to maneuver it that day proved 
a disappointment. One week later 
they returned to the boat and, eleva- 
ting the wheels so they would not dip 
so deep in the water, made a trip 
three miles up the river to Fort Dodge. 
Here their boat, the first one that 
had been built on the river north of 
Des Moines, was an object of curiosity 
to the entire population and awaken- 
ed interest in river navigation. 

It was called the Rolling Wave, and 
Howe, a merchant in Fort Dodge, be- 
ing out of flour and having no pros- 
pect of getting any soon by convey- 
ance, proposed to F. E. Beers, captain 
of the boat, to bring him a cargo of 
flour from Boone. He finally gave 
him an order on the miller there for 
forty sacks or 4,000 pounds of flour. 
The trip to Boone was made in two 
days, but when the miller learned 
there was no flour at Fort Dodge, its 
high price and the tonnage offered the 
captain, he accepted the order but 
loaded the flour on three wagons in- 
stead of the boat. Not daunted by 
this disappointment, Capt. Beers went 
further down the river to Elk Rapids 



and, passing to the mill at Swede's 
Point, now Madrid, obtained 40 sacks 
of flour, paying for them with gov- 
ernment scrip. As the boat sunk 
deeper into the water under this load 
it leaked considerably, until the water 
swelled the timber, and the wind was 
against them at first, so that at the 
end of the fifth day, they had gotten 
only five miles from the mill. After- 
wards they made better speed and on 
the sixteenth day, when they were 
within five miles of their destination, 
the wind changing to the south, they 
hoisted their sail and moved up the 
river to Fort Dodge at a pace that re- 
lieved and gladdened every man on 
the boat. 

The view of the river was not ob- 
structed then as it is now, and when 
about noon the boat was anchored at 
a point south of the place now occu- 
pied by the Minneapolis depot, a 
crowd of men were waiting who took 
the flour as fast as it could be deliver- 
ed to them and the change made, at 
$6.00 per sack. 

Towards evening on that same day 
the three teams from Boone arrived 
with their 40 sacks of flour for Howe. 
They were sixteen days in making the 
trip, and, according to their own ex- 
planation, over a good part of the dis- 
tance they had to hitch the three 
teams to one wagon and, drawing it a 
short distance, had to return and 
bring the other two wagons one by 
one in the same way. 

A few days later he returned to the 
mill at Swede's Point and brought 6u 
sacks of flour, making the round trip 
in ten days. He then went to Des 
Moines and brought five tons of 
freight, making the round trip in six- 
teen days. 

THE STEAMBOAT — CHARLES ROGERS. 

During his absence on this last trip 
the citizens of Fort Dodge, under the 
leadership of A. F. Blackshire and 
Henry Carse, became so much inter- 
ested in the boat enterprise that they 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



633 



began to subscribe stock at $25 a share, 
and after his arrival organized a com- 
pany for the purchase of a steamboat 
to ply on the Des Moines riyer be- 
tween Fort Dodge and Des Moines. A, 
F. Blackshire, who was elected presi- 
dent of the company, subscribed $250; 
Henry Carse, who was elected secre- 
tary and treasurer, subscribed $500 at 
first and later paid $500 more; F. E. 
Beers subscribed $200 and later paid a 
good deal more; S. C. Hinton sub- 
scribed $100; John F. Duncombe, Chas. 
' Eand and others subscribed $25 each. 
It was estimated that $1700 would be 
required to purchase such a vessel as 
was needed, and when a little more 
than $400 of the stock was paid, it 
was placed in the hands of F. E. Beers 
and he was commissioned to go to 
Pittsburgh to secure the steamboat, of 
which he was to be the captain. 

Once more F. E. Beers started down 
the Des Moines river on the Kolling 
Wave, its last trip, taking with him 
four passengers to Des Moines. At 
this place he encountered a bridge so 
low that he had to remove the upper 
half of the side wheels in order to 
pass under it. Here he also received 
a number of passengers some of whom 
went with him as far as Bentonsport, 
the terminus of the railroad from 
Keokuk, where he left the boat forty 
miles above the latter place. Passing 
to St. Louis by rail and packet he se- 
cured a passage to Pitsburgh where he 
arrived Aug. 6, 1858. 

Three days after his arrival he con- 
cluded a contract with a ship builder 
at Manchester, a suburb of Allegheny 
City, for the construction of a rear- 
wheel steamboat 90 feet long, 19 feet 
wide and 5 feet deep at the bow. It 
was completed Oct. 14, 1858, at a cost 
of $2,250 and was called "Charles Rog- 
ers" in honor of its builder. It was a 
powerful boat for its size, being equip- 
ped with steam and engine power 
sufficient to send it wherever it was 
wanted. It was built for river work 



and set low in the water so as to pass 
under bridges. 

Henry Carse, who arrived just be- 
fore its completion with more money, 
was appointed clerk and he held that 
position as long as F. E. Beers con- 
tinued as captain. Ed. Entwistle, 
of Des Moines, was appointed fireman. 
They employed pilots on the Ohio but 
when they arrived at St. Louis Capt. 
F. E. Beers took the wheel and be- 
came steersman. When they arrived 
at Keokuk, two days later, or about 
Nov. 1, 1858, Lord & King, general 
merchants, gave them a cargo of meat 
and • groceries for Des Moines, the 
freight bill of which was $500, and 
King arranged to go with them to pay 
the bills along the route. 

The trip down the Ohio river had 
been attended with no small amount 
of troublesome anxiety, thrilling in- 
cidents and practical experience. 
Having nearly exhausted their cash 
in paying for the boat, they had to 
trust to a favoring providence to re- 
plenish their treasury along the route. 
Beers and Carse were wholly inexper- 
ienced as boatmen, and having to em- 
ploy pilots with whom they were un- 
acquainted, this was done with a vary- 
ing success. The first one soon ran 
the boat aground. Soon afterward 
the fireman reported that one of the 
grate-bars in the fire box of the en- 
gine was burned out, and the only 
available substitute was a stick of 
hickory wood, which had to be fre- 
quently replaced, until they came to 
a sunken vessel from which they ob- 
tained a half dozen grate-bars of a 
size tbat happened to suit them ex- 
actly. At length their supply of coal 
became exhausted and they had to 
stop and gather driftwood for fuel. 
After a few stops for this purpose 
they were so fortunate as to find and 
secure about fifteen cords of good 
hickory cordwood that had lodged on 
an island in the. river. They had no 
passengers at first, and the fares re^ 



634 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ceived from those that were- carried 
further down the river scarcely paid 
the wages of the pilots. When, there- 
fore, they had secured a valuable car- 
go, and Mr. King was on board to pay 
their bills, they indulged in a sigh of 
relief, fancied their troubles were 
over and believed they were now on 
the high road to success. 

The first trip from Keokuk to Des 
Moines was successfully made in five 
days, and greatly relieved the finan- 
cial embarrassment of the proprietors 
of the boat. They passed through 
three locks, namely, at Croton, Bona- 
parte and Bentonsport, where dams 
had been built across the river, all 
within forty miles of Keokuk. The 
locks had been constructed by the 
Des Moines River Navigation & Im- 
provement Co., about the year 1854. 
About forty miles below Des Moines 
A. F. Blackshire joined the boat to act 
as a huckster on it, having come down 
the river from Fort Dodge in a little 
skiff, which he then turned adrift. 

Returning to Keokuk they received 
and delivered another cargo of goods 
for Lord & King at Des Moines. . 

They immediately returned to Keo- 
kuk and received a third cargo, but 
this trip was not so successful. When 
they arrived at Bentonsport the cold 
weather set in and they became ice- 
bound opposite the home of Thomas 
Cooper, near Ottumwa. The cargo, 
first transferred to Cooper's barn, was 
later delivered by means of teams sent 
from Des Moines. David Nash, the 
engineer, and James Jolley, the mate, 
then returned to their homes. Henry 
Carse, the clerk, engaged a school in 
that vicinity and began teaching, and 
Capt. Beers remained with the boat 
to guard it from the ice and look after 
the cargo. 

On Feb. 23, 1859, the ice on the pre- 
ceding day having left the river at 
Ottumwa, Capt. Beers secured some 
new employees and resumed opera- 
tions with the boat. Henry Carse re- 



mained to complete his term of school 
and then joined him. James Drake 
was employed as engineer, and, at 
Keosauqua, Mr. Foote as pilot. 

A few miles above Keosauqua the 
ice had formed a great gorge and as it 
passed further down the river it 
left on each side of the channel a wall 
of broken ice that ranged from ten to 
twenty feet in height. They had to 
cut a channel through this barrier of 
ice before they could get to the shore 
at that place. Inasmuch as the locks 
below were reported in bad condition 
he did not go further down the river 
than Bentonsport, and after making 
two trips between that place and Ot- 
tumwa, went to Keokuk and returned 
to Des Moines with 50 tons of freight, 
arriving there March 9th, a short time 
before the Clara Hine, they being the 
first arrivals at that place in 1859. 

This was the "boss year" for steam- 
boats on the Des Moines river. There 
were many heavy rains and they oc- 
curred at the right intervals to keep 
the river in good condition for boat- 
ing. The season opening early did 
not close until the first of September, 
and two of the steamboats, the Charles 
Rogers and De Moine Belle made trips 
from Keokuk to Fort Dodge. * 

RACE WITH CLARA HINE. 

For some reason unknown to Capt. 
Beers, about a dozen passengers that 
had engaged passage on the Charles 
Rogers from Des Moines to Keokuk 
disappointed him by getting aboard 
the Clara Hine at the time of depart- 
ure. This was exasperating and led 
to a test of the speed of the two ves- 
sels. Leaving Des Moines about the 
same time the Charles Rogers soon 
out-distanced the Clara Hine and ar- 
rived at Keokuk five hours before it. 
Both vessels were unloaded and re- 
loaded as speedily as possible, and 
starting about the same time, the 
Clara Hine managed to get first into 
the lock at Keosauqua. Considerable 

* Tacitus Hussey. 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



635 



difficulty was experienced in passing 
through the lock, and Capt. Beers, be- 
coming impatient at the delay, decid- 
ed to try the experiment of running 
his boat up over the breast of the dam 
in the middle of the river, and, per- 
forming this feat successfully, passed 
the Clara Hine while it was still in 
lock. The latter, however, overtook 
the Charles Rogers about fifty miles 
above the lock and arrived first at Des 
Moines. This race served to show 
that a steamboat that could easily 
outrun another one going down might 
not be able to keep pace with it when 
going up the stream. 

TRIP TO FORT DODGE. t 

As the "Charles Rogers" was a Fort 
Djdge enterprise and those in charge 
of the boat had now gained some ex- 
perience in its management, it was 
decided to make a trip to Fort Dodge. 
For this trip it was loaded with a car- 
go by Chittenden & McGavie, whole- 
salers at Keokuk, who sent Mr. Davis 
with it. In order to pass under the 
bridge at Des Moines the upper half 
of the wheel and the top of the pilot 
house had to be removed to the shore 
and afterward be replaced. Another 
serious barrier at this place was the 
mill dam, the danger from which was 
increased by a ferry rope that was 
stretched across the river only a few 
rods above the breast of it. Capt. 
Beers requested Hall, the ferryman, 
to lower this rope so tha boat might 
pass over it; but as he could not be 
persuaded that it was possible for a 
boat to surmount the dam, he made 
no promise, save to await the out- 
come of affairs. To avoid the danger 
incident to being checkmated by the 
rope, a man with a hatchet was sent 
from the boat to the place where the 
rope was fastened on the bank, oppo- 
site the ferryman, with instruction 
to sever the rope when the signal 
should be given. As the boat crested 
the dam the signal was given and the 
ferryman was about as much surprised 



and exasperated at the sudden fall of 
rope as he was astonished at the un- 
expected and wonderful feat of the 
boat. 

The Charles Rogers, on this trip, 
arrived at Des Moines March 27th and 
at Fort Dodge April 6th, 1859. As it 
came steaming up the river near the 
latter place the whistle was blown so 
long and loud that the citizens imag- 
ined a Mississippi river fleet had ar- 
rived. Before the bowline had been 
fastened to the levee, the bank of the 
river was lined with a mixed multi- 
tude, consisting of men, women and 
children, every one of whom was anx- 
ious to get a sight of this plucky, 
noisy new-comer. 

The arrival of this first steamboat, 
with 40 tons of freight for the mer- 
chants of Fort Dodge, was regarded 
as a very auspicious event by the am- 
bitious citizens of that lonely village 
on the frontier. It was graphically 
described by John F. Duncombe, ed- 
itor of the Fort Dodge Sentinel, in 
the issue of April 7, 1859, as follows: 

"Yesterday will be remembered by 
many of our citizens with feelings of 
extreme delight for many years to 
come. By the politeness of Capt. F. 
E. Beers of the Charles Rogers, in 
company with about one hundred and 
twenty ladies and gentlemen of the 
town, we enjoyed the first steamboat 
pleasure excursion on the Upper Des 
Moines river. The steamboat left the 
landing at Colburn's ferry about two 
o'clock and, after crossing the river 
and loading with coal from the mines, 
started for the upper ferry. All our 
citizens are well aware of the shallow 
ford on the river at the rapids at this 
place, which is at the head of the is- 
land at the mouth of Soldier creek, 
where the river divides into two equal 
channels. The steamer passed up over 
the rapids in the west channel with 
perfect ease. At the mouth of Lizard 
creek the boat "rounded to" and 
passed down the eastern channel of 
the river at race horse speed. The 
scene was one of intense interest. The 
beautiful plateau, on which our town 
is built, was covered with men, women 
and children. The river bank was 
lined with joyful spectators. Repeat* 



636 PIONEER HISTORY OF, POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ed hurrahs from those on the boat 
and on the shore filled the air. The 
steamer passed down the river about 
six miles and then returned. Old 
grudges were settled, downcast looks 
brightened, hard times were forgot- 
ten. Everybody seemed perfectly hap- 
py. We had always believed that the 
navigation of our river was practical, 
but to know it, filled our citizens with 
more pleasure than a fortune. We 
felt like a boy with a rattlebox, "only 
more so." The Fort Dodge steam- 
boat enterprise has succeeded, in spite 
of sneers and jeers. Long may the 
friends of the enterprise live to re- 
member the first pleasure excursion 
at Fort Dodge." 

At a public meeting of the citizens 
held at the school house that evening, 
Major Williams presiding, a vote of 
thanks was tendered Capt. F. E. 
Beers, Henry Carse, T. A. Blackshire 
and others associated with them in 
this steamboat project, and the mer- 
chants were urged to patronize the 
Charles Rogers in preference to any 
other boat. 

There was then nearly twice as 
much water in the Des Moines river 
than there is no iv, and while the water 
continued at high tide two loads of 
long joists and other timber for the 
Fort Dodge court house were hauled 
from the mouth of the Boone river. 
Four other trips were also made from 
Fort Dodge to Des Moines for salt and 
other commodities. 

On June 12, 1859, another steam- 
boat, the Des Moines Belle, 100 feet 
in length, arrived at Fort Dodge, 
while Capt. Beers was unloading his 
boat, and the sight of these . two 
steamers lying at the wharf at the 
same time caused the hearts of the 
citizens to beat high with hope a sec- 
ond time, but with the departure of 
these two steamboats on this occasion 
the running of steamboats on the Up- 
per Des Moines river forever ceased. 
The next season was a dry one and no 
boatman thought of undertaking a 
task so hazardous. 

Capt. Beers, passing to Des Moines 



in June, continued boating on the 
river, and during that season made 
altogether thirteen round trips from 
Des Moines to Keokuk. The boat 
traveled about fifteen miles an hour 
and a trip was usually made in three 
days. The winter of 1859 overtook 
him at Keokuk, and in March 1860 
the Charles Rogers was sold to Capt. 
Thomas Davis, of Bellevue, Jackson 
county, Iowa. 

The persons associated with Capt. 
Beers in its management during the 
year 1859 were Henry Carse, clerk; 
David Smith, assistant clerk; Frank 
Davidson, pilot; James Cleve, mate, 
and Mahlon Davidson, engineer. 
Aaron F. Blackshire most of the time, 
both in 1858 and 1859, traveled with 
the boat, carrying a stock of groceries 
for sale and buying hides and other 
articles of country produce. He sold 
his interest in the boat to Capt. Beers 
about Dec. 1, 1858, when they had 
their first experience with ice at Ben- 
tonsport, when about forty passengers 
had to be removed from it to the 
shore, 200 feet distant, over thin ice 
by means of planks and two tightly 
drawn ropes. 

Tacitus Hussey, in the annals of 
Iowa, April 1900, states that steam- 
boating on the Des Moines river be- 
gan in 1837, when Capt. A. W. Harlan 
ran a steamboat up the river to Keo- 
sauqua, and Capt. S. B. Clark another 
one, the S. B. Science, to Iowaville, a 
few miles above Keosauqua. The lat- 
ter is the first one mentioned in his- 
tory and it went as far as the white 
man had at that date ventured in the 
wild west. The first steamboat to ar- 
rive at Des Moines was the Agatha, 
under Capt. J. M. Lafferty, in May 
1843. It was accompanied by two 
keel-boats and brought a cargo of gov- 
ernment supplies from St. Louis, Mo , 
and soldiers from Fort Sanford, near 
Ottumwa, to Fort Des Moines. Dur- 
ing the early 50's about a dozen steam- 
boats made occasional trips on the 
river from Keokuk to Des Moines in 
the spring of the year, and in 1854 and 
1858 respectively, the Colonel Morgan 
and the Des Moines Belle were built 
at Des Moines, 



LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



637 



SUBSEQUENT HISTORY. 

Capt. Beers spent the winter of 1859- 
60 at Keokuk, and the next two years 
at Pella and Eddyville, where he se- 
cured and delivered 750 cords of wood 
for the. Des Moines Valley R. R. Co. 
He then returned to his home in Con- 
necticut, passing through the oil re- 
gion in Pennsylvania. Soon afterward 
he returned to the oil region, built 
another steamboat and ran it on the 
Allegheny during' the next six years. 

In 1871 he married Emma I. Trask, 
a graduate of the State Normal school 
at Edinboro, Pa., and soon afterward 
located on a farm in Grundy county, 
Iowa. In the fall of 1881 he moved to 
Des Moines, and the next spring to 
his present farm, adjoining G-ilmore 
City on Sec. 1, Lake township. His 
fine dwelling house was built in 1895. 
He taught the first school in Gilmore 
City during the winter of 1882-83 in a 
room over Conn's store. He was post- 
master at Gilmore City from June 1, 
1886 to Aug. 18, 1889. In 1892 and for 
several years afterwards he built the 
bridges in this county and has done 



the same work for Humboldt and 
Webster counties. In 1890 he was the 
democratic nominee for clerk of the 
district court in this county, and in 
1893 for representative in the legisla- 
ture. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren. 

Lyman (b. Iowa 1872), cashier of the 
Security bank, Gilmore City, in 1896 
married Kittie A. Blain of Fort Dodge 
and has two children, Glenn and Dor- 
othy. 

Bertha M. in 1896 married Howard 
VanAlstine (see VanAlstine). 

Percy (b. 1875), a graduate of the 
Iowa College of Law in 1899, in 1901 
began the practice of Law in Gilmore 
City. 

Ralph W. (b. 1878), a farmer, in 1900 
married Eannie, daughter of Wilder 
Small, and lives near Pocahontas. 

Bessie died in 1901 in her 20th year, 
while attending the West high school 
at Des Moines. 

Fern and Helen are at home. Ber- 
tha, Percy, Bessie and Fern graduated 
from the Gilmore City high school. 



XXI. 

LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 

"Happy the man whose wish and care, 
A few paternal acres bound; 
Content to breathe his native air, 
And improve his own ground." 



With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right 
as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, 
to bind up the nations wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the bat- 
tle, and for his widow and his orphan; to do all which may achieve and 
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. — 
Lincoln at Gettysburg. 

lINCOLN Township owner, expressed a desire that the 
(91-32), was assigned township be called "Carter," "Grace" 




to Lizard in March 
1859 and to Clinton 
June 4, 1861. On Dec. 
1, 1862, the south row 
of sections and, before June 6, 1870, 
the remainder of the township was 
again assigned to Lizard. June 4, 1872, 
it was established under the name of 
"Carter" township, and on July 8, 
1873, the name was changed to "Lin- 
coln." 

Henry C. Carter, after whom it was 
first named by the board of county 
supervisors in session at old Rolfe, 
was a wealthy sugar refiner of New 
York City. In 1858 he bought over 



or "Henrietta," in honor of himself 
or one of his two daughters, who 
owned parts of 12, 18 and 20. The use 
of this name did not meet the approv- 
al of the early settlers ot the town- 
ship, and they sent a protest to the 
board of supervisors. He then pro- 
posed to donate $100 toward the pur- 
chase of libraries for their public 
schools, if they would be content to 
let the name remain. The patriotic 
sentiment, however, that Abraham 
Lincoln, as well as Grant and Colfax, 
should be remembered in this county, 
found its expression and the matter 
being submitted to a vote of the citi- 
zens at the school election in the 



4,000 acres of land in the township, in- 
cluding all of sections 5, 7, 9, 21, 27 s P rm S of 1873 « evei T man voted t0 
and 31, and being the largest land change the name to "Lincoln." That 

(638) 



LmCuLS TOWNSffit-. 



«8y 



settled it and the board at their next 
meeting changed the name. 

The surface of this township is a 
level or undulating prairie, and the 
soil is a rich black loam, slightly mixed 
with sand. It is crossed by the west 
branch of the Lizard, and since 1900, 
by the Gowrie & Northwestern branch 
of the C. E. I. & P. Ey. 

All the odd numbered sections were 
included in the grant to the Dubuque 
& Pacific E. E. Co., and all the even 
numbered ones, with the exception of 
section 32 and some small portions of 
the other sections in the south row, 
were sold in August 1858. Those that 
secured homesteads in it were C. M. 
Saylor, Abram Hoover, John Dooley, 
P. H. Niemand, Bernard Stegge, John 
Kreul, William Boog, Thomas and 
John Harrold, T. L. Dean, Gust Olson 
and "William Springstube. 

FIRST SETTLERS. 

. In May, 1869, C. M. Saylor, accom- 
panied by Abram Hoover and his 
brother, both of the latter being young 
men, came to Lincoln, then a part of 
Lizard township, and secured home- 
steads of 80 acres each on sections 32 
and 30, respectively. Abram Hoover 
made his home with Saylor during the 
next five years, and the latter built 
on his homestead in 1869, for their 
mutual protection, a hut 8x12 feet, 
that had a door but no window. They 
slept in the wagon at night and their 
discomfort was unnecessarily increas- 
ed by the fact that none of them had 
yet learned that a little smoke would 
keep off the mosquitoes. 

On June 12, 1869, John Kreul, Bern- 
ard Stegge and Peter H. Niemand, all 
natives of Germany, coming together 
in wagons with their families from 
Highland, Iowa county, Wis., entered 
and began to occupy homesteads on 
Sec. 32. These men erected the first 
shanties in the township and were the 
only residents in it during the winter 
of 1869-70. 

1870, In April, 1870, Saylor built 



a story and a half house, 16x24 feet, 
that formed a part of his home until 
1898. His wife and two sons, Calvin 
B. and Sanford, arrived that month. 
Other families that arrived that year 
were those of John Dooley on Sec. 30, 
Thomas Harrold and his brother John, 
a young man, both on Sec. 34, and 
Thomas L. Dean. 

1871. In 1871 there arrived the 
families of Wm. Springstube, Wm. 
Boog and his two sons, Frank W. and 
Charles G., and A. A. Loats. 

1872. In 1872 the new arrivals 
were E. K. Cain and Gust F. Olson. 

1873*80. During the next few 
years there arrived the families of 
John Olson, Wm. Tobin, Diederic 
Beneke, Martin Eral, John Bartok, 
Frank Hronek, Bernard Schmaing, 
Wm. Bacger and Mr. Enfield. 

The next arrivals in the early 80's 
were Asa F. Embree, S. E. Eeinholtz, 
John F. Pattee, F. F. Fitzgerald, 
Joseph S. Pulley, John W. Eeimer, 
Patrick Eussell, W. D. Paddock and 
Theo. Miller. 

SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

The first election was held Nov. 5, 
1872, when John Dooley, John Kreul 
and John Harrold were elected as the 
first trustees; C. M. Saylor, clerk; T. 
L. Dean and C. M. Saylor, justices, 
and Abram Hoover, assessor. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees — John Dooley, 1873-75; 
Bernard Stegge, '73, '76-80; Wm. Boog, 
John Kreul, '74-94; John Harrold, 74- 
77; John Bartok, '76-77; Peter H. Nie- 
mand, '79 84; Diederic Beneke, '81-82; 
Frank Hronek, '83; W. D. Paddock, 
'84; John Stegge, '85-86; F. F. Fitzger- 
ald, '85-1900; Wm. H. Kreul, '87-89; 
F. Wm. Boog, '90-95; J. S. Pulley, '95- 
1902; Henry Stegge, '96 98; John H. 
Niemand, '98-1902; John L. Pascal. 

Clerks— C. M. Saylor, '73, '75-77, 
'79-80, '83-84; T. L. Dean, '74, '77-78. 
'86; Henry Stegge, '81-82; W. D. Pat- 



640 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tee, '85; J. E. Pattee, '87-91; Theodore 
Miller, '92-1900; Henry Stegge. 

Justices— Thomas L. Dean, '73-1900; 
C. M. Saylor, '73, '80-83; E. K. Cain, 
'74-77; J. F. Pattee, '80-83; W. D. Pad- 
dock, '84; (Elected but not serving: J. 
H. Niemand, Edward Forey, Terrence 
Doyle, John Stegge, Charles Kezer); 
Frank Reyburn, '93-94; LeeC. Trenary, 
'95-96; John O'Malley, '97-1902; John 
W. Reimer, J. J. Harrold. 

Assessors — Abram Hoover, '73; 
John Dooley, E. K. Cain, '75-76, '83-84; 
John H. Niemand, '77-82, '87-88; Theo. 
Miller, '85-86; Terrence Doyle, '89-90; 
A. A. Loats, '91-92; Wm. S. Clark, '93- 
94; Geo. L. Dean, '95-99; John H. 
Lampe, 1900-01. 

It may be noted that John Kreul, 
serving as a trustee 21 years, and 
Thomas L. Dean as a justice 28 years, 
the latter from the organization of 
the township, take the plum for long 
periods of successive service in the 
same office in Pocahontas county. 

On Sept. 13, 1887, at a special elec- 
tion, a tax, of 2| mills was voted the 
Sioux City & North-Eastern R. R. Co., 
Sioux City to Livermore, the vote be- 
ing 23 for and 6 against. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The first school was a four months 
term taught by Christian M. Saylor 
in his own home during the winter of 
1871-72. Eighteen pupils were en- 
rolled. The first school house was 
built in 1872 on Sec. 32, and C. M. Say- 
lor taught the first school in it the 
next winter. 

The Lincoln township school board 
was organized March 10, 1873, by the 
election of John Dooley, president; T. 
L. Dean, secretary, and John Kreul, 
treasurer. At this meeting it was de- 
cided to insure the school house that 
had been built the previous year by 
Lizard township school board to which 
they had belonged. One week later 
it was decided to have two schools 
that year, one seven and the other 
four months. March 8,1875, the various 



powers conferred by law on the dis- 
trict meeting were delegated to the 
board of directors, and arrangements 
were made for three schools. In 1876 
11 mills were levied for library pur- 
poses. Feb. 8, 1893, the township was 
divided into nine equal districts, the 
membership of the board was increas- 
ed from three to nine and the persons 
elected that year were Maurice Wolfe, 
Henry Stegge, Patrick Russell, Emory 
Peterson, Theodore Miller, George 
Hauk, Gust Peterson, Herman Beneke 
and C. M. Saylor. 

The succession of School officers has 
been as follows: 

Presidents of the Board— John 
Dooley, 1873-75; John II. Niemand, '76- 
78, '86; Wm. Barger, '79; Wm. Boog, 
'80-81; Henry Stegge, C. M. Saylor, T. 
L. Dean, '84-85; Terrence Doyle, '87- 
89; A. A. Loats, Patrick Russell, Jos. 
Wolfe, Theo. Miller, '93-98; J. S. Pul- 
ley, Milo L. Miller, 1900-01. 

Secretaries— T. L. Dean, '73-74; C. 
M. Saylor, '75-77, '87; E. K. Cain, '78- 
82; Bernard Kreul, J. F. Pattee, '84- 
85; F. F. Fitzgerald, '86, '94-99; W. D. 
Pattee, '88-89; Frank Reyburn, '90-94; 
Theo. Miller, 1900-01. 

Treasurers— John Kreul, '73-77; 
T. L. Dean, '78-82; Wm. Tobin, '83-86; 
C. M. Saylor, '87-93; Terrence Doyle, 
,94-1901. 

Early teachers were C. M. Saylor, 
Catherine E. Condon, J. E. Pattee, 
Catherine Ellis, Annie Condon, Alice 
Fifield, Jennie E. Lucas (Saylor), Liz- 
zie O'Niel, Wm. Russell, Mary A. Mc- 
Larney, Lillian Chipman, M. E. Mul- 
holland, N. M. Moore, Ella Westlake, 
Lizzie Fitzgerald, Wm. D. Pattee, 
Effie Wallace, Eliza Forey, Alice Bur- 
nett, Henrietta Torpy, Minnie Le- 
hane and Wm. Edwards. 

PIONEER EVENTS. 

The first homestead claim was filed 
by Thomas Harrold on Sec. 34, and he 
was assisted in locating it April 21, 
1869, by J. J. Bruce. 

The first child born in the township 




DIEDERICK BENEKE AND FAMILY 

Mr. Beneke. 
William. 



Mrs. Beneke. 




WILLIAM TOE-IN AND FAMILY 

Mary, Bernhard. Ann. Minnie 

Henry. Mr. Tobin. Catherina. Mrs. Tobin. 

Lincoln Township. 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



641 



Was Maggie Stegge. She was bora 
Nov. 13, 1871, and died of diptheria 
Jan. 3, 1882. 

The first marriage occurred April 1, 
1873, when Justice C. M. Saylor per- 
formed the ceremony for Diederic 
Beneke and Augusta Niemand. 

The first religious services were held 
in the school house in the fall of 1874 
by Rev. Mr. Martin, a German Luth- 
eran minister from Fort Dodge. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

Sheriffs— Thomas L. Dean, '78-79; 
John F. Pattee, '84-89. 

Supervisor— Terrence Doyle. '93- 
1901. 

METHODIST CHURCH. 

The Methodist church of Lincoln 
township was organized in 187ft in 
Grant township (p. 602), where the 
services continued to be held until 
July, 1889, when they were transferred 
to the Saylor school house (No. 7) in 
Lincoln. Sept. 10, 1899, a church 
building that is 22x36 feet with lect- 
ure room 14x20 feet, both 12-f eet studs, 
spire 36 feet high, and costing $1600, 
was dedicated. It is located on the 
SWi Sec. 30. This appointment was 
connected with the charge at Fonda 
(p. 372) until 1886; with Pomeroy un- 
til Oct. 1, 1901, and since that date 
with Pocahontas under the pastorate 
of Rev. C. W. Flint. The succession 
of pastors that served it from Pome- 
roy is as follows; Revs. H. L. Smith, 
G. E. Stump, G. N. Pendall, W. T. 
McDonald, '92-94; E. R. Mahood, O. E. 
Chapler, '95-97; J. C. Harvey, '98-99; 1. 
N. Tibbitts. The board of trustees 
for a -number of years has consisted of 
Charles Trenary (president), John A. 
Crummer (secretary), C. M. Saylor 
(treasurer), Joseph S. Pulley and N. 
P. Rude. C. M. Saylor, who was su- 
perintendent of the Sunday school 
several years in Grant, continued to 
serve in that capacity until 1898, when 
he was succeeded by J. A. Crummer. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Beneke Diederick (b. 1842), one of 



the most prosperous farmers of Lin- 
coln, is a native of Germany, the son 
of Henry and Mary Beneke. In 1868, 
accompanied by his younger brother, 
Rudolph (p. 345), he came to Scott 
county, Iowa, and four years later to 
the Cain homestead on Sec. 4, Bell- 
ville township, this county. The 
sod shanty occupied here had a rather 
open shingle roof and the next win- 
ter, when he arose one morning after 
a blizzard that had raged during the 
night, he alighted in about two inches 
of snow that lay on the floor and the 
top covers of the bed. In 1879 he 
moved to Lake township, and in 1880 
to a farm of 60 acres of raw prairie on 
the SWi Sec. 25, Lincoln township. 
On this little farm this industrious 
and persevering Teuton decided to 
make a permanant settlement. Here 
he found a suitable place to acquire a 
home and lay the foundations for suc- 
cessful farming operations. He erect- 
ed first a stable, but during the next 
six months used it as a dwelling place, 
while he completed a story and a half 
house of the standard size, 16x24 feet. 
Two large additions have since been 
added, making this a spacious and 
comfortable home. As the years have 
passed eight additions ranging from 
40 to 160 acres have been added to 
the little farm of twenty years ago, 
making it now 720 acres. Groves have 
been planted, wells have been sunk, 
windmills have been erected and in 
1887 a large barn. One cannot visit 
this farm and see its improvements, 
cultivated fields and fine stock, with- 
out drawing the inference that here 
is a fine illustration of that which in- 
telligent industry can accomplish on 
a Pocahontas county farm. Mr. Ben- 
eke's success on the farm is all the 
more marked by reason of the fact 
that in the old country he had never 
harnessed a horse or put a hand on a 
plow. When he became of age he spent 
two years as a soldier in the German 
army, and previous to that time, 



642 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



found employment on a vessel and in 
a factory. When he came to this 
country he was not only willing but 
wanted to learn how to raise cattle 
and hogs successfully, and his efforts 
have been well rewarded. He has 
also succeeded in raising a large 
and industrious family, every one of 
whom perceives that there is no place 
like the farm. "Don't go in debt" and 
"Don't sell grain from the farm," are 
two rules he never violates. 

In 1873 he married Augusta, daugh- 
ter of Peter H. Niemand, and she 
died at 26 in 1881, leaving two chil- 
dren, John (b. 1876) and Henry (b. 1878). 
In 1882 he married Amelia Julius (b. 
Ger. 1855) and their family consists of 
seven children, Mary, William, Ber- 
tha, Diederic, Gerret, Arthur and An- 
nie. 

Dooley John (b. 1827), one of the 
early pioneers of Lincoln township, is 
a native of Ireland and, coming to 
America in 1853, located in Maryland 
where he found employment in the 
iron industry. Later he moved to 
Ohio, where he married Ellen Kiley. 
Soon afterward he moved to Pennsyl- 
vania, then to Webster Co., Iowa, and 
in the spring of 1870 to a homestead 
on Sec. 30, Lincoln township, which 
he improved and occupied during the 
next ten years. Later he located on 
the SEi Sec. 36, Dover township, and 
since 1887, he has been a resident of 
Fonda. 

He participated in the organization 
of Lincoln township in 1872, and serv- 
ed as one of the first trustees two 
years, as assessor one year, and as the 
first president of the school board 
three years. He was janitor of the 
public school building in Fonda 13 
years, 1888-1900. At the public 
patriotic exercises held Feb. 22, 1893, 
he was presented with an arm chair 
as a token of esteem from the teach- 
ers and pupils, who expressed their 
appreciation of his faithfulness in the 
following words, uttered by their 



spokesman, Earl McKee: "We would 
not detract any praise from our great 
patriot, George Washington, in speak- 
ing of the character of this 
adopted son of our mother country. 
He is a man in whose integrity there 
can be no doubt, and he enjoys the 
confidence of every one. Although he 
is not an American by birth, he is one 
whom any one may be proud to 
name among his friends. He has 
made his own way in life, and, like 
Washington, he is first in everything; 
first to win the esteem of others; first 
to lead when a leader is needed, and 
first in knowledge, which Bacon says 
is 'power.' " 

He came to America that he might 
enjoy political freedom, and, as a mat- 
ter of principle, naturally became a 
free soiler, a whig, and later a repub- 
lican. He is a devout member of the 
Catholic church. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren: 

Bernard F. lives on a homestead in 
Day county, S. D. Catherine in 1889 
married James Bell, a farmer, who 
lives in Warren county. She died in 
1895, leaving four children. 

Michael J., who continued to occu- 
py the Cedar Creek farm in Dover 
township until 1902, during the last 
ten years invested considerable money 
and became the most prominent raiser 
of pure bred Poland China hogs in the 
vicinity of Fonda. He secured a 
royal strain of strong, heavy boned 
animals that possessed acknowledged 
merit. His annual public sales since 
1893 attracted buyers from consider- 
able distances, and he won many 
prizes, not only at the Big Four, but 
also at the Iowa State fair. At his 
closing out sale, Feb. 25, 1902, Pilates 
Chief brought $310 and the first 50 
head $2073, an average of $46 45 a 
head. In 1895 he was the democratic 
nominee for sheriff. 

John W. and Mary A. live in Sioux 
City. James is in Minnesota, and 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP, 



64:5 



Ellen E., a teacher, is at home. Pat- 
rick is owner and occupant of a farm 
of 160 acres in Dover township. Brid- 
get A., in 1900 married Daniel Burns 
and lives in Sioux City. Joseph J., 
democratic nominee for clerk of the 
district court in 1900, is clerking in 
Fonda. 

Doyle Terrence (b. 1841), county 
supervisor 1893-1901, is a native of 
Ireland, the son of John and Mary 
Doyle. In 1843 his father came to 
Grant county, Wis., and the next year 
he and his mother followed. In 1868 
Terrence married Ellesie Williams of 
Illinois, and located on a farm. In 
1871 he moved upon a farm belonging 
to W. H. Duckworth of New York, 
and he has continued in his employ 
ever since, a period of 31 years. In 
1885, the latter, having through Mr. 
Dovle purchased all of Sec. 16, Lin- 
coln township, transferred him to it 
that he might superintend its im- 
provement and also its operations as a 
stock farm. The barn, 56x82 feet, 
was built in 1885, and the house the 
next year. No grain has been sold 
from this farm but much has been 
bought and fed upon it. Investments 
in fine horses resulted in a loss of 
$5,000, Investments in cattle and 
hogs have been attended with large 
profits, though in 1896 as many as 290 
head of the latter were lost by cholera. 
He has found preventives better than 
cures for this disease, and since the 
above loss, has used one secured by 
Mr. Duckworth, which is spread 
over the straw on which the pigs have 
to lie at night. He has obtained the 
best results by raising Poland China 
hogs and Shorthorn cattle. 

Terrence Doyle, as chairman of the 
board of county supervisors 1898-1901, 
was the most prominent democratic 
official during that period in Poca- 
hontas county. He has taken an act- 
ive part in the management of the 
public affairs of Lincoln township 
since he became a resident in it, and 



of this county during the nine years 
he was a member of the board of coun- 
ty supervisors, 1893-1901. In Lincoln 
his personal influence began to be ef- 
fectively felt for the improvement of 
the finances of the township in 1887, 
when he was made a member and also 
president of the school board. Two 
years later he served as assessor and 
in 1894 was made treasurer of the 
school funds, a position he has con- 
tinued to hold until the present time. 
In the performance of every trust 
committed to him he has proven him- 
self a man of fine executive ability 
and unflinching integrity. He be- 
lieves that a citizen owes much to 
his town, county, state and country, 
and if called on to serve in an official 
capacity, he should not only be willing 
to do so, but regarding his office as a 
public trust, should do all in his pow- 
er to promote the public welfare. As 
a public official he has made a splendid 
record. 

In 1902, the Duckworth farm hav- 
ing been sold the previous year, he 
moved to a small farm near Pocahon- 
tas. His family consists of six chil- 
dren: Leonard, Henry C, Thomas D., 
Terrence A., William D.. all of whom 
are natives of Wisconsin, and Ellen 
M. 

Fitzgerald Francis Frederic (b. 
1857), owner and occupant of 160 acres 
on Sec. 23 from 1882 to 1902, is a native 
of Madison, Wis., where he grew to 
manhood on a farm. Locating on this 
farm in 1882, he began the work of its 
improvement and the next year mar- 
ried Amy L. Reed of Clinton town- 
ship. He erected good buildings that 
are conveniently arranged and planted 
a large maple grove around them. He 
also planted an orchard that is now in 
got»d fruit bearing condition. All the 
improvements suggest careful fore- 
thought in their arrangement and 
present an aspect of neatness and 
thrift. He served six years as secre- 



644 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tary of the school board and sixteen 
as a township trustee. 

Kreul John (b. 1827; d. 1895), a town- 
ship trustee from 1874 to 1894, was a 
native of Weseke, Ger., where in 1852 
he married Helena Rosing. In 1862 
he came to Highland, Iowa county, 
Wis. In the spring of 1869, accom- 
panied by Bernard Stegge, Peter H. 
Niemand and their families, he locat- 
ed on a homestead of 80 acres on Sec. 
32, Lincoln township. The sod house 
erected first for the comfort of his 
family was occupied several years. 
Later he built a good house and barn, 
and the grove planted in 1870 is one of 
the oldest in the township. At the 
time of bis decease in 1895, he was the 
owner of 160 acres and had served as a 
trustee 21 of the 23 years that he had 
lived in it after it was organized. He 
was a faithful member of the Catholic 
church, a generous and charitable 
neighbor, and was highly esteemed as 
a citizen. His wife died at 67 in 1897. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren, one of whom died in infancy, 
Johanna (b. Ger. 1857) in 1872 married 
Henry Lampe (p. 352). Mary Cather- 
ine (b. Ger. 1857) in 1880 married Jos- 
eph E. Pattee (see Pattee). Bernard 
E. (b. Ger. 1859) in 1892 married Maria 
McAlpin, lives at Pocahontas and has 
four children, Mamie, Edward, Rosa 
and Florence. Gertrude in 1880 mar- 
ried Frank Shuster, a farmer, lives in 
Minnesota and hasten children, Wil- 
liam, Andrew, John, Thomas, Lena, 
Anna, Mary, Gertrude, Joseph and 
Edward. Rosa in 1888 married Thom- 
as Lehoutz and lives in Nebraska. 
Annie in 1888 married Nicholas Dozy- 
cimski, a native of Poland who now 
owns and occupies the old homestead 
and has five children, Helen, Mary, 
Angie, Joseph and Fronica. 

Niemand Peter H., one of the first 
settlers of Lincoln, is a native of Ger- 
many, where he married and had a 
family of two children, when he lo- 



cated in Iowa county, Wis. In 1869 
he secured a homestead on Sec. 32, 
Lincoln township, which he still oc- 
cupies. He has enlarged it to 160 
acres and improved it with good build- 
ings. He assisted in the organization 
of the township and served as a trus- 
tee six years, 1879-84. His wife died 
in 1892 at a good old age. His family 
consisted of two children. John H. 
(b, Ger, 1852) came with his parents to 
Iowa county, Wis., and in 1869 to Lin- 
coln township where he married Mary 
Klingbeil and now owns 160 acres on 
»ec. 29. He is a prosperous farmer 
and has taken an active part in the 
management of the public affairs of 
the township, having served for four 
years as president of the school board, 
four years as a trustee and eight as as- 
sessor. Three of his five children are 
living, Ida, John and William. Au- 
gusta in 1873 married DiedericBeneke 
and died in 1881, leaving two children, 
John and Henry. 

Olson Gustave, a native of Sweden, 
who in 1872 secured a homestead on 
Sec. 32, improved and occupied it un- 
til about 1884, when he sold it to his 
brother John and moved to Sec. 3, 
Colfax township, where he died in 
1895, leaving a wife, one son and two 
daughters. One of the latter married 
Theodore Lindstrum, a farmer, and 
lives in Bellville. His wife, son and 
daughter continue to' live in Colfax, 
In 1883 when he had a family of five 
children, all girls, four of them and 
one of his sister's children, a boy 
that he had taken to raise, died of 
diphtheria in the short period of a few 
weeks. One of them was saved by 
sending her to Fort Dodge. 

Olson John (b. Sweden 1851), broth- 
er of Gustave, on coming to this coun- 
try located first in Webster county, 
and in 1875 on 40 acres on Sec. 31, Lin- 
coln township. He has met with a 
fine degree of success on the farm and 
is now the happy owner of 320 acres, 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



645 



The buildings he has erected rank 
among the good ones in the township. 
His family consists of three children, 
Matilda, Edwin and Arthur. 

0'son Andrew, another brother of 
Gustave, is the owner and occupant of 
a farm of 80 acres on Sec. 36, Grant 
township, and he has a family of seven 
children. 

Pattee John Frank (b. Nov. 10, 
1833; d. Aug. 23, 1889), sheriff of Poca- 
hontas county from Jan. 1, 1884 to 
Aug. 23, 1889, was a native of Smith- 
ville, Maine. In 1850 he moved to 
Ohio and, as a contractor, engaged in 
railroad building. In 1852 he married 
Mary F. Ady and in the fall of 1856 
moved to Farrington, 111., where in 
1867 she died, leaving a family of three 
sons, Joseph Edward, William D. and 
Charles F. In 1869 he married Lucin- 
da Taylor and moved to a farm in 
Boone county, Iowa. In March 1878 
he located on the NEi Sec. 23, Lincoln 
township, Pocahontas county, where 
he continued to reside until the time 
of his decease, Aug. 23, 1889, He serv- 
ed three years in the civil war as ser- 
geant of Co. F, 86th 111. Infantry, one 
year as deputy sheriff in Fulton coun- 
ty, 111 , two years as deputy sheriff of 
Boone county, Iowa, and was serving 
his third term as sheriff of this county 
at the time of his death. In the per- 
formance of his official duties he be- 
came widely known and was highly 
esteemed by all who had the pleasure 
of making his acquaintance. 

His second wife died in Nov., 1888. 
His family consisted of the three sons 
named above. 

Joseph Edward (b. 1855), a teach- 
er, in 1880 married Catherine Kreul 
and became proprietor of the Nemick 
hotel at Pocahontas. In December 
following leaving the hotel he resumed 
teaching and has continued to reside 
at Pocahontas. In 1880 he was the 
republican nominee for recorder, but 
lacked 11 votes of an election. His 
family consists of seven children, 



Mary, William, Bosella, Joseph, Ada- 
line, Agnes and Frank L. 

William D. (b. 1857), in 1884 married 
Ella M., daughter of Thomas L. Dean, 
and located on a farm. In 1889 he 
moved to Pocahontas, where he is en- 
gaged as a blacksmith. His wife died 
in 1899 and his family consists of four 
children, Mary, George, Minnie and 
Nellie M. 

Charles F. in 1895 married Frederika 
Winegarten and engaged in farming 
until 1895, when he moved to Poca- 
hontas where he is now a dealer in 
coal. He has two children, .Emma 
and Zella. 

Tobin William (b. 1844), one of the 
leading farmers of Lincoln township, 
is a native of Germany, the son of 
Wm. and Anna Margaretta Tobin. In 
1866 he married Catharina Wilms (b. 
Ger. 1845) and two years later came to 
Webster county, Iowa. In the spring 
of 1869, locating on a homestead of 80 
acres on Sec. 20, Lizard township, he 
improved and occupied it until 1878, 
when he became the first occupant of 
120 acres on Sec. 25, Lincoln township. 
He has enlarged this farm to 480 acres 
and erected buildings that rank among 
the fine ones in the township. The 
barn is 62x84 feet and numerous other 
outbuildings areconveniently arranged 
around it. His buildings are well pro- 
tected by a large grove of maples, and 
his orchard furnishes an annual sup- 
ply of apples and plums. He has been 
an industrious, hard worker, and the 
success he has achieved places him in 
the front rank as a farmer. He keeps 
the farm well stocked with cattle and 
hogs and they consume all the grain 
he raises. He is an official member of 
the German Lutheran church of Liz- 
ard township, and served four years as 
treasurer of the school funds of Lin- 
coln township. 

His family consisted of six children. 
Mary Henrietta, in 1890 married Geo. 
Schnug, who owns and occupies a farm 
of 160 acres in Lake township, which 



646 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



he was the first to improve. Bernhard 
Wm. (b. 1871) in 1895 married Ettie 
Habben and lives on his father's farm 
in Lake township. Anna Eliza in 
1894 married Gerd Beneke, who has 
been a resident of this county since 
1890, and occupies a farm of 80 acres 
in Lincoln township. Minnie O, 
Henry F. and Catharina R. are at 
home. 

Saylor Christian M. (b. 1844), who 
did the first breaking, taught the first 
school, served as superintendent of the 
first Sunday school, and a? one of the 
first justices, married the first couple 
in Lincoln township, is a native of 
Somerset county, Pa., the son of John 
A. and Sarah (Miller) Saylor. He had 
four older brothers, Jacob, Peter, 
Samuel and Edward, and two younger 
half brothers, Uriah and Man Ion. His 
father died when he was fourteen 
months old, and four years later his 
mother married his uncle, Joseph Say 
lor, with whom he remained until he 
was fourteen. During the next four 
years he depended upon his own re- 
sources and was occupied in an earnest 
endeavor to obtain a good education, 
the last school attended being the 
county normal at Somerset, Pa. He 
taught one term of school before he 
was eighteen. 

In 1862, riding on the first train of 
cars he had the opportunity of seeing, 
he came to Blackhawk county, Iowa, 
where he found employment as a farm 
hand in summer and as a teacher in 
winter. In 1865 he married Sarah 
Bitner, also a native of Somerset coun- 
ty. Pa.,. and located on a farm near 
Waterloo. 

In the spring of 1869, visiting Poca- 
hontas county accompanied by Abram 
Hoover and a brother of the latter, he 
secured a homestead' of 80 acres on 
Sec. 32, Lincoln township, and immed- 
iately began the work of its improve- 
ment, by breaking some prairie and 
the erection of a little hut. In the 
fall he returned to his family, and in 



April 1870 to the homestead, on which 
he then erected a good dwelling house 
and brought his family, consisting of 
wife and two sons, Calvin and San- 
ford. When he drove the stakes on 
this homestead, then on the frontier 
of civilization, it was with the definite 
purpose of making it a permanent and 
pleasant home, and in this respect he 
and his estimable wife have succeeded 
admirably. 

The farm, by subsequent purchase 3 , 
was increased to 680 acres, and Calvin 
and William being located at the time 
of their marriage, each on an 80 there- 
of, it still contains 540 acres. The im- 
provements erected are among the 
oldest and the finest in the township. 
The first dwelling house, after being 
several times enlarged by new addi- 
tions, in 1898 was replaced by a splen- 
did two story building 30x30 feet, with 
kitchen 14x22 feet, that in 1901 was 
enlarged by a two story addition 16x20 
feet. In addition to several other 
important out-buildings, two large 
barns have been built, the one for 
horses being 32x48 feet and the one 
for cattle 64x78 feet. In 1895 he erect- 
ed a system of water works that is 
both complete and effective. It con- 
sists of a deep well, worked by a wind 
mill, that forces the water into an 
elevated tank in a shed, from which 
it is conveyed, through underground 
pipes, to the house, the feed yards and 
pastures. Rows of tall trees and a 
dense grove of his own planting sur- 
round his buildings and afford a grate- 
ful protection, both from the heat of 
summer and the blasts of winter. 

He has been a progressive and suc- 
cessful farmer, as a natural result of 
his constant endeavor to manage the 
farm on sound business principles. He 
has bought many loads of grain to 
feed on it, but has never sold one 
from it. He believes it to be better 
for the farmer to market the finished 
product at a premium than to dispose 
of the raw material at a discount. He 



LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 



647 



has kept the farm well stocked with 
Shorthorn and Durham cattle, Poland 
China hogs and Plymouth Rock chick- 
ens. During the last twenty years he 
has always kept some registered stock 
for the improvement of his herds, but 
has never undertaken to raise fancy 
stock. He has found the dairy very 
profitable and has done his own 
churning. In 1897 he and Calvin be- 
gan to use cream separators on their 
farms, and these were the first ones 
introduced into the township. 

He has also been a successful fruit 
grower. He acquired some practical 
knowledge in this line by working a 
short time in a nursery in Blackhawk 
county, and the success that lias since 
attended his efforts has caused him 
to be recognised as one of the most 
successful fruit growers in Pocahontas 
county. 

In 1871 he planted 30 apple trees of 
different varieties and six of them, 
namely, one Haas, two Saps of Wine 
and three Duchess, — all that were 
planted of these three varieties,— are 
still living and bearing fruit. He has 
planted trees of these varieties since 
and they have proved hardy. Other 
varieties that have proved hatdy are, 
for summer use,— theTetofsky, Sweet 
Russet, Whitney No. 20, Boorsdorf, 
and Blue Pearman (large); for late 
fall,— Plum's Cider, Wealthy and 
Borvinka (large); for winter,— Long- 
field, Waldbridge, Minnesota and 
Northwestern Greening; crabs. — the 
Early Strawberry, Florence, Comical, 
Byersweet and Beechersweet. 

One tree of the Duchess in 1900 
yielded 18 bushels. The Longfield is 
also a good bearer and promises to be 
the most popular winter variety for 
this section. All crabs should be 
marketed the same or the next day 
after they are picked or they will 
show injury from handling. The 
Early Strawberry crab is a prolific 
bearer, and the Soulard will Keep till 
May. but the quality is not very good. 



The severe winters of 1881 and 1886 
killed the following varieties of apple 
trees,— the Red Astrachan, Sweet 
Pear, Fameuse or Snow, English 
Golden Russet and Grimes Golden. 

He has recently offered a reward of 
$500 to any one who will give him a 
hardy apple tree for this section that 
will produce fruit as fine for conking 
as the Duchess and retain its flavor 
till March. 

The Concord is his standard grape, 
and his method of treatment during 
the winter is to cover the vines with 
earth during the first three years' and, 
after that period, with hay. 

He has learned how to make home- 
life on the farm a source of real en- 
joyment as well as profitable employ- 
ment. Every part of his large farm 
exhibits l he indications of thorough 
cultivation and energetic improve- 
ment, yet as his sons have grown up 
he has sent them away to school or 
college. Having acquired a good edu- 
cation they have been content to 
settle on farms near the old home, as- 
sured of finding pleasant and profit- 
able employment and the most inde- 
pendent road to success. 

In 1902 he retired from the responsi- 
bilities incident to the personal care 
of so large a farm, and rented it to 
Calvin. In taking this step he very 
prudently decided not to move to 
town where he would prove a stran- 
ger, but to remain on the farm amid 
the associations that have been near- 
est and dearest during the active part 
of his life. 

He has been president of the Poca- 
hontas County Fire and Lightning 
Insurance Association since its organ- 
ization in 1890. He is an enthusiast 
for this form of mutual protection on 
the part of farmers, because it is 
"cheap, safe and sound;" and by his 
fidelity and zeal has contributed 
greatly to the success of this organiza- 
tion. 

He has always been a republican. 



648 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



He participated in the organization of 
the township and has been intimate- 
ly identified with the management 
of its public affairs, serving as the 
first teacher, the first township clerk, 
and then successively as secretary, 
president and treasurer of the school 
board. 

His parents were Mennonites, but 
since his marriage he has been a faith- 
ful, liberal and honored member of 
the M. E. church, serving many years 
as superintendent of the Sunday 
school and a trustee and treasurer of 
the church, since public services were 
established in Lincoln township. 

His family consists of three sons, 
Calvin, William and Herbert. 

Calvin B. in 1887 married Jennie *V. 



Lucas, a teacher, and locating on a 
farm of 80 acres improved and occu- 
pied it until 1902, when he returned 
to the old homestead in order that his 
venerable parents might enjoy some 
respite from toil and care. 

William J. in 1897 married Ida 
Crummer and occupies a farm of 80 
acres on Sec. 29. 

Herbert B. is pursuing a scientific 
course in Morning Side college pre- 
paratory to the study and practice of 
medicine. In 1893 after an illness of 
fifteen months from appendicitis, his 
life was saved by the removal of the 
vermiform appendix, by Dr. Senn, at 
the Presbyterian Hospital, Chicago. 

Sanford, the second son, died at four 
in 1873.. 





RESIDENCE OF CHARLES ELSEN, Lake Township. 
County Supervisor, 1897. — Date. 




BARN OF ALEXANDER PETERSON 
Colfax Township. 




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XXII. 

LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



"Hail to the hardy pioneers! 

The men that cleared the forests, 
And built log cabins rude; 
The wives that shared the hardships 4 . 
Of toil and solitude." 

"Though the old folks talk of the good old times 
When land was plenty and cares were few; 
Yet the young folks listen with doubtful smiles, 
Convinced they were not as good as the new." 

When the author visited Lizard township to gather the materials for its 
historj he found that no early records of any sort were available for refer- 
ence. When John M. Russell, the clerk at that time, perceived, our embar- 
rassment, he volunteered to gather the facts and prepare a correct general 
history of its settlement and the succession of its officers, as far as possible. 
Having a just appreciation of its future value, he entered upon this under- 
taking with considerable enthusiasm, bestowed a large amount of labor upon 
it, and after the lapse of several months, sent us a very complete history of 
the township, all of which has been embodied in this work and most of it in 
the general part of this chapter. The author gratefully acknowledges the 
valuable assistance thus rendered by John M. Russell. 

GENERAL FEATURES. 



IZARD township (90- 
31) is located in the 
southeast corner of 
the county and is 
traversed by both the 
north and south 
branches of Lizard creek. Whilst the 
latter has considerable resemblance to 
a slough, its bottom being covered 
with grass, cane, rushes and flag, the 
former, though shallow, has a gravel 
bottom and a lively current. Along 




its banks are several groves of natural 
timber that contained about 200 acres, 
of which the one on Sec. 24, known as 
the "Collins grove," contained 70 
acres, and the one on the farm of 
Nicholas Nolan (Sec. 4) wa's called 
"Camp grove." The soil is a rich 
black loam underlaid with a subsoil 
of clay. It is very productive and the 
running water in its shady streams 
make it splendid for raising stock. 

The Sioux name for Lizard creek 
was "Was-sa-ka-pom-pa," the river 



(649) 



650 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



with lizards. The propriety of this 
name also appears in the extreme sin- 
uosity of its course, which doubles up- 
on itself so frequently as to give it 
the appearance of the tortuous trail 
of a lizard. The Des Moines river, in- 
to which it empties at Fort Dodge, 
was originally named "Moingonan" by 
the Algonkins, "Moingona" by Char- 
levoi and "Eah-sha-wa-pa-ta" or Red 
Stone river by the Sioux. 

Lizard township was established 
Feb. 19, 1859, by an order of Luther L. 
Pease, county judge of Webster coun- 
ty (p. 196), and it then included the 
four townships in the southeast part 
of the county. June 4, 1861, its bound- 
ary was changed so as to include the 
four townships in the south row of 
the county and the south half of Grant 
and Dover (p. 194). Subsequently Lake 
and Lincoln townships were again at- 
tached and it was not left in its pres- 
ent form until Lake was detached, 
June 5, 1877. 

All the territory included in it form- 
ed one road district until Oct. 1, 1866, 
when it was divided into two, in 1868 
into three, * and in 1869 into four 
road districts. In 1874 the township, 
as now constituted, was divided into 
nine road districts of four sections 
each, and socn afterward the same ter- 
ritory was organized into eight inde- 
pendent school districts as at present. 

PIONEER SETTLERS. 

The first settlements in this county 
were made in this township in 1855 
and 1856. The first settlers were 
James Hickey (single), Michael Col- 
lins, Michael Broderic (single), Charles 
Kelley, John Calligan, Patrick Calli- 
gan (single), Roger Collins, Walter 
Ford, Dennis Connors, Philip Russell, 
John Russell (single), Patrick McCabe, 
James Donahoe, Michael Walsh and 
their families. 

A few others, consisting of Hugh 
Collins, Patrick Forey, Edward Quinn, 
Michael Morrisey, James Condon, 
Michael Donavan and Thomas Ellis, 



had located near them in Jackson 
township and Caspar H. Brockshink 
in Lake township. These were the 
families that composed the Lizard 
settlement at the end of 1856, and 
most of their first houses were built 
of logs from the natural timber along 
the north branch of Lizard creek. 

1857. In 1857 there arrived the 
families of John Quinlan, James Gor- 
man, Patrick McLarney, Thomas 
Crowell, Patrick Collins and Edward 
Bradfield. 

1858. In 1858 there arrived Mrs. 
Bridget Vahey, Thomas Quinlan, 
Thomas Prendergast and a few others. 

An account of these early pioneers 
will be found on pages 155 to 165. Af- 
ter 1858 there were no arrivals worthy 
of mention until the close of the civil 
war. 

This "Lizard Settlement" was the 
first one west of the Des Moiner river 
in the vicinity of Fort Dodge, and all 
in it were pre-emptors. That some of 
them were deprived of their first loca- 
tions is not a surprise, when it is re- 
membered that the act of Congress, 
granting the alternate sections to the 
Dubuque & Sioux City R. R. Co., was 
not approved until May 15, 1856. and 
the lands were not certified to that 
company until Dec. 23, 1858. The 
homestead law went into effect July 
4, 1862. 

SEVERITIES AND HARDSHIPS. 

The development of a new country 
always involves a vast amount of hard 
work and it has to be performed at a 
great disadvantage. This Lizard set- 
tlement was founded on the frontier 
in the expectation of immediate rail- 
road facilities, but the panic of 1857 
followed by the civil war in 1861, put 
a sudden and absolute check on all 
such enterprises and left them unex- 
pectedly without money or help twen- 
ty miles from Fort Dodge, the nearest 
trading point, which was then noth- 
ing but a deserted soldiers' barracks 
that was often in need of provisions 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



651 



/ 



sufficient to meet local demands. 
There were no grades or bridges, and 
the sloughs and streams were impass- 
able a great part of the year except in 
skiffs or dugouts. 

These early pioneers were not a peo- 
ple on whom the goddess of fortune 
and luxury immediately smiled. The 
young farmer and his wife had to 
do all their own work and in the rud- 
est or most primitive way. Mowers 
and reaping machines had not yet 
been invented. A plow that would 
scour in this black loam existed only 
in the imagination, and no one dream- 
ed of such inventions as the present 
binders, threshers and corn harvest- 
ers. All grass intended for hay had 
to be cut with a scythe, and other 
crops with a corn cutter, sickle or 
grain cradle. The use of overshoes 
not having extended to this section, 
the common cowhide or kip boot was 
the only protection for his feet, and 
an overcoat was a luxury. They were 
beset on every side with innumerable 
obstacles of time, distance and lack of 
means. 

Let not ambition mock their usefnl 
toil, 

Their homely joys, their destiny ob- 
scure, 

Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful 
smile 

The short but simple annals of the 
poor. — Gray. 

Neither let modern presumption 
mock their bent form, or unsteady 
step from wearied heart and limb, nor 
cast a single glance of aspersion on 
the noble work they have done. 

The natural appearance of the coun- 
try to them was weird and romantic. 
The prairies in summer were covered 
with a thick growth of heavy blue 
joint and wire grass, and the bottoms 
waved beneath a luxuriant growth of 
coarse grass so tall that a man of or- 
dinary .stature could scarcely be seen 
walking through it. In winter the 
deep snows covered the prairies and 
filled the ravines. The wild roar of 



the storm and the weird howl of the 
prairie wolf at times caused the brav- 
est adventurer to pause, and filled 
with terror the heart of the belated 
wayfarer. 

On the other hand the freshness and 
salubrity of the air oh a summer's 
morn, the sweet singing of the birds, 
the cooing of prairie chickens and the 
quackiDg of wild ducks animated one 
with delightful aspirations. The wild 
roses in June covering the banks of 
the streams lent their fragrance to 
the air and gave a Jovely enchantment 
to the scene, which was heightened 
by the beautiful, billowy blending of 
the high and low lands, clothed with 
their virgin robe of summer verdure. 
Along the Lizard plumps of wild fowl, 
such as wisps of snipe, flights of plov- 
ers, bevies of quail, coveys of part- 
ridges and harrows of wild geese 
abounded, and occasionally a few deer 
would be seen browsing on the out- 
skirts of the timber as if paying a 
farewell visit to their old and familiar 
haunts, which they were loath to 
abandon. 

FEAR OF INDIANS. 

One of the terrors that harrassed 
the early western pioneer was the con- 
stant fear of a savage incursion by the 
Indians. These pioneers on the Liz- 
ard served their time as "sentinels" 
of the commonwealth or "pickets on 
duty," guarding the frontier of civili- 
zation. They endangered their lives 
in preparing the way for succeeding 
generations. The pioneer, armed with 
the plowshare and the implements of 
peace, led the van of progress and civ- 
ilization on these western wilds with 
personal peril, as certainly as the sol- 
dier who offers his life for the perpet- 
uation of the government, andis armed 
with the weapons of war. 

On one occasion when Wm. Walsh 
was in Fort Dodge there came to him 
the word that a band of Indians had 
camped on his farm after his depart- 
ure, and had taken some of his shoats. 



652 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The next morning, accompanied by 
the sheriff of Webster county and a 
lot of armed men from Fort Dodge on 
wagons, he started home expecting to 
have a pitched battle with the In- 
dians. When they had traveled about 
ten miles the Indians were seen com- 
ing over a little hill a short distance 
before them, all mounted on ponies. 
Ordering a halt, the sheriff and 
Mr. Walsh advanced to them and 
meeting the old chief he showed them 
his passport written on a large sheet 
of paper. As a result of the parley 
the Indians were allowed to continue 
their journey and the armed wagon 
train soon afterward returned to Fort 
Dodge. 

This was the Johnnie Green tribe of 
the Pottawattamies (p. 135) and they 
had indeed stopped at the home of 
Wm. Walsh, very much to the annoy- 
ance of his wife. The squaws looking 
through the open window of the log 
cabin and seeing a little baby began 
to shout, "Pap-oose! pap-oose!" there- 
by awakening fears that they were 
going to take it with them. Happily 
a couple of neighboring women arriv- 
ed and repeating the words, "White 
men coming! white men coming!" the 
Indians were induced to leave the 
premises. 

On another occasion two braves that 
that had been trapping around Lizard 
Lake came to the home of John Calli- 
gan at a time when he and his wife 
were in the field, and Ellen Broderic 
(Mrs. Philip Russell) and Mrs. Dennis 
Connors were in the cabin. Edward, 
the oldest of the children, was sent 
to the field for Mr. Calligan and when 
he arrived they signified by various 
gestures that they wanted something 
to eat. Corn. bread and meat was very 
freely served them on chairs outside 
the cabin. 

Then they went to the home of 
Henry Brockshink where they fright- 
ened the women folks, shot the dog 
and stole a blanket and several other 



articles. When Brockshink returned 
and learned what the Indians had 
done, he hastened to Fort Dodge and, 
returning with a posse of armed horse- 
men, he surprised the settlers consid- 
erably but found no other traces of 
the Indians. 

Just after harvest in 1858 a traveler 
spread the word that a band of Sioux 
warriors, armed with guns and wear- 
ing red shawls, had been seen engag- 
ing in a "wild grass dance" and were 
approaching from the west. This 
was soon after the Spirit Lake massa- 
cre and the news so alarmed the set- 
tlers that they were afraid to sleep in 
their cabins and sought resting places 
at night under the shocks of grain. 
When the word reached Fort Dodge 
another party of mounted citizens set 
out to meet the menacing foe. Hast- 
ening through the Lizard settlement 
they found no trace of any Indians, 
and an investigation disclosed the fact 
that the spectral foe was merely a 
flock of sandhill cranes that had been 
seen at a distance enjoying a "wild 
grass dance," the f rolicksome flapping 
of their wings creating the impression 
that they were waving red colored 
shawls. 

A number of Indian families con- 
tinued their trapping excursions for 
several successive autumns, locating 
their camp in the most sheltered and 
comfortable places along the north 
Lizard, which in those days abounded 
with small fur bearing animals such 
as muskrats, mink and beaver. The 
early settlers frequently visited their 
camp, having an eager curiosity to see 
the quaint appearance and habits of 
life of this strange, nomadic race that 
occupied this land long before the 
children of the pale face had ever 
heard of the New World. On these 
occasions the reflection often forced 
itself, that at the springs along the 
streams the swarthy maiden filled the 
family water pail with sparkling 
water, on these prairies the ruddy In- 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



653 



dian youth chased the deer and buffa- 
lo, and beneath the smoky rafters of 
the wigwam the old chief talked at 
night about the brave deeds of his 
tribe and the Great Spirit. 

THE LAND AND SETTLERS. 

This is but a brief description of the 
region that awaited development 
when these first settlers "drove their 
stakes and fastened their cords" in 
Pocahontas county. It was an arena 
that presented both possibilities and 
impossibilities— an opportunity for 
successful achievement and also of 
failure; a basis for hope, the bright 
star in the firmament of the future 
that lures the brave, and also for dis- 
may. The land in its primeval state, 
blooming as a paradise of pleasure, 
seemed as if it would satisfy the fan- 
cied imagination of the most queru- 
lous uomeseeker, but as an unsubdued 
wilderness, it was destined to test the 
tenacity of the stoutest hearted of 
her adopted sons. It devolved upon 
them to change the wilderness from 
savage to civilized life, and to trans- 
form the haunts of the deer and buf- 
falo into luxuriant pastures for sheep, 
hogs, horses and cattle. 

The story of the log cabin which 
was usually nestled within or located 
on the sunny side of a grove of timber 
is not one of princely castles, or of 
halls hung with tapestry and gold. 
When the logs of oak, ash and hickory 
were ready a day was appointed for a 
hauling and building bee. These 
raising bees attracted all the neigh- 
bors in the vicinity and often develop- 
ed a large amount of amusement, es-. 
pecially after the rafters were laid. 
Each builder made his own shingles, 
riving them out of a straight grained 
oak or ash log. The flooring and fin- 
ish lumber was made from logs drawn 
to Hinton's saw mill near Fort Dodge. 
After the walls were chinked and 
mortared they were plastered with 
lime and sand, although yellow clay 
and water were sometimes used as a 



substitute. The log cabin was warm 
and substantial, but nearly all of them 
have long since given place to larger 
and more elegant residences. Michael 
Donavan was the first one in the settle- 
ment to replace the log cabin with a 
good frame house. 

The early settlers of this township, 
with a few exceptions, were natives 
of the Emerald Isle, who, like the 
New England pilgrims, longed to en- 
joy more tolerant laws and more hope- 
ful prospects. Wafted on the wings 
of destiny they came to America in 
the vigor of their youth and rested 
not until they located on "the Liz- 
ard." They were good representatives 
of a hardy, robust race that had been 
inured to hardship and possessed great 
power of endurance. Though passing 
rapidly from the stage of action they 
leave behind them the footprints of 
hard labor and noble endeavor. 

NOTES ON THE PIONEERS. 

The first/ five children born in Liz- 
ard township were the first ones born 
in Pocahontas county. They were;(l) 
Rose Ann Donahoe, now Mrs. Patrick 
Crilly, born Feb. 23, 1857; (2) Maggie 
Calligan, born Aug. 11, 1857; (3) Annie 
Collins, born March 10, 1858; (4) Mary 
Walsh, born April 10, 1858; (5) Charles 
J. Kelley, born May 6, 1858. He was 
the first boy born in the county. 

The first death was that of Patrick 
Calligan in August, 1856. 

The first fields were enclosed in 1867 
by Michael Collins, Charles Kelley, 
John Calligan and Michael Broderick. 
The first quarter sections were en- 
closed by Michael Walsh and Hugh 
Collins in 3870. 

Philip Russell was regarded as the 
finest scholar and best penman. 

Michael Collins, who acquired two 
sections of land and considerable 
money besides, was considered the 
wealthiest man. 

Charles Kelley, a careful and thrifty 
farmer, ranked second in wealth. The 
elections and meetings of the town- 



654 PIONEER HISTORY OF^POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ship officers were held in his home 
from March 15, 1859 until the end of 
1864. 

Michael Walsh accumulated consid- 
erable wealth by honest labor and 
good management. 

John Calligan accumulated as much 
from raising stock on free pasturage 
as from the proceeds of his farm. 

Edward Calligan, 6 feet 2 inches in 
height and weighing 240 pounds, was 
the largest man raised on the Lizard. 

Patrick Forey was regarded as "Liz- 
ard's most famous politician." 

SETTLERS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 

1865. There were no new arrivals 
during the last seven of the ten years 
that passed after the first settlements 
were made. The era of the second 
immigration began with the year 1865, 
at the close of the civil war. So great 
was the number of new settlers that 
came at this period that the popula- 
tion of the township was nearly doub- 
led at the end of the first year of this 
new era. 

Among those that came in 1865 were 
Christopher (Sec. 3) and Nicholas (Wee. 
4) Nolan, John Henrichs (4), Michael 
O'Shea, David Miller, George Spragg 
and Wm. W. Stenson on 14; Jacob 
Carstens and Ferdinand Zanter on 22; 
William and George Price on 24; John 
Wiese, Adolph Fetterbaum, Rosina 
Yilhaber and Russell L. Sherman on 
26; John Donahoe and his four sons, 
Michael, John, William and Wallace; 
Wm. G. Wiese (27); John F. Hintz and 
Henry Heilmick on 28; Geo. W. Coop- 
er and Adam H. YanValkenburg on 
36. 

1866. In 1866 there arrived Gar- 
ret Schoonmaker and his son, Alonzo, 
on Sec. 4; James J. Bruce, David and 
John W. Wallace and Henry Shields 
on 8; John H. (Squire),. Isaac W. and 
Daniel Johnson on 10; J. D. and Died- 
erick Hoefing on 22; Fred Kelsow (26), 
Carl Steinbrink (27), William Boyd 
(28), Harvey B. Yaughn (30), Michael 
Wiese, Peter Wagner and Mrs. Jane 



Maxwell on 34; Archibald, Ethan and 
Henry A. Brown on 36. 

1867. In 1867 there arrived Wm. 
W. Westlake (28), Joseph Breitenbach 
(28), JohnH. (22) and Gerhard B. Cars- 
tens (30), John O'Niel, John Rickles 
and Bernard McDermott. 

1868. The new arrivals in 1868 
were Carl Redman (6), Edwin Y. Brown 
(12), August Mullen (22), William Fish- 
er, Abner D. Moore, Arndt E. and 
Benjamin Rost on 24; Robert Brown 
(26), John Julius (28), Fred W. Yetter 
(30), Thomas Brennan (34) and James 
N. McCormick on 36. 

1869. The new arrivals in 1869 
were Patrick and Michael J. Crahan 
on 8; Henry Steckelburg (14), Wm. 
Tobin, Michael and Gerd Renkin on 
20; Jeremiah Hallahan, Patrick and 
John Riley on 18; John Everwine (20), 
James C. Carey (26), Henry Heilmick 
(28), John Corcoran and Robert Dick- 
son on 34; Joseph Osburn, James 
Dempsey, John and Charles Oison and 
Daniel Messinger. 

1870=79. Only a few additional 
persons located in the township dur- 
ing the 70's, and most of them came 
in 1870, namely, James Sinnott, Carl 
Rodman and Wm. Godfrey on 6; Mar- 
tin A. and B. B. Moore on 25 and Ren- 
kin J. Weber on 34. Those that 
came later were John M. and his sons 
Orville and Clayton Brown, Fred 
Hoefing, M. E. Owens, Daniel Fitz- 
gerald, Carl F. Kenning (29) and Wm. 
Schroeder. 

During the early 80's John Christof- 
fers and Eimo Hendricks located on 
Sec. 4, Otto Siebelsand Herman Jans- 
sen, the latter a blacksmith as well as 
a farmer, on Sec. 5. 

NOTES ON THE HOMESTEADERS. 

The new immigrants or later set- 
tlers were homesteaders, and like 
their predecessors, the pioneers, were 
industrious, frugal and social. The 
earlier ones of them had to endure 
many privations and secured their 
present acquisitions by much hard 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



655 



labor. They enjoyed unreserved free- 
dom in raising cattle, and their herds 
roamed over the prairies many miles 
in every direction until 1875. They 
became planters of artificial groves, 
their predecessors having secured all 
the groves of natural timber. Many 
of them also engaged in trapping, a 
lucrative employment that had pre- 
viously attracted the attention of In- 
dians and professionals. 

William Stenson, the first postmas- 
ter and storekeeper in the township, 
excelled in neatness and taste as a 
farmer. Henry Steckelburg also kept 
store at his home on 23 a few years. 
John H. Johnson was the first one 
elected a justice and he was after- 
wards called "The Squire." Wm. 
Price was the first one elected consta- 
ble. Carl Steinbrink, a man of splen- 
did physique and who served as a 
county supervisor, was the largest 
manin the township. John M. Brown, 
the most popular trustee, in 1891, on 
Sec. 18, erected the costliest residence. 
David Miller was a fine scholar, a suc- 
cessful teacher and a good superin- 
tendent. Old lady Weber, born in 
1810, was the oldest person in the 
township. 

In 1867 several farmers hauled their 
dressed hogs to the Sioux City mar- 
ket. Manson did not become a trad- 
ing station until 1870. 

The first couple married were Ferdi- 
nand Zanter and Caroline Fieldhaber, 
who had a Fort Dodge justice perform 
the ceremony in September, 1866. 

TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. 

Previous to the organization of Po- 
cahontas county all the voters in the 
Lizard settlement belonged to Jack- 
son township, Webster county, and 
the elections were held at the home 
of Jas. P. White, who lived two miles 
southeast of the Lizard Catholic 
church. 

The first election in Lizard town- 
ship was held at the home of Charles 
Kelley (Sec. 12) March 15, 1859, the 



date on which the county was organ- 
ized. A t this election Michael Collins, 
Patrick Forey and Charles Kelley 
served as judges, Walter Ford and 
Philip Russell as clerks, and eleven 
persons voted. The first set of county 
officers were elected that day and one 
set of township officers for the two 
voting precincts, Lizard and Des 
Moines. 

On Sept. 7, 1859, a special election 
was held to vote on the erection of a 
public building or court house, and 
this measure having been approved, 
another special election was held Nov. 
19, 1859, to approve the contract for 
this building and a bridge over the 
Des Moines river at old Rolfe. The 
whole number of votes cast in both 
precincts at these special elections 
were 16 and 21 respectively. 

At the gereral election held Oct. 11, 

1859, according to the county records 
which are the only ones available for 
reference, only one set of township of- 
ficers were again elected for the two 
voting precincts. 

At the general election held Nov. 6, 

1860, a full set of township officers 
were elected for the year 1861, and as 
follows. Michael Collins, county su- 
pervisor; Patrick McCabe, Charles 
Kelley and Michael Walsh, trustees; 
Michael Collins, clerk; John Quinlan, 
assessor, and Philip Russell, justice of 
the peace. 

In 1862 the trustees were John Cal- 
ligan, Charles Kelley and Patrick Col- 
lins. In 1863 they were Patrick Mc- 
Larney, James Donahoe and Patrick 
Collins. In 1869 they were A. H. Van 
Valkenburg, Henry Steckelburg and 
Joseph Breitenbach. In 1872 they 
were D. W. Brown, John W. Wallace 
and Daniel Messinger. The succession 
of the trustees since that date has 
been as follows: 

D. W. Brown, 1872-76; J. W. Wal- 
lace, '72-75; Daniel Messinger, '72-73; 
B. B. Moore, Fred Kelsow, '75-77; 
David W. Wallace, '76-84; J. H. Cars- 



656 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



tens, E. M. Calligan, '78, '89-90; Ren- 
kin J. Weber, M. T. Collins, '72-84; M. 
Wiese, Ben Rost, '80-84; Daniel Lane, 
'85-90; P. Forey, P. M. Donahoe, Mich- 
ael Morrisey, Walter Ford, '86-88; John 
M. Brown, '87-99; James C. Carey, 91- 
94; John Carstens, '92-99; M. M. O'- 
Connor, '95-99; P. M. Donahoe, 1900- 
02; T. F. Collins. » 11900-02, James P. 
Eussell, 1900-02. 

Justices— Philip Russell, 1861-68; 
Charles Kelley, '63-64; John H. John- 
son, '67-74; James J. Bruce, '68; A. H. 
YanYalkenburg, '69-79, '75-79; Wm. W. 
Westlake, '71-74; Patrick Forey, '75- 
82; E. M. Calligan, '82, '87-91; Walter 
Ford, '83-93; Michael Morrisey, '83-86; 
T. J. Calligan, '92-93; G. B. Carstens, 
'94-99. 

Clerks— Michael Collins, 1861; Pat- 
rick McLarney, Patrick McCabe, Phil- 
ip Russell, '64-66, '68-71. '73-80; J. H. 
Johnson, '67; John W. Wallace, '72; 
Henry Kelley, '81-82; E. M. Calligan, 
'83-86; J. C.^Carey, '87-89; John M. Rus- 
sell, '90-94, '97; Michael J. Russell, '95- 
96; Walter P. Ford, '98-1900; E. H. 
Christoffer. 

Assessors— John Quinlan, '61-63, '65; 
Roger Collins, '64; Philip Russell, 
David Miller, '67, '69; George Spragg, 
Wm. W. Stenson, A. H. YanYalken- 
burg, M. T. Collins, '70, '74; Walter 
Ford, '73, '81-82; James C. Carey, '75, 
'78-79, '84-86; G. B. Carstens, Carl 
Steinbrink, Michael Crahan, Chris- 
topher Nolan, Philip Walsh, '93-96; 
Dick Hoefing, '97-1900; Christopher 
Nolan. 

The first jurors from this township 
were Patrick Forey, James Donahoe, 
Roger Collins and Patrick Collins, 
who served in November, 1860. 

HIGHWAYS. 

The first and for many years the 
only road across Lizard township was 
the emigrant wagon trail that mean- 
dered across the county from Fort 
Dodge to the Little Sioux river and 
thence to Sioux City. This route at 
first crossed the northeast part of the 



township and an inn was established 
at the home of Caspar H. Brockshink 
on the SWi Sec. 36, Lake township, 
that was continued by Patrick Forey, 
his successor. On one occasion some 
emigrants lost a team and barely es- 
caped with their own lives while try- 
ing to ford the Lizard west of that 
place. This event led the emigrants 
to ford that stream further south, on 
the farm of Michael Morrisey, and 
passing the. home of Michael Walsh 
the new route meandered northwest 
to Camp Grove and the homes 
of Nicholas Nolan and Garret Schoon- 
maker on Sec. 4, where the latter 
established and maintained an inn 
for a number of years. This trail, 
passing thence westward near Sunk 
Grove was for many years the main 
thoroughfare in the south part of the 
county. Trains of emigrant wagons, 
followed by droves of horses, cattle 
and sheep, passed westward on it near- 
ly every day, when it was in good con- 
dition, and scores of them also passed 
eastward. 

The first improved highway was the 
Lizard and (old) Rolfe road which was 
located in 1862 and extended due north 
from the west line of Sec. 36 to the 
northwest corner of Sec. 36, Des Moines 
township. Michael Collins and Os- 
car Slosson took the lead in securing 
this road and it was located by Patrick 
Forey, commissioner. The first road 
running east and west was located by 
Daniel Johnson, commissioner, in the 
spring of 1866 south of the north row 
of sections, and it was called the East 
and West road. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

Treasurer and recorder— Mich- 
ael Collins, 1862-64. 

Treasurers— Michael Collins, 1865; 
J. J. Bruce, '70-73. 

Clerks of the court— Philip Rus- 
sell, 1862-65; J. W. Wallace, '75-86. 

Superintendents— Michael Collins 
1863; J. J. Bruce, '68-69; David Miller, 
'70-78. 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



657 



Sheriff— Joseph Breitenbach, 1871- 
77. 

Recorder— Michael Crahan, 1881- 
82. 

Coroners — John H. Johnson, 1868- 
69, '76-77; JohnM. Brown, '80-81. 

County supervisors — Michael Col- 
lins, 1861; Patrick McCabe, '62-65: 
Philip Russell, '66-67; J. J. Bruce, '68- 
69; David Miller, M. A. Moore, Walter 
Ford, '72-71; Win. Stenson, '75-77; Carl 
Steinbrink, '78-83; T. J. Calligan, '81- 
86; M. T. Collins, '87-92. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The first school in the Lizard settle- 
ment was established in 185S at the 
borne of James T. White, who lived 
on the east side of the county line road 
on Sec. 30, Jackson township, and 
Hannah Stiles taught it several terms. 

The first meeting of the settlers in 
the south part of this county to con- 
sider school matters was held at the 
home of Charles Kelley in March, 1861. 
There were present at this meeting 
Charles Kelley, John Calligan, Patrick 
Forey, John Quinlan, Dennis Connors, 
Roger Collins, Michael Walsh, James 
Donahoe and Patrick McCabe. At 
this meeting Charles Kelley, John 
Calligan and Patrick Collins were 
elected directors and they organized 
as a board by electing Charles Kelley, 
president; Patrick McLarney, secre- 
tary, and Roger Collins, treasurer. 
That fall Ellen Condon, who received 
her certificate from W. H. Hait, taught 
the first school in a vacant log cabin 
built by Patrick Collins near the SE 
corner of the S Wi Sec. 13. The pupils 
that attended this school were Peter 
Donahoe, who later became the hus- 
band of the teacher, and his brother, 
Thomas Donahoe, Edward, Thomas, 
Mary and Ellen Calligan, Catherine 
and Mary, daughters of Roger Collins, 
M. T., John and Mary Collins, Mary 
Quinlan, Annie and Catherine Mc- 
Cabe. This log cabin called the "Pio- 
neer School House" was used for 
school purposes until the summer of 



1866, and the other teachers that 
taught in it were William Patterson, 
Maria Mitchell, James T. White, 
James White, Jr , Hannah Stiles and 
Jefferson Snodgrass. 

In the fall of 1866 a frame school 
house was built in this district then 
called Walsh No. 2, on the NE corner 
of Sec. 23, by Michael Collins, con- 
tractor. The oak lumber for the 
frame of it was obtained at Todd's 
mill, 11 miles SE of Fort Dodge, and 
the other materials used in its con- 
struction were hauled from Boones- 
boro, a distance that required four 
days to make the trip. This building, 
having received a new floor, was still 
in good condition for use in 1900. It 
was the third school building erected 
in this county, and the first teachers 
in it were David Miller and James J. 
Bruce, both of whom later became 
county superintendents. The second 
county teachers' institute was held in 
this building in December, 1871, by 
David Miller, superintendent. 

In 1863, when the board consisted of 
John Calligan, Patrick Collins and 
John Quinlan, the township was di- 
vided by the establishment of sub- 
district No. 1— Calligan— in the NE 
corner of the township, another school 
was started in the vacant cabin of 
Dennis Connors on the SWi Sec. 1, 
and the teachers that taught in this 
building were Philip Russell, Fannie 
Haire (Collins p. 156), and Mattie 
Lumpkin, who taught the fall term 
of 1865 in the log cabin and the winter 
term of 1866 in the new school house 
built in this district in 1865 by James 
P.. son of D. C. Russell of Jackson 
township, on the hill on Sec. 2, and 
later moved to the NW corner of Sec. 
12. The next teachers in it were 
James J. Bruce, who secured his cer- 
tificate from Superintendent W. D. 
McKwen August 20, 1866, and taught 
here the ensuing fall and winter terms 
and George B. Knapp. 

In 1867 school house No. 3 (Sec. 26) 



658 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



was built in the Wiese district by J. 
J. Bruce, and the next year No. 4 (Sec. 
34) was built in the Boyd district by 
J. J. Bruce and Michael O'Shea. No. 
5 (Sec. 29) in the Vetter or Lincoln 
district, was built in 1869, and No. 6 
(Sec. 8) in the Wallace district in 1870. 
No. 7 (Sec. 10) in the Johnson district 
was built in 1871 and No. 8 (Sec. 19) in 
the Humboldt district in 1873. 

Each of these sub-districts with the 
exception of Humboldt and Lincoln, 
was named after tbe man who was 
serving as director for it at the time 
the school house was built in it. The 
territory for the 9th district, which is 
in the center of the township, is still 
included in those adjoining it on the 
north, east and south, namely, John- 
son (No. 7), Walsh (No 2) and Boyd 
(No. 4). 

Other early teachers that taught in 
the township were Henry Kelley, Liz- 
zie McCann, Lizzie Calligan, Walter 
and Alfred Clark, J. J. Graham, M. H. 
Comstock, Kate and Annie B. Condon, 
Mary Walsh, Mary Condon, Mary 
Mulholland, Annie Kelley, Kate 
O'Boyle, Michael Crahan, Oscar I. 
Strong, Ella Westlake, E M. Calligan, 
Nellie Tyler, Maggie Griffin, Walter 
P. Ford, Michael, John and Maggie 
Russell, Lilly Collins, Tessa O'Niel 
and Mary J. Calligan. This township 
has always had an over supply of good 
teachers and its schools have been 
quite progressive. 

In 1899 there was erected in the 
Humboldt district one of the most 
convenient and modern of the rural 
school buildings in the county. All 
the windows are on one side of the 
building so that the light coming only 
from the rear of the pupil falls on his 
book and not on his eyes. The stove 
located in cme corner of the room is 
encased in a steel jacket. Pure air is 
constantly admitted through a regis- 
ter underneath the stove, and it is 
heated before it reaches the pupils. 
Near the floor in one part of the large 



double chimney is another register for 
the egress of the foul air. It has also 
a commodious hall in front and a sub- 
stantial coal room at the rear. 

Patrick McLarney, the first secre- 
tary of the school board, was succeeded 
by Patrick McCabe 1863-70, Walter 
Ford, David Brown and M. E. Owens, 
'74-75. Roger Collins, the first treas- 
urer, served until 1866, when he was 
succeeded by G. B. Carstens, J. J. 
Bruce, Wm. Stenson, Henry Shields, 
Joseph Breitenbach and by G. B. Cars- 
tens again in 1874-75. 

INDEPENDENT DISTRICTS. 

About the year 1875, after the eight 
sub-districts had been established and 
a school house had been built in each, 
some of the citizens in the western 
districts, led by Henry Shields, a di- 
rector, and Joseph Breitenbach, treas- 
urer in 1873, complained that the older 
districts on the east side of the town- 
ship absorbed an unequal share of the 
school funds. The school board at 
this time according to the number of 
the sub-districts consisted of Charles 
Kelley (president), Patrick McOabe, 
John Wiese, Wm. Boyd, John Vetter, 
Henry Shields (secretary), Daniel 
Johnson and Wm. Tobin; and G. B. 
Carstens was treasurer. In the in- 
terests of peace and good will, an ar- 
rangement was concluded whereby 
each of the sub-districts as then con- 
stituted became an independent dis- 
trict in the management of its school 
affairs. Each district since that date 
has elected its own board of three di- 
rectors, each of whom is elected for a 
term of three years, and they elect 
their own president, secretary and 
treasurer. So general has been the 
satisfaction under this arrangement 
that no desire to change it has ever 
been expressed. It is, however, the 
only township in the county in which 
the schools are managed in this way. 

YOUNG PEOPLE. 

Many of the young people of both 
sexes, after completing the course of 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



659 



studies provided by the public schools, 
have gone to various higher institu- 
tions of learning where they have pur- 
sued collegiate and professional courses 
of instruction. Among those that 
have already entered professions with 
good promise of success may be named 
Michael Murray, physician, Chicago; 
Charles J. Kelley, physician, Burling- 
ton, Iowa; fm. J. Collins, attorney, 
Clare; M. J. Eussell, attorney, Man- 
son; Joseph McCarville, priest, Ar- 
mah; Martin Murray, priest, Clarion. 
Literary societies or lyceums have 
been maintained through the winter 
seasons of most of the years since 1868. 
These evening gatherings have re- 
ceived the patronage of old and young, 
and proved genuine nurseries of learn- 
ing as well as sources of social pleas- 
ure. 

LIZARD POST/OFFICE. 

The "Lizard" postoffice, the first one 
in the township, was established at 
the home of Wm. Stenson, postmaster, 
on the SE£ Sec. 14, in December, 1868. 
After four years of faithful service, 
for which he received the magnificent 
salary of $12 a year, he resigned and 
closed the office. M. E. Owens soon 
afterwards re-established the office at' 
his home on Sec. 10 under the name 
of "Buda," and it was continued until 
Jan. 1, 18*75, when he left the county. 
Later it was again established as 
"Lizard" postoffice by Garret Schoon- 
maker at his store and inn on the S Wi 
Sec. 4, and he maintained it until 1884, 
when he moved to Calhoun county. In 
1891 Carl B. Elsen re-established the 
store and postoffice at this place. In 
1900 he was succeeded as postmaster 
by Martin Siebels and on Feb. 1, 1902, 
the office was discontinued, free rural 
delivery having been established from 
Gilmore City. 

THE PUBLIC CEMETERY. 

Lizard township has three cemetsr- 
ies, the Catholic on Sec. 24, the Ger- 
man Lutheran on Sec. 9 and the public 
cemetery on the northwest corner of 



Sec. 26. In 1871 Arndt Ross and three 
of his daughters were buried in this 
plot of ground, and in 1871 it was do- 
nated to the trustees of the township 
by Jacob Carstens for cemetery pur- 
poses. It was platted by Oscar I. 
Strong, who was then teaching school 
in the home of Adolph Felterbaum, 
and Mrs. Catherine (Dietrick) Hoefing 
was buried in it that year. 

LIZARD CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Nearly all the pioneers of the Lizard 
settlement had been brought up un- 
der the Roman Catholic faith and for 
more than twenty years their spirit- 
ual needs were supplied by the priest 
at Fort Dodge. The first religious 
services in the Lizard settlement were 
held at the home of Sylvester Griffin 
on theNEi Sec. 19, Jackson township, 
August 15, 1855, by Rev. Father 
Amonds of Iowa City. Rev. John 
Vahy, the first priest located at Fort 
Dodge, held his first services in the 
Lizard settlement ar, the home of 
James T. White on the SWi Sec. 35, 
same township, in May, 1856. He con- 
ducted the first religious services in 
Lizard township at the home of Mich- 
ael Collins on the SEi Sec. 13, during 
the summer of 1857. Rev. John Vahy 
continued to serve them most of 1858, 
when he was succeeded by Rev. Joseph 
McCulloch. After a few months of 
service by Rev. Mr. Elward he was 
succeeded by Rev. J. J. Marsh who 
continued about four years, or until 
his decease in March, 1865. His par- 
ish extended from Fort Dodge to Era- 
metsburg and it was his custom to 
stop over night on the way at the hotel 
kept by David Slosson at old Rolfe. 
He visited Lizard once a month and 
Emmetsburg once in three months. 
Other homes in the Lizard settlement 
in which he held services were those 
of Michael Donavan, Sylvester Griffin 
and James Fenton, all of whom lived 
in Jackson township. 

Rev. Patrick Delaney and Rev. Jos. 
Butler then served the Lizard people 



660 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



until 1870, when Rev. Thomas M. Len- 
in an became their successor and es- 
tablished new preaching stations at 
Fonda, Pocahontas, Pomeroy, and 
Manson. In 1871 he secured the erec- 
tion of the Lizard Catholic church, 
32x72, with 14 feet studs and costing 
with its furniture $2,60o, on the coun- 
ty line road east of Sec. 24, on which 
the cemetery is located. After the 
completion of this building for which 
the corner stone was laid July 6, 1871, 
the services were held every other 
Sabbath and this congregation was as 
strong as the one at Fort Dodge. Soon 
afterwards he secured the erection of 
churches at Emmetsburg, Dover town- 
ship, Fonda, Pacahontas (a Bohemian 
parish), Pomeroy, Manson and Fort 
Dodge, and in 1881 the parsonage cost- 
ing $1,700 at the Lizard church. He 
was that year succeeded by Rev. 
Stephen Norton, the first resident 
pastor, who enlarged the church at a 
cost of $700, built a barn and other 
outbuildings. He served Lizard un- 
til his death in 1887, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Matthew Darcy. After 
a residence of two years at the Lizard 
church he moved to Clare but contin- 
ued to serve Lizard until 1895, when 
it became a part of the Gilmore City 
parish, under. Rev. F. D. Sullivan, who 
in 1901 was succeeded by Rev Stephen 
Butler. 

Many of the founders of this church 
now lie buried in the Catholic ceme- 
tery near it on Sec. 24, among whom 
may be named Charles Kelley, Mr. and 
Mrs. Hugh Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Den- 
nis Mulholland, Mr. and Mrs. Michael 
O'Connors, Mrs. John Calligan, Mrs. 
M. T. Collins, Philip Russell, James 
Condon, Patrick Forey and Michael 
Walsh. 

Four soldiers are buried here, John 
Russell, John Thornton and Hugh 
O'Niel, who served in the civil war, 
and Sylvester Griffin, who served in 
the Mexican war. Decoration Day 
services were held here first in 1886. 



THE ST. JOHN'S LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The St. John's congregation of the 
of the German Lutheran church has 
secured a good church building, par- 
sonage and cemetery, all located near 
each other on the west side of the 
NWiSec. 9. The church, 32x60 feet 
and costing $2,000, was built in 1885 
on a site of 2i acres that was donate d 
by Otto Siebels for church and ceme- 
tery purposes. In 1890 a parsonage 
and other outbuildings, costing $900, 
were built on 40 acres adjoining, pur- 
chased at that time, and in 1894 the 
church was supplied with a good bell 
by Jacob Carstens. In 1902 a new par- 
sonage was built at a cost of $2,000. 

This church was organized in 1885 
by a number of families living in Liz- 
ard, Lake and Lincoln townships. 
While some of these people, John and 
Gerd Carstens, Dietrick Hoefing, Die- 
deric and Rudolf Beneke and others 
had located here as early as 1867 ; or 
very soon thereafter, yet none of them 
had ever belonged as communicant 
members to any organized congrega- 
tions of this or adjacent counties. 
Most of them, coming from Ostfries- 
land, Germany, were not accustomed 
to the church rites generally observed 
by the Lutheran Synods in this coun- 
try, or even by those who had come 
from other German provinces. Whilst 
all Lutherans adhere to the same doc- 
trines, as set fopth in the Augsburg 
Confession, it is a noteworthy fact 
that the rites observed in the services 
of the churches vary as much in the 
liturgical element as do those of the 
Presbyterian and Episcopal churches. 
The Ostfriesland people are very con- 
servative, object to everything like 
high-church-ism and insist on the 
simple rites of their fathers. On this 
account the Lutherans of this con- 
gregation refrained from becoming 
members of neighboring churches. and 
also from organizing under their first 
pastors. 

The first une to hold German serv- 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



ices in the south part of this county 
was Rev. J. F. Doescher, pastor of 
St. Paul's Lutheran church, Fort 
Dodge, 1867-74. He came occasionally 
in 1871-73. In 1874 his successor at 
Fort Dodge, Rev. Theodore Mertens, 
held occasional services, first in the 
home of Diederic Beneke and later in 
the Saylor school house in Lincoln 
township. In 1875 the services were 
established at the O'Boyle school 
house, Sec. 19, by Rev. Then. Mattfield 
of Manson, who continued until 1879. 
He and his two predecessors belonged 
to the Missouri Synod. 

Their successors, Rey. M. During of 
Pomeroy, 1880-82; Rev. W. Schultzke 
and Rev. Geo. Merschroth, 1882-84, all 
belonged to the \Vartburg Synod. 

Commencing with the year 1885, 
when the St. John's church was or- 
ganized and the church built., this 
congregation has been served by min- 
isters of the Iowa Synod, namely, Rev. 
Otto Steahling, the first resident pas- 
tor, 1885-94; Rev. William Weltner. 
1894 to date. 

The pastor of the church is superin- 
tendent of the Sunday school and 
maintains a parochial school six 
months of the year. The first persons 
buried in the cemetery were Deborah 
and Herman, children of Otto Siebels. 

In 1891 Rev. Otto Steahling effected 
the organization of the St. Peters 
Lutheran church, that meets for wor- 
ship in the Center school house, Lin- 
coln township. This congregation now 
consists of twelve families represent- 
ing 30 communicant members. 

OXEN AND HOUSES. 

The use of horses was introduced in 
Lizard township in 1861, but their use 
did not become general until after 
1870. Before the sloughs were bridg- 
ed oxen were indispensable, since they 
could draw loads through sloughs that 
were impassable with horses. At the 
funerals in the Lizard settlement dur- 
ing-the 60's, usually more than 40 of 
the 50 conveyances forming the pro- 



cession were drawn by ox teams. Dur- 
ing the period of bad roads in those 
early days the farmers, in going for 
coal and other heavy commodities, of- 
ten formed neighborhood trains or 
processions, so they might assist each 
other in crossing the bad places. On 
the farm they followed the advice of 
the classic Roman poet, Virgil: 

"In the early dawning of the year, 
Produce the plow and yoke the sturdy 

steer; 
Goad him till ho groans beneath his 

toil, . 
Till the bright share is buried in the 

soil." 

The winter of 1856 and 57 was ex- 
tremely cold. On Dec. 5-8 there oc- 
curred the severest snow storm of the 
41 years preceding. The drifts ranged 
from 3 to 12 feet, and where the prai- 
ries had not been burned the previous 
fall travel was impossible during the 
remainder of the winter. This was 
true of the deep ravines on the route 
to Fort Dodge near the Collins and 
Griffin groves. There was scarcely 
any sunshine in March, 1857, and a 
large amount of snow reaaained till 
the first of April. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Breitenbach Joseph, was sheriff 
of Pocahontas county from Jan. 1, 
1874, to Sept. 13, 1878. After nearly 
five years of public service in this ca- 
pacity he met with an accident while 
getting a load of hay on the prairie 
near Pocahontas that resulted in his 
death that day. The court at its next 
session, Hon. Ed R. Duffie, presiding 
judge, on the recommendation of the 
bar, had the following resolution 
spread on the public records: '-That 
in our business relations with the de- 
ceased during many years, we have 
found him a fearless, active and effi- 
cient officer; that we sincerely mourn 
his death and tender our sympathy to 
his bereaved family." 

He came in 1867 from Wisconsin and 
located on the SEi Sec. 22. He left a 
wife and three children. His wife 



662 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



later married August Miller, lives in 
Lizard township and still owns the 
old homestead. 

Brown John, David, Archibald, 
Henry and Joseph, five brothers and 
their father, coming from Canada in 
1866, secured homesteads on sections 
36 and 26. John died on his farm in 
1870. In 1873 the others left the coun- 
ty, their father returning to Canada, 
Archibald, Henry and Joseph going to 
the state of Washington. 

Brown Edwin V., who in 1868 lo- 
cated on Sec. 12, a brother-in-law of 
John M. Brown, is now living at Fort 
Dodge. 

Brown John M. (b. 1836), owner 
and occupant of 400 acres, principally 
on Sec. 18, has been a resident of the 
township since 1876. He is a native 
of New York state, where he married 
i'n 1856 and located on a farm. Dec. 
30, 1862, he enlisted as a member of 
the 2d New York heavy artillery, and 
continued in the service until the close 
of the war. He participated in the 
battles at fep >ttsylvania, North Anna 
River, Talapotany Creek, Cold Har- 
bor, Petersburg, Ream Station, 
Hatchers Run, Five Forks, South Side 
R. R., Amelia Springs and Round 
Fort. He was taken prisoner 
by the Confederates April 7, 1865 
while making a charge on Round 
Fort, Virginia, in which 575 men were 
lost in a few minutes, but was recap- 
tured two days later when Lee 
surrendered. After keeping a hotel 
couple of years in Shenango county, 
N. Y., he again located on a farm 
where he remained until 1876, when 
he came to his present location on Sec. 
18, where he commenced with 80 acres 
which he was the first to occupy and 
improve. He has "grown up with the 
country" by becoming a good leader 
in the work of improvement. As the 
years have passed he has added 320 
acres to the original purchase and the 
buildings erected are rated as the 
largest and finest in the township. 



His large dwelling house was built in 
1891, soon after the erection of the 
barn. The buildings are protected by 
an ample grove and he is now enjoy- 
ing the fruit from a good orchard and 
a plot planted in small fruits. He is 
an aggressive and successful farmer 
and his value as a citizen has been 
recognized. He has served more years 
as a trustee than any other citizen of 
the township, and was coroner of the 
county in 1880-81. 

Six of his family of nine children 
are living. 

Orville Y. (b. N. Y. 1859), in 1881 
married Elizabeth Dawson of Calhoun 
county, lives on Sec. 18, and has eight 
children, Edna, Sidney, Sarah E , 
Robert, George, Floyd, Ernest and Ivan 

Clayton (b. N. Y. 1868), in 1891 mar- 
ried Mary A. Smith, lives in Lizard 
township, and has two children, Clar- 
ence and Lilly. 

George G. (b. N. Y. 1870), in 1893 
married Emma L. Anderson and lives 
at Manson. 

Lillian, a very successful teacher, in 
1896 married Edward P. Trenary and 
lives in Grant township. 

Rose A., a teacher, in 1901, married 
Ernest Barger, lives at Cedar Falls. 

ealliqan John (b. 1822, p. 157), who 
was the first settler to effect the loca- 
tion of his family in Pocahontas coun- 
ty, on the SEi Sec. 2, Lizard township, 
is a native of Gal way county, Ireland. 
In 1817 at 25 he came to St. John's, 
New Brunswick, and the next year to 
Maine, where in 1849 at Ellsworth he 
married Bridget, sister of Michael 
Broderick. He remained there until 
the spring of 1856, when he brought 
his family to Fort Dodge, where he 
arrived May 13th. This trip was one 
he never forgot. He came on the cars 
as far as Dubuque, which was the ter- 
minus of the railroad. He paid the 
driver of a stage coach $45 to take his 
wife and four children to Fort Dodge, 
and tnen he set out on foot and walk- 
ed the entire distance of 200 miles. 



LIZAED TOWNSHIP. 



663 



The only bridge west of Dubuque was 
at Cedar Falls over the Cedar river. 
Usually he had to wade or swim tbe 
streams. Arriving at Fort Dodge he 
pushed on 20 miles further west where 
his brother-in-law, Michael Broderick, 
was awaiting his arrival, and by his 
help he was enabled to locate his fam- 
ily on the frontier in the Lizard set- 
tlement before those who had taken 
claims before him. These facts sug- 
gest the courage and indomitable per- 
severance of the man. He did not 
sbrink from a task because it was dif- 
ficult. If the wilderness was wild be- 
fore him he knew why he had travel- 
ed all the way from Maine to the Liz- 
ard and without any indecision or 
hesitancy began to lay the foundation 
for his future home and fortune. In 
this effort be encountered many dis- 
couragements, but rising above them, 
achieved good success. He possessed 
the faculty of utilizing to good advan- 
tage the resources of nature that fur 
many years were free around him. As 
the years passed he enlargel and 
beautified his home, increased bis 
original farm to several hundred acres 
and occupied it until 1894 when he 
moved to Gilmore City, where his 
estimable wife, also a native of Ire- 
land, died at 80 in 1901. 

His house was used for the elections 
and meetings of the township officers 
during the year 1865. He served as a 
trustee of the township in 1862, was a 
member of the first school board, and 
the first school district was named in 
his honor. 

His family consisted of five children: 

Edward M. (b. Maine, 1850), who 
taught the first school in Fonda, in 
1878 married Mary Lane and located 
on a farm. He served several years 
each as clerk, trustee and justice. A 
few years ago he moved to Dakota 
City where his wife died in 18^8 leav- 
ing a family of eleven children. 

Mary A. in 1872 married M. J. Hen- 



neberry, lives in Humboldt county an 1 
has six children. 

Thomas J. (b. Maine, 1853), in 1878 
married Mary J. Crilly and their only 
child died in infancy. He has a splen- 
did farm in Lizard township which 
he occupied until a few years ago, 
when he moved to Gilmore City where 
he has since been engaged in the real 
estate buriness. He was a member of 
the board of county supervisors 1884- 
86. 

Ellen F. in 1880 married P. R. Pow- 
ers, lives at Lohrville and has a family 
of nine children. 

Maggie (b. Aug. 11, 1857), tbe sec- 
ond child born in Pocahontas county, 
in 1884 married Morris O'Connor, who 
died the next year leaving ono child. 
In 1889 she married James Whelan, 
lives at Emmetsburg and their family 
consists of eleven children. 

©arey James C, who in 1870 locat- 
ed on Sec. 26, was quite successful and 
became the owner of 240 acres. He 
raised a family of several children, 
two of whom are married, and servf d 
four years as a trustee. In 1899 he 
moved to Fort Dodge where he died 
in the fall of 1901. 

Sarstens Jacob (b. 1819), resident 
of Lizard township since May, 1865, is 
a native of Germany. In 1847 be can e 
to Wisconsin and after engaging in 
railroad construction three years he 
returned to Germany. In 1854 be 
came to Clayton county, Iowa, and af- 
ter engaging in the land business six 
years be again returned to the father 
land. In 1861 he returned to Clayton 
county and in 1865 secured a home- 
steal of 80 acres on Sec. 22, Lizard 
township. Soon afterward he bought 
320 acres more on the same section at 
$3 00 per acre Accompanied by his 
nephew, Diederic Hoefing, he began 
life on this homestead in a sod shanty 
that lasted three years, and he devot- 
ed his time and attention to dealing 
in land rather than farming. 



664 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The following incident related by 
his longtime neighbor and fellow 
countryman, Carl Steinbrink, gives 
one a good introduction to Mr. Cars- 
tens. In 1866 when Carl Steinbrink 
and Fred Kelsow arrived at Fort 
Dodge and were informed that a 
homesteader by nam 3 of Carstens 
owning 400 acres in the locality to 
which they wanted to go, was then in 
that town, they felt very sure they 
would be able to complete their jour- 
ney to Lizard township in his wagon. 
So when they were introduced to each 
other, Steinbrink very confidently 
said, "You are in town with a team, 
ain't you?" "No," said Carstens, "I 
don't have a team, all I've got is a 
cat." That surprised Steinbrink and 
he quickly exclaimed, "Why man, 
what kind of farming are you doing 
out there? I want to go out and see 
it." "Well," said Carstens, "I am not 
a farmer, I am buying land and selling 
it." After a little further explana- 
tion, the three men, Carstens, Stein- 
brink and Kelsow, started with their 
luggage and Walked to Sec. 22, a dis- 
tance of 20 miles. 

As a dealer in lands he has become 
quite successful and is now the happy 
owner of more than 2,000 acres in Liz- 
ard and adjoining townships. His 
grove of walnuts and maples, contain- 
ing fifteen acres, is one of the largest 
in the township. He has been very 
contented and happy living alone and 
utilizes his spare moments by reading 
good books and caring for a f e v cattle 
and fowls. He is now over 80 years of 
age and is quite hale and hearty for a 
man of his years. He has not taken 
much interest in politics. A few 
years ago he presented the Lizard 
Lutheran church with a good bell and 
organ. He is an honest, upright citi- 
zen and is very highly respected by 
all who know him. 

Sarsteas John II., cousin of Jacob, 
married Lena Carstens. In 1867 he 
came with his family to Lizard town- 



ship and located on the NWi Sec. 22. 
He improved and enlarged this farm 
to 320 acres, and at the time of his de 
cease at 65 in 1899, left a family of 
eleven children, four of whom are 
married. He was a good farmer and 
served six years as a trustee. He was 
one of the founders of the German 
Lutheran church. 

3arstens Gerhard B., in 1867 came 
with his brother, John H, to Lizard 
township and located on Sec. 30. He 
has been very successful as a farmer 
and is now the owner of 320 acres 
which he has improved with good 
buildings and groves. He married 
Elizabeth, sister of Diederic Hoefing 
and has raised a large family. 

(Sollies Michael, (b. 1821; d. 1898, 
see p. 156), member of the first board 
of county supervisors in 1861, became 
the wealthiest and in some respects 
the most prominent of the Lizard pio- 
neers. His axe was one of the first to 
ring in the woods along the Lizard 
and his stalwart form was among the 
first to startle the Indian in Pocahon- 
tas county. He was a generous, hon- 
orable man whom to know was to be- 
come his friend. He participated in 
the organization of Lizard township, 
and also of Pocahontas county. He 
served as the first clerk of Lizard 
township, took an intelligent and 
active part in the management of its 
affairs and made a good success of his 
own business. He served three years 
1862-64, as county treasurer and re- 
corder and the next year as county 
treasurer. Walter Ford, his friend 
and neighbor more than forty years, 
said of him: "In those early days 
people in search of homers were di- 
rected to Collins' grove where they 
found Michael Collins always willing 
to assist them and welcome them un- 
der his roof. He took them over the 
prairies in his wagon and showed them 
the choicest homesteads. He was of- 
ten called from his work several times 
a day, when Lizard creek was high, to 



\ 





WALTER FORD, CLARE. 

COUNTY SUPERVISOR, 1872-74 



C. B. ELSEN. 

POSTMASTER, LIZARD, 1891- 




RESIDENCE OF JACOB CARSTENS, LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 




I jf Eian Condon J, ((i Thomas F. Enrichi 



FdwTSachs.^. 



JflLLVlUJ.. 







~ : © 



€) 






PI. J. R 



^frt^s^as? 



?U55E.LL . i M W.J. C0LU«5 £5^ J4( ^ C 



J. nEttr. 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP AND VICINITY. 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



665 



ferry travelers across it in his dugout 
which was hewn from a basswood 
tree. His services were always grat- 
uitous." 

When he left Pittsburg, Pa., for 
Iowa in 1855 he was accompanied by 
his younger brother, Hugh (single), 
and James Hickey. Soon afterward 
he was followed by his elder brother, 
Patrick and their cousin, Eoger Col- 
lins. Michael lived on the farm until 
1877. He then moved to Manson and 
in 1891 to Clare, where he died in 1898. 

His family consisted of three sons, 
Patrick and James, who died young in 
Ireland, Bridget, who cared for him 
after his retirement from the farm 
and Michael T. 

Collins, Michael Thomas, (b. Dun- 
beg, Ireland, 1744), at 12, in 1855. be- 
came a resident of Pocahontas county. 
In 1865, he married Fannie Haire, a 
teacher, and after two years' resi- 
dence in Fort Dodge bought a farm of 
200 acres on sec. 12, which he has im- 
proved with good buildings and still 
occupies. He has served as trustee 
and assessor in the township, and, as 
a county supervisor in 1887-92, was the 
last representative of Lizard town- 
ship on that board. His wife in Janu- 
ary to May, 1865, taught the second 
term of school in the Calligan district 
in the log cabin of Dennis Connor. 
She was a refined, cultured christian 
woman whose life, as a wife and moth- 
er, was a gracious benediction in the 
home and family circle. She endured 
patiently the trials incident to pio- 
neer life, the rearing of a large fam- 
ily, and in 1900, passed to her reward. 

His family consists of nine children 
one having died in infancy. 

Michael Joseph (b. 1866), in 1894 mar- 
ried Annie Cain, and lives at Clare, 
where he is engaged in land, insur- 
ance and auctioneer business. He 
has one son, Harold David, and one 
daughter. Fannie. 

William John (b. 1868), graduate of 
the law department of the Iowa State 



University in 1895, began the practice 
of law at Clare that year. Sept. 20, 
1897, he established the Clare Exam- 
iner and continued as its editor until 
1900. He is now devoting himself to 
the practice of his profession and has 
a promising future before him. 

Fannie in 1900, married M. J. Mc- 
Mahon. 

Thomas (b. 1869), Elizabeth M., 
David J., Maggie, Bridget C. and John 
Herbert are at home. 

Maggie and Bridget have been at- 
tending the Convent schools at Fort 
Dodge and Clare; and seven of them 
—Michael J., William J., Elizabeth, 
Fannie, Maggie, Bobert and John 
have met with good success as teach- 
ers. 

Catherine Kinnerk, daughter of the 
wife of Michael Collins, Sr., came 
with her to the Lizard settlement in 
1855. She married Thomas J. Calli- 
gan of Webster county and raised a 
family of two sons and four daughters. 
She now lives on her farm south of 
Clare, her husband having died in 
1882. 

Collins, Patrick (b. 1819, d. 1897), 
elder brother of Michael, after his 
marriage to Nora Green in Ireland in 
1853, came to Pennsylvania and re- 
mained four years. In the fall of 
1857, with wife and three children he 
located on the sei sec 12, Lizard town- 
ship, and the next year secured the 
nei sec. 24. After a residence of five 
years in this county he sold his farms 
to his brothers, Michael and Hugh Col- 
lins, and moved to Webster County, 
where he died at 78 in 1897. 

Collins, Hugh (b. Ireland 1833; d. 
1889; p.156) younger brother of Michael 
came to America in his youth and lo- 
cated at Pittsburg, Pa. In 1854 he 
came to Iowa and to the Lizard set- 
tlement the next year in company 
with James Hickey. They were the 
first two settlers in the Lizard settle- 
ment, Hickey locating on the sei sec. 
13, Lizard township and Collins on the 



666 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



swi sec. 18, opposite In Jackson town- 
ship. In 1871 he bought the farm of 
his cousin, Roger Collins, containing 
the Collins grove of natural timber 
on sec. 24, and it is now owned by his 
son, Michael J. Collins, of Clare. 

Collins, Roger, cousin of Michael 
Sr., coming to America at 32, lived in 
New York and Ohio till 1856, when 
he located on a preemption on the nei 
sec. 23, 160 acres, Lizard township. 
Later he also secured the ni nwi sec. 
24. In 1871, after a residence of 14 
years he moved to a farm near Fort 
Dodge and later to that town where 
he died at 78 in 1900. His family con- 
sisted of one son, who died about 1888, 
and six daughters, all of whom are 
married, namely, Mrs. M. English, 
Mrs. Matthias Hanrahan of Clare, 
Mrs. Frank Hogan, Mrs. Frank Mc- 
Namara of Fort Dodge, Mrs. Robert 
McNamara of Belmond and Mrs. 
Thomas F. McCartan of Pocahontas. 

Connors, Michael, who bought the 
claim of Dennis Connor, whose vacant 
cabin built in 1856, was used for school 
purposes in the Calligan district 1863 
to 1866, came to Lizard township in 
the summer of 1857 with wife and one 
child and located on the swi sec. 1. 
After two years he moved to Inde- 
pendence where he died in 1862. His 
wife held the farm until her death in 
1890, and it is now owned and occu- 
pied by her daughter Alice. Their 
family consisted of four children, 
Michael and Mary, who have died, 
Margaret and Alice. 

Crahan, Patrick (b. 1832; d. 1898), 
founder of the Crahan Place on swi 
sec. 8, Lizard township, was a native 
of Clare county, Ireland, and was left 
an orphan at nine. Going to the Low- 
lands of Scotland at fifteen he found 
employment as a ditcher, and during 
the next six years earned his passage 
money to America. At 21 he came to 
Elmira, N. Y. and engaged in railroad 
construction. In 1854 he married 
Margaret McMahon, and soon after- 



ward located at Winona, Wis., and 
then in Iowa along the Illinois Cent- 
ral R. R., successively at Julian, Man- 
chester, Elk Run, Iowa Falls and in 
the spring of 1869 in Lizard township. 
Here he secured the homestead right 
of J. J. Bruce and began to farm. He 
returned to the railroad, however, 
when he suffered the loss of crops by 
the grasshoppers or other causes. Al- 
though he worked on the railroad 
more than twenty-five years he proved 
an aggressive and very successful 
farmer. As the years passed he added 
460 acres to the homestead, making 
620 acres in the Crahan Place, which 
he made a beautiful home. 

His wife in whose honor the Rolfe 
Catholic church was named "St. Mar- 
garet," died in 1895. He died at 66 in 
1898. His family consisted of eleven 
children of whom seven are living. 

Michael, Crahan, (see page 513). 

Mary in 1894, married Michael Fitz- 
gerald, located on sec. 1, and died in 
1895. 

Thomas is owner of a farm of 120 
acres on sec. 18. In 1891 he married 
Maggie Bradigan. 

John in 1897, married Sadie Tierney 
and occupies a farm of 120 acres on 
sees. 6 and 18. 

Nellie, in 1897, married Patrick Con- 
ners, and lives on a farm near Bar- 
num. 

Katie, in 1896, married Wm. Tier- 
ney, and lives at Rolfe. 

Bridget and William are at home. 
Patrick died at 20 in 1896, and Maggie 
at 17, in 1899. 

Boyd, James, after whom the Boyd 
school district, No. 4, was named, was 
a native of Ireland, where he married 
and raised two sons, Arthur and Wil- 
liam. On coming to this country he 
lived seyeral years ia the Province of 
Ontario, Can., and in 1866, located in 
Lizard township, where he and Arthur 
secured homesteads on sec. 34, and 
William on sec. 36. All of them left 
the county about the year 1874. 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



667 



Donahoe, James, (b. 1814), one of 
the early pioneers of Lizard township, 
(p. 163), had a family of nine children, 
of whom the five eldest came with 
him to Pocahontas county in 1856. 
Two of these Charles and Mary died 
during the seven years of his residence 
in this county. 

Thomas is cashier of the State Bank 
at Clare. 

Peter M., owner and occupant of 
320 acres on sees. 36 and 25, Lizard 
township, is the only member of the 
family now living in this county. He 
married Ellen Condon, the first teach- 
er in Lizard township, and she died in 
1879, leaving two children, Joseph, 
who lives on the farm with his father, 
and James, a clerk at Clare. Later he 
married Annie Carey, and their family 
consists of Thomas, Mary, Richard, 
Elizabeth and Annie. 

Rose Ann, (see p. 163). Mary Jane 
is at home. Charles, the youngest, is 
a member of the firm of Donahoe & 
Wood, general merchants, Clare. He 
married Agnes Calligan and has one 
child. 

Donahoe, John, who, in 1865, lo- 
cated on sec. 14, after a few years re- 
moved to Lake township, where he 
died. His wife is dead also. Their 
family consisted of four sons, Michael, 
an invalid, John and William, who 
are residents of Lake township, and 
Wallace, who lives at Lincoln, Neb. 

Ford, Walter, (b. 1833; p. 159), one 
of the most prominent and successful 
pioneers of Lizard township, and hon- 
ored by a seat on the Board of County 
Supervisors 1874 to 1876, was a native 
of Ireland. At the age of 17 he came 
to America with his elder sister, Ellen 
—Mrs. Patrick McLarney — and niece, 
and located at Ellsworth, Maine, 
where he found employment in the 
pineries and remained four years. In 
April, 1856, he came to Pocahontas 
county and located a claim on the nei 
sec. 13, Lizard township. In 1859 he 
went to Louisiana, and the next year 



to Philadelphia, where in May, 1860, 
he married Mary, daughter of John 
Garvey. In 1861, returning to Fort 
Dodge and finding employment, first 
as a teamster and later as a contractor, 
he remained there until the spring of 
1870, when he again located on his 
claim in Lizard township which, in 
the meantime, had been occupied by 
Michael O'Shea and William Price. 
He improved this farm with good 
buildings and occupied it for 24 years. 
His wife died in 1882, and in 1884 he 
moved to Clare where he still resides. 

In making his first trip to the fron- 
tier in 1856, he paid the Stage Com- 
pany at Dubuque $14.00 for his pas- 
sage to Fort Dodge. When he arrived 
at Iowa Falls the Iowa river, which 
had no bridge or ferry, was overflow- 
ing its banks, and the stage driver in- 
formed the passengers they would 
have to wait there until the river 
could be forded before they could be 
carried to Fort Dodge. Three of them 
Messrs. Ford, Haney and A. T. Black- 
shire demanded the return of a part 
of their fares, but were refused with 
a repetition of the previous announce- 
ment. These three men, crossing the 
river in a skiff, walked the remaining 
60 miles, carrying their valises, and 
received their trunks three months 
later. 

On his return to the farm in 1870 he 
again began to take a prominent part 
in the management of the public af- 
fairs in the township and county. He 
received a good education, was a neat 
penman and no one enjoyed more fully 
than he, the confidence and esteem of 
his fellow citizens. He served as 
County Supervisor three years, as As- 
sessor three years and as a Justice 
eleven years. He has been a member 
of the Catholic church from his in- 
fancy, was a liberal supporter of the 
Lizard church and furnished the out* 
line of its history that appears in this 
volume. 



668 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren: 

Walter P., in 1894, married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of John O'Neil, and 
occupies the old home farm on sec. 13. 
He has taught several terms of school 
and engaged two years in general mer- 
chandise at Pioneer. 

Thomas Edward, married Catherine 
Malie, of Clare, and died at 27 in 1890, 
leaving one child, Edward. 

Celia Agnes, married James Cody, a 
painter, lives at Clare and has two 
children, Josie and John. 

Lillian E., in 1892, married John F. 
Dalton, editor and proprietor of the 
Manson Democrat, and has four chil- 
dren, John, Mary, Lillian and Alice. 

Mary, at the home of her father in 
Clare, died at 34 in 1900. 

John F., in 1893, married Nellie 
Howard, lives in Fort Dodge where 
he has served six years as Deputy 
Auditor and is now serving his second 
term as Auditor of Webster county. 
He has two children, Howard and 
Mary. 

Joseph, a resident of Gowrie, is own- 
er of a farm of 160 acres in Jackson 
township, Webster county. 

Catherine, married Maurice O'Hear- 
ne, a blacksmith, lives at Clare and 
has one child, Walter. 

Lottie, married Wm. J. Wood, a 
general merchant, lives at Clare and 
has two children, Hubert and Eulalia. 

Gorman, James, who preempted 120 
acres on sec. 12, sold his interest to 
Thomas Cotter before he made any 
improvements, and the latter sold it 
to Michael Collins for his son, M. T. 
Collins, its present owner and occu- 
pant. 

Helmick, Henry, who in 1869, se- 
cured a homestead on sec. 28, died 
about 1874, leaving a family who stlil 
occupy the old home. 

Henricks, John, who in 1865, se- 
cured a homestead on sec. 4, still owns 
it and lives in Manson. 

Hoefing, Dietrick, owner and oc- 



cupant of 720 acres on sees. 22 and 23, 
is a native of Germany and a nephew 
of Jacob Carstens. In the fall of 1866, 
he came and joined his uncle, who had 
preceded him in Lizard township one 
year, and they lived together during 
the next three years in a sod shanty 
that was built on the line between 
their homesteads on sec, 22. In 1869, 
the sod house was replaced by a frame 
building 12x18 feet that still forms 
the main part of the home of his 
uncle. In the fall of 1870 he returned 
to Germany and in February, 1871, he 
married Catherine Peters. Accom- 
panied by his wife he returned to his 
homestead and erected thereon a good 
house, 16x24 feet. His progress and 
development since has kept pace with 
the growth of the country. Com- 
mencing life in humble circumstances 
he is now the happy possessor of a 
large estate. During the years of 
1873-8 the grasshoppers took from him 
all the capital he brought with him. 
These losses were very discouraging, 
but instead of yielding thereto, he put 
forth a noble endeavor to retrieve 
them in the best possible manner, and 
the success achieved became another 
practical illustration of the truth of 
the old adage, that, ''Patience and 
perseverance will perform great won- 
ders." He learned how to practice 
economy in the school of necessity. 
He has succeeded well in raising cat- 
tle and hogs, and by investing his sur- 
plus annual income in Pocahontas 
county land, he has found tbe latter a 
very profitable investment. Four 
hundred of the 720 acres now possessed 
were bought during the period 1890- 
94. He has provided for his family 
the facilities for a good education and 
has been an efficient member of the 
St. John's Lutheran church since its 
organization. 

His first wife died in 1872, leaving 
one child, Catherine, who is still at 
home. In 1873, he married Nettie 
Webber and their family consisted of 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



669 



eight children, Dietrick; Annie, who 
in 1894, married Wm. Shroeder and 
lives on sec. 13. Bellville township; 
Henry, Mary, Frederic, Frank and 
Nettie. 

Klingbeil, Gustave, came from 
Wisconsin in 1867, with Julius Sell 
and located on sec. 6. He is now the 
owner of 160 acres that are well im- 
proved and he has raised a large 
family. 

Johnson, John H., who in 1866, 
located on sec. 10, and served as Jus- 
tice from 1867 to 1874, had a good team 
and did a great deal of breaking for 
the other settlers in Lizard and some 
of the neighboring townships. He is 
now living at Fort Dodge. 

Johnson, Daniel and Isaac W., 
who in 1866, located on sec. 10, were 
brothers. Isaac died some years ago 
and Daniel is now the owner and oc- 
cupant of a fine farmof 160 acres on 
sec. 16. 

Kelley Charles, (b. 1817, d. 1890,— 
p. 157) one of the most persevering 
and successful of the early pioneers 
of Lizard township, was a native of 
Ireland. Locating on sec. 12 in 1856, 
he improved his claim and occupied it 
until his decease in 1890— a period of 
34 years. He was a man of noble im- 
pulses and possessed considerable na- 
tive shrewdness. He added acre to 
acre in the early days when land was 
cheap and ranked second among the 
early pioneers in the number of acres 
possessed. He was a devout member 
of the Catholic church, an enthusias- 
tic leader among the democrats and 
very nearly secured the erection of the 
first court house on his own farm. 
He raised a large and intelligent fam- 
ily of sons and daughters, to all of 
whom he afforded the opportunity of 
receiving a good education. His wife 
(b. 1834), who is still in the enjoyment 
of good health, and several of the 
younger members of the family still 
occupy the substantial log house built 
in 1856 in a beautiful grove of native 



timber along the North branch of 
Lizard creek. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren: 

Henry (b. 1856), in 1889 married 
Agnes McKee and is now engaged in 
the drug business at Anselmo, Neb. 

Charles Joseph (b. May 6, 1858), the 
first boy born in Pocahontas county, 
after graduating from college at Ke- 
okuk, and in 1892 from the Rush Med- 
ical Institute, Chicago, has since been 
engaged in the practice of medicine 
at Burlington. 

Annie married Maurice Shine, lives 
on sec. 18, Lake township, and has 
three children. 

Michael is owner of a farm of 120 
acres near the old home. 

Mary married John Karnes, lives at 
the old home and has three children, 
Charles, Mary and Rhoda. 

Susanna married Daniel O'Hearn, 
occupies a farm of 120 acres at Clare, 
and has three children, Martha, 
Joseph and Homer. 

Rhoda married Michael Keenan, a 
blacksmith, lives at Fort Dodge and 
has two children, Yeronica and Rob- 
ert. 

Martha, a dressmaker, lives at Fort 
Dodge, and John, the youngest, man- 
ages the home farm. 

Anna, Mary ; Susanna, Martha and 
Henry spent more or less time teach- 
ing school. Edward, the fifth, died in 
childhood, and James E. died at 17, 
in 1885. 

Kenning Charles, a resident of sec. 
29, from 1870 to 1877, was a native of 
Germany, where he married Mary 
Shroeder. Coming to America he 
located first in Wisconsin and re- 
mained there until 1870. He was very 
successful in raising stock and his 
farm of 160 acres was very soon in- 
creased to 240 acres. He is now a res- 
ident of Manson. 

His family consisted of five children: 
Augusta married Rudolph Kelsow 



670 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



a native of Germany. They occupy a 
farm of 200 acres on sections 19 and 30, 
and have four children, Martha, Otto, 
John and William. Martha married 
Frederic Weigert, owner and occu- 
pant of 160 acres in Bellville town- 
ship. 

John, who is engaged in the hard- 
ware business at Manson, married 
Elizabeth Herbert and has a family of 
seven children. 

William is at home. 

Frederic J. has been engaged in the 
hardware business at Fonda since 
1893 in partnership with A. L. Rob- 
erts. In 1896 he married Lulu Ellis 
and has two children, Grace and Ma- 
bel. 

Rudolph is engaged in the real es- 
tate business in Texas. 

McGabe Patrick, an early pioneer 
that in 1856 located on sec. 24, was a 
native of Ireland. He improved and 
enlarged his pre-emption to 160 acres. 
He occupied it until his death, and it 
is still in the possession of his wife 
(Dempsey) and family. He was an 
honest and upright man, and enjoyed 
the confidence of his fellow-citizens. 
He was one of the first trustees of 
the township, and in 1862, becoming 
a member of the second board, served 
four years as a county supervisor. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren: 

Annie married John Condon, a farm- 
er, who owns a large farm in Webster 
county, and has raised a large family. 

Kate is in a Sisters' school at Du- 
buque. 

Alice married Thomas Fitz, and 
lives on a farm in Jackson township. 

Peter, owner of 160 acres, lives with 
his mother at the old home. 

Margaret married Michael Fitz and 
located on a farm in Humboldt coun- 
ty, where she died about 1890. 

James J. married a daughter of 
Thomas Brennan, o??ns a farm of 80 
acres on sec. 24 and has three children. 



Elizabeth married John Condon and 
lives in Wisconsin. 

Miller David, superintendent 1870- 
71, in 1865 secured a homestead of 80 
acres on sec. 14, which he occupied 
until 1889, when he moved to Wash- 
ington township and soon afterward 
to Oregon. He was a good teacher, 
served as superintendent and also as 
a member of the board of county su- 
pervisors. He married a sister of 
George Spragg during his residence in 
Buchanan county and she died there. 
Josephine Russell, his second wife 
died before he left the homestead, and 
he afterward married Mrs. Willey, 
who had two children by her first 
husband. 

McDermott Bernard, who in 1868 
came to sec. 14, about 1876, moved to 
Lake township and in 1885 to Ne- 
braska. 

Nolan Christopher, still lives on 
sec. 3, where he located in 1869. 

Nolan Nicholas, who in 1869 came 
with his brother Christopher, and lo- 
cated on section 4, is still the owner 
and occupant of the old homestead 
which he has enlarged by the purchase 
of 80 additional acres. His wife died 
a few years ago. Their family con- 
sisted of four children, three sons and 
one daughter, Mary, who married 
James Mulholland and lives at Gil- 
more City. John lives at Manson. 

O'NielJohn, (b. 1819) owner of a 
farm of 160 acres on sec. 7, was a na- 
tive of Ireland. Coming to America 
at thirteen, he located in Canada 
where he married Constance Godrey 
and remained until 1871. Then with 
a family of eight children he located 
on the homestead in Lizard township, 
which he improved with good build- 
ings. He died at 81 in 1900. nis wife 
and nine children, Mary, Alice, 
Kate, Thomas, Annie, James, Eliza- 
beth, Lucy, Theresa and Joseph are 
living. Alice died at Fort 
Dodge in 1899. Annie married J. II. 
Caswell, a merchant and lives at 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



671 



Grand Junction. Lizzie married 
Walter P. Ford and lives in Lizard 
township. Lizzie married and lives 
in Chicago, The others are at the 
old home. 

0' Boyle Michael, (b. 1826; d. 1897), 
resident of section 20, Lizard town- 
ship, from 1876 to 1890, was a native of 
Ireland, the son of John and Mary 
O'Boyle. He came to America in 
1851, and in 1856 at Pottsville, Pa., 
married Mary Thompson. Later he 
located at Shenandoah, Pa., and in 
1876 in Pocahontas county. He was a 
successful farmer and transformed the 
wild prairie on which he located, into 
a beautiful home. In 1890 he moved 
to Clare, where he died in 1897. He 
was an ardent democrat and a mem- 
ber of the Catholic church. 

His family consisted of four chil- 
dren: 

Thomas married Alice Dalton and 
has been for many years the postmas- 
ter at Clare. 

Kate married JohnConlee, a mer- 
chant, and lives at Manson. 

Mary married John Collins, a mer- 
chant, and lives at Gilmore City. 

Patrick died in 1881. 

©»Shea Michael (b. 1822), who oc- 
cupied the NEi Sec. 13, from 1864 to 
1895, is now a resident of Manson. 
He is a native of Ireland, came to 
America in 1850 and lot ited in Cler- 
mont county, Ohio, Wxi3re he found 
employment boating between that 
place and New Orleans on the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers. In 1855 he 
married Catherine Carroll, (b. Ireland 
1824) and engaged in farming and rail- 
roading until he settled in this coun- 
ty. He experienced some disappoint- 
ments on the farm, but with the help 
of his son John increased the original 
80 to 400 acres before he left it in 1895. 
By raising oxen and feeding stock- 
cattle he usually fed more grain than 
he raised. He believes success on the 
farm can be achieved by any intelli- 
gent person, who practices economy 



in expenditures, abstains from 
the use of tobacco and intoxicants, 
works late and early and combines 
stock-raising and feeding with crop- 
ping. In Manson he has built a large 
residence and one of the finest double 
brick business blocks in the city. He 
is a member of the Catholic church 
and has been a republican since 1860. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren, two of whom died in Ohio and 
three others in the short space of six- 
teen months after coming to Iowa, 
namely: Michael at 24, in 1889; Kate 
at 20, in 1890, and Maria at 28 in 1891. 
Maria in 1886 married Henry Gorman 
of Chicago, and left one son, Harry. 

John, a teamster, is at home. 

Bridget in 1882 married Joseph 
Price, a stock-dealer, and he died at 
Manson in 1895, leaving six children, 
Mary, Kittie, Nellie, Joseph, Rose 
and Maggie. 

Julius John, who in 1868, located 
on the Wi SWi Sec. 28, is a native of 
Germany, where he married Minnie 
Seeman. Coming to America he 
lived several years in Wisconsin and 
about fifteen in Clayton county, Iowa. 
His orchard of two acres planted 
about 1880 is now in fine bearing con- 
dition and one of the best in the 
township. 

His family consisted of three sons 
and three daughters: 

Matilda married JosephBreitenbach 
(p. 661) who died in 1878, leaving three 
children, David, Hannah and Adam. 
Later she married August Miller, and 
their family consists of seven sons, 
Edward, John, Otto, August, Henry, 
William and Erick. 

Minnie married August Barthold 
and located in Calhoun county, where 
he died. Later she married August 
Haese and their family consists of 
two children. 

John B. married Bertha Miller, 
lives at Gilmore city and has a family 
of three children, Lydia, William and 
Matie. 



672 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUN1Y, IOWA. 



Edward B. is engaged in the drug 
business in South Dakota, and Henry 
is at Gilmore City. 

Redman Car], in 1868 located on 
section 6. In 1889 he met with a seri- 
ous accident while returning from 
Manson, that resulted in his death a 
few hours later. He left one son, 
Carl, who is still owner of the old 
homestead, and one daughter, Louisa, 
who became the wife of Gerd Elsen 
(p. 628). His wife died at the home of 
her daughter in Lake township, in 
1892. 

Renken Michael, owner of 360 acres 
on section 20, is a native of Germany, 
where he married Antrim Weber. He 
came in 1868, has been quite success- 
ful as a farmer and has improved his 
farm with neat and attractive build- 
ings. 

His family consisted of five children: 
Anna, after her marriage located in 
California; Maria married John Jan- 
sen, a harness-maker, and lives at 
Manson; Henry married Hannah Saat- 
haf , lives on his father's farm and has 
two children; John and Frank are at 
home. 

Rost Arndt E., Mary Ann his wife, 
and four children, Benjamin, Maria, 
Anna and Ancke, in June, 1868, lo- 
cated on section 8, Arndt and Benja- 
min taking adjoining homesteads. 
Arndt died suddenly at 70, in the 
spring of 1869, while in the field for 
the cows. During that same year his 
three daughters became ill and died; 
Maria and Anna on the same day. 
His house was located on the line be- 
tween the two homesteads and his 
wife, while living with her son, se- 
cured his homestead. She died in 1882. 

Benjamin married Mary Weber and 
is now the owner and occupant of both 
homesteads. He served as a trustee 
five years. A sister of his became the 
wife of John C. Everwine, who in 1869 
located and still lives on section 20. 
Her family consists of two sons and 
one daughter. 



Price, George, who in 1865 located 
on the Wi SWi SEC. 24, was a native 
of England where he married. He 
spent about forty years in America, 
locating first in Nova Scotia, then in 
Dane county, Wisconsin, in Lizard 
township, 1865 to 1875, then in 
Young county, Texas, where he died. 

Price, William Perry, (b. 1819), 
youngest son of George, came with 
his father to America in his child- 
hood, and in 1849, married Mary A. 
Wade, of Hamilton, Can. In 1855 he 
moved to a farm in Dane Co., Wis., 
where in 1861 he enlisted as a member 
of Co. G,llth Wis. Inf. and spent three 
years in the army during the Civil 
war. In 1865 he located on a home- 
stead of 80 acres, on the SWi SEC. 24, 
Lizard township, which he improved 
and occupied until 1875, when he went 
to Texas, but soon afterward located 
in Dent Co., Mo. In 1880 he returned 
to Lizard township, where in 1882, his 
wife and daughter, Charlotte, died 
during a scourge of malarial fever 
Accompanied by Joseph, his youngest 
son, he returned to Missouri, where he 
married again. His second wife died 
a few years ago and he is now at the 
home at his daughter, Mrs. J. J. 
Bruce, of Rolfe. It was just after the 
battle of Bull Run when the nation 
needed men, thathesaid, "take me." 
He has had the courage to express 
his convictions and. his worth as a 
citizen has been recognized wherever 
he has resided. 

His family consisted of four sons 
and eight daughters, of whom Caro- 
line, the eldest, died at 11 in 1861, and 
Henrietta, the youngest, in infancy. 

John W., a farmer, married Mary 
Holmes, lives near Rolfe and has two 
children. James H., a butcher, mar- 
ried Nancy Hale, lives at Rolfe and 
has two children. Robert G. married 
Winnifred Inman, daughter of an 
early settler of Des Moines township, 
and Jives in the state of Washington. 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



673 



Joseph the youngest, settled on a farm 
in Camden Co., Mo. . 

Mary J. married James J. Bruce, 
(p. 509), Alice married Wm, E. Struth- 
ers (p. 529), Maria married Harry 
Ham, a farmer, and lives in Des 
Moines township, Elizabeth C. mar- 
ried Niels Lilligaard, a farmer and 
lives in Clinton township. Annie 
married Wm. Overmier (now deceas- 
ed) and lives at Valley Junction. 

Russell, Phillip, (b. 1823, d. 1893, 
p. 160) was one of the most intelligent 
and highly honored of the early pio- 
neers of Lizard township and filled 
the office of justice for eight years, 
township clerk, sixteen, county super- 
visor, two, and clerk of the district 
court four, 1861-65. He discharged 
his public duties with fidelity and 
was a devout member of the Catholic 
church. He died at 70 in 1893, leaving 
a good heritage for his children. 

His family consisted of eight child- 
ren, all of whom are living, except 
Thomas who died at 21, in 1895. 

John M. (b. 1861), owner of 160 acres 
on Sec. 3 and Clerk 1890-94, after 
teaching and farming a few years 
turned his attention to philosophical 
investigation and authorship. He 
furnished the author of this work 
most of the facts for the historical 
sketch of Lizard township. In 1899 
he went to Colorado City and two 
years later to San Francisco, where he 
is now carrying through the press a 
corrected edition of a volume first 
printed by the Ft. Dodge Post in 
1898, entitled, "The Seven Ages."* 

*The Seven Ages, or a new system of 
science and theology, towit: "That 
the sun is the heaven of the solar 
system, the throne of omnipotence; 
that it is a stupendous cosmic shell of 
gold whose interior is the empyrean, 
and its exterior the hell of the solar 
system; that the earth had five moons, 
now all fallen but one, that the fall of 
the fourth sunk the ocean beds and 
upheaved the continents and mount- 



Margaret Ellen is a teacher of many 
years experience. 

William P. (b. 1465) is manager of 
the home farm. In his earlier years 
he engaged in teaching, but now de- 
votes his spare time to the insurance 
business. 

Phillip F. (b. 1867) Mary Alice, a 
teacher and Lillian B. the youngest 
are at home. 

Michael J, Russell, (b. 1871) after 
teaching several years, graduated at 
the Iowa college of law, Des Moines, 
and in 1901, located in Manson, where 
he has since been engaged in the 
practice of law. 

James P. (b. 1876) in 1895 married 
Minnie O'Connell, and occupies the 
farm of his brother, John M., on Sec- 
tion 3. 

Schoonrnaker, Garrett, in 1865 
located on the Ni SWi SEC. 4, wher e 
he established an inn, a store and a 
postoffice. His house was on the 
government route from Ft. Dodge to 
to Sioux Rapids, and at the time it 
was built, there was no other one be- 
tween it and the latter place. His 
two sons, Alonzo and Luther located 
on farms on Sec. 5. About 1884 all 
moved to the vicinity of Manson and 
later to Sac county, where Garrett 
died about 1896. 

Schroeder, William, died about 
1880 and his family still own and oc- 
cupy the old home on Sec. 29. 

Streckleberg, Henry, and his son 
Henry Streckleberg, Jr., in August, 
1868 secured the homestead claims of 
Wm. B. and Chas. W. Lattin, on Sec. 
14. A few years later Henry purchas- 

ains, and that the fall of the fifth at 
the end of time shall cause the end of 
the world; that the invisible atomic 
element of infinite space is the ashes 
of fallen angels, which became the 
source of all creation; that as Lucifer 
became the "old serpent," so sin 
transforms angels and men to serpents 
and the the undying serpent, em- 
blem of the punishment of the wicked, 
is the end of all degradation." 



674 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ed Sec. 25, Bellville township, and 
commenced to raise wheat on a large 
scale. Owing to the excess of mois- 
ture and the ravages of the grass- 
hoppers this proved an unprofitable 
venture. Henry Jr., still owns the 
farm on Sec. 14, now increased to 360 
acres and lives at Manson. 

Steinbrink, Carl, (b. 1838) one of 
the most prominent of the Lizard 
settlers that came after the Civil war, 
is a native of Germany, the son of 
John and Sabine (Bartold) Steinbrink. 
His mother died when he was three 
years of age and his father when he 
was eleven. April 29, 1866, during 
the Austria-Prussian war, he married 
Maria Kalsow (b. 1840). He was then 
a soldier in the Prussian army and 
when in September that year, at the 
close of the war, he was mustered 
out he had completed three years 
of military service in the Prussian or 
German army. Crossing the Atlantic 
he arrived at New York, October 
28th, on his way to northwestern 
Iowa. Leaving his wife at Iowa Falls, 
the terminus of the railroad, he and 
Rudolph Kalsow, his brother-in-law, 
walked to the Ei SWi SEC. 22, Lizard 
township, (p. 664), a distance of 75 
miles. In making this trip they saw 
only one farm house between Alden 
and Webster City. During the years 
that have passed since that date he 
has witnessed a wonderful transforma- 
tion in this section of the country. 
He, too, has been an ideal settler, 
selecting his homestead, occupying, 
enlarging and improving it as the 
years have passed. The sod shanty, 
12x14 feet, occupied the first four 
years was then replaced by a story 
and a half log house, 16x20 feet, and 
twenty two years later or in 1893, it 
was replaced by the large frame man- 
sion he and his family have since en- 
joyed. In 1888 he built a large barn 
to take the place of the first improve- 
ments for the care of his stock. Other 
new buildings haye since been erected 



and all of them are nicely protected 
by a beautiful grove. His orchard is 
one of the best in the township. The 
homestead of 80 acres has been in- 
creased to 440 acres and in 1896 he 
added thereto some property in Man- 
son that cost about $2000. 

He has served as a member and 
secretary of the Boyd school board 
ever since it became an independent 
district, in 1875. He served as a mem- 
ber of the board of supervisors six 
years, 1878-83. He has been a leading 
member oftheLizard Lutheran church 
since its organization. He has thus 
been prominently identified with the 
development of the material, politi- 
cal, educational and religious interests 
of that highly favored section of the 
land of his adoption. 

He is one of nature's noblemen and 
enjoys the reputation of being the 
largest man in the township, standing 
six feet, two inches in height and 
weighing 225 pounds. The high 
esteem in which he is held, however, 
is due to the excellent qualities of 
character he has developed, the good 
record he has made and the success he 
has achieved. His family consists of 
three sons and three daughters. 

Matilda M. (b. 1867), in 1887 married 
William Onken, a native of Germany, 
who owns and occupies 160 acres on 
Sec. 25, and has a family of four 
children, Henry, Maria, Elizabeth 
and Martha. 

John F. (b. 1869), Carl F. (b. 1872), 
Rudolph Otto, (born 1874), Augusta 
and Emma E. are at home. 

Stenson, William W. (b. 1828), 
who in 1865 located on the Wi SEi 
Sec. 14, is a native of Otsego Co., N. 
Y., where in 1851 he married Sarah M. 
Coller and located on a farm. In 1856 
he moved to Adams Co., Wis., and in 
1865 to Pocahontas county. He im- 
proved and occupied the homestead 
28 years, and in 1893 moved to Manson. 
The first postoffice in Lizard township 
(p. 659) was established at his home in 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



675 



1868. He served three years, 1875-77, 
as a county supervisor of this county. 

His wife died at 48 in 1876. His 
family consisted of three children two 
of whom died in childhood. Ida, the 
second, in 1877 married Seymour Fer- 
rand, and, after a few years' residence 
in Calhoun county, in 1889 located on 
a farm on Sec. 9, Lizard township. 
They have one son, William, who 
graduated from the Manson High 
School in 1898. 

Yan Valkenburg, A. H. who in 
1£67 secured a homestead on Sec 36 is 
still the owner and occupant of it. 
His sister who used to keep house for 
him died a few years ago. He has 
filled the offices of trustee, assessor 
and justice. 

Wagner, Peter, who secured a 
homestead on Sec. 34, died about 1877 
and his wife, who was a sister of David 
Miller, afterwards married A. M. 
Carpenter. 

Wallace, David (1805; d. 1885) an- 
cestor of the Wallace families of Liz- 
ard and Center townships was a native 
of Ireland, where he married Mary 
Bagdad. Both he and wife were of 
Scotch parentage and received their 
early training in the Established 
Church. In 1837, after the birth of 
their first two children, they came to 
America and located on a farm in 
Canada. 

In March 1866 his oldest son, John 
W. Wallace, Henry Shields, his broth- 
er-in-law, James Shields and James 
Connors came together to Lizard 
township and secured homesteads of 
80 acres each on Sec. 8. They came 
by rail to Ackley and walked the re- 
maining distance. Each of the first 
three men named built a sod house 
and began the work of improving their 
homesteads. Two months later David 
Wallace, a younger brother of John 
W, arrived, secured a homestead on 
the same section and built another 
sod house. In October 1866 David 
Wallace and family, which then in- 



cluded three of his grand children, 
Mary J., Josiah W. and Francis H. 
Osborne, arrived, began to occupy 
Connor's homestead and built an- 
other sod house on the same section. 
These settlers on Sec. 8, were among 
the number of those who had to take 
the lead in this county in erecting 
sod houses and planting artificial 
groves. They experienced no difficul- 
ty in getting sod for their houses, 
which were used about one year, but 
as there were no tree peddlers in those 
days, they had to go many miles to ob- 
tain the little trees or cuttings for the 
groves. 

David Wallace in 1869 served as 
superintendent of the first Sunday 
school in Lizard township. It met in 
the Johnson school house on Sec. 4. 
His wife died at 66 in 1871 and was 
buried in the cemetery in Jackson 
township, south of Clare. In 1876 he 
accompanied Henry Shields and fam- 
ily to the State of Washington where 
he died at 80 in 1885. He was a tall, 
large and strong man. His family 
consisted of eight children: 

Ellen in Canada married Frank Os- 
borne, who died in 1852, leaving three 
children; Mary J., Josiah W. and 
Frank H. She died in 1855. Their 
children found a home with their 
grand parents and in 1866 came with 
them to Lizard township. Mary be- 
came the wife of George Spragg and 
in 1869 located in Cedar township and 
twelve years later in Nebraska. Josi- 
ah married Ida, a sister of L. W. 
Moody and located atPomeroy. Frank 
went to Washington. 

Thomas H, in Canada married Char- 
lotte Carlisle and later located in Ft. 
Dodge, where she died in 1881 leaving 
three children. 

Eliza J. in Canada married Henry 
Shields who, in March 1866, secured a 
homestead on Sec. 8, Lizard town- 
ship. He improved and occupied this 
homestead until 1876 when, accom- 



676 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



panied by David Wallace, be moved 
to 'Washington* 

John W., Clerk of the Court, 1875-86. 
See page 479. 

David (b. 1847: d. 1894) in 1870 mar- 
ried Rosa Pempsey, a native of Cana- 
da, and continued to live on tire home- 
stead in Lizard township until 1884, 
when he moved to Washington where 
be died in 1894 leaving four children; 
William, Ella, Maude and Dot. 

Samuel (b. 1851), coming with his 
parents to Pocabontas county, in 1879 
located with his brother John at 
Pocabontas. In 1881 he married Mary 
McLarney and a few years later loca- 
ted at Gilmore City. His family con- 
sists of six children. 

Walsh, Michael (b. 1830; d. 1900— p. 
164), one of the early pioneers after 
whom the Walsh (No. 2) school dis- 
trict was named, was a native of Cork 
Co., Ireland. In 1852 be came to New 
York and the next year to Butler Co., 
O., where in June 1856, he married 
Margaret Lully, a native of Dublin, 
and located in Rock Island Co. 111. 
He was not satisfied with his pros- 
pects there, and leaving bis wife with 
friends he started afoot for the prai- 
ries of western Iowa and arrived in 
Lizard township in October following. 
Here he put a pre-emption claim on 
160 acres on the NEi Sec. 14 and erec- 
ted a log cabin. The land was put on 
the market sooner than he expected 
and he was then able to buy only 40 
acres of the amount claimed. When 
it was opened for homestead entry he 
secured 40 acres more and as the years 
passed he made other purchases so 
that at the time of bis decease in 1900, 
he owned 400 acres. His log cabin 
16x18 feet is said to have been the first 
one covered with shingles west of Ft. 
Dodge. Ten years later it was re- 
placed by a large frame house the 
shelter and comforts of which were 
shared with many a wayfaring travel- 
er passing eastward or westward on 
the emigrant route. He was a good 



farmer and succeeded well in bis ef- 
forts to transform the wilderness into 
a cultivated and fruitful field. He 
was a member of the Catholic church, 
and a man "universally loved and 
respected." 

His family consisted of seven child- 
ren all of whom have grown up: Mary, 
a teacher, Rose, Ann, Philip, Marga- 
ret, William and Thomas. 

Mrs. Daniel Lane, sister of Michael 
Walsh, and one of the old settlers in 
Lizard township, died at 72 in 1899 at 
Pomeroy where her husband still 
lives. 

Wiese, John (b. 1819), who in 1865 
secured a homestead on Sec. 26, was a 
native of Germany where be married. 
In May 1865, with wife and three 
children, he located in Lizard town- 
ship. He was a good farmer and be- 
came quite prominent as a citizen. 
His wife died in 1887 and he died in 
1893. Their family consisted of four 
children: Henrietta after her mar- 
riage moved to Kansas; Minnie mar- 
ried Henry Rawdell and in 1893 loca- 
ted in Minnesota; Emma married A. 
F. Habenicbt and lives in Webster 
county; Gustave married Sophia Raw- 
dell and lives in Washington. 

Wiese, Michael (b. 1821; d. 1898), 
owner and occupant of the NEJ Sec. 
3 since May 1866, was a native of Ger- 
many where in 1844 he married Caro- 
line Hinz and remained until 1851, 
when he located in Wisconsin. Fif- 
teen years later he located on a home- 
stead in Lizard township; which he 
improved and enlarged as the years 
passed to 520 acres. He was prosper- 
ous as a farmer and very highly res- 
pected for his many excellent qualities 
of character. 

For many years he drove a bay horse 
to Manson whose instinct seemed al- 
most equal to man's intelligence. 
When commanded to stand still by 
Mr. Wiese, no matter what the cir- 
cumstances were, he would not move 
until told to do so. The man and bis 



LIZARD TOWNSHIP. 



077 



faithful horse grew old together and 
when the latter died his master said, 
He would not long survive him. This 
prediction proved true, for he died 
soon afterward at 77 in 1898. His wife 
died at 79 in 1901. Both were mem- 
bers of the Lizard Lutheran church. 

His family consisted of ten children 
five of whom are still living. 

William G., who owns a fine farm 
on the SWi Sec. 27, in 1881 married 
Caroline Siefert and has a family of 
five children; William, Etta, Caroline, 
George and August. 

Michael married Ellen Siefert and 
occupies the SEi Sec. 33. 

John E., occupies the old homestead 
and has a family of five children. 

Frederic owns and occupies 80 acres 
on Sec. 28. 

Etta married Adam Wassen, lives 
in Webster county and has a large 
family. 

Westlake, William W., who se- 
cured a homestead on Sec. 28, and 
served as a justice, 1871-74, died a few 
years ago and also his son Wallace. His 
daughter, Ella, a teacher, married 
William Merchant; her mother also 
married and both have left the coun- 
ty. His farm is now owned and oc- 
cupied by F. Vanderhoof. 

Zanter, Ferdinand, who in 1865 
located on Sec. 22, is still a resident of 
the township. In August 1862 he en- 
listed as a member of Co. D, 27th la., 
and spent three years as a soldier in the 
civil war. His marriage to Caroline 
Fieldhabcr in September, 1866, is said 
to have been the first one in the town- 
ship. 

The Irish in Lizard Township. 

Nearly all the pioneers and many 
of the later settlers of Lizard town- 
ship were natives of Ireland, and 
their first rivalry was with the citizens 
of Des Moines township over the loca- 
tion of the first public buildings and 
county seat. It has been a source of 
profound pleasure to record their "foot- 
prints in the sands of time"-a story of 



voluntary and heroic struggle in the 
face of untold privations, hardships 
and dangers. Some facts that have been 
mentioned have so deeply impressed 
the author, by way of comparison and 
contrast, that he has deemed it not 
unwise to refer to them again, and 
he indulges the hope that every read- 
er will recognize and appreciate the 
broad and generous spirit that 
prompts the following comparisons. 

The people of this country have not 
been accustomed to look to Ireland 
for the best types of model and suc- 
cessful farmers, and during their first 
years the pioneers of Lizard township 
were not rated very high for their 
proficiency in farming by the dwell- 
ers in the other parts of the county. 
Many changes have been wrought dur- 
ing the last forty years, and the fore- 
going historic review of that town- 
ship discovers the fact, that if the 
farmers, representing other lands 
across the ocean, have done well, 
many of those that came from Ire- 
land have also done well. Several of 
them accumulated as many acres, 
and others improved their homes with 
as fine buildings as the leading repre- 
sentatives of other distant countries, 
who reside in the township or coun- 
ty. During recent years some of the 
Germans, their nearest and most for- 
midable rivals, and some of the 
Swedes also, may have surpassed them 
a little in raising fine stock, but in 
one respect worthy of special com- 
mendation, -they have excelled, name- 
ly, in the education of their sons and 
daughters. This is all the more re- 
markable because the entire town- 
ship still remains a rural district, a 
circumstance that compelled them to 
send their youth away from home in 
order to secure the facilities of a 
thorough and complete education, 
even in the common branches. 

As early as 1881 the fact was noted 
in the press of this county, that Liz- 
ard township had had, for several 



678 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



years, a surplus of good teachers. 
This has been true of this township 
every year since. Then, the list of six 
young men furnished by this town- 
ship (p. 659), two to each of the three 
learned professions — the ministry, 
medicine and law— is at this date and 
to the best of our knowledge, with- 
out a parallel in the county. There 
is not another township in the county 
that can claim so large a representa- 
tion of young people in these three 
professions. 

On considering this matter a little 
more closely, it will be found that 
every one of these young men, in the 
list from Lizard township, represents 
a family whose parental heads came 
from the Emerald Isle. Here is a 
fact that is as significant as it is re- 
markable. That their most formid- 
able rivals in farming and stock rais- 
ing have been represented in the 
teaching force of the township by 
only a small proportion, and have as 
yet no representative in the circle of 
professional men raised in it, affords 
matter for profitable investigation 
and possibly of instruction. 

Results are the effects of causes. 
The contrast to which attention has 
been called is due to definite causes 
that may and ought to be perceived. 
We are not ready to believe that this 
contrast is due to a less interest in 
the education of their children and 
youth on the part of other nationali- 
ties represented in the township, for 
they have made liberal provision for 
the special instruction of their child- 



ren and youth and expended money 
freely for the erection of special 
buildings. 

If, however, a comparison be made 
of the courses of instruction, a slight 
contrast will be perceived. While 
the Irish, in the education of their 
youth, have been content to have 
them master the English language, 
the children and youth of their rivals, 
in the special schools provided for 
them, have been required to spend a 
great part of their time learning a 
"mother tongue," for use when they 
may visit the "Father Land". 

While many from other nationali- 
ties beyond the sea, in coming to 
This land of the free 
And home of the brave, 

retain a lingering hope of a future re- 
turn and discover a tendency to re- 
produce, as long as possible, the cus- 
toms with which they were familiar 
in the Fatherland, the Son of Erin, 
when he leaves the " Auld Counthry" 
he usually does so "for good," and be- 
fore he reaches the middle of the 
Atlantic has fully decided to "grow 
up with the country" in the land of 
his adoption. It is easy to see that 
these two ideas of life and education 
are quite different and the difference 
may be sufficient to produce very 
different results in the education and 
development of children and youth. 
The Irish people in Lizard township 
are to be congratulated for their 
manifest interest in, and the success 
that has attended their efforts to edu- 
cate their children. 



XXIII. 



MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 



"There are countless heroes who live and die, 
Of whom the world has never heard; 

And one of the bravest and best of all, 
Of whom the list can boast, 

Is the man who falls on duty's call, 
The man who dies at his post." 




ARSHALL township 
(92-34) is the third 

from the south in 
the west tier of the 
county. The terri- 
tory included in it 
was attached to Des Moines twp. until 
Dec. 1, 1862, when the south half was 
attached to Clinton. June 7, 1871 the 
whole of it was attached to Dover and 
during the next eleven years it was 
known as North Dover. June 5, 1882, 
in response to a petition presented by 
A. L. Thornton, it was established 
under the name of "Laurens," in 
honor of Henry and John Laurens, 



patriots of the Revolution. Sept. 2, 
1884, at the request of the citizens a 
number of whom had come from Mar- 
shall county, the name was changed ' 
to Marshall. The organization of 
this township completed the list in 
this county. 

This township is crossed in a south- 
ly direction by both branches of 
Cedar creek. In the early days a 
slough existed along the Big Cedar in 
the northeast part that was a very 
popular resort for trappers. John 
Buckner and two Halleck brothers, 
trappers who lived near Lizard Lake 
during the 70's, built on theNWiSec 
14 a sod stable for their team and a 



(679) 



680 



PIONEER HISTOKY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



small shanty for their own comfort 
and occupied them several seasons 
during the trapping period. 

Clear Lake, in the southwest corner 
of the township, is about a half mile 
wide and one and a half miles long. 
It was not known to be dry until the 
drouth period of 1894-5, but during the 
next few years the neighboring farm- 
ers cultivated and raised crops on the 
lake bed. It extends over portions of 
sections 5 and 6, Dover township. In 
August 1872 a town site was surveyed 
and platted on its northeastern 
shore, on lots 1 and 2 and the SEiSWi 
Sec. 32, Marshall township, by Fred 
Hess. This land was then owned by 
James and Mary Lombard, of Charles- 
town. Mass., who named the place, 
Lombard, and confidently expected a 
railroad would soon pass through it. 
The latter, however, never came and 
the town was not built. 

Rufus Greene, who Sept. 25, 1871, 
entered the NEi Sec. 30, 160 acres, 
was the only homesteader in this 
township. W. F. Atkinson, while 
serving as county recorder, secured a 
tree claim of 40 acres on the SEi Sec. 
4. 

THORNTON, GREENE & CO. FARM. 

The first ten years of the history of 
this township clusters almost wholly 
around the company farm of Thorn- 
ton, Greene & Co. on Sec. 18. About 
the year 1868 Albert M. Thornton, 
Alonzo L. Thornton, his son, and 
Rufus Greene, his brother-in-law, 
residents of Chatauqua Co., N. Y. 
formed a partnership under the name 
of Thornton, Greene & Co., and 
boughtthree sections of land, of which 
1280 acres were on Sees. 18, 20 and 8 in 
Marshall township and 640 more were 
on Sec. 24 adjoining in Buena Vista 
county. This land was bought from 
Jasper county under the Swamp Land 
Act for $1 an acre and it was intended 
to be utilized for the promotion of 
three objects, agriculture, horticul- 
ture and forest tree culture. 



In 1870 Alonzo L. Thornton and 
family consisting of wife and three 
children, Lucius, Mary and Alonzo, 
located on Sec. 18, and during that 
season expended about $5,000 in build- 
ings and improvements, hauling the 
lumber from Pomeroy. The early 
part of the summer was wet, there 
were no bridges over the sloughs and 
400 feet of lumber made a heavy load 
for four horses. The house built was 
a two story frame, 32x32 feet. Two 
stables and a large granary were also 
built that year. This was the first 
settlement in the township. During 
the previous year John W. Wallace 
and Isaac Parrish, residents of Lizard 
township, had broken for this com- 
pany about 15 acres on Sees. 18 and 24, 
adjoining. In 1870 this breaking was 
planted with forest trees, principally 
maples and elms. 

In the autumn of 1871, A. L. Thorn- 
ton, who had taken a regular course in 
civil engineering and was a skillful 
surveyor and maker of maps, moved 
to Des Moines in order that he might 
devote his attention to map work. 
Rufus Greene accompanied by his 
wife and two children, Rufus and 
Mary, then moved upon the farm and 
began to superintend the operations. 
The stock then consisted of 5 horses, 
3 yoke of oxen, 20 cows, 50 head of 
stock cattle and 40 head of hogs. In 
1870 no crop had b£en raised except a 
little sod corn and in 1871 the crop 
raised on 15 acres was but very little 
better. Fonda, the nearest postoffice 
and market, was 14 miles distant. 
The situation was intensely lonesome 
and the outlook anything but en- 
couraging. During the next year the 
situation did not change very mater- 
ially and in the spring of 1873 he loca- 
ted on a homestead on the NEi Sec. 30 
and Albert M. Thornton, who had 
become a resident of Webster county, 
moved upon the company farm. He 
remained on it until 1876 when he 
returned to Webster county. 




RUFUS GREENE 



MRS. KATE GOULD GREENE 





ALBERT M. THORNTON MRS. MARY S. GREENE THORNTON 

Marshall Township. 







■'■;""' 



M«>*%> 






MR. AND MRS. W. F. ATKINSON 
County Recorder, 1887-90 



• 


J&» 


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1 


Hk^l . 




, 




f- 








- 










J _ 


"■ • .. 




-■' 



MR. AND MRS. CHARLES A. HAWLEY 
Marshall Township. 



MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 



681 



The original plans in regard to the 
establishment of a nursery, etc., were 
soon abandoned and the partnership 
in the stock ended with its sale in the 
spring of 1874. Isaac Parrish the ten- 
ant in 1876, after seeing the grass- 
hoppers clean out everything, became 
discouraged and left. He was suc- 
ceeded the next three years by John 
Blomberg and in 1880 by Marion Will- 
iams. In 1881 Alonza L. Thornton re- 
turned to the farm and remained a 
citizen of the township until his de- 
cease at Pocahontas, when he was 
serving his second term as recorder, in 
1885. In 1879 when the land was divid- 
ed he received, among others, section 
18, on which the company buildings 
were located, and Rufus Greene the 
NEi Sec. 20, the SWi Sec 8, 80 acres 
on Sec. 30 Swan Lake township, and 
240 acres on Sec. 24 in Buena Vista 
county. 

EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

1870-79. Previous to the year 1877, 
the only residents of the township 
were those who occupied the com- 
pany farm on Sec. 18, namely, Alonzo 
L. Thornton 1870-71; Rufus Greene 
1871,-7.*!, and then to 1892 on his own 
farm on Sec. 8; Albert M. Thornton, 
1873-76 and Isaac Parrish. -In 1877 
John and Andrew G- Blomberg located 
on 18, and Peter Johnson and his son, 
Charles A. Peterson, on 8. In 1878 
there arrived Charles J. Blomberg 
and Louisa Jonson, and in 1879 Marion 
Williams. 

1880. George A. Hawley on 14, 
Charles J. Bjorklund and J. W. Fur- 
ness. 

1881. Alonzo L. Thornton returned 
to 18. 

1882. In 1882 a large number of new 
families arrived among whom were 
those of E. M. Doty (b. Mich. 1849) 
and H. M. Doty (b. Mich. 1852) both 
on 14; O. P. Phillips (b. N. Y. 1815) on 
1; W. F. Atkinson on 11; Lucian Scott 
on 20, and C. H. Hutchins. 

1883. Anton Jonson, on 4; Alex 



McLain (b. 111. 1839) on 14, and A. F. 
Craig on 15. 

1884. P. F. Carlson (b. Sw. 1844) on 5; 
John Boyanovsky (b. Boh. 1824) and 
J. J. Lindhall (b. Sw. 1849) both on 7; 
R. M. McCombs (b. Ohio 1854) on 23; 
Richard Kibble on 29, and Alvis, 
Anton and Chris Thoma on 31. 

1885. August Gustafson (b. 1857) on 
5, Julius Grund, A. A. and A. L. 
Bunch on 10; D. W. Bently on 15; W. 
L. Mitchell on 22; Elhanan W. Reniff 
on 23, W. F. Bovee on 26 and John 
Chamberlain (b. Mich. 1832) on 29. 

1886. George Thomas on 22, and 
Edgar C. Scott on 27. 

ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS. 

The first general election was held 
in the school house on the N. W. Cor. 
Sec. 19, Nov. 7, 1882, Rufus Greene, 
C. T. Williams and W. F. Atkinson 
serving as judges, and C. H. Hutchins 
and O. P. Phillips as clerks, all of 
whom qualified before Justice Jere- 
miah Bronder. At this election fif- 
teen ballots were cast and by the fol- 
lowing persons: A. L. Thornton, 
Rufus Greene, Emery M. Doty, J. W. 
Furness, O. P. Phillips, C. E. Herrick. 
Eri D. Anderson, George Hawley, L. 
C. Thornton, W. F. Atkinson, Henry 
M. Doty, L. S Scott, C. H. Hutchins, 
Charles Higgins, C. T. Williams. 
Every vote was cast for J. W. Wallace, 
candidate for clerk of the court, and 
the following township officers were 
elected: Rufus Greene, Henry M. 
Doty and George Hawley, trustees; L. 
S. Scott and C. H. Hutchins, justices; 
L. C. Thornton, clerk and O. P. 
Phillips, assessor. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees: Rufus Greene 1882-92, 
Henry M. Doty, 82-84, 96-1901; George 
Hawley, 82-85; Samuel Tibbetts, W. 
L. Mitchell, 85-96; J. K. Crum, 86-88, 
Axel Blomgren, 89-97; J. M. Spain, 
93-95; Chris Larson, 97-1902; C. A. 
Hawley, 98-99; P. K. Ryan, O. A. 
Forsburg, T. C. Smith, 



682 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



- Clerks: L. C. Thornton, 82-83; W. 
F. Atkinson, 84-86; C. J. Bovee, 87 -92; 
W. E. Craig, 93-94; L. J. Reed, 95-96, 
1901-02; A. G. Blomberg, 97; A. F. 
Craig, J. F. McLain, 99-1900. 

Justices: L. S. Scott, 82-94; C. H. 
Hutchins, 82-84; A. F. Craig, 85-86, 91, 
95-97; O. P. Phillips, 87-89; W. D. 
Bently, 91-94; Henry Buett, G. W. 
Smith,A. L. Bunch, W. R. R. Merwin. 

Assessors: O. P. Phillips, 82-84; 
R. N. McCombs, 85-86; E. C. Scott, 87- 
88, A. G. Blomberg, 89-91; A. H. 
Ritchie 92, 95-98; A. L. Bunch, 93-94, 
C. N. Carlson, 99-1901; H. R. Pulley. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. 

Fannie B. Thornton taught the 
first school in the township, in the 
Thornton and Greene home during 
the winter of 1872-73. She was also 
the first teacher in the temporary 
school building built in that vicinity 
(Sec. 19) in 1873, but not used until the 
summer of 1874. The township #as 
then known as North Dover and this 
temporary school building was the 
fifth one built by the Dover school 
board. The second school building 
was built on Sec. 14, in the Hawley 
District in 1880, and the first teacher 
in it was Ida (Herrick, wile of Eri P.) 
Anderson. This was also a temporary 
building. In 1883 it was replaced by a 
good one and afterwards it was moved 
from place to place in the township as 
it was needed in some new district until 
1894 when it was sold. The last dis- 
trict settled was supplied with a good 
building in 1897 and all have now good 
buildings, several of the older ones 
having been recently replaced by new 
ones. 

Ruf us Greene served as a member 
of the Dover school board for that 
district in 1873, A. M. Thornton in 
1874 and F. G. Thornton in 1875. 
Ruf us Greene then represented the 
district until the township was regu- 
larly organized. The succession of 
school officers since 1885 has been as 
follows: 



Presidents: C. H. Hutchins '85; 
A. F. Craig '86-87; O. P. Phillips; C. 
J. Bovee; D. W. Bentley '90-92; Geo. 
Thomas '93-96; E. F. Lynch; F. K. 
Hawley '98-99; T. C. Smith; L. J. 
Reed; Thomas Eberle 1902. 

Secretaries: L. Clingman '85-86; 
W. F. Bovee '87-88; R. M. McCombs 
'89-92; Chas. A. Hawley '93-98; A. F. 
Craig '99-1902. 

Treasurers: E. M. Doty '85-88; 
A. F. Craig '89-93; W. L. Mitchell '94- 
96; D. W. Cook, J. H. Pulley, John 

F. Anderson '99-1902. 

The first teachers were Fannie B. 
Thornton, Emily R. Tinkcom, Mrs. 
Maria Sanders and her daughters, 
Lucia (Wilson), Carrie (Wells), and 
May, all of whom are now in Colorado, 
Mrs. Ida Anderson, A. F. Craig, A. 

G. Blomberg, Mrs. Ruth Herrick, 
Mary E. Thornton, Eliza Gilson, 
Belle Tucker and G. M. Brown. 
Among recent teachers have been 
Venia Hawley, Albert L. Marshall, 
Maud McLain, Mrs. Fred (Boekenoo- 
gen) Hawley, Mabel Atherton and 
Cora P. Eaton. 

groves, roads, etc. 

The first grove was planted by 
Alonzo L. Thornton on 18 in 1871, the 
second one by Rufus Greene on 30 in 
1873 and the third one by Chas. J. 
Peterson on 8 in 1876. The other 
groves planted in 1882 and previous 
thereto were on the farms owned and 
occupied by J. W. Furness, Eri D. 
Anderson and George Hawley. 

The road districts at first were ar- 
ranged to correspond with the school 
districts, and when these were com- 
pleted in 1894 there were nine of 
them. In 1895 a large grader was 
purchased and the next year the town- 
ship was consolidated and divided 
into two districts. Since that date 
the work on the roads has been let to 
the lowest bidders. 

This township has never had a 
postoffice or store and the early set- 
tlers of it had a long distance to travel 



MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 



683 



to enjoy tbese conveniences. On Feb. 
1, 1902 a rural free delivery route was 
established from Laurens to the south 
line of the township and Jared Hugh- 
es was appointed carrier. 

In 1886 five acres on the sw corner 
of sec. 20 were selected for a public 
cemetery. It was platted by II. W. 
JBissell and the first person buried in 
it was Mrs. Fred Delph in 1892. 

In 1871 a drove of elks were seen by 
L. C. Thornton and others passing 
leisurely in a southwesterly direction 
across sec. 19. The last deer was seen 
in 1882 and it was shot by Geo. Hughes. 

During the year 1881 J. W. Furness 
kept seven cows and received for but- 
ter sold at Fonda $178.00, an average 
of $25.43 a cow. Seven calves were 
also raised. 

As late as 1883, A. L. Thornton was 
the only resident who owned a vehicle. 

The first child born was Frank Wil- 
liams on the company farm July 4, 
1880. 

The first marriage was in April 1878 
when Chas. J. Blomberg and Louisa 
Jonson were married on the company 
farm. 

The first death occurred in 1879 
when Peter Jonson died. 

Religious services have been held 
for a number of years in schoolhouse 
No. 2 by William Byers, of Marathon, 
and later by Peter Sutter, of Laurens, 
ministers of the Dunkard or German 
Brethren church. 

Marshall township has furnished 
the following county officers: 

Recorders: Alonzo L. Thornton 
'83-85; Mary E. Thornton '85-86; W. 
F. Atkinson '87-90. 

Sheriff: W, L. Mitchell 1900-02. 

Supervisor: A. H. Richey '97-02. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Bentley Joseph (b. Iowa 1840), 
owner and occupant of 320 acres on 
sec. 15 from 1883 to 1900, is a son of 
one of the early pioneers of Marshall 
county and, in coming to this county, 
was accompanied by his brother Da- 



vid W. Bentley with whom he lived. 
David had a family of six children and 
in 1894 returned to Marshall county. 
Joseph then began to live with his 
sister, Mrs. Nicholas Moore, on sec.23. 
In 1900 receiving the appointment of 
deputy sheriff he located at Pocahon- 
tas. He left home early in life and 
spent several years traveling and 
prospecting in New Mexico, Colorado 
and Wyoming. 

Bjorklund Charles J., owner and 
occupant of the company farm on sec. 
18 since 1890, is a native of Sweden, 
came to America in 1889, lo- 
cated one year in Bellville and the 
next in Marshall township. His fam- 
ily consists of six children; Charles, 
Adolph, Eric, Elias, David and Annie. 

Blomberg John (b. 1825; d. 1897), 
the pioneer owner and occupant of 
the sei sec. 30, was a native of Swed- 
en, came to America in 1877, and oc- 
cupied the company farm on sec. 18 
during the next three years. In 1880 
he moved to Bellville township but in 
1883, located on the swi sec. 30, im- 
proved and occupied it until his death 
at 72 in 1897. He was a leading mem- 
ber in the Swedish Lutheran church, 
Fairfield township. His wife remains 
on the farm which she assisted great- 
ly to improve. Their family consist- 
ed of five children. 

Charles J. (b. Sweden 1853) in 1876 
came to Pomeroy with his brother, 
August, and found employment as a 
blacksmith. In April 1878 he married 
Louisa Jonson, the marriage taking 
place on the company farm in Mar- 
shall township. After the death of 
his brother, August, in 1883 he loca- 
ted on the nwi sec. 30 which he im- 
proved and has since occupied. He 
now owns 200 acres. His family con- 
sists of seven children; Gothard E., 
Carl W., Elsa L , Edith V., Alma S. 
and Alphild. 

August Wilhelm (b. 1855; d. 1883), a 
blacksmith, came to Pomeroy in 1876. 
In 1881 he married Augusta, daughter 



684 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of Peter Jonson and died at 28 in 1883, 
leaving one son, David. Augusta 
later married Solomon Johnson, a 
merchant, and lives at Pomeroy. 

Johanna S. in 1881 married Chas. A. 
Peterson, son of Peter Jonson. (See 
Jonson). 

Andrew G-. (b. 1862; d. 1898) in 1877 
came to Marshall township and in 
1887 located on 80 acres, sec. 19 which 
he improved, increased to 120 acres 
and occupied till his decease at 36 in 
1898. In the spring of 1893 he moved 
to Pomeroy and the cyclone complete- 
ly demolished his home and furniture. 
Some of the members of his family 
were carried two blocks distant. His 
wife and three children were three 
weeks in the hospital at Sioux City, 
and he never recovered from the lung 
trouble that resulted from the ex- 
posure at that time. He taught 
school seven years in this county, 
served as assessor of Marshall town- 
ship four years and was clerk when he 
died. He left a wife and four chil- 
dren; Evelyn, Bina, Mabel and Walter. 

Ellen W. in 1890 married Axel 
Shold (b. Sweden 1857), who owns and 
occupies a farm of 80 acres in Swan 
Lake township and has two children; 
Edward and Melinda. 

The family of John Blomberg was 
one of the first to locate in Marshall 
township and it may be noted that 
two brothers and one sister in it mar- 
ried two sisters and one brother in 
the family of Peter Jonson, who loca- 
ted in the township the same year. 
The descendants of these two families 
in connection with others that came 
later, now form a colony of very in- 
dustrious and successful Swedish 
farmers, who have improved their 
homes with cozy buildings and sur- 
rounded them with pretty groves. 

Brockett William, o^wner and oc- 
cupant of 80 acres on the nwi sec. 15 
from 1892 to 1900, is now a resident of 
Carroll county. His family consisted 
of six children, His eldest daughter 



married Mr. Inkenbach, lives in Mar- 
shall township and has a large family. 
Ceena married Wm. Hoffman and 
lived in Marshall township until 1900, 
when they moved to North Dakota. 
Tama married Thomas Jerome and 
lives at Laurens. William married 
Emma Fearhellcr and in 1899 
moved to North Dakota. Benjamin 
died at 22 in 1900. Amy, an adopted 
daughter, is at home. The pretty 
evergreens at the Brockett home con- 
sisting of white pine, Scotch pine and 
several other varieties were planted 
by Wilbur Craig in 1891. 

Craig Almaren F. (b. 1834), owner 
and occupant of a large and finely im- 
proved farm on the ni sec. 15, is a 
native of Farmington, Maine. His 
ancestors on his father's side were of 
Scotch descent, and of English on his 
mother's side. He was the son of 
Joseph S. and Dorcas D. (Wheeler) 
Craig. In 1854, at the age of 20, he 
came to Muscatine county, Iowa, and 
taught school along the banks of the 
Mississippi before any railroad had 
been laid in Iowa. In November 1855 
he married Marietta L. Butler, of 
Maine, and returned to Muscatine on 
a railroad that had been completed 
during his absence. During the next 
two years he occupied a farm near 
Muscatine and then lived fourteen in 
Cedar county. In 1868 he moved to 
Benton county and iu 1883 to his pres- 
ent farm, which he was the first to 
occupy and improve. His improve- 
ments rank among the first in the 
township. He taught school two 
years and served many years as a 
justice in Marshall township. 

His family consists of five children: 

Celia H. in 1883 married Chas King, 
lives in Minnesota and has a fam- 
ily of six children; Etta, George, Ma- 
bel E., Linn, Louisa and John. 

Wilbur E. in 1891 married Elizabeth 
Ryon, occupies a farm of 160 acres in 
Washington township, and has two 
children; Hattie and Alice. 



MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 



685 



Louis B., a graduate of tbe Iowa 
State Agricultural College in 1894, 
spent the next two years in the 
Moody Institute, Chicago. 

Mary E., a teacher, in 1901 married 
Albert A. Bunch who lives on his own 
farm in Marshall township. 

Marietta E. is at home. 

Greene Bufus (b. 1830), the second 
settler in Marshall township and now 
a resident of Marathon, is a native of 
Chatauqua county, N. Y. the son of 
Bufus and Mary Sheldon (Boltwood) 
Greene. In 1857 he married Kate 
Lois Gould (b. 1830) of Erie county, N. 
Y. and engaged in farming. In 1871 
he came to Pocahontas county and 
located on the Thornton, Greene & 
Co. farm of 1920 acres with its build- 
ings on section 18 Marshall township, 
then called North Dover. As the 
outlook on this farm was quite dis- 
couraging, he selected that fall a 
homestead of 160 acres on sec. 30, 
which was beyond the railroad limits, 
and located on it in the spring of 1873. 
He improved and occupied this home- 
stead u/itil 1892 when he moved to 
Marathon. When the company farm 
was divided in 1879 he was the owner 
of 960 acres in Pocahontas and Buena 
Vista counties. 

He received a good education in his 
youth and during the greater part of 
the period of his residence in Mar- 
shall township was its most promi- 
nent citizen. During most of the 
period that territory was attached to 
Dover he served as a school director 
for that district and was the first one 
elected to serve as a justice, but did 
not qualify. He took a leading part 
in the organization of the township 
and served as one of its trustees from 
that date to the time of his removal 
to Marathon. By his intelligence and 
integrity he won the respect and con- 
fidence of all who had the pleasure of 
making his acquaintance. His estim- 
able wife presides over his home with 
a queenly dignity, and both of them 



have identified themselves with the 
noblest and best interests in the 
various communities in which they 
have lived. 

His family consisted of two children, 
one of whom, Mary H., died at his 
home at 31 in 1898. 

Bufus Erwin (b. N. Y. 1865) in 1887 
married Frances Jane Kibble, a native 
of England, and, engagitag in farming 
and teaching, continued to reside in 
Marshall township until 1895 when he 
moved to Sioux Bapids where he has 
since been engaged in market garden- 
ing. He has one child, Francis 
Harold. 

Grund, Julius (b. 1852) the pioneer 
settler of- the SE I Sec. 10, is a native 
of Germany, where in 1879 he married 
and located on a farm. In 1885 he 
came to America and located on his 
present farm, which he has finely im- 
proved. He is an industrious worker, 
a good neighbor and has a family of 
three children. 

Hawley, George (b.1843; d.l889),one 
of the first settlers in Marshall town- 
ship, was a native of Canada. In 1859 
he moved to St. Lawrence county. N. 
Y , where in 1865 he married Mary 
Furness and located on a farm. In 
1880 he came to Marshall township 
and began to occupy the N W i Sec. 14, 
moving into a hunter's shanty and a 
sod stable that had been built on it by 
some trappers. At this particular date 
the only other American family inthe 
township was that of Bufus Greene. 
Mr. Hawley improved this farm with 
a fine dwelling house and other build- 
ings that are well adapted for handling 
a large amount of stock. A few rods 
south of the house, there is a flowing 
well that is a sourc3 of great conven- 
ience. In 1888, leaving the farm in 
charge of his son, Charles," he moved 
to Bolfe and engaged in the livery 
business until his decease at 47 in 
1889. His wife returned to the farm, 
but a few years later located at 
Laurens and in 1900 became the wife 



686 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of James M. Mick. Mr. Hawley as- 
sisted in the organization of Marshall 
township and served several years as 
one of its first trustees. 

His family consisted of ten children. 

Salome Agnes in 1890 married Alex- 
ander Taylor, lives in Swan Lake 
township and has one child, Law- 
rence. 

Charles A. (b. 1869) in 1896 married 
Molly Weaver. He occupied the old 
home farm until 1900 when he moved 
to Des Moines. He was secretary of 
the school board six years. He is now 
at the head of the commercial depart- 
ment in Central University at Pella. 
He has two children, Gretchen and 
Sheldon A. 

Frederick (b. 1870) in 1893 married 
Hettie Boekenoogen and, locating on 
his own farm on -Sec. 11, occupied it 
until 1900 when he moved to the old 
home farm. He is meeting with good 
success in raising thoroughbred hogs 
and Short Horn cattle. He has one 
child, Charles F. 

Esther in 1890 married George Tut- 
tle, a poultry dealer at Laurens, and 
has three children, Gordon, Leon and 
Warren. 

Venia, a teacher, in 1899 married 
Horace Cowan a telegraph operator 
and lives at Sioux Rapids, Albert, 
Hattie, May, Phronia and Seymour 
live with their mother. 

Jonson, Peter, the pioneer occu- 
pant of 80 acres on Sec. 8, was a native 
of Sweden where he married and lived 
until 1877, when with a family of wife, 
two sons and two daughters, he located 
in Marshall township. He died in 
1879 and his wife lives with her son- 
in-law, Charles J. Blomberg. His 
family consisted of six children. 

John in 1873 located in Pennsylvania 
and three years later in Calhoun 
county, Iowa. He is now section fore- 
man at Barnum. 

Charles A. Peterson (second son of 
Peter Jonson) owns and occupies a 
farm on the SWi Sec. 8. In 1881 he 



married Johanna S. Blomberg and h£s 
a family of seven children: Carl, 
Alma, Ida, Frantz, David, Elsa and 
Arthur. 

Louisa married Charles J. Blomberg 
and Augusta married August W. 
Blomberg. (See Blomberg.) 

Gustafva, in 1882 married Eric 
Aspholm and located on a farm in 
Swan Lake township, where she died 
in 1895, leaving a family of six chil- 
dren: Emma, Minnie, Anna, Theo- 
dore, Carrie and Albert. 

Andrew G. Peterson located in the 
west. 

Kibble, Richard, who occupied the 
NWi Sec. 29 from 1885 to 1895, was a 
native of Gloucestershire, England. 

In the fall of 1884 he visited his two 
sons, Richard D. and Percival, in 
Plymouth county, and his friend, J. 
C. Pegler, on Sec. 30, Marshall town- 
ship. He was so favorably impressed 
with the fertility and cheapness of 
the lands in this section that he pur- 
chased 240 acres on section 29, Mar- 
shall township. George F., a son 
who accompanied him, remained 
with his brothers near Le»Mars, 
when he returned to England. The 
next spring, accompanied by his wife, 
Susanna Miles, and eight other chil- 
dren, Reginald, Algernon A:, Septi- 
mus, Frank, Frances J., Ada J., Sus- 
anna and Mary A., he came to this 
county and located in Marshall town- 
ship. He improved and occupied the 
farm on section 29, until 1895 when he 
moved to Sioux Rapids. Ernest J. 
another son who soon followed him to 
this country, is also a resident of Iowa. 

Kintzley, William P., (b. 1859), 
owner and occupant of the NWi Sec. 
36 since 1890, is a native of Story 
county, the son of Adolphus and Polly 
A. Kintzley. In 1882 he married Ella 
Hays and located at Ames, where, 
during the next seven years, he work- 
ed in the horticultural department of 
the State Agricultural College. In 
1890 he located on 80 acres on section 



MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 



687 



36, Marshall township, that he had 
bought four years previous. He has 
increased this farm to 240 acres and 
the improvements on it are very con- 
veniently arranged and fine in every 
respect. 

AN HORTICULTURIST. 

W. P. Kiotzley has here developed, 
in an admirable manner, the advan- 
tages he enjoyed at the Agricultural 
College and has one of tne finest fruit 
farms in Pocahontas county. About 
20 acres have been set apart for fruit 
and forest trees. He began with a 
small nursery that furnished a supply 
both for himself and a number of 
his neighbors. The encouraging 
success that has attended his 
efforts to raise fruit is in a 
great measure due to the fact he had 
previously gained a thorough and 
practical knowledge of the hardy, pro- 
ductive varieties that were suited to 
this climate, planted only these and 
then took an intelligent care of 
them. All the rows run north and 
south and to the visitor in autumn, 
the sight of so many trees of the same 
variety, loaded with rosy cheeked ap- 
ples, and of others covered with red, 
white and blue plumbs, affords a 
pleasure that is second only to that of 
being able to say, these are mine. 

That others may enjoy the benefit of 
his matured and successful experience 
in raising fruit in this county, we note 
some of the things he regards as es- 
sential and name some of the varieties 
he commends as hardy and profitable 
in this locality. 

Three things are essential in a good 
variety, namely, that the tree be 
hardy, a good bearer and its fruit be 
valuable for use. The varieties of ap- 
ples commended are the Duchess, 
Wealthy, Longfleld, Silken Leaf and 
Romna. The last three are new 
Russian varieties and he expresses 
the belief that «the Longfleld will 
likely be the most profitable variety 
for this county. The trees are hardy 



and prolific bearers; the fruit is good 
for cooking and keeping; its size is 
above medium, and its color, a yellow 
tinge with pink blush on the side 
next the sun. The Silken Leaf re- 
sembles the Duchess, but flatter, and 
is also good for cooking. The Florence 
and Whitney No. 20 are crabs that 
have not suffered from blight. The 
Concord, Worden and Moore's Early, 
the latter a shy bearer, take pre- 
cedence among fifteen varieties of 
grapes that have been planted. 

Native plums are best for this 
northern part of the state, the Wolfe, 
Wyant, De Soto and Rolling Stone 
yielding the best results, and the 
Chickasaws proving a disappointment. 
The Minor plum is large and excellent 
but, owing to its imperfect blossom, 
is not sure to bear unless planted al- 
ternately with other varieties. 

Some of the essentials to successful 
fruit culture in this section are the 
the maintenance of a good fence, 
planting only those varieties that 
have done well in it, the cultivation 
of the soil, but so as not to injure 
their roots, when the trees are young, 
and an occasional application of 
manure to it when the tree begins to 
bear. A low growth insures freedom 
from sun scald and lessens the expos- 
ure to the wind. 

Mr. Kintzley has also a large num- 
ber of varieties of ornamental trees 
that include many kinds-of evergreens 
such as Fir, White Spruce, Scotch, 
Austrian and Mountain Dwarf Pines, 
the Laurel Willow, Wild Olive, etc. 

His family consists of six children, 
Agnes, William, Mary, Eugene, Hat- 
tie and Hazel. 

Lofquist Julius in 1886 located on 
160 acres on sec. 20. He was the first 
to occupy and improve this land. He 
died at 48 in 1892 leaving a wife and 
five children, —Julius, Josephine, 
Augustus, Victor E , and Elmer. 

McLain Alexander, owner and oc- 
cupant of a finely improved farm of 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



280 acres on sec. 14, has been a resi- 
dent of the township since 1886. In 
1886, during his residence in Illinois, 
he married Eliza Ann, sister of A. J. 
Stover, and three years later located 
in Marshall township. He was the 
first to occupy and improve his 
present farm and he has it now in a 
fine state of cultivation and provided 
with good and substantial buildings. 

His family consisted of eight chil- 
dren. 

Eva married G. Wallie Bellinger, 
who owns and occupies a farm on 
sec. 6, Sherman township, which he 
was the first to improve. 

Charles married Catherine Moore 
and located on a farm on section 16, 
Marshall township. 

Frank, Maud and Nellie, teachers; 
Oliver, Earl and Joseph. 

Mitchell, William L. (b. 1847) 
sheriff of Pocahontas county since 
1900 and owner of the NEi Sec. 22, 
Marshall township since 1885, is a 
native of Ohio. He spent a part of 
his youth in Indiana and then came 
to Marshall county, Iowa, where in 
1878 he married Emma Williams. In 
1885 he began to occupy and improve 
his farm in Marshall township and 
since that date has become prominent- 
ly associated with the history of the 
township and county. He served 
several years as a township trustee 
and is now serving his second term as 
sheriff. 

His first house was struck by light- 
ning in 1892 and again in 1893 when it 
was burned. It was replaced by a 
fine residence. He was quite success- 
ful on the farm and has made a good 
record as a public officer. He moved 
to Pocahontas in 1900. 

Moore, Nicholas (b. 1846) owner 
and occupant of 160 acres on Sec. 23, is 
a native of Mahaska county. In 1858 
he moved with his parents to Wright 
county, three years later to Marshall 
county and in 1892 to his present farm 
which he has finely improved. 



In 1867 he married Mary J. Bentley 
and seven of their nine children are 
living. 

Fred W. (b. 1868) in 1892 married 
Minnie Marshall of Marshall county 
and occupies the SWi Sec. 25. 

Arthur C. (b. 1871) married Nellie 
McLain, and Katie in 1894 married 
Charles McLain. Both live in Clark 
county, S. D. 

William, Grace, Ernest and Edward 
are at home. 

Phillips, Oliver Perry (b. 1815) the 
first assessor of Marshall township, is 
a native of Chenango Co. N. Y. In 
his youth he located in Will Co., 111., 
where in 1840 he married Elizabeth 
Dutton (b. 1823), a native of Cayuga 
Co., N. Y. He has been a resident 
of Pocahontas county since 1882 when 
he located on Sec. 1, Marshall town- 
ship. He participated in the organi- 
zation of the township, serving as one 
of the clerks on that occasion. He 
served three years as its first assessor, 
and later three years as a justice. He 
is now living in Swan Lake township. 
His family consisted of nine children, 
three of whom are living. Orson D. 
is in southern Kansas. Ellen became 
the wife of W. F. Atkinson and lives 
at Laurens. Edith E. married N. 
Morrison, who kept a hotel at Poca- 
hontas a number of years and now 
lives in Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. 
Phillips were pioneers in the early 
settlement of Illinois, and were mar- 
ried in a log cabin, when eyen log 
cabins were not very numerous on the 
frontier. Their 50th wedding anni- 
versary was duly celebrated at the 
home of their daughter at the Morri- 
son House, Pocahontas, November 19, 
1890. 

Richey, Alfred Hammond, (b. 1860) 
the first county supervisor from Mar- 
shall township, is a native of Marshall 
county, the son of John and Nancy 
Richey. In July 1886° he located in 
Marshall township. In 1890 he mar- 
ried Ada E., daughter of Wm. F. 



MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 



689 



Atkinson, whose farm he now occu- 
pies. He has proven himself a man 
worthy of public recognition. He 
served for four years as assessor of 
the township and, in January 1897 re- 
ceiving an appointment to serve as a 
county supervisor in place of Louie 
Lange who resigned, he has since 
been twice elected to that office. 

His family consists of two children, 
Mildred and Dorothea. 

Scott, Lucian S. (b. 1854), who in 
1882 located on Sec. 20, was a native of 
Iowa. In 1878 he married Sarah J. 
Wells and located in Jasper county. 
He remained there until the date of 
his settlement in Pocahontas county. 
He met with good success as a farmer, 
assisted in the organization of Mar- 
shall township and as one of its first 
justices served thirteen years, 1882 to 
1894. His family consisted of three 
children, Edith, Arwell and Lucian. 
He is now a resident of Sioux Rapids. 

Scott, Edgar C, owner and occu- 
pant of a farm of 160 acres on the NEi 
Sec. 20, since 1886, is a native of Jas- 
per county. He has improved this 
farm with good buildings and made 
it an attractive home. In 1892 he 
moved to Laurens, but after spending 
two years in a meat market and one 
sinking wells, he returned to the farm. 
In 1888 he married Anna Wells and 
has a family of four children, Eunice, 
Frank, Glenn and Nellie. 

Thoma, Anton (b. 1864) and his 
two brothers, Alvis A. and Christ, 
coming from Germany in 1884 bought 
the Ei Sec. 31 and divided it into 
three farms, one for each of themf 
These brothers were the first to oc- 
cupy and improve these farms. They 
have erected handsome- buildings and 
secured a beautiful growth of trees 
around them. Katie Thoma (b. 1831) 
their mother, came with them in 1884 
and lives with Anton, who occupies 
the south farm. In 1890 he married 
Emma Bitner and has a family of four 
children. 



Thoma, Alvis A (b. 1862) who oc- 
cupies the middle farm, in 1889 married 
Rosa Nace and has a family of three 
children. 

Thoma, Christ (b. 1866) who occu- 
pies the north farm, in 1890 married 
Alfreda Fix and has a family of three 
children. 

Thornton Albert Mortimer(b. 1810; 
d. 1884), senior member of Thornton, 
Greene & Co., was a native of Ver- 
mont. In 1832 he married Mary Shel- 
don Greene (b. Amherst, Mass., 1816) 
and located in Chatauqua County, N. 
Y., and in 1868 in Webster County, 
Iowa. After living a year in Fort 
Dodge he located on Greenside farm 
near Otho and the next year returned 
to Fort Dodge. During the three 
years, 1873 to 1876, he lived on the 
company farm in Marshall Township, 
and then returned to Greenside Farm, 
where he spent the remainder of his 
days, 

His golden wedding was celebrated 
at this place under very delightful 
circumstances, August 12, 1882. On 
this occasion it was found the family 
represented 45 persons, which includ- 
ed 8 children, 22 grand children, and 
3 great grand children. From his ex- 
cellent words of counsel on this occa- 
sion, we quote the following: "Re- 
member that the individual is an in- 
tegral part of the government and it 
is his duty as well as privilege to exer- 
cise the high function of the ballot in 
all matters wherein the weal or woe 
of the community is depending. Let 
the sons of America, Man's last hope 
of universal freedom, be true to their 
inheritance and hand down to poster- 
ity the inestimable blessings of life, 
liberty, and an untrammeled pursuit 
of happiness." 

He did not vote for Butler, the first 
presidential candidate of the green- 
back party, but joining that party the 
next year and using both his voice and 
pen, he became one of its strongest 
advocates in this state. He received 



690 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



a good education and, being a man of 
strong convictions, like John Brown, 
he disregarded popular sentiment and 
even personal safety in advocating 
them. He wrote many articles for 
the public press in support of his 
money theory and they were remarka- 
ble for their number, scope, and per- 
suasiveness. July 4, 1879, he deliv- 
ered the oration at the patriotic cele- 
bration in Otho. Two months later 
he addressed the greenback county 
convention at Fort Dodge, on the 
right of a government to tax its citi- 
zens for its own support. He effected 
the organization of the Otho Farmers' 
Alliance during the early part of that 
year and, at each quarterly meeting, 
addressed that body on some agricul- 
tural or political topic, such as the 
soil, the horse, labor, money, the 
credit system and the prohibitory 
amendment 

He died on the farm, at 74, in 1884, 
and his wife died at 74. in 1890 at the 
home of her daughter Maria L. San- 
ders at Marathon. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren, one of whom died in childhood. 

1. Alonzo Lucius, see page 477. 

2. Mary Rebecca, married Lucius 
Sanders, editor of the Boonesboro 
News, who died leaving three children, 
Carrie, May. and Lucia. She is now 
living at Grand Junction, Colo. 

4. Emily, in New York married W. 
Frank Tinkcom, a blacksmith, and 
later located at Red Lodge, Montana, 
where he owns a large stock ranch and 
has served as a county commissioner. 

Her family consists of three chil- 
dren, Minnie, Dallas, and Estella. 

5. Irene married Capt. L. D. But- 
ton. In 1865 they located at Fort 
Dodge, where he became principal of 
the public schools and she, a teacher 
also. She died there in 1869 leaving 
two children, Louis T. and Gertrude. 
Louis taught school three years in 
Pocahontas county and married Edith 
Cornick, of Powhatan township. Lat- 



er he married Mabel Swaim, of Hum- 
boldt, where he is now engaged as a 
solicitor of insurance. Gertrude mar- 
ried Charles E Herrick, a real estate 
agent, lives at Marathon and has sev- 
en children, Irene, Robert, Naomi, 
Louis, Glendolyn and Catherine. 

6. Flora married Silas W. Swift, 
a lumber dealer, who died in 1900 at 
Yankton, S. D., leaving a family of 
five children; Eleanor, a teacher, is a 
graduate of Yankton and Oberlin Col- 
leges; Ruth, a graduate of the Han- 
neman Medical College, Chicago, prac- 
ticed medicine two years and then 
married Dr. Everett Marvin, Sioux 
City;Irene married Granville Standish 
and lives in New York City; 
Eunice married Miles Standish and 
lives in Brooklyn; Gordon lives with 
his mother in Grand Junction, Colo. 

7. Fannie married Frank Rees, for- 
merly a resident of Marshall town- 
ship, now of Grand Junction, where 
she died in 1897 leaving two children, 
Lucia and May. 

8. Frank Greene Thornton (b. 1854) 
was auditor of Pocahontas county 
from 1893 to 1896. He is a native of 
Chatauqua county, N. Y., and at 14, 
in 1868 came with his parents to Fort 
Dodge, where he completed his educa- 
tion. In 1870 he became a resident of 
Marshall township and two years later 
married Naomi R. Herrick, an early 
Fonda teacher. During the grasshop- 
per period, 1873 to 1874, he .moved to 
Fort Dodge and was conductor on the 
Illinois Central R. R. In 1882 he es - 
tablished a store in the new town of 
Halo, south of Fort Dodge and the 
next year established a hardware and 
grocery store at the new town of 
Laurens. Two years later he 
was appointed and served three 
years as postmaster at that place, 
in 1887 he moved to Rolfe and 
engaged in the hardware business, 
moving to Pocahontas when elected to 
the office of county auditor. After 
his term of service as county auditor 



MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 



691 



he resumed the mercantile business at 
Fonda until Sept. 1, 1900, when he 
moved to a fruit ranch near Grand 
Junction, Colo. 

His first wife died in 1885 leaving 
two children, Albert H. and Fannie 
B. Albert, after graduating from the 
State University in 1897, located at 
West Bend, where in 1898 he married 
Catherine L. Seymour. In 1900 he lo- 
cated at Pocahontas. Fannie in 1894 
married Frank L. Dinsmore, an at- 
torney at Pocahontas, and of this 
union has one daughter, Lois. In 
1900 she married James Calvin and 
lives at Miles City, Montana. 

In 1886 F. G-. Thornton' married Ma- 
ry L. Steward, of Marshalltown, and 
of this union has one child, Arthur M. 

Weittenhiller, Philip S. (b. 1859), 
owner and occupant of a farm on Sec. 
1, Marshall townshiD, from 1893 to 
1899, is a native of Platteville, Wis., 
where h's parents were early pioneers. 
At, 20, in 1879 he went to California, 
and in 1882 was among the first to go 
to the mining excitement at Silver- 
bow Basin, Alaska, where he engaged 
in trading and mining until 1885, 
when he received the appointment of 



deputy U, S. Marshall. In 1888 he re- 
signed and accepted the position of 
inspector of customs at Juneau. In 
1893 he located on his farm in Mar- 
shall township, which he improved 
and occupied until 1899, when he 
moved to Laurens, where he has since 
been engaged in the real estate busi- 
ness. 

In 1888, during his residence at Ju- 
neau, he returned to Platteville, Wis., 
and married Nellie Jones. His fami- 
ly consists of two children, Clara May, 
born at Juneau in 1889, and Clyde 
Philip, bom at Platteville, Wis., in 
1893. 

O. K. Jones, father of Mrs. Weitten- 
hiller, in 1882, bought sec. 1., Marshall 
township, and four years later divided 
it among his three children. He gave 
to Mary Lottie, wife of David Merry, 
the NEi, 183 acres. They were mar- 
ried in 1883, began to occupy and im- 
prove this farm, in 1884 and have a 
family of five children, Bessie, Frank, 
Nellie, Jennie, and Ernest. To his 
son, D. F. Jones, of Odebolt, he gave 
the NWi, 180 acres; and to his daugh- 
ter Nellie E., wife of P. S. Weittenhil- 
ler, the south half, 320 acres. 






XXLV. 



P0WHHTaN TOWNSHIP. 



'The Indian must away; 

Not in this land another morn could he prolong his stay." 



My country, I love thee, thy prairies and hills; 

Thy broad, flowing streams and murmuring- rills: 
Thy greatness be sung to the true poet's lyre, 

In strains that such freedom alone can inspire. 

— L. Brown. 




OWHATA^' town- 
ship (93-32), the sec- 
ond from the east in 
the north row of the 
county, was the 
fourth one organized 
in Pocahontas county. It was in- 
cluded in Des Moines township until 
September 3, 1866, when the territory 
included in it and the two townships 
west of it, was set off as "Nunda" 
township. It was called "Nunda" 
after a town by that name in western 
New York from which some of the 
settlers had emigrated. The ma- 
jority of the settlers, however were 
neither pleased with the name nor the 



method by which it was adopted, and 
as a result of a meeting held at the 
home of Henry Thomas, March 27, 
1867, it was changed April 20th, follow- 
ing to, '"Powhatan", in honor of the 
Indian chief who was father of Poca- 
hontas, and lived in Virginia from 
1550 to 1618. 

His Indian name was "Wa hun-san", 
a cock, but the English erroneously 
called him "Powhatan", after the 
name of his residence. The latter 
consisted of twelve wigwams in which 
he maintained a body guard of fifty 
warriors and it was located near the 
site of Richmond. He raised himself 
from the rank of tribal chief to the 



(692) 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



693 



command of a confederacy that con- 
sisted of thirty three tribes, that 
numbered 10,000 persons who belonged 
ta the Florida or Southern branch of 
the Algonkin family and occupied 
Maryland and Virginia. He had con- 
quered most of the tribes over which 
he ruled and was about 60 years of 
age when the English first made his 
acquaintance. The beautiful form 
of his daughter, Pocahontas, as 
it has been perpetuated in sculpture by 
Capellans may be seen over one of the 
dnors at the capitol at Washington. 
The plans of Powhatan for the decep- 
tion and destruction of the colonists 
having been frustrated by Capt. John 
Smith and Newport, his comrade, he 
concluded to live at peace with them. 
A few years later when Newport 
brought him from England a crown, 
he was so delighted that he gave New- 
port his robe and old shoes. 

In 1871 Swan Lake township was de- 
tached, and in June 1874, the name of 
the township was changed to Jackson, 
at the instance of Andrew Jackson, a 
prominent citizen of the township, 
who was then a member of the board 
of county supervisors. 

Sept. 5, 1876, Washington township 
was detached, and on Jan. 8, 
1878, the name of the township was 
again changed to "Powhatan," 
Andrew Jackson, who had been treas- 
urer of the school fund for several 
years, having suddenly left the county 
two months previous for parts un- 
known with about $1,000 of the public 
funds. 

The surface of this township is a 
gentlyirolling prairie that originally 
had a great many marshes. As the 
years have passed these have been 
drained to their "natural outlets, 
Beaver and Pilot creeks, and the soil 
is splendid for corn and other cerea's. 

The early settlers appreciated the 
value of trees around the home and on 
the farm; and beautiful groves son 
appeared that now look like bodies 



of native timber. In some of the old- 
er groves may be found some of the 
largest trees in the county. 

He who plants a tree beautifies to 
that extent his home and benefits 
every member of his family. A country 
home is never beautiful without trees. 
They serve as a protection, increase 
its comforts, and the love and 
sympathy that unite the family find 
in them one of their happiest forms of 
expression. Whilst bleak, cheerless 
homes and fields are the natural con- 
comitants of extremepovertyorsorrow, 
wooded hills and shady slopes are the 
nursuries in which love of home and 
country germinates and grows strong, 
for they are the natural inspirers of 
reverence for Him who made the 
groves his first temples. 'The groves 
of Eden, though vanished long, live 
yet in prose and look green in song." 

EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

The early settlers of this town- 
ship were of Scotch and American 
birth and these nationalities continue 
to be the most numerous. 

1864-65. The first homestead entry 
in this township was made by Barney 
Hancher, April 9, 1864, for the SEi 
Sec. 24 In September following his 
mo' her, Nancy A. Hancher, entered 
the NEi, and Henry Thomas, his 
father-in-law. the SWi of this same 
sec' ion; aDd in April 1866 Ira Strong, 
entered the NWi of it, thus making 
it one of the first sections entirely 
taken by homesteaders. Henry Thom- 
as, wife and sons, Daniel and Joel, 
had located in Des Moines township 
in the fall of 1863. In September 
1861 Dmiel and Joel selected claims 
on Sec. 23 and Jeremiah Young, their 
brother-in-law, on Sec. 25. 

Barney Hancher, who turned the 
first furrow in May 1864, also built 
that spring the first shanty, using 
native basswood sawed by W. H. 
Hait. In the fall of that year he 
moved this shanty to the timber near 
old Rolfe, where he and his family 



694 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



spent the next winter. In the spring 
of 1865 he moved this shanty back to 
his homestead. Others that erected 
shanties that year were Jeremiah 
Young on the N Wi, Sec. 25, Henry 
Thomas on 24, Joel and Daniel Thomas 
on 23. The one built by Joel Thomas 
was a sod huuse and Mr. and Mrs. 
Samuel Booth became its occupants. 
1866. In 1866 a number of families 
located in the township, among whom 
were those of J. B.Jolliffe and Samuel 
Umbarger on Sec. 2, James Henderson 
on 8, J. W. Brown on 10, Mrs. Fannie 
N. Strong on 12, Wm. Orcutt, Henry 
Tilley, Oscar J. and Geo. W. Strong on 

14, Robert, Edward and John Ander- 
son and S. N. Strong on 15, C. L. 
Strong on 16, A. H. Handier and 
James Drown on 24, George Hender- 
son on 26, Robert Lowrey on 28, 
Thomas L. MacVey and John Eraser 
on 36, William Stone on 25; and Rob- 
ert Lothian on Sec. 3u, Des Moines 
township. 

1869. In 1869 George Stevens and 
Marcus Lind located on 16. 

1870-74. During the early 70's there 
arrived Alexander Geddeson29, Geo. 
and W. E. Goodchild on 20, John and 
Geo. W. Barnes on 12, Daniel P. Frost 
on 16, S. E. Heathman on 9, Geo, W. 
and Norman L. Rowley on 12, S. N. 
Pettit, J. D. Hilton, C. F. Barlow, E. 
H. Heathman, Thomas Fulcomer, 
Andrew Jackson and M. J. Youug. 

1875-79. During the later 70's there 
arrived Alex McEwen, P. W. and Joel 
Smith, E. C. Fuller and Nels H. 
Shaver. 

1880-86. Others that arrived. during 
the early 80's were A. L. Whitney on 

15, E. Northrop, Wm. Halsted, P. J. 
and Josiah Shaw, Ed. R. Trites, Frank 
Salasek, W. II. Baker, B. F. Bogue, 
F. 0. DeWolf, A. W. Ireland, D. D. 
Cornick, Henry Sternberg, J. H. 
Bellinger, F. H. Pringle; and at Plover 
J. T. Calhoun, Louis Brodsky, W. A. 
Hubel, J. II. Blanchard, A. Fggs- 
puebler. 



In 1866 Henry Thomas built the 
first log house on the SWi Sec 24 and 
planted around it the first grove. The 
cottonwoods he then planted are still 
growing and they are believed to be 
the largest in the county at this time. 
A cut of his log house which is still 
standing within the grove and in use, 
may be seen in the frontispiece, where 
it is erroneously credited to Ira StroDg 
due to the fact it has been owned 
for some years by his grand daughter, 
Dora Strong. The log house built by 
Ira Strong in 1866 was replaced by a 
new one a few years ago by his sen, 
Philander Strong. 

The first frame house was built by 
Thomas L. MacVey on Sec: 36 in 1867, 
and the lumber for it was hauled from 
Buone. 

A few sod houses were built in this 
township owing to the scarcity and 
high price of lumber. They were 
quickly constructed and ordinarily 
were used only one season. 

The log houses rendered good ser- 
vice for many years and some of them 
were quite comfortable. Wood was 
principally used for fuel and it was 
obtained from the groves of native 
timber along the Des Moines river, 
frequently from the "cabbage lot" on 
section 37. 

A. H. Hancher helped to haul the 
lumber for five of the first frame 
houses from Boone, a distance of 80 
miles. The houses though plain were 
expensive, for the lumber cost $70.00 
per thousand feet and its transporta- 
tion with ox teams was exceedingly 
laborious. 

INTERESTING EVENTS. 

The first social was held at the home 
of Mrs. Nancy A. Hancher on Christ- 
mas day 18«6. 

The first marriage was that of 
Henry Tilley and Belle, sister of A. H. 
Hancher, March 29, 1866. 

The first children born were twins 
in the home of Daniel Thomas 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



695 



in March 1866, one of them sleeps 
in the Powhatan cemetery and the 
other became the wife of Harley 
Unbarger. 

The first death, save that of the 
man whose body was found on the 
prairie by John Anderson in the 
spring of 1866, was that of a child in 
the family of Samuel Booth. Ps 
coffin was made in the pioneer schocl 
house and the place of its burial, near 
the school house on sec. 24, afterward 
became the Powhatan cemetery. 

The first crop of wheat was 'one of 
five acres by Thomas L. Mac Vey in 
1868. 

The winter of 1866 67 was a very 
severeone. Although very little snow 
fell until the holidays, after that 
period blizzards were frequent and un- 
welcome visitors, often overtaking 
the settler at a distance from his 
home. 

The first bridge was built in 1870 
over Beaver creek and it had an in- 
teresting history. In the fall of the 
years, it was taken down and placed 
beyond reach of high water; and then 
after the spring freshets had subsided, 
it was replaced in its former position. 
The lack of bridges was the occasion 
of a vastamount of inconvenience and 
of many ludicrous episodes. 

All of sec 25 was entered by four 
men on the same day, Sept 28, 1864. 
The men were Wm. Stone, Jeremiah 
Young, Samuel Booth and George 
Booth. Twenty-six of the early set- 
tlers of this township secured home- 
steads and nearly all of them included 
160 acres. Homesteads were also se- 
cured in this township on the odd 
numbered sections, as 15, 23 and 25, on 
which the following persons secured 
homesteads: Robert and Edward An- 
derson and S. N. Strong on 15, Joel B. 
and Daniel Thomas on 23, and Wm. 
Stone. Jeremiah Young, Samuel Booth 
and George Booth on 25. These 
lands were claimed by the McGregor 
& Sioux City R; R. Co., but inasmuch 



as this company did not fulfill its part 
of the contract within the appointed 
time they reverted to the government 
and then to rJie settlers who had com- 
plied with the homestead law. 

The first public cemetery is located 
on the nw corner of the swi sec. 24, 
near the Strong schoolhouse. Henry 
Thomas, the first OAmer of this land, 
promised to donate it for a public 
cemetery and three persons were 
buried in it during his lifetime, name- 
ly, Ira Strong and Mrs. George Hen- 
derson, both in 1871, and a child of 
Samuel Booth previous to that date. 
He neglected to make the transfer 
and the donation was made by Alex- 
ander McEwen, who also had it plat- 
ted in 1876. 

In June 1876 the Sunday schools at 
old Rolfe and the Strong schoolhouse 
held a picnic in the grove of A. H. 
Hancher; and after addresses by Rev. 
Wm. McCready, George Metcalf and 
J J. Jolliffe they sat down around a 
table fifty feet long loaded with the 
substantial of life prepared for this 
notable occasion. 

January 25, 1879. "Mayview" post 
office was established at the home of 
D. P. Frost on sec. 16 and he was ap- 
pointed postmaster; but owing to the 
fact he lived about two miles from 
the mail route between Pocahontas 
and Sioux Rapids and no provision 
had b-'eu made for the extra dis- 
tance on the part of the mail carrier, 
no mail was received or distributed at 
this, the first post office in the town- 
shi p. 

The early settlers of this township, 
appreciating the future value of the 
history of its early settlement, held a 
special meeting in the schoolhouse at, 
Plover, Feb. 19, 1887, at which John 
Fraser served as chairman and Sam'l 
Smith assecretary. At this meeting 
histor'cul addresses were delivered by 
John Fraser, A. H. Hancher and oth- 
ers, and papers were read that had 
been prepared by P. J. Shaw and T. 



696 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



L. MacVey. Full reports of these ad- 
dresses and papers were afterwards 
printed in the Pocahontas Record and 
they have proven of great value to 
the author in the general part of this 
volume as well as in the history of this 
township. 

The call for this meeting was issued 
Jan. 31, 1887 by P. J. Shaw, a leading 
citizen of the township, who therein 
stated very appropriately the import- 
ance and scope of the meeting. We 
quote from it as follows: 

"The object of this meeting is to 
bring to light the early history of 
Powhatan township, that it may be 
embodied in the future history of the 
county. The questions to be discuss- 
ed, are: (1) When, where and by whom 
were the first settlements made? (2) 
The state of the country, facilities for 
market, grasshoppers, muskrats and 
blizzards. (3) General discussion, his- 
torical incidents and reminiscences 

"Let us preserve the past that we 
may profit/ by its teaching. Let us 
keep in remembrance the brave deeds 
of our fathers, the noble pioneers who 
settled on the treeless prairies in the 
early days when the blizzard howled, 
or they traveled with no shelter save 
the prairie schooner, and no guide 
save the compass or the stars of 
heaven. The world has no nobler 
heroes. They came from the stock 
that has lighted the watch fires of 
civilization and progress on this con- 
tinent. Some of them have already 
passed the boundary line of human 
existence and are citizens of that 
country which no human being has 
ever explored, whose wonders no ton- 
gue can tell. While some of them live 
to recite the details of their early 
struggles, let us record and preserve 
them for future generations. This 
is better than to depend on the mem- 
ory of their children, for the minor 
incidents are soon forgotten and the 
more thrilling ones become so chang- 
ed, that were the actors to rise out of 
tbeir silent graves and hear them re- 
lated, they would not own that they 
were the principals." 

This meeting was very devoutly 
opened by Mr. Fraser, who read the 
first chapter of Genesis and followed 
it with a prayer of gratitude to that 



favoring providence that had guided 
their foot-steps and guarded so au- 
spiciously their destinies. 

DIFFICULTIES AND TRIALS. 

The early settlers of this township, 
owing to their great distance from all 
sources of supplies and the lack of 
bridges over the streams, experienced 
with great severity, many of the 
trials and privations incident to pio- 
neer life. Their mail facilities were 
limited to one mail a week between 
Fort Dodge and Spirit Lake, and 
many .of the trips to the postoffice at 
old Rolfe had to be made on foot. 
Fort Dodge was the nearest source of 
supplies for the table and home, 
while lumber had to be hauled from 
Boone or Iowa Falls, both 80 miles 
distant. They knew what it was to 
be beset with mosquitoes without 
any protection (p. 225); to be shut in 
for weeks at a time; to grind corn on 
their coffee mills for bread (p. 226), 
and the difficulty of finding one's 
home on the prairies in the absence 
of roads and trees for land marks. In 
the spring of 1866 John Anderson 
found on the homestead of his broth- 
er the bones of one who had thus 
perished there two years before, and 
J. B. Jolliffe the next winter came 
near sharing the same fate (p. 229). 

They were also called upon to en- 
dure several visitations of the dread- 
ed grasshoppers (p. '255) that swept 
through that section, darkening the 
face of the sun as well as that of the 
farmer, and stripping the fields of 
their growing crops, the early settler's 
only hope of subsistence They ex- 
perienced three visitations that in- 
cluded the depredations of six years, 
1867 and 68, 1870 and 71, and in dimin- 
ished numbers in 1875 and 76. They 
came from -a distance the first year 
and hatched out in the vicinity the 
second jear of each period. When 
they came on the wing everything 
was covered. They covered the roofs 
of the houses, clung to the outside 





PRENTICE J. SHAW. 



FRED. A. METCALF. 





/*" x 






Mk *V*. ''' 






^^v * >t 




■'< 


Ek \ 






fc\ • ' 1 






^bc ^H 






FRANK L. MacVEY. !^ 



WM. LEE MacVEY. 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 




POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



697 



of the walls and if the door was left 
ajar they took possession and refused 
to vacate ''under thirty days after 
written notice." Under these cir- 
cumstances the early settlers had an 
opportunity of displaying their true 
grit. Although inferior in numbers 
and comparatively helpless before 
those who devoured their hope of 
subsistence they achieved success by 
their superior power of endurance. 

This settlement prospered in the 
face of all these difficulties and trials. 
The hand of affliction sometimes vis- 
ited them, but there were more oc- 
casions for the expression of joy than 
of sorrow. The rider of the pale 
horse seldom took more than one 
familiar face from the family circle 
while the angel of life very frequently 
brought two little strangers; so that 
on the whole they had more occasions 
for smiles than tears, more christen- 
ings than burials. 

The muskrats and mink, that 
abounded in the numerous ponds and 
streams, served an important part in 
the commerce of that trying period. 
The early settler with his traps ob- 
tained his medium of exchange in the 
settlement. The hide of the [musk- 
rat was a legal tender for all debts 
and his hindquarters were often found 
to be quite tender when properly pre- 
pared for the table. 

ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS. 

The first election was held in the 
little schoolhouse on sec. 24, Oct. 9, 
1866, and 19 votes were cast. At this 
election Barney Hancher, Ira Strong 
and Oscar I. Strong served as judges 
and T. S. MacVey and Jeremiah 
Young as clerks. The officers elected 
were as follows: Ira Strong, Oscar I. 
Strong and Geo. W. Strong, trustees; 
Jerry Young, clerk, O. I. Strong and 
A. H. Hancher, justices; and Thos. 
L. MacVey, assessor. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees: Ira Strong, 1867; O. I. 



Strong, '67; G. W. Strong '67; Jere- 
miah Young. '68; D. Thomas, '68-71; 
Robert Lowrey, Henry Tilley, Geo. 
VanNatta, S. Booth, Henry Thomas, 
'69-71; James Vosburg, Henry Ful- 
comer, '70, 72-74; Edward Anderson, 
J. F. Clark, J. W. Brown, Barney 
Hancher, '73, 75-76; S. E. Heathman, 
'73, 75-76, 88-93; Geo. Stevens, '74, 77, 
93-95; 0. F. Barlow, '74-75, 78-79; M. 
Waite '77-78; J. D. Hilton, '76-77; Jas. 
Henderson, '78-86; A. H. Hancher, 
'79-81; G. W. Rowley, '80-82; P. W. 
Smith, '81-87, 1900-02; J. B. Jolliffe, 
'83-88; E. C. Fuller, '87-89; E. H. 
Heathman, '89-91, 97-1900; D. P. 
Roberts, '90-92; Louis Brodsky, '92-93; 
S. J. Loughead, '94-96; H. Fitzgerald, 
H. Truelson, '96-98; Rollo Postin, '99- 
01; F. C. DeWolf, 1901-02; Geo. Fuller. 

Clerks: Jeremiah Young, '67-68; 
G. W. Strong, John Fraser, '70-71; Ed. 
Anderson, IS. D. Herrington, '73-74; 
Alex. McEwen, '75-83,96-98,1901-02; 
J. T. Calhoun, '84-85; P. J. Shaw, 
'86-93; W. S. McEwen, '94-95; Albert 
J. Shaw, '99-1900. 

Assessors: Thos. L. MacVey, A. 
H. Hancher, A. Jackson, S. Booth, 
J. B. Thomas, D. P. Frost, Geo. W. 
Rowley. '73-75, 78-79; S. E. Heath- 
man, '76, 80-85; P. Waite, Edward 
Gibbons, '86-93, 96-98; J. O. Overholt, 
'94-95; F. L. MacVey, '99-1900; S. J. 
Loughead. 

Justices: O. I. StroDg, A. H Han- 
cher, G. W. Strong, Geo. Henderson, 
J. F. Clark, A. H. Hancher, John 
Fraser, '71-73, 83; J. W. Brown, '71-77; 
S. Pettit, Alex. McEwen, James Hen- 
derson. P. R. Smith, G. W. Strong, 
'80-82; H. Heathman, F. M. Coffin, J. 
S. Smith, '83-85, 90-93; F. C. DeWolf, 
'84-89, 93-1900; P. G. Hess, P. W. 
Smith, '96 1901: Ed. R. Trites, A. J. 
Marshall, Alex. McEwen, P. R. Hen- 
derson, F. J. Brodsky, '1902. 

SCHOOLS AND OFFICERS. 

This township, including Washing- 
ton and Swan Lake, wascorganized as 
the Nunda township school district 



698 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



in the spring of 1867, and the first 
board of directors consisted of Henry 
Thomas, Ira Strong and O. I. Strong. 
Geo. W. Strong was secretary and 
Henry Thomas, treasurer. 

The first school in the townshiD 
was taught during the previous year 
by Sallie Thomas in a sod shanty loca- 
ted on sec. 23. 

The first schoolhouse was built in 
1866. It was a temporary structure 
10x16 feet, seven feet high and set on 
runners so that it might be moved 
from place to place. It was often 
called a shanty because of its flat roof 
resembling that of a freight car. Its 
furniture consisted of a wide desk 
board fastened to each side and 
one end of it, and three heavy oak 
benches of corresponding length. It 
was built by J. C. VanNatta and Ira 
Strong of native lumber sawed on 
Hait's sawmill. It was located first 
on the farm of Ira Strong on sec. 24 
near the site later chosen for the 
Powhatan cemetery, and Caroline 
Strong taught the first school in it. 
The first election was held in it that 
fall. It was moved into several of the 
other districts as its place was supplied 
by permanent buildings. Mrs. Thos. 
L. MacVey taught several terms in it 
while it stood on the knoll north of 
Pilot Creek on the nwi sec. 36, prev- 
ious to 1873, when it was moved again. 

The earliest school records now 
available for reference are those for 
the year 1882. A plat found at the 
court house, however, shows that the 
first sub-division of the township for 
school purposes occurred Feb, 21, 18- 
74. At this date Washington was 
still attached and the two townships 
were divided into three school dis- 
tricts of 24 sections each, so that No. 
1 and No. 2 extended east and west 
over the entire width of both town- 
ships, the former including the two 
north rows of sections and the latter 
the next two rows and all the 
southwest part of Washington. 



No schoolhouse had yet been erected 
in sub-district No. 1, but arrange- 
ments had been made for the erec- 
tion of one that year on the nei sec. 
11; and no families were living in this 
district further west than the swi sec. 
5. In sub-district No. 2 three school 
houses had been built, namely, on 
the nei sec. 23 and on the nei sec. 15 
in Powhatan, and on the nei sec. 31, 
Washington township. Sub-district 
No. 3 shows one schoolhouse at the 
center of sec. 28. 

The succession of officers, so far as 
we have been able to obtain them, 
has been as follows: 

Presidents: Henry Thomas, '67; 

0. I. Strong, '74; Henry Fulcomer, 
'75-76; A. H. Hancher, '82-83; John 
Fraser, S. E. Heathman, '85-89; Louie 
Brodsky, '90-92; Alex. McEwen, '93-02. 

Secretaries: Geo. W. Strong, '67: 
C. R. Waterman, '74-75; O. I. Strong, 
'76-80; S. N. Strong, '81-83; C. F. Bar- 
low, J. T. Calhoun, '85-87; P. J. Shaw, 
'88-1902. 

Treasurers: Henry Thomas, '67- 
69; Joel Thomas, '70-71; A. Jackson, 
'72-77; Geo. Henderson, '78-84; J. B. 
Jolliffe, '85-86; John Fraser, '92-98; 
A. J. Eggspuehler, '99-1902. 

Among the early teachers in this 
township were Sallie Thomas, Caro- 
line Strong, Mrs. T. L. MacVey, Oscar 

1. Strong, Mrs. Abigail (Ira) Strong, 
Edwin J. Strong, L. M. Strong, Hat- 
tie Barnes, Peter R. Henderson and 
W. N. Gillis. 

Among recent teachers have been 
Dora Strong, Lucy Beam, Jennie Ged- 
des, Effie Mercer. Maud Heathman, 
Eva L. Hancher, E. L. Wallace, Mar- 
jory McEwen, Susan McEwen, E. D. 
Leonard, Ina Jolliffe, Irene Strong. 

PLOVER. 

Plover, the railroad and business 
center of Pow atai tow ship, s an 
enterprising village of 250 inhabi- 
tants. It is located near the center of 
the township, on the high ground 
midway between Beaver and Pilot 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



699 



creeks, and on the nei sec. 16, which 
was the farm of Andrew Jackson from 
1869 to 1877. The track of the Ruth- 
ven branch of the Des Moines & Fort 
Dodge, now the C, R. I. & P. R. R. 
was laid through this locality in June 
1882, and the town was named by the 
president of the railroad company in 
memory of one of the common varie- 
ties of naiive birds. The depot was 
built in the fall of 1882, but the sta- 
tion was not opened until May 1883, 
when James «. Smith became its oc- 
cupant and the trains began to stop. 
In December 1883, the Northwestern 
Land Go. filed a plat of the town con- 
taining six blocks and four outlots, 
which had been prepared by Oscar 
I. Strong, surveyor. On Feb. 29, 1896, 
P. G. Hess filed the plat of the first 
addition consisting of six outlots on 
the northwest part of the town on the 
sei sec. 9. 

In the fall of 1883, J. D. Smith 
built the first residence, P. G. Hess 
a store, Blanchard & Son a blacksmith 
shop and J, T. Calhoun opened a coal 
and lumber yard. In 1885, McEwen & 
Garlock built the corner store, Louis 
Brodsky became its occupant, and 
residences were built by J. T. Cal- 
houn. W. A. Hubel and M.B. Haskins. 
In 1886 residences were built by John 
Campbill, Nils Lilligood, W. M. Hal- 
stad, L. Elkins and L. Brodsky; and 
the hotel by Chas. L. Strong. In 1887 
the new families were Henry Fitz- 
gerald, A. K. Cleveland, Peter Toner, 
Samuel Smith, Ed. R. Trites, War- 
field Campbell and Bert Blanchard. 
In 1888 there arrived among others 
John Blanchard, Alex. Campbell, and 
Lew Jennings; and in 1889, S. E. 
Heathman, S. D. Clifford, A. L Whit- 
ney and Geo. H. Loughead. 

The election was first held in Plover 
in the fall of 1884. 

plover in 1902. 
Agents C. R. I. & P.Ry:A. G. Spill- 
man, F. E. Patton, E. E. Rector, B. 
B. Brown, successor in 1901 of Henry 



Fitzgerald '88-1901, and J. S. Smith 
'83-88. 

Bank: Plover Savings Bank, estab- 
lished in 1891, brick building built in 
1900, W. S. McEwen, cashier; Joseph 
McEwen, assistant cashier. 
Barber: W. S. Chinn. 
Blacksmiths: Blanchard Bros., Al- 
bert and John, in 1890 successors of 
John Blanchard, Sr., '83-90. 

Creamery: F. J. Brodsky success- 
or to L. Brodsky. 

Carpenters and Contr actors: 
Charles Northrop and A. R. Camp- 
bell. 

Churches: Methodist, built in 
1886, Rev. E. E. Rorick, pastor; Pres- 
byterian, built in 1888, Rev. Z. W. 
Steele, pastor; Free Methodist, built 
in 1898, Miss Winnie Miler, pastor. 
Doctor: J. D. Wallace, M. D. 
Druggist: Geo. W. Day, in 1896 
successor of C. H. Beam. 

Elevators: Councilman & Co , 
built in 1891, G. N. Loughead, mana- 
ger till 1900; Des Moines Elevator Co., 
new building in 1901, L. Brodsky, 
manager to 1901, Alex. McEwen, pres- 
ent manager. 

General Merchants: Eggspueh- 
ler & Mueller, in 1887 successors of 
L. Brodsky; F. D. Hadden, since 1895; 
F. D. Northrop, T. E. Meredith. 

Hardware: W. A. Neelan in 1902 
successor of Neelan & Roberts (1901); 
F. W. Shellman (1900), Samuel W. 
Powell (1897), Cox & Powell, L. E. 
Thompson and P. G. Hess, the pioneer 
merchant, who started the first store 
in his home on the farm and moved 
it to Plover when the town was 
started. 

Harness: Geo. Jeffries successor of 
H. P. Cobbs, F. C. Wanek, L. M. Par- 
radee and P. G. Hess. 

Hotel: Bert McKean, since 1901 
successor of C. H. Nebel, Wm. Harder, 
Mrs. Robinson, Alex. Geddes and 
Chas. L. Strong. 

Implements: C. D. Hobbs, in 1900 
successor of Geo. N. Loughead, Alex. 



700 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



McEwen, C. A. Charlton and Jas. T. 
Calhoun '83-90. 

Livery: J. T. Mishler, in 1902 suc- 
cessor of J. S. Pirie and Ed. R. Trites 
'90-93. 

Lumber and Coal: H. L. Jenkins, 
in 1893 successor of Brodsky Lumber 
Co.; F. D. Calkins, since 1893; Brodsky 
Lumber Co., since 1899, H. Fitzge.ald, 
manager. 

Meat Market: W. A. Mitchell, in 
1901 successor of Chauncey Cox ('96), 
Samuel Miller ('94), S. E. Heathman, 
L. E. Jennings, A. K. Cleveland and 
John Campbell '85-92. 

Postmaster: Geo. N. Loughead, 
since Feb. 1, 1899 successor of Henry 
Fitzgerald '93-99, Edward Gibbons 
'89-93, A. J. Eggspuehler '85-89, and 
P. G. Hess '83-85. 

Newspaper: The Plover Review, 
by G. H. Liddell, since November, 
1900; successor of the Times Gazette, 
established by F. M. Linehan in Jan- 
uary, 1896 and closed Sept 22, 1898; 
and of the Plover Herald established 
by P. O. Coffin in the spring of 1895. 

Real Estate: J. S. Smith since 
1889, and Geo. N. Loughead. 

Restaurant: Bert McKean, in 
1901 successor of C. E. Heathman 1900, 
Chinn & Watkins '98-99, Chauncey 
Cox 1897, A. A. Loats, Tony Fisher. 

PLOVER HIGH SCHOOL. 

The school in the Plover district 
was developed into a high, school in 
1893 and a good two story frame build- 
ing costing $4000 has been erected on 
a pretty elevation south of town. The 
first annual commencement was held 
in the Presbyterian church, June 16, 
1899 when a class of six young ladies 
graduated, namely: Marjory McEwen, 
Sue McEwen, Bertha Blair, Estella 
Shaw, Estella Handier and Edith 
Wallace. The next commencement 
was held in 1902 when Minnie Ander- 
son, Guy Meredith, Elsie Connor, 
Luella Shaver, Mamie Loughead, 
Emma and Arthur Fuller, graduated. 
The succession of principals has been 



Walter N. Gillis '92-94, E. L. Wal- 
lace '94-1901, E. D. Leonard. 

CHURCHES. 

Methodist: During the 70's the 
Methodist ministers at Old Rolfe be- 
gan to hold services in the Strong 
schoolhouse on sec. 24. In later years 
a class was organized at Plover con- 
sisting of Mr. and Mrs William Alex- 
ander, Frank and Martha Beers, 
John, Betsey and Alice Barnes, Mr. 
and Mrs J. C. Strong and others. In 
September, 1885 the Plover and Have- 
lock classes were transferred from 
Rolfe to form with other classes the 
Curlew charge. In September, 1890 
Plover and Havelock were united to 
form one charge. A church building 
costing $1500 was built in 1886 and the 
succession of pastors since .1888 has 
been as follows: F. L. Moore '88-91, 
L. F. Troutman '91-94, C. M. Phoenix 
'94-97, G. W. Shideler '97-99, A. R. 
Cuthbert ,99-1901, E. E. Rorick. 

Presbyterian: The first services 
in the township were held in the 
Strong schoolhouse during the later 
60's by Rev. David S. McComb, pastor 
of the Unity Presbyterian church, 
(p. 218), that worshipped in the court 
house at Old Rolfe. 

The Presbyterian church at Plover 
was organized with 26 members on 
Oct. 11, 1888, after the labors of a few 
months on the part of Rev. George H. 
Duty, of Rolfe, by a committee of the 
Presbytery of Fort Dodge consis'ing 
of Rev. R. E. Flickinger, Rev. Geo. H. 
Duty, Rev. T. C. Badey and Elder W. 
C. Kennedy, of Rolfe. The original 
members were James and Beatrice 
Henderson and their five children, 
Janet, James, Jay W., John and Char- 
les Henderson, Robert and Mary An- 
derson, Mr. and Mrs Alex. McEwen, 
Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Loughead, A. L. 
and Mary E Whitney, Mr. and Mrs. 
Alex. Geddes, Catherine Parrad^e, 
Elizabeth (Mrs. S. L.) Horsmtn, Rob- 
ert Lothian, Alice L. (Mrs, Nelson) 
Shaver and son Glenn Shaver, Mr. and 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



701 



Mrs. Marcus Lind and their two 
daughters Maggie and Marie, and Mrs. 
Peter R. Henderson. James Hender- 
son, Robert Anderson and Robert 
Lothian were elected elders; and 
Alex. McEwen, A. L. Whitney, S. J. 
Loughead, N. H. Shaver and Squire 
E. Heathman, trustees. A church 
building 26x40, having a lecture room, 
vestibule and tower, and costing $1800 
was dedicated Dec. 8, 1889. A few 
years later a parsonage and other out- 
buildings were built at a cost of $1000. 
The two lots on which these buildings 
were erected, were donated by Sena- 
tor A. O. Garlock. This congregation 
has made a steady and substantial 
growth that for several years past has 
enabled it to support its own pastor. 
The succession of pastors has been as 
follows: Geo. H. Duty, A. A. Pratt, 
M. T. Rainier, W. N.Gillis a student, 
Wm. J. Fraser, J. W. Carlstrom and 
James Simpson, students, James 
Berry and Zadok W. Steele, who has 
served the church since 1900 and was 
installed June 10, 1902. 

Free Methodist: The Free 
Methodists, July 10, 1898 dedicated a 
church building in Plover during the 
ministry of Rev O. Peitsmyer, who 
was succeeded in the pastorate by 
Rev. I. C. Grabil and Rev, F. E. Eaton 
each of whom served one year. Miss 
Winnie Miler, the present pastor, be- 
gan in 1900. This parish embraces a 
wide section of country. 

THE PLOVER POULTRY YARD. 

W. A. Hubel (p 471) from 1892 to 
1898 was the proprietor of the Plover 
poultry yards and by his large and fine 
exhibits at the Fonda and Ruthven 
fairs came to be recognized as the 
principal breeder of thoroughbred 
poultry in Pocahontas county. His 
exhibits included fourt >pn varieties, 
namely: Cornish Indian Games, 
Dark and Eight Brahmas, Black 
Langshans, Buff and Partridge Coch- 
in Plymouth Rocks, Golden and Sil- 
ver Laced Wyandottes, Leghorns, 



Red Caps, Hamburgs and Houdans. 
As a result of his experience he found 
that the Leghorns were the best lay- 
ers, the Light Brahmas the best for 
the market, and the Plymouth Rocks 
the farmer's favorite, or the best for 
all purposes. No investment on the 
farm ordinarily brings so much clear 
profit as one prudently made for the 
purpose of raising poultry. The fol- 
lowing reasons have been suggested, 
to indicate that many farmers might 
profitably engage more extensively in 
raising poultry. 

They enable him to convert a great 
deal of otherwise waste material into 
eggs and chickens for the market and 
produce revenue all the year, except 
two months during the moulting sea- 
son. 

They yield a quick return for the 
capital invested and can be raised in 
all parts of the country, while fruit 
and cereals can be successfully grown 
only in certain sections. 

The hen is a sweet tempered, hard 
working, productive creature that has 
become identified with our home life, 
and also our domestic and national 
prosperity. She lays $290,000,000 
worth of eggs in this country every 
year, which is more than four apiece 
for each inhabitant. After a life of 
constant activity, laying eggs, cack- 
ling and hatching little chicks, she 
gives up her life for the table of the 
farmer or boarding house keeper. 

The Iowa hen crows the loudest and 
longest, because it was officially de- 
clared by the census of 1900, that her 
family in this state numbered 18,907,- 
673, which was 2,300,000 more than 
Illinois, her closest rival. The peer- 
less Hawkeye state excels all others 
in cackling hens, quacking ducks and 
in the number of eggs produced. 

"Who has not read the lays that the 
poets sing of the rustling corn and the 
flowers of spring? But of all the lays 
of tongue or pen, there is none like 
the lay of the Iowa hen. The corn 



702 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



must rustle and the flowers must 
spring, if they hold their own with 
the barnyard ring. Long before Maud 
rakes the hay, the Iowa hen has begun 
her lay; and ere the milkmaid has 
stirred a peg, tbe hen is up and laid 
an agg. If Maud is needing a new 
spring gown, she does not hustle the 
hay to town, but goes to the store and 
obtains her suit, with a basket full of 
fresh hen fruit; If the milkmaid's 
beau makes a Sunday call, she does 
not feed him on milk at all, but works 
up eggs in a custard pie and stuffs him 
full of chicken fry. All hail, to the 
Iowa hen, the greatest blessing to all 
men. Corn may be king, but it is 
plainly seen, that the Iowa hen is the 
Iowa queen." 

PUBLIC OFFICERS. 

The following county officials have 
been chosen from Powhatan township: 

Supervisors: Henry Thomas 1867- 
68, Ira Strong '69-70, Andrew Jackson 
'72-74, Alex. McEwen '86-94. 

Recorders: Thomas L. MacVey 
'69-74, Andrew Jackson '75-76, Oscar 
I. Strong '77. 

Surveyors: Geo. W. Strorjg '70, O. 
I. Strong '71. 

Superintendent: Oscar I. Strong 
'74, '80-81. 

Treasurer: C. A. Charlton '94-99. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Anderson, Robert R. (b. 1842), one 
of the sturdy and successful pioneers 
of Powhatan township, is a native of 
Somerville, N. J., a son of James and 
Helen (Russell) Anderson. 

Oct. 26, 1865 he and his brother . Ed- 
ward entered claims for the Ei Sec. 15, 
160 acres each, making the journey up 
the Des Moines river from Fort Dodge 
to McNight's Point, afoot. In the 
spring of 1866 he built a shanty and in 
the fall of that year replaced it with 
a house built of willow logs, obtained 
from the grove along the Des Moines 
river. He endeavored to achieve suc- 
cess on the frontier by working single 
handed, but the experiment was not 



very encouraging. In September 1884 
he married Mary McFadzen, a native 
of Ontario, Canada, and very soon the 
tide of success turned in his favor. At 
first he did a large amount of break- 
ing for his neighbors, but better times 
were experienced when he was able to 
devote his attention to dairying and 
raising stock. When the grass hop- 
pers came, during the period from 1867 
to 1876, they paid him their respects by 
discovering their keen relish for his 
growing crops. He has succeeded well 
on the farm and is now the owner of 
330 acres. In 1901 he erected a fine 
dwelling house on the farm adjoining 
Plover, to which he moved the pre- 
vious year. He is a man of strict in- 
tegrity, devout and reverential in 
spirit and has been an elder in the 
Presbyterian church since 1871, under 
the rotary system. 

His family consists of three children, 
Minnie, a Plover graduate in 1902; 
James who works the farm near 
Plover, and Arthur, an adopted son. 

Edward Anderson who came with 
his brother Robert in 1865, and loca- 
ted on 15, married Elizabeth Gillis, of 
Ontario, and died in 1872, before he 
had secured the title to his home- 
stead. His death was the result of a 
lingering sore, caused by the kick of 
a horse. He served as a trustee in 
1871 and was township-, clerk at the 
time of his death. His wife complet- 
ed the title to the homestead and, oc- 
cupied it until 1886, when she became 
the wife of George Henderson who 
died in 1892. She died in 1899 leaving 
two children, James and Henry, by her 
first husband. James lives in Cali- 
fornia; Henry, a farmer, married Joan 
Steele, and after her death, Maggie 
Ballentine. He lives in Washington 
and has a family of five children. 

Mrs. Edward Anderson was one of 
earth's noblest women and still lives 
amid the scenes of her earthly career 
in the sweet influence and the frag- 
rant memories of a noble life. She 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



703 



came to the frontier at a time when 
the extremes of cold and heat involved 
much of personal discomfort and the 
battle for bread was a long and hard 
one. The period of her life spent in 
Powhatan was one of constant and 
loving service for others, for whom 
she drank deeply from the cup of 
sorrow. When she perceived she 
could no longer serve, on account of 
indications of her own approaching 
end, she hastened to her old home in 
Canada, as Moses ascended the mount 
to die, gathered about her the dra- 
pery of her couch and peacefully 
passed to the better land, 
"A land of pure delight, 
Where saints immortal reign." 

John Anderson, another brother of 
Robert, who in the spring of 1866 
found the bones of one who had got 
lost on the prairie and perished in a 
blizzard two years before, near the 
corner of Robert's homestead, married 
first Isabella McGilvery and after her 
death Kate Gaffeny. He lives in 
Washington and has five children. 

Barnes, John (b. 1815), one of the 
pioneers of Powhatan, was a native of 
Pennsylvania. At the age of 22 he 
located in southern Illinois where he 
found employment as a carpenter. He 
spent two years logging at New 
Orleans and still has a tool chest made 
there of cypress wood seventy years 
ago. In 1841 he married Betsey N. 
DeWolf, a native of Pennsylvania and 
located at Sterling, Illinois. 

In tbe spring of 1870 he and his son, 
William, came to Powhatan and be- 
gan to occupy the homestead taken by 
Wm. and Eliza (De Wolf) Stone (NEi 
SEO 25) four years previous. Later 
that year his wife and eight other 
children, John, Mary, Anna, Harriet, 
Fannie, George, Samuel, and Alice ar- 
rived. In 1872 he moved to Des 
Moines township and two years later 
to SEO. 14, Powhatan. About this 
time he bought the SWi SEC. 12 from 
Alex- McE wen and, building a house, 



moved upon it. He improved and oc- 
cupied this farm until 1896, the year 
after the death of his wife, when he 
went to the home of his daughter, 
Mary E. Frost, then at Mt. Vernon. 
Since 1898 he has lived with Alice, his 
youngest daughter, and family on the 
the old home farm. He was in the 
midst of adverse circumstances when 
he came to Pocahontas county, with 
a family of nine children, but after a 
few years the tide turned and noble 
persistent effort to provide for 
them was crowned with good success. 
He was a faithful member of the 
Methodist church and a zealous advo- 
cate of prohibition. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren. 

Anna O, in 1874 married Rev. James 
S. Ziegler, a minister of the N. W. Iowa 
Conference. He is now a mail clerk 
on the C. & N. W. R'y., lives in Des 
Moines and has a family of four chil- 
dren, Lena, Lulu, Dora and Grace. 

Mary E. in 1875 married Daniel P. 
Frost, a farmer, and located on the 
nei sec. 16, Powhatan, where he died 
in 1882, leaving one son, Frederic. 
Mary then returned to the home of 
of her father where she remained 
until after the death of her mother, 
when she accompanied Frederic, pur- 
suing his education, to Des Moines 
and Mt. Vernon, and in 1899 returned 
to Plover, Frederic, after graduating 
at Mt. Vernon in 1899, served one 
year as principal of the High School 
at Eddyville, and then located at Des 
Moines where he has since been en- 
gaged in the real estate business and 
reading law. 

Harriet E., who taught the first 
school at Pocahontas, married Edward 
Snell, a farmer, and located in Craw- 
ford county, where she died in 1884, 
leaving two children, Bertha and 
Wayne. 

William L. in 1891 married Clara 
B. Hampdon, and located on a farm 
on section 11, which he was the first 



704 PIONEER HISTORY OE POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



to occupy and improve. In 1902 he 
moved to Palisade, Colorado to en- 
gage in raising fruit. His family con- 
sisted of two children, Erroll and 
Leatha. 

Fannie E., an early teacher, is now 
an agent for a Des Moines firm and 
lives at Tama City. 

George W., in 1893 married Jem, 
daughter of Senator George Hender- 
derson, widow of George Bowen. He 
completed a course of theological 
study at Evanston, 111., and is now a 
minister of the M. E. church. His 
family consists of two children, Ruth 
and Joyce. 

Alice M., in 1893 married Joseph 
Dougherty, a baggage master on the 
C. & N. W. R'y. and located at Tama 
City. In 1898 they bought the old 
home farm and moved upon it. They 
have one child, Cora. 

John M. rendered military service 
in the war on the Phillipine Islands, 
and then returned to Plover. 

Samuel Howard, a Cuban soldier, 
died in 1902. 

Brodsky, Louis (b. 1851) mer- 
chant, farmer and stock raiser at 
Plover, is a native of Dubuque coun- 
ty, Iowa, the son of Onifred and Mary 
Brodsky. His father was a native of 
Poland and, coming to this country 
located at Dubuque where he died 
when Louis was 15 months old. His 
mother afterwards became the wife 
of Vit Payer and in 1876 located at 
Pocahontas. Louis, that year en- 
gaging in store keeping, was the 
second merchant at Pocahontas. 
Nov. 20, 1876 he married Katy Sladek 
and the next spring located on a farm 
in Dover township. In 1884 he moved 
to Plover and, engaging in general 
merchandise, was the second mer- 
chant at that place. After a few 
years he relinquished his interest in 
the store that he might give his at- 
tention to other enterprises that had 
enlisted his interest, a farm, cream- 
ery, elevator and lumber yard. 
He is now the owner of 320 acres of 



land adjoining Plover known as the 
Ploverdale stock farm, that he has 
improved with a large dwelling house 
supplied with modern appliances for 
convenience and comfort, large horse 
and cattle barns, several hog houses, 
two silos that hold 200 tons of ensil- 
age and a number of other necessary 
outbuildings. The silos were the 
first built in Pocahontas county. He 
has erected ample buildings for rais- 
ing a large amount of stock and tak- 
ing good care of it from year to year. 
He built also a large hay depot at the 
railroad station that he might handle 
that commodity, buying or selling 
it as circumstances might suggest. 

He received a number of premiums 
on his exhibits of pure bred cattle at 
the Iowa State fairs of 1892 and 93; 
and in 1895 was accorded 21 first 
premiums at Ruthven, and swept 
everything at the Big Four fair at 
Fonda. His large and fine exhibits 
on these occasions attracted wide at- 
tention and his annual public sales 
have attracted buyers from neighbor- 
ing states, including Kentucky, as 
well as from all parts of Iowa. 

The following exhibit of some of 
his public sales shows what he has ac- 
complished in the way of raising fine 
stock in this section and the substan- 
tial increase in the prices received 
during recent years. 

PUBLIC SALES. 

Amt. 
Date. Cattle. Aver. Total, of Sale. 

1894 45 head $53.60 $2,400 $3,520 

1895 82 head 72.00 4,904 7,576 

1898 40 head 167 00 5,680 6,680 

1899 49 head 226 53 11,110 15,547 

1901 47 head 206.00 9,705 9,705 

1902 30 head 275.33 8,260 8,260 
At the time of the sale, March 15, 

1899, which was held in a large tent, a 
special brought a train load of people 
from Rolfe. Col. F. M. Woods, of 
Lincoln, Neb., served as auction- 
eer, two of the cattle brought $410 
each and two others $500 and $505, 
respectively. Sixteen Percheron 
horses were sold that day for $4,315, 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



705 



three of them bringing $300 each and 
two others $415 and $455, respect- 
ively. A set of herd books and a 
share of stock sold for $132, mak- 
ing the assets that day $15,547. 

At his first sale in 1894, 51 young 
hogs were sold for $1,020, an average 
of $20 each; and in 1895, 44 head weTe 
sold for $1,675 an average of $38 each. 

At his last sale, Oct. 8,1902,a cow, 7th 
Mysie of PleasantView brought $1090, 
and four others, $525, $560, $570 and 
$580, respectively. A special was run 
from Rolfe and the bids were received 
by Col. Woods, Al. P. Mason and 
Ralph Barklay. Meredith Bros, sold 
at the same time and place 26 head for 
$2,970, an average of $114 23; making 
the gross receipts of the sale $11,230. 
At a combination sale at Rolfe on the 
previous day by Claus Johnson, N. A. 
Lind, Anton Williams, T. H. Fisher, 
M. P. Hancher, A. G- Hewlett and W. 
J. Price, 50 Shorthorns were sold for 
$7,600 an average of $152 a head. 

He has shown a preference for the 
Percheron horses r Short-Horn cattle 
and Poland China hogs. Short-Horns 
of a very superior quality have been 
sold at his public sales, including 
Scotch Dorothys, Mysies, Marsh Vio- 
lets, Lovelys, Scotch-topped Rose of 
Sharons, and other desirable families. 
His herd usually numbers about 100 
head and three-fourths of them are 
thoroughbreds. He was the first 
in the northeast part of the county 
to embark in raising Short-Horns 
on a large scale, having commenced in 
1889, and a large share of the credit 
of making Pocahontas county a well 
known center, where the best cattle 
ia the land may be found, belongs to 
him; since most of the other breeders 
were encouraged by his example, prof- 
ited by his counsel and obtained 
their first supplies of stock from him. 
He and other farmers in that vicinity 
have Short-Horn^ that are not sur- 
passed any where in s'ze, quality and 
ped'gree. 



He has endeavored to raise as fine 
stock as can be done with the best 
blood and feed, and to secure speedy 
maturity. He has realized the im- 
portance and value of thorough dis- 
cipline in feeding and taking care of 
the stock, and never entrusts the 
care of the herd to a stranger nor ex- 
poses any of them for sale until they 
are in prime condition. Finding 
that public sales are somewhat ex- 
pensive he has concluded to adopt the 
plan of both buying and selling, as far 
as possible, at private sale, in the 
hope, that he can make sales to his 
patrons with profit at a much lower 
rate. 

He is a man of excellent business 
habits and is held in high esteem in 
the community. He is a good rep- 
resentative of that class of enterpris- 
ing men, who build up a community 
and secure for it a good reputation 
abroad. He was president of the 
school board three years, 1890-92. 

His family consists of five children, 
Josephine, Frank J., Louis, Frances 
and George. Frank and Louis at- 
tended the State Agricultural College 
at Ames, and the former is now pro- 
prietor of the Plover creamery. In 
1900 his father re-opened this cream- 
ery, and it has been managed on the 
plan of each farmer having his own 
separator and bringing only the 
cream to the creamery; and about 
ninety separators are now in use in 
that vicinity. 

ANGORA GOATS. 

Mr. Brodsky is the owner of a farm 
of 500 acres, on the triangular strip of 
land in Lee county, that is at the 
confluence of the Des Moines and 
Mississippi rivers. On this land 
he made an intelligent experiment, 
worthy of special notice This land, 
like others in that vicinity, was cov- 
ered with a natural growth of weeds, 
vines and shrubbery, that prevented 
agricultural operations and its re- 
moval with axe and brush-hook would 
have required a great deal of time 



706 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and money. Instead of pursuing this, 
the common method of clearing these 
lands, he enclosed it and put 400 An- 
gora goats upon it. The result was 
a surprise to the old settlers in that 
section, one of whom remarked, "your 
goats in one year have cleared more 
land and done it better, than we have 
done in forty." Some of the people 
drove miles to see their work, and the 
board of supervisors appointed a com- 
mittee to investigate and report the 
results of this novel and profitable 
experiment. The goats manifested a 
relish for every kind of young tree 
growth, except hickory, and their 
clip yielded ninety cents each. It 
must always be remembered, that 
this admirable trait of the goat for 
clearing wild lands, tends to make 
him a dangerous visitor to the garden, 
grove and orchard. 

Day, George W. (b. 1875), druggist, 
is a native of Greene county, Wis., 
the son of D. D. and R. A. Day, who 
now reside at Rolfe. In 1884 he came 
with his parents to Iowa, and in 1832 
was a member of the irst graduating 
class of the Rolfe high school. 

In September, 1896 he married 
Jennie M. Lindsay, of Montreal, 
Can., and in December following loca- 
ted at Plover where he has since been 
engaged in the drug business. In 1898 
he was the democratic nominee fur 
county auditor and lacked only 17 
votes of being elected. In 1902 he 
was re-nominated. His family 
consists of two children, Grace and 
Norma. 

He has three brothers, W. D .., who 
lives at Lawton, Okla , B. G. at Ha- 
warden and J. F. at Pocahontas; and 
three sisters, Mrs. A. T. White who 
lives at Pocahonta c , Mrs. G. E. Boyn- 
ton, Sioux Rapids, and Mrs. L. A. 
Haines, Albert Lea, Minn. 

Egsspuehler, Albert J. (b. 1858), 
merchant, is a native of Winneshiek 
county, Iowa. In 1885 he located in 
Plover and engaged in the mercantile 



business, first as a partner with Louis 
Brodsky and 18 months later with 
Jacob Mueller, his present partner. 
This is now the oldest business firm 
in Plover and its long continuance 
suggests the liberal patronage ac- 
corded to it by the community it has 
been serving so long. Mr. Eggspueh- 
ler is the owner of a good farm near 
Plover and several valuable properties 
in the town; and has been treasurer 
of the school funds since 1899. 

In 1891 he married Cedora, a 
daughter of Wenzel Hubel, a pioneer 
of Center township, and has a family 
of two children, Florin and Glad} s. 
Mary A. Hubel, his wife's mother, 
died at his home at 79, Feb. 10, 1902. 

Fessenden, Bradley M., owner 
and occupant of a farm on sec. 25 
from 1872 to 1889, is a native of Mont- 
rose, Pa., the son of Isaac B. and 
Lydia Fessenden. The early part of 
his life was spent at Pittston, Pa. 
In 1865 he came to Carroll county, 
111., wherein 1866 he married Betsey 
B. DeWolf. In 1867 he located in 
Cedar county, Iowa, and in 1872 in 
Powhatan township, where after a 
few years, he located on the nwi sec. 
25. He improved and occupied this 
farm until 1899, when he moved to 
Sherburne, Minn. He was a man of 
strict integrity, a member of the 
Methodist church and served one 
year as president of the county Sun- 
day school association. 

He raised a family of ten children, 
three of whom are married. Henry 
E. married Minnie Grove. Mary E. , 
in 1890 married Samuel W. Lyman 
and lived on a farm near Plover until 
1900, when they moved to McIIenry, 
N. D. where she died at 31, in 1901, 
leaving five children. Clara E. mar- 
ried George L. Pirie. The others are 
Charles L., the oldest, Isaac B., Har- 
vey D., George, Bessie and Lydia. 

Fraser, John (b. 1827), owner and 
occupant of a homestead on sec. 36 
since 1866, is a native of the city of 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



707 



Glasgow, Scotland. At fifteen in 1842 
lie came to Beavertown, Ontario, 
Can., where in 1859 lie married Mary 
Bow, also of Scotch descent. In 1866, 
with a family of two sons and two 
daughters, John, Jessie, William and 
Mary, he came to Pocahontas county 
and secured a homestead of 160 acres 
on the swi sec. 36, Powhatan town- 
ship. He is one of the first residents 
of the township and in the frontis- 
piece may be seen a cut of the log 
house, built in 1868, that was the 
family residence for many years. He 
increased the farm to 250 acres and in 
later years improved it with good 
buildings and groves. It is located 
2+ miles west of Rolfe and is connect- 
ed with that town by telephone and a 
daily, free rural mail. 

He has been secretary of the Poca- 
hontas County Bible Society (p. 503) 
since its organization at Old Rolfe in 
1867, and in October that year, carried 
from Fort Dodge the first lot of Bibles 
brought to this county. During the 
35 years he has been secretary of this 
organization, there has been brought 
to this county through its instru- 
mentality, Bibles and Testaments to 
the value of $800, and in 1897 a canvass 
of the county was made to put a 
Bible in every home. 

He is one of the men who took the 
lead in having the name of the town- 
ship changed from l, Nunda" and 
"Jackson" to "Powhatan, "and served 
twelve years as treasurer of the school 
funds. The large number of votes 
that have frequently been cast for the 
candidates of the prohibition party in 
this township has been largely due 
to his leadership and influence. He 
is a total abstainer and has supported 
the prohibition party since 1881. He 
is a man of firm convictions, knows 
what he believes and finds encourage- 
ment in the following lines: 
"For right is right, since God is God, 
And right the day must win: 
To doubt would be disloyalty, 
To falter would be sin." 



He is a man of sterling worth and 
has rendered efficient and constant 
service for many years as an official 
member of the M. E. church at Rolfe. 
He is a man of faith and piety and 
believes that, though He may seen to 
tarry a little, God will accomplish all 
he has promised in regard to the over- 
throw of iniquity and the ushering in 
of a reign of righteousness and peace. 

His family consisted of five children, 
one of whom, Jessie, died at 23 in 1884, 

John T., (b. Can. 1860) in 1883 mar- 
ried Ida M. Waite, occupies his own 
well improved farm on sec. 1, Center 
township, and has a family of seven 
children, Ethel, Mary, John, George, 
Frank, Lucile and Foster. 

J-essie F. (b. Aug. 1861) in 1880 mar- 
ried John Taylor and in 1884 died at 
Odebolt, leaving two children, Mabel 
L., who in 1901 married Milton W. 
Maulsby, a barber, at Fonda; and 
Charles, who lives with his father at 
Rolfe. 

William J. (b. Can. 1863) in 1888 
married Laura, daughter of R. B. 
Fish and located at Rolfe where he 
continued to reside until 1900, when 
he went to LaConnor, and in 1902, to 
Mt. Vernon, Wash. His family con- 
sists of seven children, Bert R., Min- 
nie, Winnie, Vernon, Clare, Earl B. 
and Jessie. 

Mary E. in 1885 married John A. 
Vandecar and located on a farm near 
Livermore. In 1889 he moved to 
Rolfe and engaged in business, but a 
few years later purchased and now oc- 
cupies a farm of 180 acres in West 
Bend township, Palo Alto county. 
Their family consists of eight chil- 
dren, William, Frank, Gladys, Mary, 
Cora, Belle, Howard and Irene. 

Charles E (b. Aug. 1, 1868), the only 
member of the family born in this 
county, was born in the log house 
and was one of the first children born 
in Powhatan. After attending the 
high school in Rolfe he graduated 
from the Iowa Business College at 



708 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Des Moines in 1889. During the sum- 
mer of 1891 he taught school in Clin- 
ton township. Nov 16, 1891 he en- 
tered the employ of the State Savings 
Bank atRolfe as a bookkeeper, and 
on Jan. 1, 1899 became its assistant 
cashier. He has lived at Rolfe since 
the date of his birth and now owns 
considerable property in that town. 
In the fall of 1899 he effected the or- 
ganization of the Rolfe Telephone Co. 
with a capital of $10,000, and served 
one year as its manager. It has now 
260 phones in operation, many of 
which are upon farms, and their num- 
ber is constantly increasing. He is 
also one of the organizers of the Rolfe 
Gas Co. and owns a block of its capital 
stock. He was clerk of Clinton town- 
ship five years, 1896-1900, and in 1902 
was elected a member of the Rolfe 
town council. 

In 1895 he married Hittie L., 
youngest daughter of Dr. W. O. Beam 
of Humboldt, who, after her gridui- 
tion at Toledo in 1890, moved to Rolfe 
and taught twelve terms in the public 
schools of this county, including sev- 
eral at Rolfe. She has four brothers 
and two sisters, and four of them are 
or have been residents of this county, 
namely, Dr. W. W. B3im and Mrs 
J. II. Charlton at Rolfe, and C. H. 
Beam at Pocahontas; Dr. W. O. 
Beam and H. A. Beam at Moline, 111.; 
Mrs. A. Owen at Toledo, Iowa, and 
Jennie G. who taught school several 
years at Plover, in 1900 married 
Thomas Heather and in 1902 located 
at Bard, S. D. Mr. and Mis. Fraser 
have one son, Charles Halford. 

Gsddes, Alexander (b. 1810), a 
pioneer of Bellville and a long time 
resident of Povhatan, is a native of 
Scotland, the son of James and Jane 
Stark Geddes.In 1861, he marriedCath- 
erine Lannie and worked in the mines 
until the spring of 1866, when he 
brought his famdy to Braidwood, 111. 
Three years later he came in a prairie 
schooner to Fort Dodge and in 1870 



with wife and three children, James, 
Jane and Alexander, settled on a 
homestead of 80 acres on sec. 8, Bell- 
ville township. He improved and oc- 
cupied this farm until 1881, when he 
located on the nei sec. 29, Powhatan 
township, which he was the first to 
occupy and improve. In 1887 he 
moved to Havelock and the next year 
to Plover, where he kept hotel; and 
his sons, James, Alexander and Wil- 
liam engaged in making hay and 
working on the roads. In 1900 he 
moved to West Bend and the next 
year to Rolfe. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren: James, a native of Scotland, is 
a dealer in hay; Jane has been a 
teacher for many years:Alexander is at 
Mallard; Catherine married Harry A. 
Hilton; Maggie, in 1901, married E. H. 
Post and lives at Rolfe; the others are 
William, John, Robert and Martha. 

Goodchild, George (b. 1818), the 
pioneer occupant of the swi sec. 20, is 
a native of England, where in 1846 he 
married Ursula Wilkinson. In 1849 
he came to New York City, where he 
found employment as a shoe maker, 
and seven years later located on Long 
Island. In 1867 he came to Webster 
county, Iowa, and in 1869 located on a 
homestead of 163 acres in Powhatan 
township. He improved this farm 
with good buildings and occupied it 
until his death. His wife died in 
1885. Both he and his wife were 
raised in the Episcopal church and 
became active workers in the M. E. 
church in Powhatan. 

His family consisted of nine chil- 
dren, three of whom died young. 

Henry in 1883 married Nettie Spen- 
cer, of Osceola county, located on the 
swi sec. 27, Washington township, 
improved and occupied it until 1901, 
when he moved one mi'e west of Have- 
lock. He has done considerable work 
as a carpenter and mason, having 
learned both of these trades in his 
youth. His family consists of six 
children, Mary, Anna, Kate, Sarah, 
Edward and Jesse. 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



709 



William A. in 1885 married Eunice, 
daughter of Elijah Chase, and lives on 
the old Chase farm, four miles njrth 
of Havelock. His family consists of 
six children, Ella, Elizabeth, Ursula 
Millie, William and Lester. 

Ursula in 1884 married Joseph O. 
Overholt, who owns and occupies a 
farm of 320 acres in Emmet county 
and raises thoroughbred stock. Her 
family consists of five children, Ira 
and Inez, twins, Siegel, William and 
Florence. 

Herbert in 1889 married Margaret 
Ludington, a farmer, lives in Palo 
Alto county and has three children, 
Mabel, Leon and Wayne. 

Hancher, Mrs. Nancy A. (1807-82), 
mother of Barney and Abel Hicks 
Hancher, was one of the early pio- 
neers of Powhatan township. Ac- 
compaming her sons and daughters 
to the frontier in the early sixties, she 
shared with them the pleasures, pri- 
vations and hardships of the early 
days, when young men founded hum- 
ble homes, 

"Far out upon the prairie." 
Her husband, John Hancher, (1798- 
1853), was a native of Jefferson county, 
Virginia, and a soldier in the war of 
1812. After their marriage in 1827, 
they located in Harrison county, 
Ohio, and remained until about 1850, 
when they moved to Kentucky and 
the next year to Brown county, Ind., 
where he died at 57 in 1853, leaving a 
family of four sons and five daughters. 
After a residence of six years at this 
place Mrs. Hancher and family moved 
to Bureau county, Illinois, where in 
1862, Barney, her oldest son, married 
Ellen, daughter of Henry Thomas. 
In the fall of 1863 he and wife and 
Jerry Young, wife and six children 
came to Pocahontas county, and loca- 
ted for that winter, Hancher in Mills' 
cabin at McKnight's Point, and 
Young in Oscar Slosson's "shack" on 
sec. 24, Des Moines township. April 
9, 1864 Barney filed a claim for the sei 



sec. 24, Powhatan township and begin- 
ning to occupy it May 10, 1864, built a 
cabin and did some breaking that 
same month. 

In October following (1864) his 
mother, Nancy, his brothers, Abel 
Hicks and Thomas, and sister, Belle, 
arrived frcm Bureau county, Illinois. 
Sept 29th, in anticipation of their ar- 
rival, Barney tiled a claim in the name 
of his mother, for the nei sec. 24, ad- 
joining his own. No others had tiled 
claims in this township before her, ex- 
cept Barney and those who filed on 
the previous day, Sept. 28, namely, 
Henry, Daniel and Joel Thomas, 
Jerry Young, William Stone, Samuel 
and George Booth, and she located on 
her claim before the last three. 

Mrs. Hancher and family spent the 
first winter in the vicinity of Old 
Bolfe and, locating on her claim in 
the spring of 1865, improved and oc- 
cupied it until her death at 75, Oct. 2, 
1882. Her home was, for many years, 
a fayorite place of meeting among the 
settlers. The first social and first 
Sunday school picnic were held here. 
She was a true mother and cared for 
the moral and spiritual, as well as 
temporal welfare of her children. She 
was a member of the Christian church 
and had the faculty of making her 
home a delightful place of meeting. 

Hancher, Barney (b. Harrison Co., 
Ohio, 1831), the first resident of Pow- 
hatan township, in 1862 married Mar- 
garet Ellen, daughter of Henry Thom- 
as during their residence in Bureau 
county, Illinois. In 1864 he built the 
first cabin and turned the first furrow 
in Powhatan. During the winter of 
1864-65 he moved his cabin to the tim- 
ber in W. H. Hait's pasture southeast 
of Old Rolfe, but returned to his 
claim the next spring. He improved 
and occupied it until 1879 when he 
sold it to James Drown and moved to 
Ness county, Kansas. In 1881, ac- 
companied by Mr, and Mrs. Henry 
Thomas, he returned to this county 
and in 1883 located near Rolfe where 
he still lives. He served as one of the 



710 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



judges at the first election in Powhat- 
an and later three years as a trustee. 
He carried the mail between Fonda 
and Pocahontas two years. 

His family consisted of five children 
one of whom died in childhood. 

Susanna in 1885 married Albert G. 
Leland, a mason, and died in 1888. 

John Henry, a mason, in 1887 mar- 
ried Allie Hoffman and located at 
Rolfe. In 1895 his wife, her mother, 
Mrs. Hoffman, and his three children, 
Erena, Pearl and Amy visited the 
Pacific coast and all of them were 
among the missing after the fire, that 
burned the hotel at Seattle that year. 
He is now engaged in farming at Mc- 
Henry, N. D. 

Alva G. married Sarah Van Horn 
and lives at Richards, Calhoun county, 
where he has charge of a lumber yard. 

Frank TV., a farmer, married Ida 
Archer and in 1902 located at Mc- 
Henry, N. D. 

Rancher, Abel Hicks (b. O., 1845), 
proprietor of the Spring Creek stock 
farm, sec. 24, Powhatan, is a native of 
Harrison county, Ohio, and in youth 
moved with his mother and her fam- 
ily to Bureau county, Illinois. In the 
fall of 1864 he came with his mother, 
brother Thomas and sister, Belle, to 
Pocahontas county, where in 1866 he 
built on sec. 24, one of the first cabins 
in Powhatan township. Oct. 6, 1868 
he married Caroline, daughter of Be- 
riah Cooper of Des Moines township. 
He occupied the old homestead of his 
mother many years, increased it to 
355 acres and improved it with sub- 
stantial and ample buildings for rais- 
ing a large amount of stock. He 
made it a very beautiful home. 
Everything about it suggests order, 
thrift, convenience and comfort. He 
has devoted his attention to raising 
and feeding stock as well as farming, 
and, during the 37 years he occupied 
the farm, did not sell over $300 worth 
of grain from it, but bought much 
from his neighbors. He served one 



term as assessor and several as a 
trustee. In 1902, leaving the farm in 
care of his son, Adelbert, he moved to 
Rolfe. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren. 

Adelbert E. lived several years with 
his uncle, Thomas Cooper, and bought 
a farm of 240 acres in Palo Alto coun- 
ty. In 1901 he took charge of his 
father's farm. He married Ollie 
Jinness and has one child, Luverne. 

Melvin Park, a farmer and stock 
raiser, in 1896, married Priscilla Han- 
Ion and located first in Clinton, and 
in 1901 in Des Moines township, where 
he owns a well improved farm of 160 
acres adjoining Rolfe. His family 
consists of one child, Virgil. 

Charles E-, in 1897 married Jessie 
Shepherd, lives near Plover and has 
two children. 

Thomas in 1900 married Eva Grove, 
lives in Powhatan and has one child, 
Leta M. 

Stella io 1900 married Clarence D 
Hobbs, a stock dealer and manager of 
Counselman's elevator at Plover. 

Eva L. a teacher, and Edith are at 
home. 

Hancher, Thomas J. in October, 
1864 with wife and two children, ac- 
companied his mother from Bureau 
county, Illinois, to this county and 
located on the nei sec. 14, Powhatan. 
The next year he moved to Jasper 
county and in 1884 to Des Moines. 

Belle in 1866 married Henry Tilley, 
(p. 530). 

Heathman, Squire Ephraim (b. 
1846), a resident of Powhatan since 
1873, is a native of Hancock county, 
Ohio, the son of David C. and Cathe- 
rine Heathman. In 1847 he moved 
with his parents to Wiscjnsin, where 
he grew to manhood. In the fall of 
1862 he enlisted as a member of a 
heavy artillery company, but two 
months later was mustered out on 
account of being too small for that 
kind of service. In October, 1863, he 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



711 



re-enlisted as a member of Co. I, 2d 
Wis. Cav. and remained in the service 
until Nov. 15, 1865, when he was 
mustered out at Austin, Texas, He 
was in the Western Department of the 
Army under Generals Osborne and 
Custer. 

In 1868 he married Phoebe J., 
daughter of Joel Smith and located 
on a farm in Greene county, Wis. In 
1872 accompanied by Joseph D. Hilton 
he came to Powhatan township and 
located on the nwi sec. 9, and Hilton 
on 5. Squire improved and occupied 
his farm until 1892 when he moved to 
Plover. 

He has taken a very prominent 
part in the management of the affairs 
in the township, having served 12 
years as president of the school board, 
nine as assessor and eight as a trus- 
tee. He has also taken a laudable in- 
terest in the work of the churches. 
His wife, who was a native of Greene 
county, Wis., died at 49 in 1900. 

His family consisted of 12 children, 
two of whom died young, Mark at 15 
in 1887. 

Willis D. married Ida Grove, lives 
at Plover and has three children, 
Lena, Squire and Myrtle. 

Frank E. ia 1895 graduated from the 
medical college at Keokuk and soon 
afterwards located at Havelock, where 
he is still engaged in the practice of 
medicine. He married Maggie Fitz- 
gerald and has three children, Yirgil, 
Lucile and Elmer. 

Calvin in 1899 married Maud Stevens 
lives at Plover and has one child, 
Cleetis. 

George in 1901 married Alice Pullan 
and lives at Plover. 

Arthur in 1899. married Maggie 
Pirie, located on a farm near Plover 
and has two children, Clarence and 
Margaret. 

Rosa in 1901 married Walter E. 
Chinn and lives at Plover. 

Carrie, Maggie, Ida and Ina are at 
home. 



Heathman, Hiram (b. 1821), an 
uncle of Squire Heathman, is a native 
of Ohio where he grew to manhood 
and married Priscilla Moody. In 1867 
he located in Greene county, Wiscon- 
sin, and in 1872, coming with hia neph- 
ew to Pocahontas county, located on 
the swi sec. 9, Powhatan, which 
he improved and occupied until his 
death at 64, in 1885. His wife died at 
70 in 1895. The farm still belongs to 
the family which consisted of ten 
children. 

Rosella, married Dwight Wood, a 
mason, and lived in Wisconsin until 
1898, when they moved to Rolfe. 
Their family consisted of six children. 
Edward, Nettie, Addie, Bert, Ida and 
Almeda. Edward in Wisconsin mar- 
ried Amelia Wallace, who died in 
1890, leaving one daughter, Edna. In 
1898 he married Minnie Thompson 
and their family consists of three 
children. Nettie Wood in 1895 mar- 
ried John Albee, a farmer, lives in 
Powhatan, and has one son, Elmer. 
Addie in 1888 married Edward Gib- 
bons, a stockbuyer, lives at Rolfe, and 
has four children, Roy, William, Net- 
tie and Dewey. Bert, a mason, in 
1896 married May Spear and lives at 
Rolfe. Ida in 1893 married William 
Porter, a farmer, and lives near Rolfe. 

Yilinda married Charles Water- 
man, who in 1873 located on the nei 
sec. 8, Powhatan, and now lives near 
Paullina. Her family consisted of 
three children, Emma, Eva and 
Mabel. Emma married Calvin Wells 
and lives in Dakota; and Eva married 
John Hodgden, a farmer, and lives in 
O'Brien county. 

Hiram married Viola Hilton, lives 
near Ruthven and has three children, 
Marion, Myrtle and Elmer. 

Clara (b. Greene Co., Wis., 1845) in 
Wisconsin married Jacob W. Brown, 
who in 1866 filed a claim for a home- 
stead on the nei sec. 10, Powhatan. 
He died in 1880 leaving three children, 
Aria, Susan and Alice. Thomas 



712 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Beatty, a section foreman, lives at 
Perry and has two children. Susan 
married John Baird, a carpenter, lives 
at Rolfe and has three children. Alice 
married Edward Wasson, a brick 
moulder, lives at St. Joe, Mo., and has 
three children. In 1882 Clara married 
Wm. H. Drown, a barber, and in 1889 
died at Rolfe leaving, as a result of 
this union, one son, Clarence. 

Elmus H. is the owner and 
occupant of a farm of 160 acres in 
Powhatan. He has served seven 
years as a township trustee. He mar- 
ried Lucy Beam and has a family of 
four children. Maud, a teacher, in 
1900 married Wm. Postin; Claude, 
Earl and Floyd. 

Samantha in 1868 married John 
Conley, a farmer, and located in Wis- 
consin. In 1875 they located in Colo- 
rado, where he died in 1901 leaving an 
estate valued at $3u,000. He left one 
daughter, Lilly, who in 1887 married 
Theron Northrop, a carpenter, and 
located at Plover. After her father's 
death in 1901 with a family of six 
children, Dart, Earl, Paul, Euphemia, 
William and Lyle, they moved to the 
late home of her father at Hermosa, 
Colorado. 

Lydia married Jacob Strandberg, a 
shoe maker, and lived at Plover until 
they moved to Oklahoma. Her fam- 
ily consists of five children. Lizzie 
married Chas. Northrop, a carpenter, 
lives at Plover and has two children; 
Alvah, George, Cora and Paul. 

George married Lillian Wells and 
located on a farm in Powhatan, which 
he improved, enlarged to 200 acres, 
and occupied until 1900 when he mov- 
ed to a fruit farm in the state of Wash- 
ington. His family consists of five 
children, George, Lewis, Gould, Ver- 
ner and Esther.- 

Cora (b. 1860), in 1879 married Wm. 
Amos, a farmer, lives in Oklahoma 
and has a family of five children. 

Martha (b. 1862), in 1882 married 
Thomas Meredith, a farmer, lives in 



Powhatan and has two children, Guy 
and Cecil. 

Henderson, James (b. 1836), owner 
of 460 acres, principally on sec. 8, is a 
native of Scotland, a son of George 
and Catherine Henderson. At 21 he 
came to Canada, where in 1863 he 
married Beatrice Penman and engag- 
ed in weaving cotton and woollen fab- 
rics for the farmers. 

In the spring of 1866 he located in 
Powhatan township making the trip 
with his family by rail to Boone and 
thence by prairie schooner. He had 
then three children^ Catherine, Mar- 
garet and George, and was accompan- 
ied by his brother George Henderson, 
his wife and four children, Janet, 
Catherine, Margaret and George; and 
a young man, James Ploven. 

May 22, 1866 he, George, his brother 
and James Ploven filed claims for 
their respective homesteads and also 
their applications to become Ameri- 
can citizens. They received their 
naturalization papers in 1871 and their 
patents in 1876. 

He lived during the first three years 
on sec. 26 and in the spring of 1870 
located on his homestead on Lhe nwi 
sec. 8. He improved this farm with 
good buildings, fences, groves and 
orchard, remained on it when the 
times were hard and is now the owner 
of 462 acres in that vicinity. His suc- 
cess has not been a matter of chance, 
but has been due to his constant en- 
deavor to give the land thorough 
cultivation, the crops careful protec- 
tion and all the inter2sts of the farm 
his first attention, so that he might 
be able to push the work rather than 
have it crowd him. He has become 
one of the substantial and influential 
men in the township. He has served 
thirteen years as a trustee of the 
township, and, taking a leading part 
in efiecting the organization of the 
Plover Presbyterian church in 1888, 
he has served as an elder and clerk of 
the session in it since that date and 




MR. AND MRS. PHILIP HAMBLE 




PIONEER HOME OF THOMAS L. MAC VEY 
The first frame house in Powhatan township, built in the spring of 1867 on N. E. )i Sec. 36. 

Powhatan Township. In front are Mrs. Frank L. Mac Vey and her two children., 




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POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



713 



and five years as superintendent of its 
Sunday school. His noble wife has 
been a faithful and efficient helper in 
all his plans to promote the welfare 
of his family and church. 

He has raised a family of eight 
children, five sons and three daught- 
ers. 

Elizabeth in 1886 married Samuel 
L. Horsman, owner and occupant of a 
well improved farm on sec. 7, and has 
a family of seven children, James, 
John, Myrtle, Glenn, William, Edith 
and Martha .Belle. 

Catherine in 1886 married Louis 
Parradee, owner and occupant of a 
good farm on sec. 11. They have a 
family of six children, Mary, John, 
Rose, Ruth, Susan and May. 

George in 1893 married Blanche 
Miller, lives on his own farm in Palo 
Alto county and has three children, 
Eleanor, Agnes and Ellis. 

W r illiam works the home farm. 

John in 1898 married Ella, daughter 
of A. B, Harmon, lives in Palo Alto 
county and has two children, Pearl 
and Roy. 

James in 1901 married Eva May 
Harmon and lives on his own farm 
near Plover. 

Janet in 1902 married Harry Mc- 
Fadzen, a farmer, and lives near 
Plover. 

Charles in 1898 married Myrtle Bar- 
rick, lives on sec. 5 and has one child, 
Hazel. 

Henderson, George (b. 1834; d. 
1892), an elder brother of James, was 
a native of Fifeshire, Scotland, where 
he grew to manhood and in 1858 mar- 
ried Cecilia Somers. Later tbafc year 
he came to Canada and accepted em- 
ployment as a weaver during the 
next eight years. In May 1866, he 
came to Powhatan township and se- 
cured a homestead of 160 acres on the 
nei sec. 26. He improved and enlar- 
ged this farm to 240 acres and occu- 
pied it until his death in 1892. He 



served seven years as treasurer of the 
school funds. 

His wife died in 1871 leaving a fam» 
ily of six children. In 1886 he mar- 
ried Elizabeth Gillis, widow of Ed« 
ward Anderson, and she died in 1899 
at the old home in Canada. She left 
two children by her first husband and 
six step children. 

Jennie Henderson married S. E. 
Hamilton, a carpenter and is located 
at Los Gatos, Cal. 

Catherine and George still occupy 
the old homestead. 

Maggie married J. A. Wonderlich, a 
painter, and lived at Havelock. In 
1901 she died leaving a family of six 
children, David, Kate, Jennie, Nina, 
Bessie. 

James lives in Palo Alto county. 

William has been in the U. S. navy 
during the last five years, and served 
under Admiral Dewey at Manila. 

Hilton, Joseph D., resident of Pow- 
hatan since 1873, is a native of Maine. 
In his youth he moved to Wisconsin, 
where he enlisted and rendered a 
period of military service, during the 
civil war. At its close he returned 
to Wisconsin and married Alice Per- 
rington. In 1873 with wife and two 
children, Harry and Bert, he located 
on the swi sec. 5, Powhatan township. 
He improved this farm with good 
buildings, increased it to 240 acres 
and occupied it until 1900, when he 
moved to Burlington, Wash. A few 
years ago his first wife died leaving a 
family of five children. Harry A. 
married Catherine Geddes, lives on a 
farm near Plover; Nettie married 
Henry Shrouf and also lives on a farm 
near Plover; Bert, Ernest and Leslie. 

Mr. Hilton, after the death of his 
first wife, married Cora Northrop, and 
their family consists of three children 
Maud, Alma and Lois. 

Jolliffe, John Blake (b. 1845), own- 
er and occupant of a homestead on 
the nei sec. 2, since April 25, 1866, is a 
native of England, a son of James 
and Mary Ann Blake Jolliffe, who 



714 PIONEER HISTORY»OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



came to this country when John B. 
was about ten, and located in the 
province of Ontario, Canada. He 
was brought up on a farm, and when 
he became of age, came to Pocahon- 
tas county and secured a homestead 
in Powhatan township. During the 
first season he lived a short time un- 
der a wagon box and did some break- 
ing. During this and the next few 
years he realized what it was to be on 
the frontier. He was seven miles 
west of the Des Moines river and, 
with the exception of Robert and 
Edward Anderson, two miles south on 
15, he was the furthest west of any 
of the settlers in that vicinity; and 
those at the Little Sioux river were 
thirty miles distant. At first he 
worked for Judge Slosson, Henry Jar- 
vis and Perry Nowlen, and occasion- 
ally went back and slept on Jiis claim 
to hold it. During the second sum- 
mer he put in a small crop, cared for 
and harvested it, having a boarding 
place in a little cabin two miles dis- 
tant. Potatoes that cost $2.00 per 
bushel at the nearest market consti- 
tuted the principal article of diet, and 
the only money available was the pelt 
of the muskrat. 

Oct. 14, 1867 he married Jane, 
daughter of Rev. Frederic Meicalf, of 
Des Moines township, and built first 
a sod shanty and later a log house. 
The latter was covered with a board 
roof that always leaked when it rained 
and both were very humble and un- 
satisfactory abodes. During the 
years that have passed since that 
date he has added acre to acre, so that 
he is now the owner of 782 acres of 
valuable farm land and the old home- 
stead has been improved with fine 
buildings, fences and groves. From a 
very humble beginning he has attain- 
ed a very high degree of success on 
the farm. He has rendered many 
years of faithful service in the various 
township offices and has been a leader 
in song in religious and various other 



assemblies. He is a member of the 
Methodist church. 

His family consisted of twelve chil- 
dren, of whom Emma, the sixth 
died at 18 in 1897, soon after the re- 
moval of a great tumor that weighed 
100 pounds, Two others died before 
her, Cerinda at 15 in 1890 and Ida in 
childhood. 

Rose Ella in 1890 married George 
Kinsey, a farmer, and has five chil- 
dren, Mary, Eva, Charles, Nellie and 
Edna. 

Mary in 1896 married Henry Tansey 
and located on a farm in Wright coun- 
ty. They now live near Plover and 
have one son, Lee. 

Albert in 1894 married Annie Grat- 
zen, a farmer, lives near Mallard and 
has four children, Roy, Bessie, Sadie 
and Mabel. 

Sarah in 1892 married Daniel Miller 
and located near Des Moines, where 
she died in 1898, leaving three chil- 
dren, Etta, Ray and Glenn. In 1900 
Sarah married Henry L. Roush, a 
farmer, located near Plover and has 
one daughter, Hazel. 

Ina, a teacher, Hattie, Clara, Wil- 
liam and George are at home. 

Jolliffe, James J., a younger 
brother of J. B , in 1869 located in the 
Old Rolfe settlement and previous to 
the advent of the railroads was inti- 
mately connected with many of the 
leading events of that place. Per- 
ceiving at an early day, that the habit 
of drinking was on the increase 
among the young men, he united with 
J. J. Bruce and others in organizing a 
Good Templar's lodge at that place. 
In connection with its work and vari- 
ous other social gatherings in the 
north part of .the county, he delivered 
a number of temperance addresses, by 
which he is still remembered. Believ- 
ing that the saloon is the greatest 
enemy of the nation, church and 
home, he has stood ready to antagon- 
ize it with voice and pen. His faith 
in God, in the growing influence of 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



715 



the church and the intelligence of the 
American people, leads him to believe 
that the saloon, the only institution 
that now openly defies justice, 
violates with impunity police regula- 
tions, desecrates the Sabbath and con- 
tinually dishonors God, will soon be 
forever abolished. 

In 1878 he married the only (Ella) 
Sharpe girl in Humboldt county, an 
event he has never had occasion to 
regret and located near Bradgate. 

His family consists of seven chil- 
dren. Frank, Ethel, Charley, Warren, 
Harvey, Clark and Mary. 

Lind, Marcus (b. 1820), owner and 
occupant of a farm on the nwi sec. 16 
from 1867 until his decease in 1897 was 
a native of Denmark. He went to 
Australia and there met and married 
his wife who was a native of Scotland. 
After their marriage they returned to 
Denmark and Scotland, then came 
to America and located in Powhatan 
township in the fall of 1869. She was 
a member of the Presbyterian church 
and died at 80 in 1900, leaving two 
daughters, Mary and Margaret Mc- 
Donald, who still occupy the old 
home. 

Loughead, George "N. (b. 1866), 
postmaster, is a native of Greene 
county, Wis., where he grew to man- 
hood. In 1887 he came to Pocahontas 
county with his brother S. J. Lough- 
ead and bought 160 acres on sees. 3 and 
4, Powhatan township, which he im- 
proved and occupied until 1892, when 
he moved to Plover and became mana- 
ger of the Counselman elevator. Feb. 
1, 1899 he became postmaster at Plov- 
er and is still serving the people in 
that capacity. 

In 1888 he married Jessie Kingdom, 
of Greene county, Wis., and she died 
in 1891, leaving one child, Isabel. In 
189*5 he married Ida Charlton. 

Lyman, Samuel Bert (b. 1840; d. 
1894), was a native of Southampton 
Mass. He enlisted as a soldier at the 
outbreak of the civil war and spent 



four years in the army. He then en- 
tered the detective service of the 
government. 

In 1865 in Cataraugus county, N. Y., 
he married Samantha Harris and soon 
afterward located on a farm in Ford 
county, 111. He served as sheriff of 
Ford county eight years. In 1883 he 
located on a farm of 183 acres in Pow- 
hatan, occupied it during the next 
seven years, moved to Eolfe and three 
years later to Madison Lake, Minn., 
where he died in 1894. His first wife 
died in 1873 in Illinois, and in 1874 he 
married Maggie Matthews. His fam- 
ily by his first wife consisted of three 
children, Lewis E. owns and occu- 
pies a farm near Mallard. Samuel W. 
in 1890 married Mary E. Fessenden 
and located on a farm in Powhatan. 
In 1900 he moved to McHenry, N. D., 
where his wife died leaving a family 
of five children, Samuel, John, Grace, 
Clara and George. John H.is in Wash- 
ington. 

MacYey, Thomas Lord (b. Aug. 
15, 1835), county recorder 1869-1874, is 
a native of Tariff ville, Hartford coun- 
ty, Conn. He was the fourth child of 
Thomas and Elizabeth Lord MacVey. 
His father, of Scotch-Irish descent, 
came from the province of Quebec 
to Portland, Maine, where he married 
Elizabeth Lord, of English descent, 
and soon afterward located in Con 
necticut. Thomas spent his boy 
hood on the farm and in the<] woolen 
mills of his native town, where many 
children at that time helped to bear 
the family burden. At the age of 12 
he was bereft of his mother and, the 
home being broken up, he was cast 
upon his own resources. Finding em- 
ployment for several years among the 
neighboring farmers he managed to 
provide for himself, aid two younger 
brothers and acquire a thorough 
knowledge of carpentering. 

In 1852 he became an agent for a 
prominent jewelry firm in Hartford, 
Conn., and spent the next three years 



716 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



in western Pennsylvania and New 
York. Attracted by the oil excite- 
ment, he became an engineer in the 
oil region and continued until the 
panic of 1857 put an end to all busi- 
ness enterprises in that section. Ac- 
companied by two friends, Solomon 
and Albert Fletcher, he traveled to 
Rogersville, Tenn., where, finding em- 
ployment on a large river bridge, he 
soon became a foreman and engineer 
and so continued, until the storm of 
secession was precipitated by the as- 
sault on Fort Sumpter. 

Previous to this date he had enjoyed 
no educational advantages, except a 
few months at the village school in 
his boyhood. He however formed the 
habit of reading some good book in his 
leisure hours, and, by persevering 
effort during these years of constant 
labor with varying fortunes, had ac- 
quired a vast amount of general infor- 
mation and formed the habits of a 
good student, so that in his later 
years he proved himself to be a man 
possessing considerable intellectual 
ability and even literary attainments, 

He was an ultra republican and cast 
his first vote for Fremont. In Tennesee 
he became personally acquainted with 
Andrew Johnson and Thomas A. R. 
Nelson, the crippled statesman, who 
did so much at first to hold Tennesee 
in the Union, but afterwards went 
over to the confederacy. He was one 
of those who with pistol in hand, help- 
ed to make it possible for these men 
to make some of their last speeches 
against the ordinance of secession. 

When the news of the fall of Fort 
Sumpter reached Rogersville, the men 
at work with him on the Slam m on 
mill quit work to enter the confeder- 
ate army, and he and the Fletcher 
brothers began the construction of 
a flatboat to make their escape to the 
north. When it was completed and a 
month's provisions were obtained they 
and their families began a long and 
perilous voyage down the Holston to 



the Tennessee river, thence across the 
corner of Georgia, across the entire 
state of Alabama, the corner of Miss- 
issippi, through Tennessee and Ken- 
tucky to the Ohio. The country 
through which they had to pass was 
infested with home guards and de- 
tachments of the rapidly forming con- 
federate army. They were stopped 
by the provosts at Fort Henry, then 
under construction, and at several 
other places, but were allowed to pass 
as persons enroute to Arkansas. They 
arrived at Paducah on the Ohio after 
a journey of six weeks and just a few 
days before the battle of Bull Run. 
Here Mr. MacVey sold the boat for 
$75 and they separated, the Fletchers 
returning to Pennsylvania and Mac- 
Vey to Connecticut, his native state, 
expecting to enter the service with 
some of his old companions. Finding 
they had already enlisted he returned 
to Crawford county, Pa., and became 
a member of Company K., 150th Pa. 
Volunteers, which formed a part of 
the famous Bucktail Brigade. His 
regiment saw some of the hardest 
fighting during the war, but his com- 
pany was detailed as President Lin- 
coln's guard and so continued through- 
out the war. He rose to the rank of 
first lieutenant and has several highly 
prized mementoes of the "late un- 
pleasantness," among which are his 
commissions as first and second lieu- 
tenants, a picture entitled "Home on 
a Furlough," presented by Mrs. Lin- 
coln after the assassination, and a cup 
decorated with the U. S. Coat of 
Arms, from the martyred president's 
tea service. Two of his brothers were 
soldiers in the civil war and bis father 
served two enlistments. 

In the winter of 1863 he married 
Rebecca W. Noble of Carlisle, Pa., 
but remained in the army until June 
17,1865, when he located in Chicago 
and engaged in stairbuiJding. Here 
his first child was born and named, 
Frank Lincoln, at the request of Tad 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



717 



Lincoln, who, with his widowed 
mother, then lived in Chicago and oc- 
casionally visited the MacVey home. 
In March 1866 Mr. MacVey visited 
the prairies of northwestern Iowa, 
and tiled a claim for the nei sec. 36, 
Powhatan township. That fall he 
and his family, making the journey 
from Ackley by stage coach and other 
hired conveyances, located for the 
winter in a part of the log house on an 
adjoining claim (swi sec. 25.) of Sam- 
uel Booth. He wps then a skilled 
mechanic but had a very limited out- 
fit, the latter consisting of a wife, a 
sick baby, a bureau, four chairs, a 
cookstove, a canary bird and $105.00. 
He immediately found employment 
with John Rogers and later with 
W. II. Hait, who was then building 
the first two story house in the coun- 

iy. 

In March 1867, with a sled and two 
yoke of oxen, be went to Boone, 80 
miles distant, for lumber to build a 
house. He paid^out all the money he 
had, $100 00, for lumber, which then 
ranged from $30.00 to $90.00 a thous- 
and feet, put it on the sled and start- 
ed for home over the trackless prairie 
with streams unbridged save when 
covered with ice. The snow began to 
disappear quite rapidly under the in- 
fluence of a spring thaw, and eleven 
davs later he arrived home on foot, 
having experienced a "breakdown," a 
"stuck fast," and having left piles of 
lumber at several different places 
along the route as the snow disap- 
peared and the oxen and sled at Mur- 
ray's on the east bank of the Des 
Moines river near Rutland. The 
steers were brought home a few days 
later and the lumber was gathered 
up after the spring freshets had sub- 
sided. Hewed oak sills and frame 
lumber were obtained from the native 
timber along the Des Moines river at 
old Rolfe, and the first frame house, 
121x20 feet and 12 feet high, in Pow- 
hatan township, was erected. It was 



the first building in the township to re- 
ceive a coat of paint and in 1902 it was 
still protected on the east side by the 
shingles that were hauled from Boone 
thirty-five years previous. 

During that spring he sowed by 
hand his first crop of wheat, five acres 
that had been broken the previous 
year. This work was done with a 
yoke of half-broken, unruly steers ob- 
tained from Samuel Booth, and their 
frequent attempts to run away were 
thwarted by riding the harrow, which 
was a wooden toothed affair belong- 
ing to Jerry Young. At the end of 
the day's work the field was subdued 
and so were the steers. During that 
summer he and W. D. McEwen ran a 
breaking plow together, each furnish- 
ing a yoke of oxen and doing his own 
breaking. 

He participated in the organization 
of the township, served as its first 
assessor and received four dollars for 
that service. This assessment was 
made in one day, but it caused an 
attack of snow blindness that kept 
him in a dark room several weeks. 
It was largely due to his influence and 
effort that the name of the township 
was changed from "Nunda" to "Pow- 
hatan" and later from "Jackson" to 
"Powhatan" again. He served as 
one of the first school directors and 
as county recorder six years, .1869-74. 

He made several of the first coffins 
used in the township, one being 
for the child of Samuel Booth 
about the fall of 1869. He carried the 
tools and part of the materials for it 
from Old Rolfe and made it in the 
Strong school house by the light of a 
lantern on a cold winter night. The 
first one was for Mother Lowrey in 
the spring of 1867. 

From July 1871 to February 1, 1872, 
he was associated with James J. 
Bruce in the publication of the Poca- 
hontas Journal (p. 286.), and his later 
contributions to the press of the 
county have done much to preserve 



718 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



the early history of Powhatan town- 
ship. 

He was an enthusiastic Granger, 
master of Sumner subordinate lodge 
in Powhatan and twice a delegate to 
the state grange at Des Moines. He 
was for a number of years captain of 
the ' 'Pocahontas Rifles" (1869-1874), 
a military company organized at Rolfe 
and forming a part of the Iowa 
National Guard, and served as first 
commander of the G. A. R. post 
(Mill's) organized about 1884. 

In 1886, the farm having been in- 
creased to 320 acres and leased, he 
moved to Knoxville, Tenn., and the 
next year to China, Louisiana, where 
he has secured considerable land. 

Here he has made his influence felt 
to such an extent, by encouraging the 
black and enthusing the white voters, 
that the precinct, formerly demo- 
cratic, has become republican. In 
1892 he was appointed U. S. commis- 
sioner for the western district of 
Louisiana and still holds this position. 
He has several times been senior vice- 
commander of the G. A. R. depart- 
ment of Louisiana and Mississippi 
and was a delegate to the national 
encampments at Pittsburg and Louis- 
ville in 1894 and 95. 

In the spring of 1893 he was bereft 
of his wife, RebeccaW. Noble, who was 
one of the early teachers in Powhatan, 
teaching several terms in the pioneer 
school house while it was located on the 
swi sec. 25., and her last term in her 
own house on section 36 during the 
winter of 1873-74, the school house 
having been moved to another part of 
the township in 1873, Among her 
pupils were Thomas Rogers, Charles 
E. Fraser, Mrs. W. D. McEwen, Mrs. 
Geo. Stevens, Mrs. Caroline Vaughn 
and Mrs. J. J. Jolliffe. She taught 
several terms at Old Rolfe, was one of 
the most competent teachers in the 
county, assisted Supt. Haihaway to 
conduct his institutes and was depu- 
tized by him occasionally to conduct 



teacher's examinations. She was a 
ready writer and a frequent contribu- 
tor to the columns of the Fonda 
News, Fonda Gazette and North- 
western Hawkeye. 

She was a native of Cumberland, 
Co., Pa., (b. 1835) the seventh child of 
Frank and Mary Brown Noble. Her 
father was of Scotch-Irish ancestry 
and her mother was a niece of Com- 
modore Joshua Barney, of revolution- 
ary fame, and a sister of Rev. George 
Brown, one of the founders of the 
Methodist Protestant church. She 
grew to womanhood at Carlisle, where 
she graduated from the high school 
and also from the ladies' seminary. 
She began to teach at sixteen, was 
principal of the Plainfield, Pa., high 
school, and was teaching near Harp- 
er's Ferry at the time of the raid of 
John Brown, whom she met at the 
home of Dr. Leonard. In 1862 she 
went to Washington to care for a 
brother, who had been wounded in the 
second battle of Bull Run. Here she 
met Thomas L. MacVey, who the next 
year became her husband. 

In Louisiana she engaged in teach- 
ing among the French Creoles, who 
appreciated her labors very highly. 
She loved to teach and was engaged 
in this, her favorite employment, 
when she was overtaken by her final 
illness, which came in the form of a 
stroke of apoplexy while at a public 
gathering. 

Possessing an indomitable will and 
unflinching courage, she knew not the 
meaning of the word "fail," and suc- 
cess was usually assured to whateyer 
enterprise she lent her aid. She was a 
leader, who could arouse enthusiasm in 
the most indifferent and incite them 
to action. She was a true and help- 
ful friend to the poor, and a lifelong 
member of the Episcopal church. 

In 1896 Thomas L. MacVey married 
Fannie Josephine Work, a native of 
Pennsylvania, and a teacher of many 
years' experience, first in Crawford 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



719 



county, Pa., then in Illinois, twenty 
years in Nevada and one, 1895, in a 
mission school among the Indians on 
Douglas Island, Alaska. He is now 
living in very comfortable circum- 
stances in Jennings, Louisiana. 

The success he has achieved has 
been largely due to his untiring in- 
dustry, thoughtfulness and economy. 
He has been conscientious and fearless 
in advocating and defending the 
rights of the people, and has made a 
good record as a citizen, soldier and 
public officer. He acquired consid- 
erable ease and elegance as a writer, 
enjoyed the discussion of public ques- 
tions and won the esteem of the peo- 
ple in the several communities in 
which he has lived. His family con- 
sisted of two sons, Frank and Lee. 

Frank L., (b. 111., 1865,) on No- 
vember 24, 1893, married Elizabeth E., 
eldest daughter of Gilbert N. Brown, 
a veteran of the civil war, who moved 
from Butler county, Iowa, to Louisi- 
ana in 1884. After the marriage of 
his father in 1896 he returned to the 
old homestead in Powhatan township, 
which he now owns together with 160 
acres in Louisiana. During the last 
seven of the nine years he resided in 
Louisiana he was a member of the ra- 
publican central committee of Cal- 
casieu parish, and a delegate to the 
state convention in 1892. He was 
postmaster at China, during Presi- 
dent Harrison's administration and ap- 
portioner of taxes in 1896. In 1899 he 
became assessor of Powhatan, and in 
1900 was a delegate to the Baptist 
state convention at Des Moines. His 
family consists of four children: 
Bernice Rebecca, Noble LeSuer, Ruth 
Brown and Gilbert Niles. 

William Lee MacVey, (b. Oct. 10, 
1867), in Powhatan went south with 
his father's family in 1886; first to 
Knoxville, then to China, Louisiana, 
where he resided until 1898, when he 
returned to Powhatan. He now owns 
and farms 160 acres of the old MacVey 



farm. His orchard is one of the larg- 
est and finest in the county. 

McEwen Alexander, (b. 1845), one 
of the pioneers of Pocahontas county 
and a leading citizen of Powhatan, is 
a native of Scotland, a son of Rev. 
John McEwen. His father was a min- 
ister in the established church of 
Scotland and served 45 years as pastor 
of the church at Dyke Forres, Mur- 
rayshire. In his youth he spent one 
year in Canada, crossing the ocean 
with his sister Margaret, mother of 
William D. McEwen, whose husband 
though of the same name, was no rel- 
ative of hers. During that year all 
the family were in America— his fa- 
ther, mother, four brothers, Peter, 
James, Donald and "William, and sis- 
ters, Grace and Janet. His father 
died in 1886, leaving a family of seven 
children— Alexander, Donald, Robert, 
Marjory, John, Mary and Henry. 
Donald, a surveyor in the British ar- 
my, died in 1886, having spent thir- 
teen years in India and passed 
through Soudan with the army under 
Gen. Chinese Gordon. Robert went 
to India, where he engaged in the in- 
digo trade and died at Edinburgh in 
1893. Marjory married John Smith, a 
merchant at Hong Kong, China. 
John became an assistant to his 
father before his death and is now his 
successor as pastor at Dyke Forres. 
Mary married Rev. George Bisset of 
the established church, and lives in 
Edinburgh. Henry is superintend- 
ent of the electric light plant in Glas- 
gow. He received a medal for some 
astronomical drawings from the Lon- 
don Astronomical society at the 
World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, and 
was made a member of the Royal As- 
tronomical society of London. 

Alexander, the oldest member of 
the family, having acquired a good 
education in Scotland came to Can- 
ada, and in December, 1869, became a 
resident of Des Moines township, this 
county, where he found a home with 



^20 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Henry Jarvis and taught school dur- 
ing the next seven months in the Jar- 
vis school house, located Dear the 
county line, south of McNight's Point. 
He then prepared a set of abstract 
books for W. D. McEwen at Old Rolf e, 
and took charge of the store of Mc- 
Ewen & Bruce, when it was estab- 
lished in the fall of 1870, while they 
performed the duties of county au- 
ditor and treasurer. He remained in 
the store until the spring of 1875, 
when, having bought 204 acres on sec- 
tion 16, Swan Lake township, he gave 
his attention to their improvement 
and built thereon a house and barn. 
That fall he sold this farm to Alfred 
Strouse and bought the homestead of 
Henry Thomas, on the SWi Sec. 24, 
Powhatan. 

October 6, 1875, he married Delilah, 
daughter of Philip Hamble, one of 
the pioneers of Washington town- 
ship, and during the ensuing winter 
taught his last term of school in that 
township. In the spring of 1876 he 
located on his farm in Powhatan and 
occupied it until the spriog of 1882, 
when he bought and moved upon 400 
acres on section 26. He improved 
and occupied this farm until 1892, 
when he moved to his present farm on 
section 15, near Plover. He devoted 
considerable attention to raising tine 
horses and, at the time of his sale in 
1891, had 30 head of high-grade Nor- 
mans and English Shires. 

He is a man of excellent judgment, 
has always commanded the confidence 
and esteem of all who know him, and 
has rendered considerable public serv- 
ice. He was chosen clerk of Pow- 
hatan as soon as he became a resident 
of the township and has served twelve 
years in that capacity, ten as presi- 
dent of the school board and cine as 
a member of the board of county 
supervisors. He has been a trustee of 
the Plover Presbyterian church since 
its organization. He has manifest- 
ed considerable interest in the educa- 



tion of his children and had -the 
pleasure of seeing two of them, Mar- 
jory and Susan, members of the tirst 
graduating class from the Plover high 
school in 1899. 

His family consisted of eight chil- 
dren. John P. and Mary A. are at 
home. Marjory, a teacher, in 1902 
married E. L. Wallace, formerly 
principal of the Plover schools and 
now manager of a lumber yard at 
Schaller. Susan, a teacher, on the 
same day. April 16. 1901, married Fred 
C. Chinn, a grain buyer at Wiola. 
Philip Hamble, Henry, Elizabeth and 
Robert Burns are at home. 

Mueller,, Jacob (b. 1854.) merchant, 
is a native of Switzerland, came to 
America and located in the eastern 
part of Iowa, where he engaged in the 
mercantile business. In 1888 he 
located at Plover, and since that date 
has been a general merchant, member 
of the firm of Eggspuehler & Mueller. 
In 1880 he married Bertha Myers ( who 
died in 1881, leaving one child, Louis. 
In 1884 he married Minnie Herold and 
their family consists of eight children, 
Matilda, Elizabeth, Cbarles, Regina, 
Jacob, Joseph, Lenora and Homer. 

Northrop, Darius (b. 1829, d. 1889.) 
was a native of Vermont. At Buffalo, 
N. Y., he married Euphemia Dart and 
soon afterwards moved to Fon du Lac, 
Wis. In 1881, with wife and four 
children, he located on the nw£ sec. 
17, Powhatan township. He improved 
and occupied this farm until his death 
in 1889. His wife died in 1884. His 
family consisted of four children. 

Charles, a carpenter, married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Jacob and Lydia 
(Heathman) Strandberg, lives at 
Plover and has two children, Pearl 
and Alva. 

Theron D., a carpenter, married 
Lilly, only daughter of John and Sam- 
antha (Heathman) Conley and located 
in Plover, In 1901, with a family of 
six children, he moved to Hermosa, 
Colo. 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



721 



Clara, married Ed vard Mellick, one 
of the pioneer merchants at Rolfe, 
where he died in 188-4 leaviDg one 
daughter, Lulu. Clara afterward mar- 
ried Albert Blanchard, a blacksmith, 
located at Plover and their family 
consists of six children, Boy, Charles, 
Ada, Simeon, Carl and Ray. 
' Cora married Joseph D. Hilton. 
(See Hilton ) 

Pirle, James S , (b. 1855.) for many 
years the popular iivery man at 
Plover, is a native of Canada, where 
he spent his youth. In 1881, in Ben- 
ton county, Iowa, he married Jane R. 
Mitchell. In 1888 he located at 
Plover and, engaging in the livery busi- 
ness, continued until 1902. He has 
one daughter, Maggie Belle, who in 
1899 married Arthur Heathman and 
lives on a farm near Plover. 

"William E. and George L. Pirie, his 
brothers, are also residents of this 
county. William came with James in 
1888, married Edna Barlow and is now 
living in Washington township. 
George in 1892 married Clara Fessen- 
den and lives on his own farm in 
Powhatan. 

Shaw, Prentice Josiah (b. 1849) 
secretary of the Pocahontas County 
Mutual Fire and Lightning Insurance 
Co., is a native of Niagara county, N. 
Y. In 1856 he moved with his parents 
to Greene county, Wis., where he re- 
ceived a good common school educa- 
tion, spent two years in select schools 
and then engaged in teaching. At 22 
in 1872 he came to O'Brien county, 
Iowa, where he entered a homestead 
and remained five years, teaching and 
working on the farm. During the 
winter of 1875 he taught the village 
school at Dayton, Wis , and in Novem- 
ber that same year married Jennie A. 
Marshall, who the next spring accom- 
panied him to the homestead. In the 
fall of 1876, after receiving several 
visits of the grasshoppers, he return- 
ed to Greene county, Wis, and re- 
mained there until the spring of 1882, 



when he returned to Iowa and located 
on the Clinton farm, north of Have- 
lock, which he and his brother-in-law, 
J. C. Potter were the first t,o occupy. 
In 1885 he located on his present farm 
on the hei sec. 14, Powhatan town- 
ship, which he has improved and in- 
creased to 200 acres. 

He has lived to see a wonderful 
development in this section of the 
country in the last quarter of a cen- 
tury. In 1872, when he made his first 
trip to northwest Iowa, crossing 
several counties, there were but few 
houses and many of them were built 
of sod. He traveled in a covered 
wagon, purchased baker's bread at 
the villages which were a long dis- 
tance apart, and supplemented the 
stock of provisions by shooting game. 
The mirage in the morning frequent- 
ly beckoned to cities, groves and beau- 
tiful lakes that appeared near the hori- 
zon, but which always vanished as the 
traveler advanced towards them. 
The Lone Tree, that stands eight 
miles west of Spencer, could some- 
times be seen in the early morning at 
a distance of three days journey, but 
as the sun rose it disappeared, and 
then the next morning reappeared, 
apparently as far distant as on the 
previous morning. Lone Tree was for 
many a year a land mark for surveyors 
and traveleis. It may still be seen 
from passing trains in Lone Tree 
township, Clay county, and looks very 
much as it did twenty-five years ago. 

He is proud to be a citizen of Iowa, 
a state that ranks among the first in 
intellectual progress, and boasts, "a 
school house on every hilltop and no 
saloon in the valley;" and indulges 
the hope she may continue to lead in 
the sisterhood of states, in the roll 
call of commonwealths. 

He served eight years as clerk of the 
township and has been secretary of the 
school board during the last 15 years. 
He was the republican nominee for 
county auditor in 1889, and is an 



722 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



active worker in the Methodist 
church. 

He is an intelligent unassuming 
farmer who has met with good suc- 
cess on the farm and has made the 
farmer's interests a life long study. 
He is one of the original founders of 
the Pocahontas County Mutual Fire 
and Lightning Association, (p. 502.) 
has been a director of it since its 
organization in 1890 and his been its 
efficient secretary and treasurer since 
October 19, 1897. Through this asso- 
ciation he has helped to solve the 
problem of insurance for the farmers 
of this county. He has manifested 
great interest in the success of this 
organization and notes with a good 
deal of pleasure its rapid growth 
since he became its secretary, the 
amount of assessable risks having in- 
creased from $511,293, January 1, 1898 
to $1,830,000, September 1, 1902. 

His family consists of five children: 

Albert Josiah, in 1901, graduated 
from the law department of Drake 
University and is now located at Cor- 
with, Iowa, where he is engaged in 
the practice of law and the real estate 
business. 

George Schee, a farmer, graduated 
from the business department of 
Drake University and in 1902 married 
Alma Rutledge of Des Moines. 

Stella E., a Plover graduate in 1899, 
spent the next year in the seminary 
at Evansville, Wis. 

Prentice F. and Lucy A. are at 
home. 

Smith, Joel (1811-1890.) was a native 
of Massachusetts, and at five came with 
his parents to Ohio, where he grew 
to manhood and in 1832 married Julia 
Dayton. Some years later he moved 
to Greene county, Wis. Here his wife 
died leaving six children, Harris D., 
Welton, Harriet, Sophia, William and 
Merritt, all of whom married and 
located in Wisconsin, except William, 
who with wife and three children in 
1879 located in Powhatan township. 



In 1849 Joel Smith married Mary 
Marinda Pratt, widow of Joseph 
Kelley, whc died in Wisconsin leaving 
one daughter, Mary Emily, who be- 
came the wife of Alva L. Whitney. 
(See Whitney). In 1879 Joel and wife 
came with their son, Calvin, to Pow- 
hatan and located on a farm of .80 
acres, which he occupied until Irs 
death in 1890. Their family consisted 
of three children of whom Eunice the 
youngest died at 16. 

Phoebe in 1868 married Squire E. 
Heathman, (see Heathman.) 

Calvin, a farmer, married Susan 
Spangler and lives now in Minnesota, 
and has a family of five children, 
William, Frank, Calvin, Ray and Roy. 

Since the death of Joel. Mrs. Smith 
has lived with her daughter, Mrs. A. 
L. Whitney at Plover. 

William Smith ; the older son is still 
a resident of Powhatan and has raised 
a family of eight children. Charles, a 
farmer married Etta Randall and lives 
in Powhatan. Olive married Oliver 
Goodlatson,a farmer, and lives in Palo 
Alto county. Joel, Cora, Edith, Fred, 
Etta and Blanch are at home. 

Smith, James S., Plover, is a na- 
tive of Illinois, the son of Andrew 
Smith. In 1869 he came with his 
parents to Pocahontas county where 
he grew to manhood on the farm and 
received his education in the public 
schools. In 1880 he engaged in the 
mercantile business at Pocahontas. 
In 1881 he was appointed station 
agent at Fort Dodge and in 1883 at 
Plover. He was the first agent at 
Plover and served in that capacity 
until 1889. He has since been en- 
gaged in the real estate and insurance 
business. He built the first house in 
Plover and owns a fine farm of 160 
acres in that vicinity. He married 
Mary E. Hubel (p. 471) and has a fam- 
ily of three children, William. James 
and Albert. 

Stone, William (b. 1797; d. 1877.), 
who Septembers, 1864 filed a claim 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



723 



for the nei sec. 25, Powhatan town- 
ship, and died on it at 80 in 1877, was 
a brother of Mrs. John Barnes. He 
was a native of Bradford county, Pa., 
where he became a millwright and in 
1828 married Eliza Ann, (b. Feb. 27, 
1810 ) daughter of G. M. (1781-1865) 
and Anna (Spaulding, 1786 1872) De- 
Wolf, for whose father he had first 
built a mill. After he married he 
built a factory for making window 
sash by machinery, but after a few 
years resumed his trade and located 
at Schoolcraft, and three years later 
at Sterling, 111. Here he worked at 
his trade and his wife taught several 
terms of school. At Elkhorn Grove, 
nearby, he secured a nice home and 
occupied it twenty years, but always 
suffered from lung trouble. In 1864 
he came to Webster and in 1866 to 
Pocahontas county, where he had 
previously secured a homestead which 
he improved and occupied until his 
decease at 80 in 1877. 

In 1890 Mrs. Stone married Ingham 
Stone, a native of Pennsylvania, and 
a nephew of her first husband; and 
that which was most remarkable 
about this wedding was the fact that 
both of the contracting parties were 
over eighty years of age. He died at 
88 on Jan. 5, 1898. Mrs. Stone still 
lives on the old homestead which has 
been owned and occupied for some 
years by her nephew, Frank C. De- 
Wolf, who is one of the township 
trustees (1901-02) and has a family of 
nine children. 

Mrs. Eliza Ann DeWolf Stone is 
now in her 93xd year and is believed 
to be the oldest person in Pocahontas 
county. In February, March and 
April 1900, when over 90 years of age 
she wrote three letters, that appeared 
in the Rolfe Tribune, giving sketches 
of family history, and making an ap- 
peal to the young not to use tobacco 
or strong drink. Later she penned 
another long letter to the author of 
this book. Few persons of her years 



have either the ability or inclination 
to write. She found a good and suffi- 
cient motive in the effort to trace the 
family history. Her father was the 
fourth child of a hatter in Brooklyn, 
Conn., where he received his educa- 
tion, and later taught vocal music 
and public school. Her grand father 
emigrated from France at an early 
date. Her mother was the oldest 
daughter of Willard Spaulding, who, 
on coming to this country, located 
first in New Hampshire, but soon 
afterward settled at Cavendish, 
Windsor county, Vt. He was a pio- 
neer in that region, a man of energy 
and at the time of his death at 70 was 
the owner of two well improved farms, 
a grist mill, saw mill and a black- 
smith shop. His family consisted of 
eleven children, ten of whom survived 
him. Her parents were married in 
1808, lived in Vermont, had a family 
of thirteen children, two of whom 
with herself located in Iowa, namely 
Dr. DeWolf at Yail and C. H. DeWolf 
at Denison. Her father was an elder 
in the Presbyterian church and, after 
their removal to Pennsylvania, oc- 
casionally read a sermon, when the 
minister was absent. 

Strong, Ira (b. 1811; d. 1871) one of 
the leading pioneers of Powhatan and 
a brother of Wm. B. Strong, was a 
native of Allegany county, N. Y., 
where in 1834 he married Abigail 
Cass (b. N. Y. 1816). In 1866 he came 
to Pocahontas county and secured a 
homestead of 160 acres on the nwi 
sec. 24, Powhatan township. Four of 
his sons, Oicar, Philander, Edwin 
and Charles also secured homesteads 
the same year. He died at 60 in 1871 
and his wife at 70 in 1887. 

His wife was a teacher in her youth 
and after the death of her husband 
resumed her favorite employment, 
taught several terms in the Strong 
schoolhonse and thus earned the 
money that was used to erect a loving 
monument to his memory. Nearly 



724 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



every member of the Strong families 
in their turn taught one or more 
terms of school in this district. 

Ira Strong was an intelligent, up- 
right man, and was the head of a fam- 
ily, that exerted a strong influence in 
Powhatan township and also in the 
county. They rendered many years of 
official service in the township and 
five of the eleven officials furnished 
the county by the citizens of this 
township, were from this family, 
namely, Ira, supervisor, 1869-70; Os- 
car, recorder, '76-77; Geo. W., (son of 
Wm. B.), in 1870 and Oscar I. in '71, 
surveyors; Oscar I., superintendent in 
'74, and '80-81. 

The only other family that can pre- 
sent a similar list in this county is 
that of Albert M. Thornton, an early 
resident of Marshall township. It 
was represented by Alonzo L. in 1883 
to '85 and Mary E. in '86, recorders; 
Lucius C. surveyor '84-85; and Frank 
G. auditor '93-96. 

His family consisted of eight chil- 
dren: 

Augusta married Milan Sharpe and 
located in Humboldt county. 

Orlando William married Eliza 
Drown and located in Palo Alto 
county. In 1877 he located on sec. 25, 
Powhatan township and occupied it 
until his death in 1885. He left a 
family of two children, Etta and 
Dora. Etta married Chas. Sroufe 
and lives on her father's farm. Dora, 
a teacher during the last ten years, 
lives with her sister, Etta. 

Caroline married Samuel N, son of 
Wm. B. Strong, during their resi- 
dence in New York. In the fall of 
1865 he came to Pocahontas county, 
secured a homestead on sec. 15, 
Powhatan and began to occupy it the 
next spring. His father also came 
and lived with him. His wife died 
in 1886 leaving a family of five chil- 
dren, Alice, William, Emma, a teach- 
er, Adelbert and Mary. Alice in 1893 
married Wilfred Palmer and died the 



next year. Adelbert in 1902 married 
Grace Dawes and lives on a farm near 
Plover. 

Oscar (b. N. Y. 1844; d. 1885), county 
surveyor and superintendent, in 1866 
came with his father and secured as a 
homestead, 160 acres on sec. 23. He 
taught school in winter and worked 
on the farm in summer. In 1872 he 
married Elizabeth L. daughter of 
Rev. John E. Rowen and a few years 
later located at Pocahontas. He 
served as county surveyor in 1871 and 
superintendent from Jan. 1, 1874 to 
June 1, 1875, when he resigned. In 
the fall of 1879 he was re-elected and 
served the next two years. He was 
county recorder 1876-77. He received 
a good education in the high school of 
Allegany county, N. Y., where he 
graduated in 1865. He manifested a 
genuine interest in the cause of edu- 
cation and filled the office of superin- 
tendent with great credit to himself. 
He read law and was admitted to the 
bar in 1874. In the spring of 1876 he 
went to California, but not liking 
that golden state, he returned and 
scon afterward went to Washington, 
D. C, where he opened a law and 
claim office. Not meeting with the 
success he expected he returned to 
this county. He possessed consider- 
able energy and was highly esteemed 
for his manly character. He died in 
1885 at Pocahontas leaving two chil- 
dren, Irene, a teacher, and Rollin W. 
The latter was for a number of years 
foreman of the Belmond Herald and 
is now a reporter for the Pioneer 
Press of St. Paul. Elizabeth later 
married Editor Huntington of the 
Belmond Herald and now lives in 
Kansas. 

The following incident serves to 
illustrate Oscar's cleverness. In 1869 
when William Brownlee and another 
new settler passed from' the land 
office at Fort Dodge to their claims 
in Bellville township, he happened to 
be teaching or otherwise engaged in 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



725 



Lizard township. They needed some- 
one to locate their claims and called 
on him. He went with them to the 
nearest corner stake with which he 
was familiar. There be tied a hand- 
kerchief to the rim of on 3 of the rear 
wheels of the lumber wagon on which 
they were riding and, showing them 
the direction, counted its revolutions. 
By this easy and novel method of 
measuring the distance, all the cor- 
ners of their homesteads were easily 
and quickly found. 

Edwin J., a teacher, secured a 
homestead on sec. 23. He has spent a 
considerable time in travel and has 
discovered some genius for invention. 

Lucius Milton, a teacher and far- 
mer, died in 1896. 

Philander (b. N. Y. 1836) is still 
the owner and occupant of his father's 
homestead, on the nwi sec. 24. Dur- 
ing recent years he has turned his 
attention to raising sheep and occas- 
ionally markets two carloads at a 
time. He has adopted the plan or 
cropping his land for two years, then 
seeding and pasturing it the next 
two. There is usually not a weed left 
on any tract occupied by the sheep 
two years, and when it has been 
ploughed and planted the growing 
crop has the advantage of a good 
start. Better crops have been har- 
vested since this method of rotation 
and treatment has been adopted. His 
first wife, Eva Rowley, died in 1883 
leaving a family of three children, 
Frank, Charles and George. In 1885 
he married Clara Bavard and their 
family consists of four children, Fred- 
eric, Florence M , Clarence and Mabel. 

Charles Lemming (b. N. Y. 1851) 
married Phoebe J. Hayes and located 
on sec. 25. He kept hotel in Plover 
five years 1886-91, and then, with a 
family of two children, Eugene and 
Lemming, located on a homestead at 
Cushing, Oklahoma. 

Strong, William B. (b. 1813;. d. 18- 
66), a younger brother of Ira, was a 



native of New York the son of Elisha 
and Eunice Strong. In 1835 he mar- 
ried Jane Davy in Allegany county, 
N. Y. and two years later she died 
there leaving one son, William Wal- 
lace. In 1840 Mr. Strong married Fan- 
nie (b. 1816), sister of Perry Nowlen, 
an early settler of De3 Moines town- 
ship. In 1865 they came to Pocahon- 
tas county, Iowa, and in 1866 began 
the improvement of a homestead of 
160 acres on the sei sec. 12, Powhatan 
township. He built a log house 16x28 
feet, one and one-half stories high, 
and for it the flooring, shingles and 
finish lumber were hauled from 
Boone. He was then over 50 years of 
age and no longer enjoyed good health. 
By reason of this fact the homestead 
was entered in the name of Fannie N. 
Strong, his wife, and she superintend- 
ed all the affairs of. the family and 
farm. He died at 53 in 1866 and was 
buried at old Rolfe. 

He left a family of four children, 
one by his first wife and three by the 
second, and all of them came with 
him to Pocahontas county. 

William W., during his residence in 
New York, married Lovern Bradford. 
They remained in Pocahontas county 
but a short time and died later leav- 
ing one child who lives in the South. 

Samuel N. (b. N. Y. 1843), in the 
spring of 1864 during their residence 
in Allegany county, N. Y., married 
Caroline, daughter of Ira Strong. The 
next year he came with his paients to 
Pocahontas county and entered a 
homestead on the swj sec. 15, Powha- 
tan township. After improving and 
occupying it a few years, he became 
the owner and occupant of his moth- 
er's homestead on sec. 12, which he 
soon enlarged to 200 acres. He has 
been a resident of the township thirty 
six years and has served several years 
as secretary of the school board. 

Caroline, his wife, died at 46 in 18- 
86 leaving a family of five children. 
Alice in 1893 married William Palmer 



726 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and located in Powhatan township, 
but died at 26 in 1894, leaving one 
child, Wilbur. Emma, a teacher, in 
1887 graduated from the normal de- 
partment of Highland Park college. 
William (b. 1873) is at home. Adel- 
bert (b. 1875) in 1902 married Grace 
Dawes and lives on a farm near Plov- 
er. Mary lives at Rolfe. 

In 1896 Samuel N. Strong married 
Eliza Van Natta, relict of Andrew 
Like. 

George W. (b. N. Y. 1845) came to 
this county in 1865 and in 1866 mar- 
ried Sallie, daughter of Henry Thom- 
as. After a residence of ten or more 
years in Powhatan, he moved to Kan- 
sas and later to Oregon, where he 
died leaving a family of four daught- 
ers, who now live in the state of 
Washington. He secured and oc- 
cupied the nei sec. 14, as a homestead 
and was county surveyor during the 
year 1870. 

Elizabeth in 18B7 married George 
Van Natta, and located in Powhatan 
township where she died at 27 in 1872, 
leaving two children, Jas. W., a resi- 
dent of Portland, Ore., and Cynthia, 

who married Keith and lives in 

Colo. Mr. Van Natta soon after the 
death of his wife moved to Oregon. 

Mrs. Catherine N. Strong in 1894, 
accompanied by Mary Strong, her 
niece, moved from the farm to Rolfe. 
She is 86 years of age and has been a 
member of the M. E. church 55 years. 

Shaver, Nelson H. (b. 1844), far- 
mer, keeper of meat market, Plover, 
is a native of Lowville, N. Y. In 1858 
he moved with his parents to Tay- 
cheedah. Wis., where Feb. 13, 1864 he 
enlisted as a member of Co. I, 5th 
Wis. and continued in the service 
until July 19, 1865, when he was hon- 
orably discharged at Jeffersonvilie, 
Ind., having served in the 6th Corps 
of the Army of the Potomac under 
Gen. Grant, and participated in 13 
battles including those at the Wilder- 
ness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, 



Winchester, Cedar Creek and Peters- 
burg. He was at Burksville at the 
time of Lee's surrender. 

His father and five of his seven 
brothers were soldiers in the civil war. 
Alfred who belonged to the 5th N. Y. 
died at Washington, D. C, Charles 
and Frank • who belonged to the 5th 
and 18th Wis. died soon after their 
return, George who belonged to the 
12th Wis. was captured at Lookout 
Mountain and confined one year in 
Libby prison. His father belonged to 
the 18th Wis., died soon after his 
return. 

Nelson, after the war, returned to 
the home in Wisconsin, where in 1867 
he married Alice L. Fenton. In 1879 
he came and located on the sei sec. 2, 
Powhatan township and engaged in 
farming and blacksmithing. The 
next year he located on sec. 17, where 
he improved a farm of 80 acres and oc- 
cupied it until 1893, when he moved 
to Plover where he has been successive- 
ly a miller, butcher and shoemaker. 

His family consisted of four chil- 
dren of whom Charles died at 13 in 
1887. 

Glenn married Leora Thompson and 
lives near Rolfe. Jennie in 1896 mar- 
ried John Roberts and lives near 
Plover. Don is at home. 

Thomas, Henry, one of the early 
pioneers of Pawhatan, was a native of 
Virginia and about the time of his 
marriage located in Greene county, 
O., where all of his children except 
Joel were born and raised. In 1850 
he located in Logan county and later 
the same year in Bureau county, 111., 
and about 1860 near Rochester, Minn. 

Nov. 25, 1863, accompanied by his 
family which consisted of sons, Daniel 
and Joel, and daughter, Sallie, he 
came to Pocahontas county and loca- 
ted at old Rolfe. Here he met again 
Barney Hancher and Jerry Young, 
sons-in-law, who had come from 
Bureau county, 111., with their fam- 
ilies. 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



727 



Sept. 26, 1864, through Barney Han- 
dier, he had filed a claim for a home- 
stead of 160 acres on the swi sec. 24, 
Powhatan, Daniel and Joel similar 
claims on 23 and Jerry Young on 25. 
Others that located claims on 25 the 
same day were Wm. Stone, Samuel and 
George Bjoth. Previous to this date 
Barney Hancher was the only one 
that had filed a claim in this town- 
ship. 

In the spring of 1865 Henry, Daniel 
and Joel Thomas and Jerry Young 
began to occupy their homesteads and 
built temporary cabins. In 1866 
Henry Thomas built the first log 
house in the township. This build- 
ing was still in use in 1900 and a cut 
of it may be seen in the frontispiece, 
there erroneously credited to Ira 
Strong. Mr, Thomas and family own- 
ed it until 1875, when he sold it to 
Alex. McEwen. In 1882 it was bought 
by Thomas Merchant and soon after- 
ward successively by Joseph Egan and 
Nils Nelson, whose father-in-law, 
Henry Luff occupied it from 1883 
until his death in 1894. It is now 
owned by Dora, a granddaughter of 
Ira Strong. 

In 1871 Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thomas 
and Jerry Young and family moved to 
Ness county, Kansas, but in 1881 ac- 
companied ,by Barney Hancher, Mr. 
and Mrs. Henry Thomas returned to 
Powhatan township where he died 
before the end uf that year and his 
wife, Susanna, in 1883, both at the 
home of their son, Daniel. He par- 
ticipated in the organization of the 
township and being elected at that 
time served two years as a member of 
the board of county supervisors. When 
the school board was organized in 1867 
he was chosen its first president and 
treasurer. 

His family consisted of six children. 

Lydia, in 1857 in Bureau county, 
111., married Jeremiah Young, who. 
in the fall of 1863, came to this 
county with a family of six 



children and located first at old 
Rolfe and in 1864 on the nwi sec. 25, 
Powhatan. He improved and oc- 
cupied this farm until 1869, when he 
moved to Nebraska and a few years 
later to Ness county, Kansas. In 1879 
making the journey with teams, he 
moved to Washington and now resides 
at Springdale. His family consisted 
of eight children. Alva and Eva, 
twins, Frank, Nellie, Jacob and Au- 
netta, twins, (both of whom are dead), 
Henry and Basil, twins born in Hait's 
cabin. 

Margaret Ellen, in Bureau county 
111., married Barney Hancher, see 
Hancher. She is now the only repre- 
sentative of the Thomas family in 
this county. 

Daniel married Philena Foote and 
after a residence of twenty-five years 
in Powhatan in 1889 moved to Wash- 
ington. His family consisted of 
thirteen children, five of whom are 
living. 

Joel in 1878 located in Kossuth 
county, later successively in Winne- 
shiek county, Oklahoma, Washington 
and Colorado, where he now resides. 

Joshua in 1864 came to Powhatan 
and became owner of the ne^ sec. 25, 
(Wm. Stone homestead) but did not 
occupy it. After three years resi- 
dence near Fort Dodge he moved to 
Missouri where he died in 1881 leaving 
a small family. 

Sallie, who taught the first school 
in Powhatan, in 1865 married George, 
son of Wm. B. Strong, and located in 
Washington, where he died. 

Trites, Edward Ryland (b. 1855.) 
owner and occupant of a farm on sec. 
19 from 1882 to 1901, is a native of 
DeWitt, Iowa, the son of Job and 
Harriet Turner Trites. In 1881 he 
married Francis Flora Holcomb and 
the next year located on the farm in 
Powhatan township, which he was 
the first to occupy and improve. He 
improved it with good buildings and 
embarked in raising pure bred cattle, 



728 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



including Shorthorns of the Motte 
and Rosawood families. Berkshire 
hogs, Norman horses and Mammoth 
bronze turkeys. In 1901 he moved to 
Cantril, Van Buren county. He has 
been a loyal republican, believes in 
prohibition, has taken an active part 
in local politics and filled several of 
the township offices including that of 
justice. His family consists of three 
children, Burness R., Job L. and 
Vivian Delia. 

Whitney, Alva Lewis (b.1826), 
Plover, is a native of Erie county, Pa. 
At 17 he moved with his parents, who 
were of Scotch descent, to Walworth 
county, Wis., and three years later 
to Dane county, wheri in 1849 he 
married Lucy Colby and engaged in 
farming. In 1861 he enlisted as a 
member of Co. E, 8th Wis. infantry 
and often carried the famous eagle 
known as ''Old Abe." At the end of 
three years of constant service he 
was mustered out, but two months 
later he re-enlisted as a member of 
Co. K, 42d Wis. infantry and remain- 
ed in the army until June 22, 1885, 
when he was mustered out at Madi- 
son, Wis. He belonged to the western 
department of the army, served un- 
der Gen. A. J. Smith and participated 
in thirty-two battles and skirmishes, 
including those at Corinth, Shiloh or 
Pittsburg Landing, and Island No. 10. 

At the close of the war he returned 
to the farm and in 1881 located on sec. 
15, Powhatan township. He improv- 
ed and occupied this farm until 1892 
when he moved to Plover where he 
owns several valuable properties. He 
has been unwilling to be a candidate 
for even a township office but has 
been a trustee of the Presbyterian 
church of Plover since its organi- 
zation in 1888. He is a patriotic, con- 
scientious and upright citizen, who 
stands ready to lend a helping hand 
to every movement that has for its 
object the moral advancement of the 
community. 



His wife died in 1864 leaving one 
son, Emmet J. (b. 1864), who in 1889 
married Dora Kruse. He located first 
in Palt) Alto county, but is now in 
Powhatan and has a family of six 
children, Ada, Bert, Oscar, Eunice, 
Carrie and John. 

In 1866 Mr. Whitney married Mary 
E. Kelley, of Greene county Wis., and 
her mother, Mrs. Mary M. Smith, has 
made her home with them since the 
death of her second husband Joel 
Smith. 

©id Rbe, the War Eagle. 

The famous bird, "Old Abe", was 
captured in 1861 on the Flambeau 
river by a Chippewa indian, who sold 
it to a farmer, at Eagle Point, for a 
bushel of corn. This farmer sold it 
to Mr. Willis, of Ena Claire, who pre- 
sented it to the 8th regiment then 
forming. The bird was "sworn in" 
at the camp at Madison by putting 
around its neck, red, white and blue 
ribbon, and the name "Old Abe" was 
given it in honor of President Lincoln, 
lie always manifested great excite- 
ment during a battle by screaming 
and fluttering around the flag. The 
enemy tried to shoot him many times 
and he was wounded at Corinth and 
Vic&sburg. but recovered. He head- 
ed with his regiment the victorious 
army that entered Vicksburg, j uly 4, 
1863. Sept. 26, 1864, when part of his 
regiment was mustered out, he was 
taken back to Wisconsin and formally 
presented to the Governor of the state 
having been present, it is said, at 
thirty-six battles and skirmishes, 
commencing at Frederictown, Mo., 
Oct. 21, 1861. After the war lie was 
an attraction at many gatherings, 
such as fairs, soldiers reunions and 
patriots assemblies, until 1881, when 
he died and his stuffed body was 
placed in the museum at Madison. 

1 h ?re is a tradition to the effect 
that when LaFajette visited the 
the tomb of Washington, a large 
eagle followed the course of the 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



729 



steamboat that carried him to Mount 
Vernon, and remained hovering in 
the air, over the tomb, until the 
famous visitor left it. 

"In the blue of the sky, o'er the blue of the 
river, 
Like a banner of love sailed the eagle's 
white wing, 
Where the hero, in peace, laid his honors 
forever, 
At the grave of the chief, who was more 
than a king. 
All a country's proud story soared light on 
the pinions 
Of the sentinel bird, in that consummate 
hour, 
And hailed, at the door of the Mystic Domin- 
ions, 
A future unmeasured in spleDdor and 
power. 

And well if the eagle's white wing, spreading 
wider, 
Heralds peace, truth and freedom in cove- 
nant bloom, 
Till the Union's last children shall rally 
beside her, 
S'ncere as the pilgrim to Washington's 
tomb." -Thekon Brow^. 

Gandertown. 

During the 70's this township ex- 
perienced several changes in its name, 
that have been mentioned. One 
name, quite common amoDg their 
neighbors for a few years in the early 
days, was "Gandertown." The 
romance connected with the origin of 
this name ha£ been variously given. 
According to one account, one of the 
early settlers of this township owned 
the first gander in that section of 
the country, and this one was such a 
fine as well as rare specimen, that it 
became the subject of general remark 
and served to designate the locality. 
According to another account the 
early settler set a hen with 13 goose 
eggs. When they were hatched he 
was surprised to find that everyone of 
them was a gander, and this singular 
flock of so many ganders attracted 
considerable public attention. 
Powhatan. 

The name "Pow // -ha-tan / " signi- 
fies "Falls in a Stream," and was first 
applied to a small peninsula on the 



north side of the James river, where 
Wahunsan(p. 692) had established one 
of his abodes. Powhatan was a re- 
markable man, a sort of a savage 
Napoleon, who had achieved his im- 
perial dignity and power by the force 
of his character and the superiority 
of his talents. The history of the 
tribes included in the Powhatan con- 
federacy ended with the treaty at 
Albany in 1684, but most of their 
names have been preserved in the 
names of streams and rivers in Mary- 
land and Virginia. 

At'the time this name was sug- 
gested old Rolfe was the county seat. 
The county bore the name of a prin- 
cess, the county seat the name of a 
prince, and it seemed appropriate to 
the citizens of this township that it 
should bear the name of a chief or 
king, inasmuch as they were then 
returning annually the largest repub- 
lican vote. Its citizens cast a solid 
republican vote from the time of its 
organization in 1866 until the fall of 
1877, when six of 29 votes polled, were 
cast for Elias Jesup, the prohibition 
candidate for governor. The first 
democratic votes were polled in 1878 
when 10 out of 34 were cast for the 
democratic nominees. 

This township has polled the largest 
number of prohibition votes of any in 
the county, and the period of their 
greatest. number was during the years 
of 1892, 93, 94 and 95, when they num- 
bered 33, 37. 25 and 25 respectively. It 
has always returned, however, a large 
republican majority, 

POSTIN-DAY CONTEST, 1902. 

At the general election held Nov. 4, 
1902, R. E Postin and Geo. W. Day, 
candidates for the office of county 
auditor and both -from Powhatan 
township, received according to the 
official count 1445 and 1449 votes re- 
spectively, Geo. W. Day having a 
majority of 4 votes. 

Mr. Postin contested the right of 
Mr. Day to the office on the following 



730 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



pleas, namely: (1.) That the judges 
of Cedar, Center, Clinton and Lincoln 
townships failed to certify to the re- 
turns from those townships and there- 
fore made no returns to the auditor; 
(2.) that ten ballots in Powhatan, 
crossed in the Prohibition squares 
and in the one in front of Postin's 
name in the republican ticket, were 
not counted for him, there being 
no county candidates on the pro- 
hibition ticket; (3.) that a number of 
ballots in Clinton, Des Moines, Lake 
No. 1. and Lizard that were marked 
in the republican squares were count- 
ed for Day. (4.) Other irregularities 
were charged in regard to the returns 
from Grant, Lake No. 2 and Wash- 
ington townships. 

The hearing of this case occurred at 
Pocahontas, Dec. 22, and 23, 1902. 
The contest board consisted of Charles 
Elsen, chairman of the board of super- 
visors; L. W. Chandler of Fonda, and 
T. F. Lynch Esq., of Pocahontas. 
Mr. Postin was represented by Wm. 
Hazlett and Hon. F. C. Gilchrist, at- 
torneys, and Mr. Day by Judge Ken- 
yon of Fort Dodge. 

After some discussion it was agreed 
that the contest board should recount 
the ballots that had been cast for the 
county auditor in the townships 
named. The result appears in the 
following exhibit, which shows the 
changes that were made in the various 
townships, and it gave Mr. Day a 
majority of 8 votes. 

Official Votes Recount 
Vote Changed 

% b > W Hj b 

O ca O, m O m 

2. «< S ==:• 22. vi 

ci- ^ t^ CO c-t- ^ 

B & S- p 

ct> 

Bellvllle.... 91 83 3 88 83 

Cedar 165 172 1 164 172 

Center 93 212 93 212 

Colfax 70 35 70 35 

Clinton .... 165 178 1 165 179 

Des Moines 51 58 1 51 57 

Dover 56 98 2 55 97 

Grant 67 60 3 68 62 



Lake No. 1. 60 


50 




5 


58 


47 


Lake No. 2. 31 


12 


2 




32 


13 


Lincoln 52 


86 




1 


52 


85 


Lizard 46 


100 






46 


100 


Marshal!... 69 


36 




1 


68 


36 


Powhatan... 87 


97 


5 




91 


98 


Sherman... 67 


57 




3 


65 


56 


Swan Lake. 188 


63 




1 


187 


63 


Washington 87 


52 




1 


86 


52 


Total.... 1445 


1449 


11 


19 


1439 


1447 



Day's majority. . 4 8 

This was the fourth and, in view of 
the questions raised and interests in- 
volved it was the most important 
election contest ever held in Pocahon- 
tas county. 

OTHER ELECTION CONTESTS. 

The first instance of a contest over 
an election occurred at old Rolfe, 
February 2, 1864, between the can- 
didates for the office of county treas- 
urer and recorder, then filled by the 
same incumbent. The candidates for 
the position, Michael Collins and W. 
H. Hait, received on the home vote, 
October 13, 1863, 16 and 14 votes, and 
from the soldiers in the army, 2 and 3 
votes, making, 18 and 17 votes, re- 
spectively. The court consisted of 
Fred A. Metcalf, county judge; John 
A. James, associate judge, and Philip 
Russell, clerk of the district court. 
Mr. Hait, the contestant, plead his 
own cause and John F. Duncombe ap- 
peared for Collins. A motion to dis- 
miss the case prevailed. 

The second contest occurred also at 
old Rolfe, November 25, 1868, when 
Philip Russell contested with J. J. 
Bruce for the office of county super- 
visor from Lizard township. The 
latter at the previous general election 
had been accorded a majority of the 
votes, but his opponent deemed his 
bond insufficient. The court consist- 
ed of J. N. Harris, county judge, W. 
S. Fegles and Patrick Forey, and their 
decision was in favor of J. J. Bruce, 
the previous incumbent. 

The third contest was held at Poca- 
hontas, November 23, 1877, and was 
between Joseph Breitenbach and 



POWHATAN TOWNSHIP. 



731 



Thomas L. Dean for the office of sher- 
iff of this county. At the previous 
general election they were accorded 
266 and 269 votes, respectively. The 
court consisted of Wm.Brownlee, chair- 
man of the board of county super- 
visors; W. H. Halt and J. E. Pattee. 
Capt. J. O. Yeoman and Hudson & 
Gould, attorneys, appeared for tt:e 
principals. The court, by a majority 
of one. decided in favor of Dean, the 
previous incumbent. 



It will be perceived, that in this 
county the official count, though close 
has never been reversed. The con- 
testant, whatever he may have gain- 
ed, has always had a "hard road to 
travel." 

A tie vote occurred October 8, 1867, 
when Oscar Slosson and George Sprang 
each received 50 votes for sheriff. The 
matter was amicably decided October 
26th following, by drawing cuts, and 
Slosson received the office. 








XXV. 



SHERMHN T0WXSHIP. 



You ask what land I love the best, 
The fairest state of all the West, 

Iowa, 'tis Iowa. 
From yonder Mississippi's stream, 
To where Missouri's waters gleam, 
O! fair it is as poets' dream, 
Iowa, O! Iowa. 

See yonder fields of tasselled corn, 
Where plenty fills her golden horn, 
See how her wondrous prairies shine, 
To yonder sunsets' purpling line; 
0!|happy land, O! land of mine, 
Iowa, O! Iowa. 

— S. H. M. BYERS. 
GENERAL FEATURES. 




HERMAN township 
(92-33) belonged to 
Des Moines town- 
ship until Sept. 5, 
1876, when it was 
attached to Wash- 
ington. April 5, 1880 it was estab- 
lished in its present form and named 
in honor of Gen. Wm. T. Sherman, 
the hero of the "March to the Sea." 
"Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the 

jubilee! 
Hurrah! Hurrah! The flag that makes 

you free! 
So we sang the chorus from Atlanta 

to the sea, 
When we were marching through 
Georgia." 
It is located near the center of the 



county and its surface throughout is 
a beautiful prairie. Pocahontas, the 
county seat, extends over part of sec. 
36, and Ware was located on sec. 11, 
near the center of- the township, in 
1900, when the C. R. I. & P. Ry. was 
built. The citizens of this township 
have now excellent railway facilities 
and occupy a section of country as 
attractive and beautiful, as that of 
which Hamlin Garland wrote: 
"I love the prairies; they are mine, 
From zenith to horizon line; 
Clipping a world of sky and sod, 
Like the bended arm and wrist of God. 
I love their grasses; the skies 
Are larger, and my restless eyes 
Fasten on more of earth and air, 
Than sea shores furnish anywhere." 



(732) 



SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 



733 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

The early settlement of Sherman 
township was coincident with that of 
Washington that joins it on the north. 
In May 1870 the representatives of 
several families in Dubuque county, 
namely, James C. Strong, Jason N. 
Russell, a brother-in-law, and Jona- 
than L. Clark, wife and three chil- 
dren, came to this county, making 
the journey on wagons, and secured 
farms, Strong and Clark in the south 
row of sections in Washington and 
Russell in the north row of Sherman. 
Each began to occupy and improve 
his own farm but during that season 
all lived together in the house built 
by Clark on sec. 3, Washington town- 
ship. 

In 1871 Jason N. Russell built the 
first cabin in Sherman township on 
the nei sec. 4, where during the pre- 
vious year he had done the first break- 
ing. He was then joined by his broth- 
er, Harvey S. Russell, -who lived with 
him one and a half years. In 1872 
Morah F. Russell, -another brother 
arrived with his wife and he erected 
that year on the swi sec. 4, the first 
dwelling house. In "1873 the new 
residents were Maggie Hamble, the 
bride of Jason Russell, and Mr. and 
Mrs. John Sic, Bohemians, who built 
a sod shanty in the southeast part of 
the township. 

This was the period when the grass- 
hoppers drove many settlers from 
their claims and new ones were de- 
terred from going to the frontier. 
Those that had to locate in the north 
part of this township realized during 
this period the disappointments and 
the loneliness of living far out on the 
prairie. In making the trips to Fon- 
da, the nearest station and eighteen 
miles distant, the house of A. T. 
Omtvedt was the first and usually the 
only one passed. 

In 1875 Aaron Smith (b. N. Y. 1816.) 
located on 3, and Jeremiah Barces 
\h. Pa; 1814) on 8, 



In 1878 Joseph and Anthony Hudek 
located on 25 and John Kopriva on 36. 
They were followed by James W. 
Carson and C. F. Alchon in 1879. 

In 1880 A. J. Stover, W. B. Starkey 
and R. C. Jones arrived, and they 
were followed by G. W. and J. W. 
Mills, J. W. O'Brien andB. T. Griffith 
the next year. 

In 1882 there came Thomas Barn- 
ingham and John H. Adams, and they 
were followed the next year by Joseph 
Bloudel, Boy C. Boyeson and C. L. 
Flint. 

Those that followed soon after- 
wards were Hans Tychsen, Frank 
Stacy, Rev. C. W. Clifton, Prof. James 
O, Clel and Fred Gilchrist, J. H. Eno, 
A. M. Coville, Thomas M. Olson, A. 
J, Wonderlich, Martin L. and Jacob 
S. Stover, C. M. Doty, R. R. McCaslin 
and others. 

ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS. 

The first election was held Nov. 2, 
1880, when Morah F. Russell, Aaron 
Smith and Thomas P. Clark were elec- 
ted trustees; Aaron Smith, clerk; J. W. 
Carson, a justice; and J. W. O'Brien, 
assessor. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees: M. F. Russell, 1881-89, 
'93-94; Aaron Smith, Thos. P. Clark, 
'81-82; Anthony Hudek, '82-84; Jere- 
miah W. Barnes, J. W. Carson, '85, 92, 
98-1900; A. J. Stover, '86-98; Joseph 
Hudek, '86-88; Jason N. Russell, '89-91; 
Clel. Gilchrist, '90-92, 98; M. L. Stover, 
C. C. Bovee, '93-95; R. R. McCaslin, 
'95-97; W. B. Starkey, '96-99; M. F. 
Russell, 1900-02. 

Clerks: Aaron Smith, 1881; J. W. 
Carson, '82-84, 93-94; John H. Adams, 
'85-90; Anthony Hudek, '91-92; Frank 
Stacy, '95-96, B. T. Griffith, '97-1902. 

Justices: J. W. Carson '81-82; J. 
W. O'Brien '83-88; A. Hudek, '86-89, 
'98-1900; A. J. Wonderlich, Boy C. 
Boyesen, C, F, Boekenoogen, 0. M. 
Doty, Rev, C« W. Clifton, A. Em- 



734 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



bree, James Speer, C.L.Flint, 90-91. 
Assessors: J. W, O'Brien, '81-82; 
John H. Adams, '83-84; A. Hudek, '85- 
88; C. L. Flint, '89-91; John Sic, 
M. L. Stover, Henry Bourret. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OFFICERS. 

The first school house was built in 
1877 on the nwi sec. 4, near the home 
of Philip Hamble, who lived across 
the line in Washington township, to 
which Sherman was then attached. 
The first teachers in it were Sarah 
Reamer (Hamerson), Samuel Smith, 
Hattie Drown and Mrs. Matilda 
Smith, the latter during the summer 
and winter of 1881 and summer of 
1882. 

The first record of the school board 
is of date March 21, 1881, when the 
first school board consisting of C. F. 
Alchon J.W. Carson and Aaron Smith 
met and organized by the election of 
C.F. Alchon, president; Jason N. Rus- 
sell, secretary; and Morah F. Russell, 
treasurer. 

The second school house was built 
in the Hudek neighborhood, district 
No. 7, by T. L. Dean in 1882, and the 
first teachers in it were James W. 
Carson and Cora Jones. 

In 1883 the third school house was 
built and the new teachers- employed 
that year were Emma Pfeiffer, Lulu 
C. Blake (Hamble) and Elizabeth 
O'Brien. 

During this and the next two years 
John W. O'Brien hauled three and 
one-half tons of coal to each of the 
school houses for $6 a ton. 

In 1893 the last district, No. 3, was 
organized and supplied with a school 
house, and the pioneer building in the 
Hamble district was replaced by a 
new one located at the Center of the 
district, No. 2. The township then 
had nine districts and a good school 
house in each of them. 

All the school houses in Sherman 
township are provided with good 
storm caves, flags and flag-poles; 
and nearly all of them have 



pretty groves, consisting of larches, 
maples, box elders and evergreens, 
planted around them. In 1897 an ad- 
dition of twenty feet was added to the 
center school house making it the 
largest rural school house in the 
county. 

The succession of school officers has 
been as follows: 

Presidents: C. F. Alchon, 1881; R. 
C. Jones, '82-85, 89; J. W. Carson, J. 
N. Russell, '87-88; J. M. Mills, J. H. 
Eno, A .M. Coville, M. L. Stover, '93-94; 
J. Marchbanks, W. B. Starkey, T. M. 
Olson, C. C. Bovee, J. M. Shull, '99- 
1900; Peter Kemmer, '01-02. 

Secretaries: J. N. Uussell, '81-83; 
B. T. Griffith, '84-86, 91-93; J. W. Car- 
son, '87-88; Clel Gilchrist, '89-90; 
Thomas M. Olson, R. R. McCaslin, 
'95-97; Anthony Hudek, '98 1902. 

Treasurers: Morah F. Russell, 
'81-86; J. W. O'Brien, '87-90; Morah F. 
Russell, '95-1902. 

Teachers: Among the early 
teachers in this township were Sarah 
Reamer, Samuel Smith, Hattie 
Drown, Mrs. Matilda Smith, J. W. 
Carson, Cora Jones, Emma Pfeiffer, 
who was the first in district No. 3; 
Lulu C. Blake, Elizabeth and Stella 
O'Brien, Clara Gilson, Jennie Bishop, 
Lona Hawley, Louisa Bennett, Ida 
Crouse, Mary A. Dooley, Mrs Mary 
L. Eigler, Fretta Winegarden, Susie 
Clark, who in 1887 was the first in No. 
4; Lillie Ros°, Martha and Mary 
Kelly, Mary Clifton, Carrie Blake, 
Mary Bolton, Peter Donahoe, who in 
1889 was the first male teacher em- 
ployed; Addie Newton, Myra Russell, 
Louis T. and Mrs. Edith C. Button, 
Frank C. Rogers, Louisa and Edith 
Ludwig. 

During each of the years, 1881 to 
1884, the total enrollment of the 
children in the township was 7, 12, 
17 and- 20, respectively; and the num- 
ber of them that attended school .was 
5, 11, 12 and 13, respectively. 



SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 



735 



INTERESTING EVENTS. 

The first child born in Sherman, 
then a part of Des Moines township 
was Edith, daughter of Jason N. 
Russell, whose birth occurred March 
31, 1875. At the time of her marriage 
in 1899 she had attained the reputa- 
tion of being the best teacher in the 
township. 

The first religious services were 
held in the pioneer or Hamble school 
house, on the nwi of sec. 4, about 
1877; and J. W, Carson, who came in 
1879, organized here the first Sunday 
school. 

The harvester was first used in 
Sherman township in 1883, when Clel 
Gilchrist and J . Flagler cut the crops 
of Morah and Jason N. Russell and 
others. 

The first postofflce was established 
in the store of W. S. Cox at Ware in 
1900. During the early seventies mail 
was obtained once a week from Poca- 
hontas. 

The largest orchard was planted on 
the farm of Jason N. Russell on sec- 
tion 4. 

The finest corner markers in this 
county are found in this township, on 
sec. 32, and were placed there by F. 
M. Robinson in 1888. These markers 
are of dressed rock, six inches square 
at the top and show the number of the 
adjoining sections. They were dress- 
ed for but not used in building the 
station at Missouri Valley, where 
Robinson'the owner of a farm on sec. 
32 and who had the numbers cut on 
them, was serving as ticket agent. 

It was with stone posts, similar to 
these, but quarried, dressed and mark- 
ed in EDgland with the letters P. and 
M. on their opposite sides, that 
Charles Mason and James Dixon in 
1766-67 surveyed and marked the pre- 
viously troublesome boundary line, 
between Pennsvlvania'and Maryland, 
now^commonly called the Mason and 
Dixon line. They placed a stone thus 
marked at the end of each mile, and 



at the end of every fifth mile a larger 
one, having on its other sides the 
arms of the Penn family in the days 
of Richard Penn and those of Lord 
Baltimore. 

May 14, 1893, a tornado that passed 
over Sherman, Grant and Lincoln 
townships destroyed the house of G. W. 
Madden on the swi 18, the barn and 
sheds of Frank Stacy on nwi 32 and a 
vacant house of Moody & Davy on the 
same section. It occurred about 10 
o'clock p. m. and the darkness for a 
short time was relieved by the appear- 
ance of electrical sparks attended 
with a snapping sound similar to the 
effect produced when the back of a 
cat is sometimes stroked in the dark. 
There was not very much rain but a 
vivid electrical display and the wind 
whirled the material of the buildings 
in every direction. 

WAKE. 

Ware, located on the nwi sec. 17 
and the sei sec. 8, along the line of 
the Gowrie & Northwestern branch of 
the C. R. I. &P. Ry. is a thriving vil- 
lage of 150 inhabitants. This is the 
newest town in the county and was 
named in honor of Francis L. Ware, 
of Chicago, who, owning 1480 acres in 
that vicinity, donated to the railroad 
company the usual right-of-way across 
the nei sec. 17, and additional ground 
for depot and sidetracks at that place. 
The establishment of this town and 
Palmer was the result of a railroad 
passing through Pocahontas, the last 
county seat in Iowa, to be thus con- 
nected with the outside t world. It is 
six and a half miles northwest of 
Pocahontas and about the same dis- 
tance from Laurens. It is centrally 
located in a section of country that is 
comparatively new but as rich and 
productive as Ancient Egypt. 

Mr. Ware, owing to his absence on 
the Pacific coast during 1900, did not 
plat his land <at the.depot until after 
his return the latter part of October. 
In the meantime Aug. Hamfeldt, of 



73 



' PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Ottawa, 111., owner of several hun- 
dred acres in this vicinity, through 
his agent, Paul Silberger, proceeded 
to plat and build up the town on the 
sei sec. 8, jusb north of the depot. He 
built several store buildings and 
dwellings in the fall of 1900 and they 
were occupied as soon as they were 
completed. 

The first buildings completed were 
the depot and the store of W. S. Cox, 
of Havelock, both of which were open- 
ed about Sept. 1, 1900, About Oct. 7, 
following, Leonard Sease was appoint- 
ed postmaster and opened the Ware 
postofflce in this store. Wheeler's 
elevator was then completed and 
there were in progress of erection 
several other store buildings, a two 
story hotel, Counselman's elevator, 
the Jenkios-Hesla lumber sheds, and a 
number of cozy and comfortable 
homes. No other town in the coun- 
ty was growing so rapidly as Ware at 
this period, and the scene of so many 
new buildings springing up in a corn- 
field was a very interesting sight to 
passengers on the passing trains. 

Feb. 18, 1901, before six months had 
passed after the completion of the 
first building, Hon. R. C. Barrett, 
state superintendent, visited the 
town and addressed the citizens of 
the community on the propriety of 
erecUng a large central school build- 
ing and consolidating the adjacent 
rural school districts. 

The first public school was com- 
menced in April, 1901, in the Ham- 
feldr, block by Olive Jones, of 
Laurens. 

The first religious services were 
held about this time in the opera house 
by Rev. C. W. Coons, of Havelock, 
and a Sunday school was organized. 
The Methodist Episcopal church was 
built that fall. 

Savings Bank. 

The Ware Savings Bank was open- 
ed March 1, 1901, by the Allen Bros , 
fo Laurens'. On July 17, following, 



it was incorporated by a board of 
directors consisting of Homer A. 
Miller, B. L. Allen, C. N. Carlson, M. 
T. Nilsson, C S. Allen, and J. H. 
Allen, as the Ware Savings Bank of 
Ware, with a capital stock of $10,00u 
and under the following persons as 
officers: B. L. Allen, president; M. T. 
Nilsson, vice-president; C. N. Carlson, 
secretary. This bank enjoys the con- 
fidence of the community and, like 
the postofflce, supplies a long felt 
public vant. 

Creamery. 
The creamery of J. L. Blunt & Co. 
was erected at a cost of $3,000 and 
opened June 18, 1902. The building is 
20x50 with an addition 20x20, and it is 
equipped with all the latest improved 
machinery for making the best qual- 
ity of butter. The patrons are sup- 
plied with separators at their homes 
and the proprietors of the creamery 
have given a guarantee to pay them, 
for their butter, within five cents of 
the highest quotations of the New 
York market. This creamery was 
built at a time when many in all parts 
of the state, managed in the old way 
by separating the cream in the cream- 
ery, have closed or contemplate doing 
so. The men who have taken the lead 
in this enterprise have shown much 
of pluck and energy, and are winning 
their patronage on the principle of 
merit. This is the basis of perma- 
nent success, the kind they hope to 
achieve, J. L. Blunt, the general 
manager, is successfully operating 
two other creameries in this section 
of the state. C. A. Vittum, secretary 
of the company, is a graduate of the 
dairy school at the Iowa State Agri- 
cultural College and stands at the 
head of his profession. Six thousand 
pounds of butter were made during 
the first month. J. H. Springer, the 
senior member of the firm, is the in- 
ventor of the Springer cream separa^ 
tor and has improved other separators. 
His family arrived at Ware in 1902, 



SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 



737 



from Norristown, Pa. They now live 
at Manson. 

Ware in 1902. 

Agent: C. R. I. & P. R'y; M. T. 
Rouse since Sept. 1, 1900. 

Bank: Ware Savings, C. N. Carlson, 
cashier. 

Barber: L. Van Buskirk. 

Blacksmith and Wagonmaker: 
John Dahl, successor of N. M. Hally. 

Church: M. E. built in 1901, dedica- 
ted Feb, 9, 1902 at a cost of $2600. 

Creamery: Springer and Blunt, 
1902. 

Druggist: E. B. Pohle, Dr. Heath- 
man. 

Elevators: Whetler Grain and 
Coal Co., Daniel Davis, mgr. ; Charles 
Counselman & Co , C. W, Miller, mgr. 

Groceries, flour and feed: C. Dexter 
successor of R. E. Nibel, M. A. Smith. 

Hardware: Johnson & Sun. 

Hotel: Ware Hotel, H. W. Herring- 
ton, successor of Henry Bourett and 
A. W. Hilton. 

Implements. W. L. & E. C. Boyd; 
Kuhn & SchaaiJt; Hamilton & Dona- 
hue. 

Livery and Dray: Charles Mc- 
Clurg, successor of A. D. Barrick. 

Lumber and Coal: Jenkins-Hesla 
Lumber Co., J. C. Heriington, succes- 
sor of J. B. Harris, manager. 

Merchants: C. 'Dexter, M, A. 
Smith. 

Painter: George Sanders. 

Postmaster: Crolis Dexter, June 
24, 1902 successor to Leonard Sease. 

Real Estate: Bash& Bourett, suc- 
cessors to J. W. Carson. 

Teacher: May Russell, successor of 
Olive Jones. 

Telephone: The Northern, E. B. 
Pohle, agent. 

Public Officers, 

Sherman township has been repre- 
sented by the following county officers: 

Supervisor: J. W. O'Brien, 1884- 
86. 

Superintendents: Fred C. Gil- 
christ, '90-91; Clel Gilchrist '92 - Nov. 



7, 97; Norma L. Gilchrist, Nov. 7 to 
Dec. 31, '97. 

Leading Citizens. 

Barnes, Jeremiah (b. 1812) wag a 
native of Pennsylvania. About 1845 
he married Margaret Jane Hogg. 
He rendered military service as a 
soldier during the civil war. In 
1875, accompanied by his wife and four 
of his six children, Albert, Milton, 
Sarah Jane and Elizabeth, he located 
on the east I of sec. 8, Sherman town- 
ship, which he was the first to occupy 
and improve. He served as one of the 
early trustees of the township. He 
died at 75 in the year 1887. In 1894 
the family moved to Eldyville, Ore- 
gon. 

Boyesen Boy E. (b. 1861), owner ' 
and occupant of a farm on sec 14, 
since 1883, is a native of Germany and 
a stepson of Hans Tychsen, wiih 
whom, coming to America in 1875, he 
located in Clinton county, Iowa, and 
iii, 1883 in Sherman township this 
county. He was the pioneer occupant 
of the first 160 acres of this farm. 
He has improved it with ample build- 
ings for taking care of a large amount 
of stock and has been quite successfu 1 , 
having increased the farm to 440 
acres. He is one of the leading stock 
men in the township. 

In 1885 he married Betty Fallmer, 
and she died in 1895 leaving three 
children, Harry, Andrew and William. 
In 1896 he married Mary Marholz and 
their family consists of one child, 
Louie. 

Hans Tychsen (b. 1845) his step- 
father i3 now a resident of Washing- 
ton township. 

(glifton, Charles Wesley, Rev. (b.- 
1841) owner and occupant of 183 acres 
on sec. 3, is a native of Gilead, Miami 
county, Ind., the son of Nathan and 
Mary Smith Clifton. In 1843 he 
moved with his parents to Marshall 
county, Ind, where he grew to man- 
hood and received his education, which 



738 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



consisted of a course in the public 
schools and two years in the college at 
Valparaiso. In May 1865, after teach- 
ing four terms he enlisted as a mem- 
ber of Co II, 138 Ind. Vol. Inf., and 
served nine month?. In 1866 he jnar- 
ried Adaline Cole (b. 1817) and the 
next year located on a rented farm 
near Lake City, Iowa. 

In 1869 he acquiesced in a request to 
enter the ministry of the M. E. 
church on account of the lack of 
missionaries, left the farm and was 
assigned the Peterson circuit in Clay 
county, which he served two years. 
In 1870 he became a member of the 
Des Moines and two years later of the 
North West Iowa conference when it 
was formed in 1872. During the 
twenty-five years of his ministry he 
served the following fields: Peterson, 
two years; Southland, Sac City, New- 
ell and Fonda, Gold field, Irvington, 
Primghar, each one year; Old Rolfe, 
Rutland, Luverne, Hull, Ruthven, 
and Lake Park, each two years; Ash- 
ton, Akron and Inwood, each one 
year. 

He became identified first with 
this county in the fall of 187.'!, when, 
stationed at Newell he supplied Fon- 
da and occasionally preached at Sunk 
Grove. He came to this field just 
after the grasshoppers had cleaned 
out everything on the few and widely 
separated farms, and received only 
$350 of the $400 pledged. Unable to 
supply himself with overshoes and an 
overcoat until near Christmas, he 
protected himself with quilts while 
driving over the country. 

He became a resident of the county 
first in 1878, when he was assigned to 
the old Rolfe circuit, which included 
Rolfe and Coopertown in Des Moines 
township, the appointments at the 
Strong and Heathman schooUiouses 
in Powhatan and at the Hamble and 
J. C. Strong schoolhou«es in Washing- 
ton townships. There was not a 
church building on this mission field 



and the salary was fixed at $400. He 
preached five years before he enjoyed 
the privilege of serving a field that 
had in it a church building. Al- 
though his salary was small and he 
seldom received all of it, he always 
made it a rule to live within his means 
and pay as he went. He was fre- 
quently offered homesteads during 
the period of his ministry but he al- 
ways declined them because he wished 
to be a man of one work. He greatly 
enjoyed his work as a missionary and 
endeavored to do it well, because he 
was laying foundations. He united 
with the church at thirteen and 
has made a life long record of faith- 
ful and efficient service in the Master's 
vineyard. 

In 1895 he located on his farm near 
Havelock, which he purchased in 1881 
at $4.50 and $5.00 an acre, the funds 
for this investment having been rea- 
lized from the sale of his stock when 
he quit farming in 1869. He has im- 
proved this farm with neat and cozy 
buildings and after the lapse of 
twenty years it is worth ten times 
what he originally paid for it. He 
has been a republican since he was in 
the army in 1864, and in 1887 lacked 
only 61 votes of being elected auditor 
of this county. 

Adaline Cole, his estimable wife, 
was raised on a farm near Walkerton, 
Indiana, and in 1867, the year after 
their marriage, came with him to Iowa 
in a lumber wagon. She has cheerfully 
shared his itinerant experiences on 
the frontier, living often in log cabins 
before the day of comfortable parson- 
ages. From her scanty store she has 
ministered to the wants of many 
weary heralds of the cross of all de- 
nominations. She left others, whom 
she believed could do it better, to 
meet the demands of society. She has 
endeavored to make the home happy 
and comfortable, and her children 
"arise and call her blessed, h<=r hus- 
band also and he praiseth her." She 



SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 



739 



loves the farm, and is much attached 
to it and now devotes considerable 
time to cultivating flowers and rais- 
ing pure bred poultry. 

His family consists of five children. 

Mary, in 1889, married C. M. Ather- 
ton, a farmer, lives near Sheldon and 
has a family of five children. 

Lulu Ines, a deaconess, located first 
at Falls River, Mass., and is now at 
Omaha, Neb. 

Alvah Nathan, is the owner of a 
farm of 240 acres in Monona county. 

Charles Cole, a butter maker, is at 
Luana. 

John Eltsie, is at home. 

Gilchrist, James C, Prof (b. May 
20, 1831; d. Aug, 12, 1897), founder of 
the Iowa State Normal School at 
Cedar Emails, and owner of a farm in 
Sherman and Washington townships, 
since 1881, was a native of Allegheny, 
Pa , the son of James Cleland Gil- 
christ, who was of scotch descent. In 
his boyhood and youth he acquired 
the discipline of hard work incident 
to farm life and at nineteen, to satisfy 
his thirst for knowledge, he became a 
student at Mahoning Institute, Po- 
land, Ohio, where he remained, teach- 
ing at intervals during the next three 
years. In 1854 he entered Antioch 
college, Yellow Springs, O , of . which 
Horace Mann, thecelebrated educator 
was president. After his graduation 
he served successively as superintend- 
ent of the schools at Republic and 
Marlboro, O , and New Brighton, Pa. 

He then became principal of the 
Seminary at California, Washington 
Co., Pa. At the end of five years of 
prosperous labors he projected the 
plan and successfully converted this 
institution into a State Nurmal 
School. He continued at the head of 
it during the next six years. He serv- 
ed as Superintendent of Washington 
county during three years of this 
period, and, under his leadership, 
there was developed a general revival 



in the educational work of that coun- 
ty. 

In 1871 he accepted an invitation to 
aid in the organization and establish- 
ment of a State Normal school at 
Fairmount, in the new state of West 
Virginia. 

In 1872, in accordance with an oft 
expressed wish, he came to Iowa and 
became superintendent of the public 
schools in Mason City. He introduc- 
ed the schools into the elegant build- 
ing, then completed, and systema- 
tized the educational work in that 
rapidly growing city. 

In June 1876 he was elected presi- 
dent of the Iowa State Normal School 
at Cedar Falls, for the establishment 
of which he had previously taken the 
lead in having the General Assembly 
of Iowa that year make its first appro- 
priation. This institution was organ- 
ized under his personal direction, and, 
during the ten years that he continu- 
ed at the head of it, it developed so 
rapidly as to become one of the most 
important educational institutions in 
the state and rank among tLe best 
Normal Schools in the country. 

In 1885 he and several of his associate 
instructors, retired from this institu- 
tion, and he established the Upper 
Iowa Normal at Algona, where he re- 
mained until 1890. During that year 
the Northwest Conference of the M. 
E. church, proposing to found a uni- 
versity at Sioux City, elected him and 
he began to fill the chair of Didactics. 
When the financial panic came, two 
or three years later, and caused the 
temporary suspension of this enter- 
prise, he retired to his farm, in th ; s 
county, which had been in charge of 
Cleland, his oldest son, since the time 
of its purchase in 1884. He died at 
67, August 12, 1897. 

He was a member of the M. E. 
church, received ordinatioa as a min- 
ister and preached to scores of congre- 
gations, but preferred educational 
work to a local pastorate. He was a 



740 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



life member of the National Educa- 
tional Association and was president 
of the Normal School section of it at 
the meeting in Chatauqua, N. Y., in 
1890. His services were in great de- 
mand at teachers' institutes, and he 
served as an instructor or lecturer at 
more than a hundred of them, includ- 
ing at least one in every county in 
Iowa, He wrote a number of articles 
for educational periodicals, and in 
1888 a work entitled, "Iowa, Its 
Geography, History and Resources," 
that was published by G. G. Merrill, 
St. Paul. He left the manuscript for 
another volume, entitled, "Education. 
Its Principles and Practice." This 
was intended to be a text book for 
the use of Normal schools, institutes 
and private students. 

He was an ambitious and indefatig- 
able worker. He did not stand around 
with his hands in his pockets, as if 
appalled at the magnitude of an 
undertaking, but with a faith that 
removed mountains pushed on to the 
successful achievement of the object 
of his ambition. He might over esti- 
mate his resources or ability to put a 
mountain behind him, but having 
launched an enterprise he turned nei- 
ther tothe right or left hand, and look- 
ing to God for results, pressed on with 
a super human energy, until he over 
came the most serious obstacles. 
During the early days of the Iowa 
State Normal he made large contribu- 
tions out of his own pocket to supply 
equipment thai could not otherwise 
be provided. After he became the 
head of educational institutions, not 
a year passed that he was nut a 
benefactor of one or more young 
people, who, under adverse circum- 
stances, were endeavoring to obtain 
an education. There were times when 
ha'f Irs income was used in this way. 
He was ceaseless in his labors for the 
institutions he represented, and 
found a cordial cooperation in his 
eafeimablQ wife who, surviving him, 



had opportunity of perceiving the 
meed of praise and honor that a 
grateful people stood ready to bestow 
upon him, "whose meritorious servi- 
ces to the state entitled his memory 
to perpetual recognition " 

Dec. 23, 1897, a special service was 
held in his honor at the Iowa State 
Normal School, Cedar Falls, at which 
his successor, President Homer Seer- 
ley, presided and memorial tributes 
were rendered by Hon. E. H. Thayer, 
of Clinton, Prof. D. S. Wright, of the 
Normal School and Hon. Henry Sab- 
in, of D^s Moines. 

The story of his struggles to secure 
an education is eloquent with inspira- 
tion and encouragement to every 
youth similarly situated. He nevfir 
lacked encouragement at home, but 
that was all he could there expect. 
Having to depend on Irs own re- 
cources while pursuing his .studies in 
the academy, he did not hesitate to 
work in the harvest fields during va- 
cation, or to serve as janitor and teach 
occasional classes in the academy, in 
order that he might supplement the 
meager savings received from teach- 
ing country schools. In pursuing his 
collegiate studies at Antioch, he al- 
ternately taught a village school and 
resumed his place in that institution, 
where he seemed to have reached the 
summit of his educational ambition, 
when he sat at the feet of Horace 
Mann, America's greatest teacher. " 

He was principal, at the inception 
of seven important educational in- 
stitutions, three of which were State 
Normal Schools. It was his mission 
in life to lay foundations rather than 
to rear superstructures. This feature 
of his life's work requhing frequent 
changes of location, brought, him in 
contact with multitudes of teachers 
and pupils, that he could not have 
reached in any single institution. He 
inspired, with the force of his own 
unique personality, a vast »rnry ot 




PROF. JAMES C. GILCHRIST, 1831-1897. 
First President of the Iowa State Normal School, 1876-1885. 




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SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 



741 



pupils that numbered tens of thous- 
ands. 

He possessed strong convictions as 
to the value of professional training 
for teachers, and was an eloquent 
champion of the State Normal School. 
Heartily endorsing the American sys- 
tem of public schools, he insisted the 
Normal School was a necessary ad- 
junct to it. He regarded teaching as 
a learned profession and exalted learn- 
ing, including didactics, as a prerequi- 
site to filling the teacher's desk, The 
true teacher must be profoundly 
versed in his subject and know the 
most approved methods of instruction. 
He who would train the minds of 
children and youth must know some- 
thing of the character and qualities 
of mind; he who would shape the des- 
tiny of others should have some ade- 
quate conception of what that means 
to the individual. 

He entertained exalted ideas of the 
mission of the teacher, on account of 
the potent influence the teacher 
wields over the minds of youth. 
Believing the teachers in our free 
schools wielded a power so great, that 
they might justly be made responsible 
for the principles that should underlie 
this government in the 20th century, 
he embraced every opportunity of im- 
pressing upon parents the fact, that 
the teachers had more to do in 
moulding and forming the mind, 
character, disposition and ambition 
of the child than they themselves. 
"He often spoke of the dignity of the 
teacher's work, emphasizing the fact 
that, his influence was never-ending. 
It is seen in the results of education- 
grand men and women— and in the 
rewards that lie beyond. In his public 
addresses he emphasized the need of 
good citizenship, salvation from sin 
and a godly life; and declared failure 
in these things a calamity." 

He was preeminently a thinker, de- 
lighted in abstruse investigation and 
often expressed the conviction that 



the boys and gir Is in our public 
schools are not properly taught how 
to think. They are left to solve the 
problems in the text book by the 
author's rules and no hint is given 
them that original thought is either 
a possible or desirable accomplish- 
ment. It is a great thing, an in- 
estimable privilege to teach another, 
but it is a grander thing to inspire 
him to be, to do, to think. 
''Think for thyself; one good idea, 

known to be thine own, 
Is better than a thousand gleaned 
from fields by others sown." 

As an educational thinker he was 
conservative, rather than radical. 
Convinced that some things were 
essential and constant, he abomina- 
ted fads that would displace them. 
When the Quincy methods became 
the fad he did not hesitate to pro- 
claim publicly as well as privately, 
that there was nothing good in the 
"new education" that was really new. 
That the maxim "Learn to do by do- 
ing" had been the guide of every true 
teacher and of every successful learn- 
er from the days of Cnmenius (1592- 
1671), the Slavic educational reform- 
er. He believed in toiling hard for 
knowledge and that the educational 
discipline that results from thorough 
study is one of the best thiDgs acquir- 
ed by the student. 

In 1858 he married Hannah Cramer, 
a teacher in the schools of Warren, O. 
She is now a resident of Laureas, Six 
of their family of ten children are 
living. 

Cleland (b. 1860) became a resident 
of Pocahontas county in 1882 and en- 
gaged in teaching and farming. He 
managed the affairs on the farm, 
while his father and other members 
of his family pursued their education- 
al work or studies elsewhere. He 
served as secretary of the school beard 
of Sherman township and five years 
and ten months(1892-97)as superinten- 
dent in thiscounty, when he resigned 



742 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



on account of ill health. After spend- 
ing one year in Colorado, during 
which he regained his health, he re- 
turned to this county and located at 
Pocahontas, where he has since been 
engaged as a carpenter and contractor. 

Maud, a teacher, his given special 
attention to the Natural sciences, 
having prosecuted her studies in 
these branches in the schools of 
America and Europe. She has held 
the chair of Natural science in the 
Iowa State Normal School at Cedar 
Falls, has been professor of Botany in 
Wellesley, College, Mass., of which in- 
stitution she is a graduate, and Lady 
Principal of the Illinois Female Col- 
lege. She is now Dean of the woman's 
department of the State Agricultural 
College at Lansing, Michigan. 

Charles Willard, (b. 1866), a sales- 
man, is a resident of Havelock. In 
1890 he married Florence Hinkley, a 
daughter of a Pocahontas county 
pioneer, and has a family of six chil- 
dren: James, Charles, Pierre, Claude, 
Richard, and a baby girl. 

Fred C. Hon.., (b. June 2, 1868), is a 
native of Washington county, Pa. but 
has grown to manhood in Pocahontas 
county. He is a graduate of the Iowa 
State Normal and of the law depart- 
ment of the State University. After 
teaching in the rural schools and serv- 
ing as principal at Laurens one year 
and at Rolfe two years, he was, on 
reaching his majority in 1889, elected 
superintendent of schools in this 
county. He served in this capacity 
twO years, 1890-91, and was the young- 
est official of the kind in the state. 
In 1892 he handed this office over to 
Cleland Gilchrist, his oldest brother, 
and turned his attention to the study 
of law. Upon receiying his degree in 
1893, he commenced the practice of 
his profession at Laurens, where he 
still resides. 

In 1899 he presided at the judicial 
convention held in Algona and, at the 
representative convention held at 



Rolfe, July 11, 1901, though not an 
active candidate, he received the vote 
of all. the delegates on the first ballot 
and thus became the republican nom- 
inee for the legislature. This unex- 
pected nomination, which was intend- 
ed to harmonize the factions that had 
arisen that season in this senatorial 
district, was a very high compliment. 
His election that fall was a natural 
sequence to the unanimity ex- 
pressed at the time of his nomination. 

He is an attorney of ability and 
promise. As an advocate of republi- 
can principles and policies, he has 
won the gratitude of his friends and 
respect of his opponents. On Feb. 
13, 1902, when the pioneer lawmakers 
were the guests of the House, he 
made one of the principal addresses. 
During his service in the legislature 
of 1902 he was several times called to 
the chair by Speaker Eaton and made 
an impression so favorable upon the 
members of that body, that he was 
frequently referred to as a good can- 
didate for the speakership in the 
next Assembly. 

In 1896 he married Ella Hurley and 
has three children: Francis, Fred Cle- 
land and Mavis, 

Grace G-., a graduate of the Iowa 
State Normal and a teacher, in 1899 
married Joseph H. Allen, a banker, 
and lives at Pocahontas. 

Norma L., a teaoher, while teaching 
at Pocahontas, Nov. 8, 1897, was ap- 
pointed superintendent of the schools 
in this county, in place of her brother 
Cleland, who resigned, and filled that 
office during the next two months. 
She has since spent much time in pur- 
suing special studies in Oberlin and 
Wellesley Colleges. Her home is with 
her mother at Laurens. 

Hall, L. D. (b. 1817; d. 1898) was a 
native of Pittstown, N. Y. In 1841, 
at Whitingham, Vt., he married Lu- 
cinda Morse. In 1852 he moved to 
Ohio and ,in 1854, to West Liberty, 
Iowa. After successive residences at 



SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 



743 



Iowa City and Tama county, in 1883 
he located in Sherman township, this 
county. In 1898 he died at 80 at the 
home of his daughter, Mrs. Betsey A, 
Phelps, near Havelock. His family 
consisted of two sons and one daught- 
er. One son died at nine and George 
M. lives at Reinbeck. 

Hamfeldt, August (b. 1858), an en- 
terprising man, who will always be 
remembered in connection with the 
early history of Ware, is a native of 
Germany, where he received a good 
college education. In- 1881 he came 
to America, empty handed, and found 
profitable employment with a whole- 
sale house in New York City. He 
met with good success in his business 
enterprises and, in making an invest- 
ment some years ago, purchased the 
land on which, in 1900, he had survey- 
ed and platted the town of Ware. In 
building up this town he found an op- 
portunity for that push and enter- 
prise that has characterized his busi- 
ness life. He became a resident of 
the town in the fall of 1900, at which 
time several buildings had been built 
by his agent, Paul Silberger. He erect- 
ed four of the first dwelling houses, 
one two story double and three one 
story business blocks in the town, and 
tendered their use to others at a low 
rental. He speaks several languages 
fluently and is a man of energy, pluck 
and good business methods. He has 
accumulated considerable wealth by 
prudent and profitable investments, 
and has greatly enjoyed the work of 
building up the town of Ware. 

Hudek, Joseph (b. 1844), a resident 
of section 25, is a native of Bphemia, 
and one of the most prosperous farm- 
ers in the township. In 1867 he came 
to America and located in Jones coun- 
ty, Wis., 'where his parents and other 
members of their family also located. 
Anthony, his father, died there in 
1883 and his mother at 80 in 1895. In 
1878 Joseph married Hellena Wilhelm 
and, accompanied by his wife and 



Anthony, a younger brother, came to 
Pocahontas county, Iowa, and located 
on the swi sec 25 Sherman township. 
He has improved this farm with fine 
buildings and groves and increased it 
to 680 acres. He is a good farmer 
and has made a splendid use of his op- 
portunities to raise and feed stock. 
He regards this a very fine country 
and has endeavored to do his part in 
the matter of its material, moral and 
educational development. He is one 
of the founders of the Catholic church 
and parochial school at Pocahontas 
and has continued to give these in- 
stitutions his liberal support. 

His wife died at 37 in 1888 leaving a 
family of four children, Josephine, 
Frank, Joseph and John. Josephine 
in 1899 married Frank Stoulil, a farm- 
er, and lives near Pocahontas. 

In 1889 he married Anna, daughter 
of Theresa Wassel, and their family 
consists of five children, Edward, Al- 
fred, Rudolph, William, and Albert. 

Hudek, Anthony (b. Boh. 1851) 
brother of Joseph, is also a resident of 
section 25 and the owner of a finely 
improved farm of 760 acres. He came 
to Jones county, Wis., with his par- 
ents in 1868 and to this county with his 
brother in 1878. Both located on the 
same farm and worked together dur- 
ing the first two years. In 1879 
Anthony married Mary, daughter of 
Michael and Annie Bartosh, who 
were among the first settlers in Cen- 
ter township. He has been very suc- 
cessful as a farmer and his buildings 
are among the largest and best in 
Sherman township. His present 
dwelling house was built in 1888 and 
barn in 1893. He believes in convert- 
ing the grain he raises, which usually 
grades low, into fat hogs and cattle, 
that command the highest market 
price. His annual output of stock is 
a beautiful sight as well as a source of 
financial profit, He has filled with 
credit all the important township of- 
fices, having served two years as a 



744 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



trustee and clerk, four as assessor, 
five as secretary of the school board 
and seven as a justice. 

His family consists of seven chil- 
dren, James, Annie, Joseph, Mary, 
Elizabeth, Ellanora and Louis. 

Russell, Morah Frink (b. 1840), 
one of the first residents of Sherman 
township, is a native of Michigan. 
In his youth he came to Dubuque 
county, Iowa, where in 1869 he mar- 
ried Jemima, daughter of Benjamin 
Mather, and located on a farm. In 
March 1872 he came to Pocahontas 
county and located on eighty acres on 
the swi sec 4 Sherman township. He 
has improved this farm with fine 
buildings and groves, increased it to 
240 acres and still occupies it. His 
first house built in 1872 was the first 
one in the township. As the years 
have passed the pioneer buildings have 
been replaced by larger and more 
modern structures that would be a 
credit to any community. The barn 
40x80 and 18 foot posts, was built in 
1892. He believed in planting trees 
and his buildings are protected by a 
large and valuable grove. He plant- 
ed fruit trees also and now enjoys 
their annual yield. He assisted in 
the organization of the township in 
1880 and has been a very popular of- 
ficer ever since, having served as 
treasurer of the school funds, nineteen 
of the twenty-two years since that 
date and fifteen as a trustee. In 1874 
he cut his first crop of wheat with a 
cradle and his wife bound it after 
him. 

His family consists of eight chil- 
dren. 

Myra L. in 1891 married Anson 
Parker. They live on their own farm 
in Harris county, Texas, and have 
four children, Daisy, Ora, Nelson, and 
Elden. 

MaryE., in 1890 married William S. 
Taylor and lives in Wisconsin. 
Three of their four children are liv- 
ing, James R., Gertrude J., and Fac. 



Alice E. in 1892 married David 
Ashmore. They live in Minnesota 
and have five children, Feme, Bessie 
J., Mary Alice, Walter W. and Edna 
L. 

May, a teacher, in 1899 married Rol- 
la Schriver. 

Jessie R., Emory, William H, and 
Lulu E. are at home. 

Russell, Jason N. (b. 1844) the first 
resident of Sherman township, is a 
native of Michigan. In 1870 he came 
to Pocahontas county with J. U. 
Strong, his brother in-law, and bought 
the n| nei sec 4, 106 acres. He was 
the first to break the virgin prairie of 
the township and did it that summer 
while he lived with Jonathan L. 
Clark and family (sec SO Washington), 
who had come with him and Strong 
from Dubuque county. In 1871 he 
built the first cabin, 12x16 feet and 
became the first resident of the town- 
ship. His brother, Harvey S. Russell, 
came and lived with him in the cabin 
a year and a half, having previously 
bought 106 acres on the same section, 
and then returned to Dubuque. 

Dec. 18, 1872 he married Maggie, 
daughter of Philip Hamble in 
Dubuque county and, on his return 
the next spring, he was accompanied 
by Philip Hamble and family, who 
located on sec 33 Washington town- 
ship. He served three years as the 
first secretary of the school board, 
two as its president and three as a 
trustee. 

He increased the original farm to 
320 acres, improved it with good 
buildings, groves and orchard and oc- 
cupied it until 1902, when he accom- 
panied 'Philip Hamble to Long Beach, 
near Los Angeles, Cal. 

His family consisted of six children. 

Edith E., a teacher, in 1899 married 
L. D. Smith, a hardwareman, and 
located, first in Havelock and in 1902 
in California. 

Mary A., a teacher, in 1900 married 
Ora Crummer. (See Crummer) 



SHERMAN TOWNSHIP. 



745 



Irene, Lewis F., John H., and 
Hugh Hamble are at home. 

Russell, Harvey S., brother of 
Morah and Jason, in 1869, through 
James C. Strong, effected the pur- 
chase of a farm of 103 acres on sec. 4, 
and living with Jasou, began its im- 
provement in 1871. After one year he 
returned to Dubuque county. In 1877 
he returned to his farm on sec. 4 and 
has continued to manage it, living 
with his brother, Jason. 

Morah and Jason Russell, a3 pio- 
neers on the frontier, enjoyed the 
rare distinction of officially partic- 
ipating in the organization of two 
townships in this county, namely, 
Washington in 1876 and Sherman in 
1880. At the organization of Wash- 
ington township Jason Russell was 
elected and served as one of its first 
trustees four years, 1877-80, and was 
assessor in 1879. Morah Russell serv- 
ed as the first assessor of Washington 
two years, '77-78, clerk two years, '79- 
80, and first president of the school 
board two years, '77-78. Harvey S. 
Russell was a trustee of Washington 
in 1880. 

This early record in Washington 
followed by.the later and longer one 
in Sherman township indicates that 
these men have been leading and in- 
fluential citizens as well as pioneers. 
They have manifested an integrity 
that was above suspicion, possessed a 
courage that enabled them to face 
the trials and dangers incident to a 
home on the frontier and discovered 
an industry that has been crowned 
with successful achievement. These 
qualities have been the special heri- 
tage of many of the pioneers of this 
section, and they have enabled them 
to lay broad and deep the foundation 
of the best civilization and govern- 
ment in the world. 

Stacy, Frank (b. I860), one of the 
leading farmers of Sherman township, 
is a native of Potter Co., Pa. His 
father died during his infancy and at 



two years he came with his mother to 
Bureau Co., 111., and at fourteen to 
Grundy County, Iowa. In 1881 he 
married Mary Adams and, locating on 
a farm, remained there until 1888, 
when he became the pioneer occupant 
of the nwi sec. 32, Sherman township. 
He has improved this farm with good 
buildings and increased it to 320 acres. 
He has had to triumph over many 
disappointments and embarrassments 
in order to achieve success. His barn 
and 100 feet of sheds were destroyed 
by a tornado in 1893 and the first and 
second plantings of trees were killed 
by droughts and other causes. He is 
manifesting that perseverance and 
pluck that insures success. He served 
as clerk of the township two yearp, 
1895-96. 

Stover, Andrew Jackson, (b. 1847.) 
the pioneer owner and occupant of a 
farm on sec. 9, is a native of Illinois, 
the son of Emmanuel and Mary Ann 
Stover. In 1869 he came with his 
parents to Marshall county, Iowa, 
where in 1870 he married Jane Dick- 
erson, who died in 1877, leaving five 
children, Charles E., Calvin U., 
Andrew S., Artie B. and Oscar W. 
Soon after her decease he moved to 
Grundy county, where in 1879 he mar- 
ried Jane Hilton. In 1880 he located 
on his present farm, which he has im- 
proved with fine buildings that are 
always kept in the best looking condi- 
tion. He has devoted considerable 
attention to raising pure bred stock, 
— Poland China hogs and Polled 
Angus cattle,— and has achieved a 
well merited success on the farm. 
He participated in the organization 
of the township and served as a 
trustee eighteen years. 

His family consisted of eight 
children: 

Charles E., a farmer in 1896 married 
Olive Ashmore and occupies a farm 
in Sherman township. 

Calvin U., a farmer in 1897 married 
Christie Berry. 



746 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Artie B., in 1897 married Clarence 
Hopkins. 

Oscar W. ; in 1900 married Yenia 
Berry. 

Andrews., in 1902 married Nellie 
B. Stover. 

James H, Mary E. and Agnes are 
at home. 

In 1883 bis sister, Eliza Ann (Alex- 
ander) McLain and family located in 
Marshall township and in 1890 his 
brothers, Martin L. and Jacob S , 
located in Sherman townsbip. 

Stover, Martin Luther, (b. 1848.) 
is a native of Ogle county, 111., where 
in 1872 he married Emma C. Evans 
and located on a farm. In 1890 he 
located in Sherman township where 
he has lived on several rented farms 
and is now the occupant of the si sec. 
17, owned by F. L. Ware. He was 
elected assessor of Sherman township 
before he had completed a year's resi- 
dence in it, and served eight years in 
that capacity. He has been a trustee 
three years and served as president 
of the school board. He has been a 
member of the republican county 



committee during the last four years 
and takes as much interest in the 
affairs of Ware as though he were one 
of its business men. He is one of the 
prominent men of that vicinity. 

His family has consisted of five 
children: 

Lewis A. (b. 1873 ) in 1894 married 
Ida Hurley and has three children. 

Harry died at 20 in 1896. 

Nellie B. in 1902 married Andrew 
S. Stover.- 

Clara May in 1900 married Frank 
Speer. 

Roy E. (b. 1888.) is at home. 

Stover, Jacob S., brother of A. 
J., is a native of Illinois. In 1889 in 
Marshall county, he married Ida 
Crouse and the next year located on 
the sei sec. 15, Sherman township, 
which he was the first to occupy and 
improve. He has been very success- 
ful as a farmer and is now the 
owner of 240 acres. The buildings 
erected are among the best ones in 
the township. 

His family consists of two children, 
Hazel and Gladys. 




XXYI. 



SWHN L&KE TOWNSHIP. 

Once upon the prairie, as the sun was sinking, 
One might have seen the cabin of a pioneer; 
Its clapboard roof, lagging to the rear, 
Its walls rejecting their inartistic chinking. 
Among the groves that by the streamlets nestle, 

No more is heard the noise of freighter's camp; 

But in its stead the strange gigantic tramp 
Of railway trains upon the rumbling trestle, 
Good-bye, old cabin, — 
Faithfully have you performed your trust, 
And sheltered manly worth and moral vigor. 

—Eugene F. Ware. 

Believe me, the talent of success is nothing more than doing what you 
can, and doing well whatever you do— without a thought of fame.— Hyperion. 



GENERAL FEATURES. 




WAN LAKE town- 
ship (93 34) formed a 
part of Des Moines 
township until Sept. 
7, 1866, and then of 
Powhatan until 
Sept. 4, 1871, when, 
in response to the petition of Geo. W. 
Proctor and others it was established 
in its present form as Swan Lake 
township. 
To build, to plant, whatever you in- 
tend, 
To rear the column, or the arch 
to bend, 
To swell the terrace, or bo sink the 
gout, 
In all let nature never be for- 
got.— Pope. 



This township has two of the larg- 
est lakes in the county near the cen- 
ter of it, a mile and a half northwest 
of Laurens. The larger one on sec- 
tions 16 and 17 is called, "Swan Lake," 
by reason of its fancied resemblance 
to the body of a swan, and the smaller 
one, just east of it on section 15, 
"Muskrat Lake." A skirting of tim- 
ber on the east and south banks of 
Swan Lake made its shores an attrac- 
tive resting place and favorite camp- 
ing ground, to those who journeyed 
east and west. 

These lakes are very near each other 
and are connected by a narrow chan- 
nel. Their outlet through the north 
branch of Cedar creek, which flows 
southward a few rods east of Laurens, 



(747) 



748 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



is at the southeastern extremity of 
Muskrat Lake. 

During the drought period of 1894 
and 1895 these lakes became dry, and, 
the board of supervisors having noti- 
fied the public that they belonged to 
the county, M. Peters offered the 
Board $4,000 for these and the other 
unoccupied and unsold lake beds of 
the county. This bid was held under 
advisement until Sept. 2, 1895, and 
then the disposal of these^lands was 
deferred until April, 1896. They were 
then filled with water and have not 
been dry since. 

The parties, who about this period 
purchased the south one of the Twin 
Lakes in Calhoun county and in 1899 
filed a swamp-land quit-claim deed 
from Callinan & Savery, were later 
successfully enjoined from draining 
it, and the swamp-land claims of Oal- 
linan & Savery, that clouded the 
titles of many farms in that and ad- 
joining counties, were held to be in- 
valid. 

The decision in the case of Owl 
Lake, near Humboldt, was different. 
In this case Geo. R. Pearsons of Fort 
Dodge in 1885 received from Hum- 
boldt county, in consideration for his 
services in securing and constructing 
the original Fort Dodge & Fort 
Ridgely railroad, now theM. &St. L., 
received a deed for Owl Lake and the 
adjacent swamp lands in that county. 
He then expended a large amount of 
money in the improvement of these 
lands, including the construction of 
the largest ditch in the state, at that 
time, through Owl lake. A number 
of squatters then located on the bed 
of the lake, that had thus become dry, 
and disputed in the courts the title 
to the land. The Attorney General 
of the state then instituted proceed- 
ings for the same purpose and the 
final verdict of the U. S. Supreme 
Court, approving the title of Geo. R. 
Pearsons, was rendered in 1902. 

In the fall of 1897 M, E. DeWolf 



and others, securing the approval and 
a small appropriation from the board 
of supervisors, built a dam at the out- 
let of Swan Lake so as to maintain 
the water in it at the former natural 
level. Pickerel Lake, three miles 
northwest of Swan Lake in 
Buena Yista county, though not so 
large is deeper than the latter and 
both are now well stocked with pick- 
erel, buffalo and other kinds of fish. 

EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

John B. Strouse, who secured the 
neisec. 16, on the east bank of Swan 
Lake, and began to occupy it June 1, 
1869, was the first settler in Swan 
Lake township. He was accompanied 
at this time by his brother-in-law, 
Isaac W. Peed, who selected as a 
homestead the sei sec. 14, but did not 
begin to occupy and improve it until 
the next year. 

John B. Strouse returning to War- 
ren county, with I. W. Peed, arrived 
with his family, and goods at Swan 
Lake, July 7, 1869. He built first a 
log cabin, 11x12 feet and five feet high 
at the eaves. The roof was coveied 
with clapboards and dirt. It had no 
window, the floor was on the 
ground and the door was closed with 
a blanket. 

At the time of his first visit to this 
place it was in the center of a large 
stretch of uninhabited country, the 
nearest house being eleven miles 
northwest and the nearest on the east 
on the Fort Dodge route being that of 
Samuel Booth, twelve miles distant 
in Powhatan. As this place was mid- 
way between the settlements along 
the Des Moines and Little Sioux 
rivers, it became necessary for him to 
entertain a great many travelers and 
he soon built a one story frame house 
in which he kept hotel. 

Gilbert G. Wheeler on 30, Geo. W. 
Proctor and John D. Proctor, his 
father, on 20, were the next to arrive. 
These families located near each 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



74 9 



other three miles southwest of Swan 
Lake. 

In September 1869 David H. Hayes 
and family located north of the lake, 
on sec. 9. He improved and occupied 
this farm until sometime during the 
early 80's, when he acid his wife died, 
leaving a fanrly of five children, some 
of whom are still residents of the 
township. 

In 1870 Isaac W. Peed located 
on his homestead east of the 
Jake. He improved and occupied it 
four years and then moved to Boone 
county. 

In 1871 James W. Taylor (16) and 
Oscar A. Pease(30)loeated south of the 
lake. Taylor the next year went to 
Nebraska and was succeeded by Ben- 
jamin Brown, who two years later 
sold out to Alexander McEwen. 
Thomas W. Merchant and Park O 
Harder also arrived. 

In 1874 W. R. Mather located on 26, 
and the next year Mr. and Mrs. John 
St rouse, parents of John B., and their 
son, Alpheus H. Strouse and family ar- 
rived and located south of Swan lake. 
Charles L. Strong, Wm. H. Drown, 
Joseph Morton and others were resi- 
dents at this time. 

In 1879 there came Henry IT. 
Brower (b. N. Y. 1841.) on 7, Philip E. 
Baker (b. Ind. 1850.) on 15 and A. L. 
Wood (b. N. Y. 1845.) on 29. In 1880 
John Pettit located on 19 and C. L. 
Strong returned to Powhatan. 

In 1882, with the railroad and 
founding of Laurens, there came J. L. 
Hopkins (b. Conn. 1841.) on 19, T. 
Davidson (b. Iowa, 1855 ) on 23, Adam 
Iloehlk (b. Ger. 1840.) on 24 and W. T. 
Rush on 36. Also Geo. W. Leverich, 
S. F. Sturdivan, Shoemaker Bros., 
Hiram Herrold, J. H. Queal & Co., 
S. R Overton, Agt., Dr. J. M.Carroll, 
Nelson Parker, T. J . Nelson and G. H. 
Gammon at Laurens. 

In 1883 and '84 there arrived Fred 
Dubbert and August Roewe on 36, and 
Frank DeKlotz on 35; and at Laurens, 



E. A. Caswell, jeweler; W. R. Dwig- 
gans, hotel keeper; Frank G. Thorn- 
ton and Dr. J. H. Farson. 

In 1885 there was a large immigra- 
tion and among those that came then 
were Philip Kemp, Hans D. Stater, 
N. J. Nilsson,' J. R. Greene, Samuel 
Tibbits, Jacob and Geo. W. Wright, 
to the rural districts; and Hakes 
Bros., merchants: L. E. Lange, editor; 
H. O. Austin, harness maker, and M. 
H. Murray to Laurens. 

In 1886 there came Charles S. 
jtnd Benjamin L. Allen, Geo T 
Johnson, M. Messinger, J. M. Ed- 
mundson Jr., John Cook, W. J. Mar- 
tin, S. II Spickler and others. 

STOCK FARMS. 

The settlement of Swan Lake town- 
ship is far more recent than that of 
many other parts of this county. 
Many of the farmers in it, however, 
have founded beautiful homes, are 
raising and fattening stock with 
profit and have manifested a consider- 
able pride in giving a special and an 
attractive name to their farms. The 
plat book of 1901 shows more "stock 
farms" in Swan Lake township than 
in any other township in the county. 
They are as follows: Box Elder, by 
C. C. Krug on 34; Early Dawn, by 
John Shuler on 16; Evergreen, by Geo. 
Aschenbrenaer on 35; Green Valley, by 
Gust Hackerson on 4; Highland, by 
Hans Stuter on 15; Maple Grove, by 
August Roewe, Jr. on 36; Orchard, by 
Geo. Reinhart on 9; Pocahontas, by 
W. D. Cottrell on 5; Swan Lake by 
C. F. Carlson on 3, and Willow Grove, 
by Adam Roehlk on 23. 

SWAN LAKE, GARLOCK AND LAURENS 
POSTOFFICES. 

Previous to 1877 the residents of the 
west part of Swan Lake township had 
to go to Sioux Rapids for their mail. 
Nov. 1, 1877 Swan Lake postoffice was 
established at the home of Charles L. 
Strong, on sec. 16, on the route from 
Pocahoatas to Sioux Rapids, and he 
was appointed postmaster. Thirty 



750 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



days later the name was changed to 
"Garlock" in honor of A. O. Garlock, 
then serving as county auditor. In 
June 1879 C. L. Strong resigned and 
the office was discontinued. 

April 1, 1882, the Laurens postoffice 
was established in the store of G-eo. 
W. Leverich and he was appointed 
postmaster. The succession of post- 
masters at Laurens has been as fol- 
lows: 

Geo. W. Leverich, April 1, 1882-84 
Prank G. Thornton, April 1, '84-85 
Montague Hakes, August 1, '85-89 
Charles E. Herrick, May 1, '89-90 
Geo. T. Johnson, January 1, '91-9.'i 
Louie E. Lange, January 1, 93-97 
Wm. F. Atkinson, the present incum- 
bent, since October 1, 1897. 

In 1893 Laurens became a presiden- 
tial office and it now ranks as one of 
the third class. 

In December 1900 the C. E. I. & P. 
Ey. began to carry mail, one train 
each way a day. 

Feb. 1, 1902 rural free delivery route 
No. 1, was established with Jared 
Hughes as mail carrier at a salary of 
$500 a year, This route extends from 
Laurens southward to the south line 
of Marshall township. The route is 
24 miles long, covers an area of 40 
square miles and serves 105 families 
containing 525 persons. 

Eailway Agents: The succession 
of the railway agents has been as 
follows. 

C. & N. W. Ey.— S. E. Overton, 
1882-85; C. H. Thomas, '85-87; TV. A. 
McNee, '87-89; Frank W. Johnson, '89- 
91; Frank J. Lincoln, '91-93; C. A. 
Fairman, '93-95; L. G. Smith, since 
1895. 

C. E. I. & P. Ey.— J. H. Mclvinney, 
since 1900. 

SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

The first election was held at the 
house of John Proctor, Oct. 10, 1871. 
The first officers then elected were 
Gilbert G. Wheeler, John D. Proctor 
and David Hays, trustees; O. A. 



Pease, a justice; Geo. W. Proctor, 
clerk. 

The earliest records are of date, 
Feb. 10) 1872, when the trustees held 
their first meeting. Gideon G. 
Wheeler served as chairman, and 
Geo. W. Proctor as secretary. David 
Hays was appointed a justice to fill a 
vacancy and Isaac W. Peed was ap- 
pointed assessor. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Trustees: Gilbert G. Wheeler, 
1872-76; John D. Proctor, '72-73, '76-77; 
David Hays, '72; P. O Harder; O. A. 
Pease '73-75, '79;' Geo. W. Brown, '73- 
74; Joseph Morton, '74-76; Aaron 
Proctor, '76-77; A. H. Strouse, '77; 
John B, Strouse. '78; L. M. Strong, 
'79; M. Newell; E. S. Frost, .'80-82; 
John Pettit, '80-83; H. H. Brower, '83- 
83; H. E. Spurrier, '83-84; F. G. Thorn- 
ton; J. T. Worrall '85-87; W. F. Atkin- 
son, '86, '95-97; John Cook, '87-88; 
Frank DeKlotz, '87-88; N, J. Nilsson, 
'88, '90-91, '99-01; Eri D. Anderson; 
August Eoewe, '89-93; E. C. Hall, '89- 
91; Andrew Ostrom, '92-94; E. N. Mc- 
Comb, '92-98; Wm. Vance, '94-99; J. 
Billman, '93-1900; J. W. Cartwright, 
1900-02; II. A. Moore, '01-02; W. J. 
Freeman. 

Clerks: Geo. W. Proctor '72, '74- 
76; Thos. W. Merchant, '73; O. A. 
Pease, A. H. Strouse, H. H. Brower, 
E. S. Frost, '83-86;. L. E. Lange, '87-92; 
W. A. McNee, '93-94, '97-98; Andrew 
Ostrom, J. A. Henery, J. E. Miller, 
1900-03. 

Justices: O. A. Pease, '72, '74-75; 
James W. Taylor, G. G. Wheeler, '73; 
Joseph Morton, '74-76; Geo. W. Proc- 
tor, L. M. Strong, H. H. Brower, T. 
J.Nelson, '83, '88-90; Jared Hughes, 
'83-93, 1901-02; O. H. Hutchins, S. H. 
Spickler, M. P. Messinger, J. L. Hop- 
kins, John Bardue, Jesse Clifton, '95- 
1900; Fred Brown, F. L. Stout, B. L. 
Saum, 1901-02. 

Assessors: Isaac W. Peed, '72; 
James Taylor, Aaron Proctor, '74-76; 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



751 



A. H. Strouse, '77-78; W. H. Drown, 
A. L. Wood, H. H. Brower, '81-82; H. 
Herrold, J. L. Hopkins, '86-93; Fred 
Dubbert, '91-95; C L. Kes'ter, F. E. 
Manatt, '98-1901; Roy Buckwalter. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Iu 1872 two scbool houses were 
built, one on the neisec. 16, near the 
home of John B. Strouse, and the 
other on section 20, near the home of 
Geo. W. Proctor. The first teachers 
in the Strouse district, commencing 
in the fall of 1872, were Sarah Wells, 
Mrs. James Taylor, Charles L. Strong, 
Alva A. ( son of J. C.) Strong and 
Orlando Strong. The first teachers 
in the other district were Addie, 
daughter of John Proctor and L. M. 
Strong. 

The third school house was built on 
section 9, and in 1878 there were three 
schools. The teachers that fall were 
John Broadwell, Fred Herrick and 
Hattie Barnes. 

The early school records of this 
township, including those of the 
secretary and treasurer, were burned 
at the time the home of John D. 
Proctor, the treasurer, was consumed 
by fire, Sept. 11, 1878. The informa- 
tion relating to this early period has 
been obtained from the survivors of 
the early settlers of that period. 

The earliest school records now 
available are of date April 30, 1879, 
when the board consisted of Geo. W. 
Proctor, L. M. Strong and M. Newell, 
and Charles E. Herrick, served as 
secretary pro tern. 

In this first record appears a state- 
ment from the county treasurer, W, 
D. McEwen, showing that their 
treasurer had received from him dur- 
ing the years, 1874 to 1878, inclusive, 
for building school houses, $2,213.79, 
for teachers fund, $2,321.97, for con- 
tingent expenses, $1,315.28, and for 
library $119.22; total $5,970.26. It 
was decided that certain outstanding 
orders should not be paid. 

On May 7th, following, the offices 



of secretary and treasurer were de- 
clared vacant and a member of the 
board resigned. These vacancies 
were supplied by appointing Joseph 
Morton to serve as a member of the 
board, L. M. Strong, president; Wil- 
liam H. Drown, secretary, and Charles 
L. Strong, treasurer. This complete 
change in the school officers, was a re- 
form movement that had for its ob- 
ject a more economical management 
of the finances of the township. 

The succession of the school officers, 
as far as could be obtained, has been 
as follows: 

Presidents of the Board: Oscar 
A. Pease, 1872; James W. Taylor, 
Geo. W. Proctor, Aaron Proctor, '75- 
76; L, M. Strong, Jared Hughes, '82- 
83; Nelson Parker, R. S. Frost, '85-87, 
'90; Peter Stemmin, John Cook, James 
Ellis, Fred Dubbert, '93-96; N. J. Nil- 
sson, J. Bilman, C. L. Kester, W. D. 
Cottrell, H. A. Moore, VV. C. Larson, 
1902. 

Secretaries: Geo. W. Proctor, '72; 
O. A. Pease, Geo. W. Proctor, '74-78; 
William H. Drown, H, H. Brower, J. 
L Hopkins, '85 92; W. F. Atkinson, 
'93-96; Fred Dubbert, '97-1902. 

Treasurers: John D. Proctor, 
'72-78; C. L. Strong, A. H. Strouse, H. 
H. Brower, Geo. Leverich, T. Nelson, 
Dr. J. M. Carroll, '85-92, Andrew 
Ostrum, Frank DeKlotz, '94-98; J. L. 
Pattee, August Roewe, 1901-02. 

Early teachers in Swan Lake town- 
ship were Sarah Wells. Mrs. James 
Taylor, Charles L., Orlando and Alva 
A. Strong, Addie Proctor, L. M. 
Strong, Louie E. Lange. 

Among recent teachers have been 
Ruth Seright, T. J. Lynch, Mamie 
Vance and Rolland Nelson. 

PUBLIC OFFICERS. 

Swan Lake has been represented by 
the following public officers. 

Coroner: Dr. J. M. Carroll, 1885, 
'90. 

Attorney: Byron J. Allen, '89-90. 

Supervisors: L. D. Beardsley, 



752 PIONEEE HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



'87-90; J. L. Hopkins' '91-92; Louie E. 
Lange, '96. 

Eepresentatives: M. E. DeWolf, 
'98 99: Fred C. Gilchrist, 1902-03. 

INTERESTING EVENTS. 

The first birth in the township was 
that of Frank, son of John B. Spouse, 
Dec. 31, 1870. 

The first wedding occurred Aug. 29, 
1880, when O.-A. Pease, justice, per- 
formed the ceremony for Fred Pease 
and Clara Wood. 

John D. Proctor, who located on 
sec. 18 in 1869, was the oldest inhabit- 
ant of the township and also of the 
county while he remained in it, 1869- 
1880. He was born in Virginia in 
1801. 

Eobert S. Frost, a resident of this 
township, was the last mail carrier 
from Pocahontas to Sioux Bapids, 
1880-82. 

Homesteads were secured in it by 
Isaac W. Peed on 14, John B. Strouse 
on 16, Geo. W. Proctor on 20, Gilbert 
G. Wheeler and O. A. Pease on 30. 
A timber claim of 40 acres on 28 was 
entered by Emma Hirschfield in 1883. 

The household goods and stock of 
W. F. Atkinson were the first frieght 
goods unloaded at the Laurens station. 
This was in March 1882, when two 
buildings had already been erected. 
The lumber for them had been haul- 
ed on wagons from far distant towns. 

During the severe blizzard of Jan. 
12-13, 1888, Eichard • Olney of Mara- 
than froze to death along the railroad 
two miles west of Laurens. Samuel 
Tibbets, finding his team refused to 
face ibe storm, overturned the sleigh 
and, remaining under its shelter with 
a daughter and child fourteen hours, 
they were badly frozen. 

TRAPPING AND HUNTING. 

Muskrats, mink, skunks, badgers, 
foxes, otters, lynx, and occasionally 
panthers, deer and elks were found 
there. Trapping claims were often 
bought from the land agents repre- 
senting the absent owners, and the 
trapper often had to protect his ex- 



clusive right to them (p. 274.) by driv- 
ing off intruders with gun in hand. 
When intruders were caught they 
were usually given about two hours 
to gather their traps and depart. 

So important was this industry to 
the early settlers that some of them 
employed men to trap for them. 
John B. Strouse thus employed Jacob 
Wisecarver of Ohio to assist him dur- 
ing the winter of 69 and 70, and later 
Samuel Harvey of Wisconsin and Wm. 
Cahill. 

A fox chase was sometimes the 
most interesting event that happened 
from one year's end to the other. 
The fleet-footed fox could outrun the 
common dogs of the neighborhood, 
and reynard was seldom captured ex- 
cept when hunters came from a dis- 
tance, bringing a pack of hounds with 
them. During the later 70's a com- 
pany of hunters from Waterloo visit- 
ed this place once a year and they 
came fully equipped for hunting water 
fowl, fishing in the lake and chasing 
the fox. A cordial welcome was al- 
ways extended this party for no other 
sport in the early days was quite so 
exhilerating, or so tended to vary the 
monotony of that period, as a good 
fox chase, with hounds and horses on 
the open prairie. 

TOWN OF LAURENS. 

Laurens, one of the largest and most 
important towns in the county, is 
located in the northwest part of the 
county, on the nwi sec. 27, and the 
swi sec. 22, Swan Lake township. It 
was platted Nov. 10-11, 1881, by P. 
Folsom, surveyor, for the Western 
Town Lot Co., of which Albert Keep 
was president and J. B. Eedfield 
secretary. The orginal plat contain- 
ed blocks 1 to 12, south of the depot, 
and it still embraces the business 
part of the town. 

Oct. 10, 3 883, A. O. Garlock, owner, 
had Oscar L. Strong plat the si swi 
sec. 22, north of the depot, as North 
Laurens. The high school building 
is located in this part of the town. 




MR. and MRS. GEO. T. JOHNSON, ROY, MILO and CORAL; LAURENS. 




DR. JOSEPH M. CARROLL, WIFE and DAUGHTERS, ALMA and FLORA; LAURENS 




DR. J. W. HIGGINS, LAURENS. 



J-H-WESC5TT ft C* 

AS.CH1TZCTS 




METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, LAURENS. Dedicated March 6, 1904. 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



753 



Oct. 25, 1892, the Allea Land & 
Loan Co. platted the w£ nei sec. 27, 
H. W. Bissell, surveyor. Other addi- 
tions have also been made. 

June 17, 1901, the corporate terri- 
tory of the town was enlarged by the 
addition of 120 acres on the east side 
of it so that it now extends three 
quarters of a mile north and east 
from the half mile stake between 
sections 27 and 28. 

This town was named in* honor of 
Henry and John Laurens, father and 
son. They were French Huguenots, 
became residents of Charleston, S. O, 
and distinguished themselves by their 
patriotism and loyalty to the Colonial 
cause during the Revolution. Henry 
(1724-92) was a member from South 
Carolina of the first provincial con- 
gress in 1775 and was president of the 
Continental congress in 1777 and 1778. 
John (1756-82) was an aide to Wash- 
ington in all his battles during the 
Revolution, and was killed in a skir- 
mish at its close. 

The site of the town is upon a high, 
rolling prairie, one mile south of Swan 
Lake, and five miles south of Rush 
Lake, The C. R. I. & P. Ry. depot 
is just twelve miles from the one on 
the same line at Pocahontas and the 
track is 100 feet higher than at the 
latter place. No town in this vicin- 
ity has any better natural advantages. 
The country around it is as rich and 
fertile as any the sun shines upon, 
and the class of people who have 
located here possess those sterling 
qualities of character that give a high 
moral tone to the community. The 
enterprise and thrift of the young 
business men of this town have come 
to be felt in other localities, and the 
public recognition secured by several 
of them in recent years has been a 
real surprise in other parts of the 
county. 

"Here in the wilds of Iowa," where, 
a few short years ago, the untutored 
savage aimlessly roamed or chased the 
wild buffalo, and the foot of the white 



man had never trod, is today a flour- 
ishing city of 1,000 people, who have 
established prosperous industries and 
built splendid business blocks, ele- 
gant residences, handsome churches, 
ample schools and modern hotels. 
The town has long since passed the 
doubtful stage, and is now occupying 
a well earned position, as one of the 
leading towns of the county, numeri- 
cally, materially, morally and politi- 
cally. The development of the city 
is a monument to the faith, ambition, 
energy and perseverance of the men 
who changed the haunts of the wily 
savage to a busy metropolis. 

Dame Nature has been kind to 
Laurens by providing for the city a 
variety of natural resources, that may 
be transmuted into valuable products, 
and a number of attractions that ap- 
peal to the aesthetic instincts of 
those who behold them. "A city 
that is set on a hill cannot be hid." 
This is is eminently true of Laurens. 
The natural scenery is beautiful 
and its attractive power has been en- 
hanced by the skill of the architect, 
the hand of the builder and the in- 
fluence of those moral and education- 
al facilities, that are the precursors 
of culture and refinement. 
- "The advancement of Laurens has 
not been spasmodic, but steady, 
healthy and continuous, e^ch year 
leaving the community more firmly 
established than the preceding one. 
There has been no bubble of a boom 
to occasion regret, but a steady ad- 
vance toward commercial greatness 
and leadership. 

The population is principally Amer- 
ican, and the people are cultured, 
refined and united. A heme here now 
combines the quiet enjoyment of the 
country with the conveniences and 
delights of a large city."* 

It has two railways, the Chicago & 
Northwestern, and Chicago, Rock 
Island & Pacific, that afford excellent 
shipping facilities in every direction. 

*Iowa Publishing Co., 1893. 



754 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



It lias a large school building, four 
churches, four elevators, two banks, a 
creamery, a grist mill, an opera house, 
good hotels, and a full quota of busi- 
ness houses. It has also good repre- 
sentatives of the legal, medical and 
clerical professions. 

The headquarters of several exten- 
sive and important business interests 
are located at Laurens. The follow- 
ing companies,doing business in other 
localities also, have their principal 
offices at this place, namely, DeWolf 
& Wells successors of Wilson & De- 
Wolf, who have seven elevators along 
the Milwaukee and Northwestern 
railroads; H ! nn Bros., who have 
creameries at Laurens, Marathon, 
Mud Lake, Havelock and Pocahontas; 
M. and J. R. Hakes, poultry dealers, 
who buy stock at every town from 
Humboldt toHawarden on the North- 
western railroad; and the Wheeler 
Grain and Coal Co., composed of L. 
W., W. S. and M. M. Wheeler, who 
coming from Kankakee, 111., in 1909, 
have become proprietors of elevators 
at Laurens, Leverett, Ware and 
Pocahontas, and have their head- 
quarters at Laurens. The spirit of 
leadership seems to be in the very 
air that these people breathe. 

The survey of r,he Toledo, now the 
Chicago & N. W. Ry. was made in 
April, 1881, the track was laid through 
Swan Lake township in March 1882 
and by the end of May there were 
running four trains a day, but it made 
the spectator laugh to see the mail 
and express, which consisted of an en- 
gine, the tender and one small coach, 
that went bobbing along after it over 
the rough and muddy track, like a 
bustle trying to follow a Grecian 
bend, the mud spurting from under 
the ties as the ponderous engine pass- 
ed over them, 

FIRST SETTLERS AT LAURENS. 

Geo. W. Leverich and wife, who ar- 
rived' Dec. 15, 1881, were the first to 
locate at the new town of Laurens. 



He secured the erection of the first 
buildiDg, opened the first store— a 
hardware and grocery — and became 
the first post master about April 1, 
1882. He lived in the rooms over the 
store and used them as a hotel more 
than a year. This building was after- 
wards owned and occupied by the 
Johnson B;os. who kept a general 
store. 

S. F. Sturdivan erected the second 
business house, and opened a general 
store in the spring of 1882. The 
Shoemaker Bros, built the third one 
and opened a hardware store. The 
first dwelling house was built by Hi- 
ram Herroid andwas located on Fourth 
street. The Methodists secured the 
erection of the first church building. 

On Sept. 1. 1882, at the end of the 
first season it was found the popula- 
tion lr-id increased to fifty persons and 
the business interests were represent- 
ed by one general store, a furniture, a 
hardware, and an implement store, 
two lumber and two coal yards, a 
meat market, blacksmith shop, drug 
store and hotel. In 1890 the popula- 
tion had increased to 318, in 1900 to 
853 and in 1902 to 1000. 

In 1895 a good system of water- 
works was erected at a cost of $4,800 
by the Challenge Wind Mill Co, of 
Batavia, 111. It consists of a 22 foot 
tank set on a steel tower 80 feet high, 
and a pump that is propelled by a gas- 
o'ine engine. 

GREAT FIRE OF 1898. . 

Although several of the homes of 
the pioneers of Swan Lake township 
had been consumed by fire, including 
those of John B. Strouse in 1872 and 
again in 1877, and of John D. Proctor 
in 1878, it was, for more than fifteen 
years, the piide of the people of Lau- 
rens that the town "had never had a 
fire." The town was, however, not 
destined to be free from the ravages 
of the fire fiend. 

The first fire occurred on the night 
of March 20, 1S97, when the large barn 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



755 



of Geo. H. Bunton, containing 350 
tons of hay belonging to T. F. Shuffle- 
botham, was entirely consumed. The 
water-works were brought into use as 
soon as enough help arrived to pull 
the hose cart through the mud, but a 
constant stream was not opened upon 
it until nine o'clock the next morn- 
ing, the water being reserved to pro- 
tect the town in the event of wind. 
The loss was estimated at $2,000 of 
which $1000 on the hay was covered 
by an insurance. 

un March 8, 1898 the town was visit- 
ed by the most disastrous fire in the 
history of Pocahontas county. The 
west side of Main street, in the busi- 
ness portion of the town, was swept 
almost clean the length of a block. 
The loss sustained included ten build- 
ings and their contents, valued at 
$50,000. 

This fire was discovered about 4 
o'clock in the morning, in the rear of 
the hardware store of Moore & Stacy. 
The fire company assembled with re- 
markable promptness and in a short 
time three streams of water were 
playing on the burning building, but 
these means were powerless to check 
the progress of the rapidly devouring 
element. The flames soon spread to 
the hardware and furniture store of 
Shoemaker & Anderson, the general 
store of M. and J. R. Hakes, and then 
to all the other frame buildings in 
that block, including the ice house of 
M. M. Noah. 

A brief summary of the losses sus- 
tained showed as follows: M. and J. 
R. Hake's building and stock of gen- 
eral merchandise $30,000 insurance $5,- 
000; Shoemaker & Anderson, a double 
building and stock $7,000, insurance, 
$1,500; Johnson Bros. (G. T. and S. D.) 
general merchants, building and 
stock $3,700, insurance $700 ; F. O. 
Younggren, merchant, stock $1,500, 
insurance $500, in building owned by 
Mat Jensen $1,000; M. C. Adams, 
building and restaurant supplies $2,- 



000 insurance $800; E. H. South- 
worth two buildings and harness 
stock $2,200 insurance $800; Moore & 
Stacy building and stock $2,500; 
First National Bank building and fix- 
tures $2,000, F. C. Gilchrist $100 there- 
in; Erickson sisters, milliners, $200, in 
building owned by E. C. Stott, $500: 
M. M. Noah, ice house $800; Dr. P. 
Gallaher office fixtures $100; B. L. 
Saum and J. H. Willey office fixtures 
$50. 

This fire was believed to be the 
work of an incendiary, The work of 
the fire company was entirely satis- 
factory and there was a full supply of 
water. The first one to rebuild was 
M. M. Noah, who immediately built 
another house over the ice that re- 
mained. Others that suffered the 
loss of buildings very soon cleared 
away the charred memorials of their 
sad loss and erected more substantial 
ones of brick in their places. 

On the west side of Main street 
there is now a solid block of one story 
brick buildings, finished with pressed 
brick and large plate glass windows. 
They are substantial in appearance 
and are provided with new and con- 
venient fixtures. A beautiful cement 
sidewalk extends the entire length of 
the block in front and some of the 
buildings have a cemented cellar, 
brick vaults and an elevator. 

The disastrous character and speedy 
recovery of Laurens from the baptism 
of fire, remind one of the experience 
of Chicago in recovering so quickly 
from the great loss sustained by the 
ever memorable fire of 1871. It is 
pleasant to note the noble rivalrj be- 
tween these two ambitious cities. Of 
Chicago it may be said that one hun- 
dred years ago it could not be found 
on the map, sixty years ago it was 
merely the chief town of • a county, 
25 years ago it was the chief city 
of a state, but it is now the intellect- 
ual, industrial and financial capital of 
an empire— the great Middle West— 



756 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



which is now tributary to her. The 
commercial leadership already attain- 
ed by the citizens of Laurens is a 
harbinger of the greater supremacy 
that sball follow in the years that are 
to come. 

GOWRIE & NORTHWESTERN R R. 1900. 

In 1900 the citizens of Laurens, by 
voluntary contributions, paid the 
Gowrie & Northwestern R. R. Co., 
$3,715, the cost of the right of way 
and depot grounds at that place. 

This line was opened to traffic Nov, 
18, 1900 and two days later, that fact 
was duly celebrated at Pocahontas 
and Sibley. It began to carry mail 
Dec 17. 1900, and Jan. 15, 1901, it was 
sold to the C, R. I. & P. Ry., for $1,- 
579,315.58. A mortgage for this 
amount was given an Eastern loan 
company, and the recording of the 
deed and mortgage at Pocahontas 
cost $2,220. J. H. McKinney has been 
the local agent since August 1900, and 
Joseph Murray was the first operator 
of the interlocking switch. 

The depot on this road at Laurens 
is just 12 miles from the one at Poca- 
hontas. The track is 100 feet higher 
at Laurens and 200 feet higher, along 
the west bank of Pickerel Lake, than 
at Pocahontas. 

PATRIOTIC CELEBRATION. 

July 4. 1885, was the first great day 
in the early history of the town. On 
that occasion the citizens celebrated 
the birthday of American freedom 
with all the pomp and splendor appro- 
priate for such an occasion. The day 
was clear, powder burned, fire 
crackers banged, sky rockets shot 
high in the air and the stars and 
stripes waved more gloriously than 
ever before. 

At the public meeting held at the 
bowery erected for the occasion Dr. J. 
H. Farson presided; Rev. F. H. 
Hungerford offered prayer; Miss Chap- 
man read Whittier's poem, Liberty 
and Independence and also the Decla- 
ration of Independence, and Cleland 



Gilchrist delivered the oration. At 
the afternoon meeting toasts were re- 
sponded to as follows: Rev. F. H. 
Hungerford, Our Country; Louie 
Lange, American Liberty; and S. R. 
Overton, American Progress. 

SUCCESSION OF OFFICERS. 

The town of Laurens was incorpo- 
rated June 12, 1890, aud at the fir t 
election the following officers were 
chosen: Mayor, B. E. Allen; recorder, 
W. A. McNee; treasurer, S. D. John- 
son; councilmen, Montague Hakes, J. 
P. Shoemaker, R. C. Hal!, Geo. F. 
Johnson, Geo. II. Bunton and D. J. 
Allen. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 

Mayors: B. E. Allen 1890-91, Lou'e 
E. Lange '92-95, Milton M. Noah '96- 
99, J. A. Harvey 1900-01, M. M. Noah. 

Recorder: William A. McNee 
1890-1902. 

Treasurers: S. D. Johnson, Daniel 
Davis, F. L. Stone '92-P3, F. E. Brown 
'91-95, J. R. Hakes, H. W. Ludwig '97- 
99, E. G. Cool 1900-02. 

Councilmen: M. Hakes 1890-91, J. 
P. Shoemaker 'JO 91, R C. Hall, G. T. 
Johnson '90-98; G. H. Bunton, D. J. 
Allen, B L. Allen '91-96, Charles F. 
Kreul '91-98, W. E. Caswell '91-1902, 
Eri D. Anderson '95-1902, C. J. Bovee 
'95-1902, J. B. Tool '97-99, J. R. Hakes 
'99-1902, W. E. Crowder '99-1901, C. S. 
Jones 1900 02, Anton -E. Wells 1902. 

THE CHURCHES. 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL — The first 

religious services in Laurens were held 
in the waiting room of the depot after 
it was completed in the spring of 1882 
and they were conducted by Rev. A. 
W. Richards of old Rolfe. Jeremiah 
Brower, a local preacher who lived in 
the vicinity of Pickerel Lake, in Bue- 
na Yista county, held occasional ser- 
vices that season in the neighboring 
school houses and also in the depot. 
A Methodist appointment was soon 
established and it formed for several 
years a part of the Marathon charge. 
During this period it was served by 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



757 



the following pastors. Revs. F. II. 
Hungerford, Rhinehart Hild, Levi 
Jarvis, and Robert Burnip, '88-91. 

Dec. 5, 189 L it was organized as a 
separate charge during the pastorate 
of Rev. E. J. Bristow, Rev. Jes-e Cole 
serving as presiding elder. 

The families that united to form 
this organization in 1891 were those of 
Charles S. Allen, Jacob P. Shoemaker, 
Jeremiah Brower, Fred L. Buck- 
waiter, W. V. Moore, Daniel Davis, 
Joseph Brower, Dr. Joseph M. Carroll. 
Joseph Southworth. 

The first officers were as follows: 
Local preacher, F. L. Buckwalter; 
stewards, Dr. J. M. Carroll, J. P. 
Shoemaker, Mrs. W. V. Moore; trus- 
tees, Charles S. Allen, D. Dav : s, Jos- 
eph Brower. 

The succession of pastors has been 
as follows: Edmund J. Bristow to May 
5, 1893; Ceo F. Whitfield to Oct. 1, 
1894; S. C. Olds, one ycar;R. A. Quinn 
four years, '95-99; Geo. P. Hathaway, 
one year; A. W. Luce, two years; H. 
C. Chambers, the present pastor, who 
began his labors Oct. 1, 1902. 

A church building, 28x44 feet, was 
built in 1888 at a cost of $1500; and a 
parsonage in 1900, at a cost of 81200. 
Since its organization this church has 
numbered among its officials many of 
the most cultured and influential peo- 
ple of the community; and the con- 
gregation is now contemplating the 
erection of a new and larger building 

The present officers are as follows: 
Stewards,— Mrs. B. E. Allen, Mrs. T. 
B. Mather, Mrs T. D. Landon; trus- 
tees,— C. S. Allen, P. G. Weittenhiller, 
J. M. Turner, Dr. J. M. Carroll, B, L. 
Saum, John King, J. W. Mick, J, P. 
Shoemaker; class leaders, —J. H. Mc- 
Kinney. S. G. Peterson; S. S. Superin- 
tendents-,— J. H. McKinney, W. H. 
Roewe; president of Epworth League, 
Elizabeth Atkinson. 

church of Christ.— As a result of 
a protracted meeting, held by Rev 
Bruce Brown, the Church of Christ 



was organized Feb. 1, 1892, with sixty 
members. The officers then elected 
were: G. H. Bunton and Daniel Davis, 
elders; G. T. Johnson and T. B. Steel, 
deacons; G. T. Johnson, treasurer; 
and Fred Stair, clerk. 

Nov. 6, 1892, a fine church building, 
50x80 feet, was dedicated at a cost of 
$3500, in the north part of the town. 
IJ has now a membership of 150. 

The succession of pastors has been 
as follows: C. II. Mattox, April 20, 18- 
92— July 1, '93; D. A. Hunter. July 15. 
'93— July 15, '95; T. F. OJenmeller, 
Oct, 1, '95— Oct. 1, '96; C R Neel, 
Oct. 1, '96-Apr. 1, '98; W. B Cash, 
Apr. 1,'98-Oct. 1/99; A. E. Major,Oct.l, 
'99— Aug. 1901; Eiward Wright, S 'pt. 
1901— June 1902; J. C. Hanna, the 
present pastor since Sept. 21, 1902. 

The elders in 1902 were, R. C. Hall, 
Frank Stacy, and O. M. Murphey; dea- 
cons, — J. E. Clant'm, Roland Nelson,, 
Fred Sawtell, II. M. Spencer. E. Ct 
Cool and John Cromwell. 

German evangelical Lutheran: 
The Evangelical Lutheran Emmanuel 
congregation of Laurens was organ- 
ized July 4, 1897, by Rev. Mr. Mutsch- 
mann, of Boscobel,Wis. Several fam- 
ilies having moved fiom Irs parish to 
Laurens, he visited them, effected 
their organization and entrusted them 
to the care of neighboring pastors. 
The succession of pastors has been as 
follows: Rev. Mr. Matthias, C. Ida, 
Mr. Dralle, J. Pless, the present pastor 
since November 1899. 

The families tliat united to form 
the original organization were those 
of August Ehlers, Ctiarles F. and 
Henry A. Kreul, Yvilliam and George 
Hinn, George Kreul, A. Roehlk, John 
Krohn, C. J. Drecssen, and Jacob 
Kern. The first officers were John 
Drecssen, H. A. Kreul and Adam 
Roehlk. The officers in 1902 were 
William Hinn, Geo. Hinn and H, A, 
Kreul. The membership in 1902 in- 
cluded fifteen families, representing 
seventy-three souls, 



758 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Rev. J. Pless also serves the St. 
Peter's Evangelical Lutheran church 
at Pocahontas. This congregation 
was organized in Lincoln township in 
1893 by Rev. O. Stachling, of Lizard 
township, who, in 1898, was succeeded 
by Rev. Wm. Weltner. In 1900, when 
the railroad came, the place of meet- 
ing was changed to Pocahontas and 
that fall this congregation became a 
part of the pastorate of J. Picss, of 
Laurens. The next year a church, 
32x48 feet and costing $2,400, was 
built and dedicated Sept. 14, 1901. 
This congregation includes twenty- 
six families, 140 souls. The officers in 
1902 were J. DeWall, J. II. DeWall, 
F. Weltner, Wm.Boog, H. DeWall,G. 
Bottin, and G. Aden. 

Swedish Lutheran: The Swedish 
Lutherans are quite numerous in the 
vicinity of Laurens, and, during the 
early 90 ! s, they secured the erection 
of a church building, costing about 
$1,800, at Laurens. They have a resi- 
dent pastor, Rev. R. Beckstrom, who 
has served them a long time in the 
pastorate. Their house of worship is 
used also by the German Lutherans. 

Catholic: Catholic services have 
been maintained at Laurens several 
years by Rev. P. H. McCauley and 
Rev. Joseph Murtagb, successive pas- 
tors, of the Rolfe Catholic church. In 
1901 a neat church building was built 
at Laurens at a cost of $1,800. 
the high school. 

The Independent school district of 
Laurens was established Feb. 14, 1891, 
including the south half of sections 
21 and 22, the north half of sections 33 
and 34 and all of sections 27 and 28; 
and this act of the township school 
board received public approval Feb. 25 
following, by a vote of 29 to 3. 

The first election in this district 
was held March 9, 1891, in the office of 
Beardsley & Alien. W. E. Caswell 
served as chairman of the town meet- 
ing and Jesse Clifton as secretary. 
Daniel Davis, W. E. Caswell and Al- 



fred Darnell were elected a board of 
directors; and a tax of $300 was levied 
to- complete the two upper rooms of 
the school building. 

March 16th 1891, the board organized 
by the election of Daniel Davis, presi- 
dent; W. E. Caswell, secretary; and 
W. A. McNee, treasurer. A teachers' 
fund of $1200 was levied and the 
school term increased to nine months. 

The first school in Laurens was 
taught by L. M. Starr during the win- 
ter of 1882—83. It was held in the 
second story of Shoemakers' hardware 
store and was attendedby six pupils, 
two each from the families of Dr. 
Carroll, Joseph Cranton and Hiram 
Herrold. Jared Hughes was elected 
the director that year. 

The first building had only one room 
and was built in 1883. In 1889 a four 
room frame building was built at a 
cost of $3000. Only the two lower 
rooms were completed and during the 
next two years it continued to be used 
as a township building. In 1891, when 
the indepandent district was estab- 
lished, the building- was completed 
and two additional teachers employ- 
ed. In 1896 the fifth teacher was add- 
ed. In 1900 the building was enlarged 
and improved at a cost of $7000. In 
1902 seven teachers were employed 
and 300 scholars were enrolled. 

The school building, a large frame 
structure, is located'on the summit 
north of the C. & N. W. depot where 
it towers in bold relief at the north 
end of Third street. It is a credit to 
the town and its rooms are open to 
pupils from the township. The course 
of study is equal to any in the public 
schools of Northwest Iowa and par- 
ents find here the facilities for giving 
their children a good education. 

In October 1900, in response to a 
proposition made by Hon. Geo. W. 
Schee, of Primghar, to donate $100 for 
a library the school children raised 
$50, the citizens $150 and a library 
costing $300 was put in the high school. 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



75 9= 



Mr. Schee lias helped maDy poor boys 
to obtain a good education by putting 
them in a position to help themselves. 
It is his desire by means of libraries 
of this sort to aid as many children as 
possible of Northwest Iowa. 

Louie E. Lange taught the school 
four years, 1886—89, in the one room 
building. In the new building he was 
succeeded by Prof. Gates and Myra 
Steward in 1889 and 1890. who had as 
assistants respectively, Viola Eaton 
and Anna L. Shoemaker. * 

The succession of principals since 
the establishment of the independent 
district has been as follows: Gilger E. 
McKinnon, 1891; Jesse Gates, G. A. 
Emery, W. P. Fobes, Lillian L. 
Crissley, C. C. Hodges, '96-97; E. L. 
Grout, '98—1902; W. H. Reever. 

The assistants have been Myra 
Steward, Ida M. Moore, Ida M. Bar- 
rett, Anna L. Shoemaker, Grace M. 
Roewe, Minnie E. Curtis, Kate L. Se- 
right, '93-96; Julia A. Riddle, Cora 
Montgomery, Mrs. G. E. McKinnon, 
Jessie B. Laweon, '95—97; J. J. Lynch, 
Carrie E. Carrick, Lillian Wheeler, 
Bessie B. Arnold, Cora A. Hall, '97 — 
1902; Clara E. Boothroyd, "d8-1900; 
Bessie B. Osnald, Marie Vance, Anna 
Fouche, '99—1900; Jessie Campbell, 
'99—1900; Mrs. Kate Melson, Flora V. 
Noble, '99—02; Hence Braley, Tessa 
Houglass, Alice McDougall, Altha 
Curry. 

The high school was organized in 
1897 and the following classes have 
graduated from it. 

1898, Flora Carroll, Roy Hunter. 
May Galleher, Daniel W. Bovee. 

1899, Maud Allen, Ethel Saum, Lena 
Hughes, Orin Nelson. 

In 1901 the course of study was ex- 
tended to twelve years. 

1902, % Albert H. Kreul, Bernice Ole- 
son, Vira V. Davis, Elizabeth Allen, 
Oliver E. Atkins jn. 

In 1901 the ladies of the Mother's 
Club secured the loan of 100 volumes 
from the State Library— 50 for adults 



and 50 for young people. This library' 
was placed iu the store of Si:acy & 
Weaver and it was open to all appli- 
cants free of charge from 3 to 5 o'clock 
every Saturday afternoon beginning 
April 20th, for a short tim". 

noble opera HOUSE.— One of the 
recent improvements worthy of spec- 
ial mention is the opera house built in 
1902 by V. A. Noble. He was the owner 
of the Commercial House, built by 
Robert Foust in 1883, and, removing it 
to another part of the town to be used 
as a dwelling house, he erected in its 
place a double brick block, the lower 
story of which is used for store rooms 
and the upper one for an opera house. 
This hall is 60x80 feet and ha^ a plat- 
form 30x40 feet, that is furnished with 
elaborate and art : stic scenic effec's. 
The auditorium will seat 537 persons 
and its acoustic properties are excel- 
lent. The formal opening Oct. 16, 
1902 was the occasion of an important 
society event. The house was crowd- 
with the best people of the commun- 
ity and many visitors from neighbor- 
ing towns, to witness the performance 
of the play entitled, "The Wrong Mr. 
Wright." Many of the ladies wore 
beautiful gowos prepared for the oc- 
casion, and the receipts were nearly 
$1000. It is a commodious and beau- 
tiful auditorium and the citizens gave 
Mr. Noble a bonus of $1500 to encour- 
age him to build it. 

G A. Ii., LAURENS. 

The G. A. R. Post of Laurens was 
organized on the evening of Jan, 29, 
1884, by Comrade A. L. Burnell, of 
Patterson ville, assisted by C. L. Davi- 
son, L. V. C. of the department of 
Iowa, as follows: Commander, B. E. 
Allen; L. V. C, Philip Herrold; J. V. 
O, Jared Hughes; Adjt., Stephen 
Sturdivan; Searg., Geo. W. Proctor; 
Chap., J. Brown; Q. M., Robert C. 
Jones; O. D., Nelson Parker; S. M, 
Daniel Pew; Q. M. S., Peter Urban; 
Comrades, Albert L- Wood, Edward 



760 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Burke, J, B. Cifford, Robert Frost, 
John Pettit, C. W. Bah in. 

LAURENS SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

The succession of the Laurens 
school officers has been as follows: 

Presidents of the board: Daniel 
Davis, 1891-92; M. M. Noah, '93—96; 
C. J. Bovee, '97; C. F Kreul, '98—99; 
W. F. Crowd :-r, 1900; H. M. Noah, '01 
02. 

Secretaries: W. E. Caswell, '91— 
92; [J. O. Austin, Jesse Clifton, '93— 
1901; E. E Narey, E. G. Cod. 

Treasurers: W. A. McN e, '91-92; 
B. L. Alien, '93-1902. 

Others that served as members of 
the bojrd were W. E Casweli, Alfred 
Darnell, VV. V. Moore, F. O. Nicho's, 
J. N. Furncss, Geo. T. Johnson, '93— 
99; J. J. Lynch, R. C. Hill, '95—1902; 
J. E. Peteison, O. M. Murphy, Hon. 
M. E.DeWolf. 

LEADING business enterprises. 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK. 

This bank was established as a pri- 
vate institution in 1889 and in Sep- 
tember 1892 was incorporated as a 
National bank. Its officers from the 
first have been F. H. Helsell, presi- 
dent; J. P. Farmer, vice-president; 
W. A. McNee, cashier. L. D. Beards- 
ley and G. E. McKinnon, assistant 
cashiers a few years ago, have been 
succeeded by C. E. Narey. The 
capital stock is $50.0(50. 

This bank is located on the corner 
south of the depot and is provided 
with a fire proof vault, burglar proof 
safes and the Diebold automatic time 
device. 

The officers of this bank are pro 
prietors of several others in the vicin- 
ity of Laurens, and have a high stand- 
ing in commercial circles. They are 
careful, conservative men, and are 
endeavoring to extend to their 
patrons all the advantages of a safe 
banking institution. 

DEWOLF & WELLS. 

M. E DeWolf and Anson E. Wells, 
in the fall of 1902, became the suc- 



cesses of (A. J.) Wilson & DeWolf as 
proprietors of a line of elevators at 
Laurens, Havelock, Marathon, Va- 
rina,Albert Cityand Webb, and a bank 
business at Curlew, with the princi- 
pal office at Laurens. The firm of 
Wilson & DeWolf was formed in 189-5, 
when they bought elevators at Lau- 
rens and Havelock. In 1899 they 
built elevators at Albert City, Varina, 
Webb and Marathon. In 1901 they 
became the owners of the e'evator of 
Geo. II, Bunton, Laurens, and in the 
spriog of 1902, in place of the two 
elevators then owned, they built a 
large one at Laurens, that has a 
capacity of 60,000 bushels, modern 
hopper bins, conveniences for ele- 
vating coin in the ear and a shell er 
that can shell 500 bushels of corn 
in an hour. 

On Oct. 1, 1902, Anson E. Wells of 
Laurens, who had previously dispt sed 
of his elevator interests at Laurens 
and Havelock to the Wells-Hood 
Grain Co , of Central City, Neb , pur- 
chased the elevator interests of Hon. 
A. J. Wilson and thus became a mem- 
ber of the firm of DeWolf & Wells 
The banking business at Curlew, that 
was included in the deal, was soon 
disposed of and the new firm, with its 
headquarters at Laurens, is devoting 
its sole attention to the work of its 
line of elevators located at the six 
other towns above named. This 
firm does a vast amount of business, 
and is the disburser of a large amount 
of money. They ship annually more 
than 1,000 cars of grain that average 
1,000 bushels to the car. 

WELLS BROS. 

Wells Bros, Anson E. and A. A., 
grain buyers at Havelock, in 1897 pur- 
chased an elevator at Laurens and 
located there. They had been en- 
gaged in the grain business since 
1888 and had become familiar with all 
its details. They secured the man- 
agement of elevators at Laurens, 
Havelock and Curlew, a bank at 




DANIEL J. ALLEN. LAURENS. 
1832-1897. 






M. E. De WOLF, 
Representative, 1898-99. 



FRED. C. GILCHRIST, 
Representative, 1902-03. 





CHARLES S. ALLEN. 
Banker. 



MONTAGUE HAKES, 
Representative, 1904-05. 



LAURENS. 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



761 



Curlew, and had the principal office at 
Laurens since 1897. 

June 1, 1902, this firm of Wells 
Bros, sold their elevators at Laurens, 
Havelock and Curlew to the Wells- 
Hood Grain Co., of Central City, Neb. 

Oct. 1, following, Anson E. Wells 
bought the elevator interests of 
Hon. A. J. Wilson and thus became a 
member of the new firm of DeWolf & 
Wells, who are the proprietors of a 
half dozen elevators in the vicinity of 
Laurens and haye their principal 
office at that place. A. A. Wells has 
become a resident of Marathon. The 
firm of Wells Bros, for several years 
was a very piominent onie in this 
county and its proprietors were al- 
ways ready to do their share toward 
the upbuilding of the towns in which 
their elevators were located. 

"WHEELER GRAIN & COAL CQ. 

The Wheeler Grain & Coal Co , with 
headquarters at Laurens, is one of 
the new enterprises established in 
this county, as a result of the con- 
struction of the new railway— the C. 
R. I. & P.-in 1900. This company 
was incorporated Aug. 15, 1900 with 
a paid up capital stock of $20,000. 
They own and operate elevators at 
Pocahontass, Ware, Laurens and 
Leverett, Iowa, that are unsurpassed 
in their facilities for handling grain. 
They have low driveways, patent con- 
trollable dumps. Fairbank's Standard 
scales and the machinery is propelled 
in each by gasoline engines. L. W. 
Wheeler, the president and general 
manager of the company came from 
Kankakee, 111., where for several 
years he was assistant cashier of the 
City National bank. The other stock- 
holders and directors are H. H. 
Wheeler, vice-president, and W. S. 
Wheeler, secretary. 

ALLEN BROS., BANKERS AND LOAN 
AGENTS. 

The Lrstory of Laurens would not 
be complete, if it did not include an 
account of the rise and progress of 



the business interests established by 
D. J. Allen & Sons, now Allen Bros., 
bankers and dealers in real estate and 
live stock. The rapid growth and ex- 
pansion of their business enterprises 
is almost without a parallel in the 
history of Pocahontas county. 

These men, now occupying a lead- 
ing place in the business interests of 
Laurens, Ware and Pocahontas, were 
first represented in this county in the 
year 1886. In February 1886, tvro 
brothers, Charles S. and Benjamin L., 
sons of D. J. Allen of Marshall coun- 
ty, having previously obtained posses- 
sion of several thousand acres of un- 
improved land in tbis vicinity, came 
to Laurens with a capital of $35,000 
and, purchasing the two private 
banks of Geo. W. Leverich and M. B. 
Caswell, united them and established 
in their place the Exchange Bank of 
Laurens. They also at the same time 
and place established a Land & Loan 
Agency. D. J. Alien & Sons were the 
sole proprietors of both of these in- 
stitutions, and they were personally 
conducted by Charles S. and Benja- 
min L. Allen. Later they established 
a loan agency at Pocahontas. In 1887 
they were joined by their brother, 
Byron J. Allen, an attorney, who 
located at Pocahontas and took 
charge of the office at that place. 

In 1890 D. J. Allen, their father, 
became a resident of Laurens, and in 
1891 another bank was established at 
Pocahontas undeT the management 
of Byron J. Allen, president. 

July 1, 1892 the business interests 
of D. J. Allen & Sons were re-organ- 
ized and their scope greatly enlarged. 
The capital of the Exchange Bank at 
Laurens was increased to $50,000, and 
it was incorporated as the State Bank 
of Laurens under the following 
directors, D. J. Allen, Frank Deklotz, 
Eri D. Anderson, G. H. Bunton, 
Louie E. Lange, S. F. Sturdivan and 
C. S. Allen. The officers then chosen 
were C. S. Allen, president, Frank 



762 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Deklotz, vice-president and B. L. 
Allen, cashier. The Land & Loan 
Agency was reorganized as the Allen 
Land & Loan Company, and its capi- 
tal stock was increased to $136,400. 
The new officers were D. J. Allen, 
president, C. S. Allen, secretary and 
treasurer, and B. L. Allen, assistant 
secretary. That same year a double 
two story brick building, costing $11,- 
000, was built for the bank at Laurens. 
This building is provided with a fire 
proof vault, burglar proof chests and 
all possible safe-guards. 

January 24, 1893, the other bank 
was reorganized as the State Bank of 
Pocahontas and its capital increased 
to $25,000. The officers then chosen 
were C. S. Allen, president, Terrence 
Doyle, vice-president and T. F. Mc- 
Cartan, cashier. 

In 1893 they had the Iowa Publish- 
ing Co., of Dubuque, prepare and 
print for free distribution, a large 
edition of a seventy page pamphlet, 
that gave an excellent account of the 
agricultural resources, manufacturing 
Industries and business interests of 
Pocahontas county. They endeavor- 
ed to attract to this locality new 
settlers and outside capital, by mak- 
ing known through this excellent 
advertising publication the oppor- 
tunities for safe and profitable in- 
vestment, in the rich and productive 
lands of Pocahontas county. 

December 31, 1896 the charter of 
the State Bank at Pocahontas was 
surrendered and the business there 
sold to Heald, Stegge & McCartan; 
but January 1, 1900 the bank of 
"Allen Bros." was reestablished 
there with a capital of $10,000 under 
the management of J. H. Allen, presi- 
dent, C. S. Allen, vice-president, .F. 
W. Lindeman, cashier, and B. L. 
Allen, assistant cashier. They also 
established the same year (1900) the 
Savings Bank at Ware under the 
management of B. L. Allen, president, 
M. T. Nilsson, vice-president, and C. 



N. Carlson, cashier, with a capital of 
$10,000. 

With the progress of years some 
changes have taken place in the per- 
sonnel of the State Bank at Laurens. 
D. J. Allen died in 1897, Charles L. 
Allen continues to be president and 
M. T. Nilsson is cashier. It is now one 
of the most popular and successful 
banking institutions of northwest 
Iowa and enjoys fully the confidence 
of the people. Its constant aim is to 
serve its patrons faithfully and afford 
them every facility and convenience 
consistent with safe and conservative 
banking. 

During the years that have passed, 
the Allen Bros, have permanently in- 
vested many thousands of dollars, 
in the erection of some of the finest 
buildings in Laurens and Poca- 
hontas. Utilizing their lands for 
raising and feeding stock, they 
have become leaders in that 
business, carrying each year several 
thousand sheep, hogs and cattle. 
Under their skillful management 
their capital has rapidly increased. 
If however they have reaped boun- 
tifully during the recent years 
of unrivaled prosperity, it is be- 
cause they had previously sown with 
a liberal hand. The times have been 
prosperous and they were in a posi- 
tion to ride upon the crest of the 
wave. Their names have become in- 
seperablj connected with the growth 
and prosperity of this county, espec- 
ially of the cities of Laurens, Poca- 
hontas and Ware. 

The banking institutions of a com- 
munity indicate the character or 
development of its commercial inter- 
ests better than any other, because, 
they constitute the medium of ex- 
change, that supplies the life cur- 
rents to business enterprises. They 
are as serviceable and indispensable 
to commercial life as the veins and 
arteries, through which the blood 
circulates, are to the animal organism. 



SWAN'LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



763 



The people of Laurens are to be con- 
gratulated on the solid and substan- 
tial character of their banking insti- 
tutions and the constant increase in 
the amount of their deposits. 

HAKES BROS., MONTAGUE AND JAMES 
R., POULTRY DEALERS. 

Hakes Bros., merchants and poultry 
dealers, who used to make the sale of 
general merchandise their principal 
business, have made it easy for the 
farmers of Pocahontas county to 
realize a handsome profit raising 
poultry. They have studied the east- 
ern markets and learned what is want- 
ed. They have also learned how to 
dress, pack and ship poultry so as to 
receive for it the highest price. 

Perceiving that capons brought the 
highest price paid for chickens, they 
were not deterred by the difficulties 
incident to raising them and;; believ- 
ing that Pocahontas county could 
produce the best, in the summer of 
1894 they secured a man familiar with 
the art of caponizing roosters and 
sent him through the country to do 
this work for all their customers free 
of charge, the only condition being 
that they be allowed to handle their 
surplus poultry paying for it the high- 
est market price. 

This experiment proved so satis- 
factory that a large majority of the 
poultry raisers in the vicinity of 
Laurens adopted this method of rais- 
ing poultry and the Hakes Bros, in 
1897 and 1900 extended their trade to 
Rolfe, Marathon and many other 
localities on the two lines of railway 
centering at Laurens. 

The price paid for capons varies ac- 
cording to the weight of the fowl, the 
heaviest ones bringing the highest 
price per pound. The following illus- 
trations, showing the experience of 
several of their customers living in 
the vicinity of Rolfe, have been noted 
by the Reveille and much of this 
article has been taken from the col- 
umns of that excellent paper. 



Harry K. Squires, who raises a good 
grade of Plymouth Rocks, sold the 
first year 23 capons that averaged 8i 
pounds and four of them brought $1.00 
each. In 1901 Squires delivered 36 
capons. Two averaged 13 pounds and 
brought $1.30 each; 18 averaged 10 
pounds and brought $1.00 each; and 
16 averaged 8 pounds. Benjamin 
Ritters delivered 14 capons and re- 
ceived $14.00. W. S. Butler delivered 
50 capons and received an average of 
80 cents. James Cunningham, who 
raised 200, Frank DeWolf, Robert 
Roy and Claus Johnson received simi- 
liar prices for their fowls. These re- 
sults can be duplicated by any careful 
farmer who raises the larger breeds 
of fowls, such as Plymouth Rocks, 
Wyandottes, Brahmas or Langshans. 
Caponizing has the effect of extend- 
ing the period of growth and increas- 
ing the size. Capons therefore re- 
quire a little more time for full 
development than roosters. 

The number of capons handled by 
this firm is steadily increasing. From 
five to seven thousand are annually 
caponized at Laurens. About 5,000 
are annually caponized in the vicinity 
of Rolfe and at a number of the 
other towns where they purchase 
poultry. 

The annual income of the farmers 
in the north part of this county from 
poultry and their product is much 
larger than many suppose and capon- 
izing tends to greatly increase it with- 
out any extra expense to the producer. 
During the first season caponizing 
was a difficult undertaking. The 
idea was new to the farmers and they 
looked upon the stranger with sus- 
picion. Some feared his contract 
would later appear as a promissory 
note, and others told him, "they 
would wiggle along the old way and 
let their roosters do the same." 

It is altogether different now. They 
have become acquainted with M. & 
J. R. Hakes and learned the value of 



764 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



their work. They know what it 
means to receive 50 cents to $1.25 each 
for their roosters instead of the old 
price, 25 to 50 cents a head. 

In 1900 Hakes Bros, erected at 
Laurens a two story building, 40x96 
feet, for dressing and packing poul- 
try. This is a substantial building 
that rests on a brick foundation, and 
adjoining it are large and commodious 
sheds and yards for live poultry. 

During the year ending June 30, 
1900 they paid to the farmers in the 
vicinity of Laurens $17,000 for poultry 
and to patrons at Havelock, Rolfe 
and other towns $40,000 more, making 
an aggregate of $57,000 for that year. 
On one day in December 1902 they 
paid $5,000 for the live poultry de- 
livered to them by wagon and rail 
at Laurens that day, and nearly 
$100,000 for the entire amount 
of it handled by them that year. 
There is perhaps not another town in 
the state that gives the farmers so 
much clear cash for poultry as this 
one firm pays its patrons at Laurens. 
During the packing period each year 
their establishment is a very busy 
place. Twenty-five men are employ- 
ed in it. . Thousands of chickens, 
turkeys, ducks and geese may be seen 
in the yards and sheds around it; also 
a procession of loaded wagons moving 
towards it, and on the side track car 
loads of live or dressed fowls arriving 
or ready for departure. In the spring 
of 1902 they had at one time twenty 
car loads, 225 tons, of dressed poultry 
in cold storage at Laurens and New 
York City. 

All the dressed fowls are assorted 
and graded as they are packed. A 
careful record is kept so that at any 
time they can tell the quantity, grade 
and cost of the stock on hand. 

Many patrons of the poultry dealer 
do not appreciate the loss to which he 
is exposed through a little negligence 
on their part. The most frequent 
and serious losses usually occur in con- 



nection with the shipment of live 
birds, through the neglect of some of 
their patrons to deliver their poultry 
on the appointed day. This seems a 
small matter, but it usually deter- 
mines whether the dealer shall have 
a profit or sustain a loss on that ship- 
ment. The dealer has secured a car 
for a certain date and contracted for 
the delivery of enough fowls to fill it 
that day, but a few farmers are either 
busy or negligent, and the car has to 
be shipped with a partial instead of a 
full load. The expense of buying and 
hauling and also of freight, is 'as 
great as if the full amount had been 
received, and the commission is about 
as great, so that in frequent instances 
the shortage in delivery changes the 
expectation of profit to a realization 
of loss. 

It has been truthfully said, that he 
who makes two blades of grass grow 
where only one grew before, is a bene- 
factor to his race. When men of en- 
terprise build up a business, that 
brings clear profit to so many of the 
people of a community as the poultry 
business under the management of 
the Hakes Bros., they merit recogni- 
tion and public patronage. Such men 
are public benefactors. None have 
been, more grateful for the public 
patronage accorded to them than these 
men who have made Laurens the at- 
tractive center of the largest poultry 
trade in Northwest Iowa. 

'Hiisnsr bros., w. &j. q. 

Hinn Bros,, millers and butter 
manufacturers, Laurens, are men 
whose cleverness and ambition have 
enabled them to attain an enviable 
leadership in the lines of business 
they represent. 

In 1894 they erected a mill that does 
all kinds of mill work and has a capa- 
city of fifty barrels of flour per day. 
It is fully equipped with the latest 
improved machinery and its wheels 
are propelled by an engine of thirty- 
five horse power. Their first and 



SWAN LA.KE TOWNSHIP. 



765 



second grades of flour are called 
"Fancy Patent" and "Snow Flake," 
and their respective merits have long 
since awakened a demand for their 
sale in other and even distant local- 
ities. In 1900 they established a feed 
mill at Pocahontas and, through it, 
have maintained a general exchange 
business in flour at that place. 

In 1897 they purchased of T. J. 
Beats & Co., the Laurens co-oper- 
ative creamery and moved it near the 
mill, Under the management of T. J. 
Beats it commanded a large patron- 
age and was one of the important in- 
dustries at Laurens. Important im- 
provements were made at the time 
of its purchase in 1897, and in 1902 its 
work was completely re-arranged by 
furnishing each of their patrons with 
a hand separator that they might do 
the separating at home. This plan 
lessens the cost of gathering the 
cream, enables the creamery to pay a 
better price for the butter and leaves 
the farmer his own skim milk fresh 
for feeding purposes. This creamery 
has the machinery and the proprietors 
have both the desire and the means 
to make it the strongest and best one 
in the county. 

In May 1902, wishing to extend 
their business into some new territory 
they purchased the creamery at Poca- 
hontas and supplying its patrons with 
hand separators changed and greatly 
improved the method of its operation. 
They have creameries operated in the 
same manner at Havelock and Mara- 
thon. 

They are thus the successful man- 
agers of creameries at Laurens, Have- 
lock, Pocahontas and Marathon, and 
have the principal office at Laurens. 
The patrons of their creameries and 
mill have become their best adver- 
tisers and it has been their good for- 
tune to witness a steady growth and 
enlargement of the butter and milling 
industries under their careful man- 
agement, 



PROCESS BUTTER. 

In 1901 they obtained the machin- 
ery for renovating, or making anew, 
old butter. By means of it they are 
able to take the worst butter, found 
in the backrooms of stores, and make 
it pure, clean and sweet. The new 
product is called, "Process Butter," 
and it is claimed to be cleaner and 
purer than either dairy or creamery 
butter, because every element of for- 
eign substance and even odor has been 
removed from it. 

Whilst the finishing process is a 
secret and gives to the product its 
name, "Process Butter," the princi- 
pal operations are as follows: 

A barrel of old butter is dumped in- 
to a vat, brought to a boiling heat 
with hot water and steam, and then 
it is constantly stirred. The foul 
stuff, that gathers on the surface, and 
the sediment at the bottom are re- 
peatedly removed until nothing re- 
mains but the pure butter fat. This 
fat or oil is then placed in a large con- 
ical shaped rectifying vat, where it is 
again brought to a boiling heat with 
hot water in an outer vat. During 
the next five hours pure air,forced into 
and sprayed over the bottom of the 
inner vat, comes bubbling up through 
the boiling oil and takes from it every 
element of odor. 

This chemically pure, odorless 
butter fat is then colored and allowed 
to cool and harden. It is then churn- 
ed with fresh milk to give it a butter 
taste, worked, salted and packed, the 
same as creamery butter, but it is 
marked, "Process Butter." On ac- 
count of its purity, it is rated equal 
to creamery butter and brings a high- 
er price in the city market than the 
dairy product. 

The Icwa Dairy report for 1902 
states that there are now twelve such 
factories in this state and nine of 
them during that year renovated 
4,530,388 pounds, of bad butter, of 
which, 991,333 pounds were sold ix\ 



PIONEER H1STOEY OF rOCAHONTAS COUKTY, IOWA. 



Iowa, principally in Des Moines, and 
the rest was shipped to New York 
City. 

In 1902 there was an average of 25 
cows to the square mile in Iowa, and 
40 in Bremer, the banner county. 
The creamery product was 77,885,696 
pounds and its average price was 
24 1-6 cents, the highest in ten years. 
In 1900 the value of the entire dairy 
product in this state was $27,516,870, 
and in the entire country $475,000,000, 
which is six times the value of the 
entire gold product in this coun- 
try during the same year. 

In no branch of industry has the 
use of improved facilities made great- 
er changes than in the manufacture 
of butter. The first creameries were 
established in this section, in 1880 
at Fort Dodge and in 1882 at Fonda, 
on the plan of keeping the milk 
cold under water in Cooley cans. 
About 1885 the separator was intro- 
duced in the creameries and a new 
impulse was given to the manufac- 
ture of butter. In 1897 C. M. Saylor 
and his son, Calvin B, Saylor, began 
to use hand separators on their farms 
in Lincoln township. These were 
probably the first farm separators used 
in Pocahontas county. In three years 
from that time a complete change be- 
came necessary in the management of 
the creameries to maintain them. 
The number of them in operation 
in Iowa in 1902 was considerably less 
than in 1900. Those that have sur- 
vived have had to adopt the plan of 
furnishing all their patrons with a 
hand cream separator. The latest 
phase or transition is in the direction 
of centralization, which means the 
establishment of large butter manu- 
factories in the larger cities and the 
shipment of the cream by rail from 
the localities thus directly connected. 

The creamery industry has develop- 
ed with great rapidity during the 
last three years, and it has added 
greatly to the farmer's wealth by in- 



creasing his annual product of butter 
and bringing him higher prices for it. 
During the early 80's, thirty-six hours 
were needed to develop the cream, the 
farmer's wife spent a good share of 
her time skimming milk and washing 
cans, and the farmer might have been 
seen in the woodshed laboriously 
working a dasher up and down in an 
old churn. The times have changed. 
Now the farmer spends a few minutes 
running the new milk through a hand 
cream separator, feeds it to his calves 
and sells his cream to the proprietor of 
the creamery. The introduction of new 
machinery and new methods has 
greatly increased the product of the 
dairy, raised the standard of its 
quality and thereby increased the 
farmers annual income. 

The farmers, especially the dairy- 
men of the Mississippi Valley, have 
been styled, "Western Gold Bugs," 
because they have become not only 
self supporting, but the creditors of 
the east, and therefore not so liable 
to suffer from financial panics as 
formerly. It has been estimated that 
the dairy interests of the United 
States now represent an invested 
capital of one billion, and that the 
value of the annual dairy product is 
about one million dollars. This great 
development in recent years has been 
due to the general introduction of im- 
proved machinery and the adoption of 
new methods on the farm. 

KREUL BROS , CHRISTIAN F.& HENRY A. 

The smith, a mighty man is he, 

With large and sinewy hands, 
And the muscles of his brawny arms, 

Are strong as iron bands; 
He looks the whole world in the face, 
For he owes not any man. 

— Longfellow. 
One of ths oldest and most widely 
known of the business firms at 
Laurens is that of the Kreul Bros , C 
Fred and Henry A., who are general 
blacksmiths and manufacturers of 
wagons, buggies and plows, but make 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



767 



a specialty of wagon and plow work. 
Their shop, 32x103 feet and two stories 
in height, is the largest one in this 
county. It is supplied with a large 
amount of new and improved machin- 
ery, .consisting of forges, lathes, 
planers, borers, band and circular 
saws, etc , all of which are propelled 
by a gasoline engine of twenty-five 
horse power. It is well provided for 
doing all sorts of iron and wood work. 
It is a regular manufacturing estab- 
lishment and gives employment to 
four to six men. As a good mill 
draws patrons and traders a long dis- 
tance, so has this industry of the 
Kreul Bros, tended to make Laurens 
great. 

In 1898 they made a traveling cart 
for some Swedish missionaries in 
China. Its axle was adjustable so as 
to suit roads of different widths. It 
was much heavier and stronger than 
the ordinary cart and had a regular 
buggy top. It was ordered through 
the missionaries from Fairfield town- 
ship, Buena Vista county, because 
such vehicles, when made by the 
natives, are very rude and clumsy 
affairs. 

In 1902 they built a large ditching 
machine for the G. W. Strickland 
Ditching & Grading Co., for use in 
the Red River Valley, Minnesota. 
This machine excavates a ditch 8 feet 
wide and 3i feet deep, and four cap- 
stans are used in propelling it. 

The successive steps in the. enlarge- 
ment of this industry are illustrative 
of the growth of the town and sur- 
rounding country. It was started in 
a little blacksmith shop, built by C. 
F. Kreul in 1884, only two years after 
the town had been founded. Henry 
A., his brother, came two years later 
and began to work for him. la 1838 
they formed a partnership under the 
name, "Kreul Bros." In 1890 they 
erected the spacious two story build- 
ing now occupied and in 1893 began 
the manufacture of plows. The upper 



story of their building was used 
several years as an opera house. 

This firm represents one of the most 
important of the pioneer industries of 
the town. The proprietors are in- 
dustrious and skillful mechanics, 
they employ only courteous and trusty 
workmen and warrant all their work. 
p.eed's independent telephone. 

The Independent Telephone ex- 
change at Laurens was established by 
Charles G. Reed, druggist, in the fall 
of 1899, with a patronage of 30 phones. 
The number of phones the next year 
was increased to 60 and in 1902 to 135. 
It connects with all the Independent 
lines in the vicinity and renders a 
very efficient and satisfactory service. 
As a public convenience it is a favor- 
ite with the people. Mr. Reed is ag- 
gressive in his methods and is en- 
deavoring to give his fellow citizens 
the very best telephone service at the 
lowest possible rate. Harriett Bell- 
man of Cherokee was the first opera- 
tor and in 1901 she was succeeded by 
Pearl Rickabaugh. 

KURAL TELEPHONES. 

In January 1902, the farmers north- 
west of Laurens organized the North- 
western Telephone Company by the 
election of W. D. Cottrell, president, 
Harry A. Moore, secretary, and W. F. 
Atkinson, treasurer. The aim of this 
organization is to extend the advan- 
tages of the Laurens Telephone Ex- 
change into the rural districts. In 
the spring of 1902 they erected three 
rural lines from Laurens, each 8 to 10 
miles in length, running, No. 1, north- 
west, No. 2, due north, and No. 3, 
northeast. 

In December 1902 another rural 
telephone company was organized by 
the farmers south and east of Laurens, 
of whom F. K. Hawley, president, 
George Aschenbrenner, Jr., secretary, 
H. M. Doty, treasurer, N. Moore and 
H. De Young were chosen a board of 
directors, and constructed a line from 
Laurens four miles southward thence 
east to Ware. 



768 



PIONEER HISTORY OF IOCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



The rapid extension of telephone 
lines in the rural districts of Iowa' 
during the years 1900 to 1902 was mar- 
velous. No other public utility of 
equal value and convenience is furn- 
ished the public at so trifling expense 
as the telephone, and hence the num- 
ber of lines has multiplied rapidly. 
In 1900 there was an increase of 138 
companies and in 1901 an increase of 
238 companies or a growth of 170 per 
cent. On Jan. 1, 1902 there were 651 
companies having 22,409 miles that 
were assessed at $1,000,000. The 
growth in 1902 was even greater than 
in 1901. 

While the telephone is designed to 
annihilate distance, its greatest use 
is in direct ratio to its nearness, chief- 
ly because people are concerned most 
in their immediate surroundings. 
Whilst the long distance telephone 
has its limitations owing to the dif- 
ficulty of duplexing the circuit, the 
use of the short distance telephone is 
yet in its infancy. 

The Eolfe Telephone Co., (p. 505), 
which started July 1, 1900 with 85 
phones, on Oct. 1, 1902 had constructed 
a number of rural lines over Clinton, 
Des Moines and Powhatan townships 
and had a patronage of 383 phones. 

The Northern Telephone Co., (p. 
393), Sept. 1, 1899 opened an exchange 
at Fonda with 57 phones and built 
that season toll lines to Newell, Sul- 
phur Springs, Nemaha, Juniata, 
Storm Lake, Alta, Varina, Lilly, Al- 
bert City and Laurens. The next 
year it extended its lines to Aurelia, 
Cherokee, Pocahontas, Plover, Have- 
lock, Rolfe, Gilmore City and Palmer; 
and bought a line to Knoke, Jolley 
and Rockwell City that was later ex- 
changed for one in Pocahontas county. 
The toll lines of this company have 
been since extended to Sioux Rapids, 
Humboldt and Fore Dodge; and it is 
now building a copper circuit from 
Fort Dodge to Cherokee. It has ex- 
Changes i at Fonda, iNewell, Storm 



Lake, Aurelia, Sioux Rapids and Gil- 
more City and many rural lines that 
altogether have a patronage of 1000 
phones. The capital stock has been 
increased from $10,000 to $100,000, and 
it is again under the general manage- 
ment of George Sanborn. 

THE POCAHONTAS COUNTY SUN. 

The Pocahontas County Sun, as a 
democratic local paper, was establish- 
ed by Louie E Lange, June 15, 1885. 
During the first six months the only 
room that could be obtained for the 
printing outfit at Laurens was the 
barn of Geo. W. Leverich. The outfit 
consisted of a Washington hand press 
and a few cases of type. The popu- 
lation was less than 200, and the older 
papers of the county could not refrain 
from poking a little fun at the new 
paper printed in a little barn; but its 
plucky founder worked hard, lived 
economically, dodged creditors and 
taught school until it became self- 
supporting. 

The outlook during the first two or 
three years was not very encouraging, 
but then an era of better times com- 
menced, many new settlers began to 
occupy the wild prairies, the town 
grew, the people saw the paper was 
bound to live and in one summer — 
1887 — 400 new names were added to 
the subscription list. It lived to 
print sad obituary notices of some 
who predicted its early failure. When 
it was established there were no side- 
walks north of the track and the lit- 
tle school house _on the hill was the 
only place for meetings. Only seven 
of the firms doing business in 1902 
existed then, namely: Beardsley & 
Allen, M. Hakes, T. B. Steel, Geo. 
T. Johnson, C. F. Kreul, J. P. 
Shoemaker and Dr. J. M. Carroll. 

Mr. Lange continued in charge of it 
until Aug. 1, 1900, a period of more 
than 15 years. It had become one of 
the leading newspapers in the county, 
and occupied a fine office on Main 
street, that' was furnished with ^ 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



769 



splendid printing outfit including a 
Sidney folder that folds, cuts, pastes 
and trims 30 papers in a minute. 

Geo M. Long, of Peterson, the suc- 
cessor of Mr. Lange, changed it from 
a democratic to a republican paper 
and in February 1902 sold it I/O R. C. 
Garver, of Cedar Rapids, the present 
proprietor. 

A new and very artistic heading 
was adopted for the first page Dec. 21, 
19u0, and continued the two years it 
was published by Mr. Long. It was a 
beautiful piece of pen work on the 
part of Roy Bouton, an employe of 
the office, and its presentation was a 
pretty compliment to the editor 
whose name it bore. It consisted of 
the great seal of the state, as a cen- 
tral sun sending rays of light in every 
direction, surmounted by an Ameri- 
can eagle with wings out-spread, and 
on the right and left hands the title, 
"Pocahontas County Sun," inter- 
twined with a streamer on which was 
inscribed the Iowa state motto, "Our 
liberties we prize and our rights we 
will maintain." 

R. C. Garver, its present editor, ser- 
ved some time as a special reporter 
for the Associated Press, and thus ac- 
quired a wide and valuable acquaint- 
ance with the public men and affairs 
in this state. He is a very capable 
man, a polished writer and is endeav- 
oring to make the Sun a valuable ex- 
ponent of the sentiment and progress 
of the northwest part of the county. 

THE STANDARD. 

The Laurens Standard, the only 
other paper hitherto published at 
Laurens, was issued weekly from Oct. 
1, 1896 to Dec. 1st following by F. M, 
Lenehan. It was a six column quarto 
and its outfit*was removed from the 
county when it was discontinued. ^ 

LAURENS IN 1902. 

Agents: C. & N. W. Ry ,— L. G. 
Smith; C. R. I. & P. Ry.,— J. H. Mc- 
Kinney; Switp'i tower,— Jan^eg B, 



Rickabaugh, in 1901 successor of 
Joseph Murray. 

Mayor: M. M. Noah. 

Postmaster: Wm E. Atkinson. 

Attorneys: Hon. Fred C. Gil- 
christ; F. W. Paige, since 1892. 

Auctioneer: J. R. Tool. 

Banks: State.. C. S. Allen, presi- 
dent; M. T. Nilsson, cashier; First 
National, F. H. Helsel', president; 
Wm. G. McNee, cashier. 

Baker: F. C. Manatt at Gem cafe. 

Barbers: A. E. Sawtell and 
Homer Bros., Charles and Geo. F. 

Blacksmiths: Kreul Bros., (C. F. 
and H. A ); C. E. Winsor, in 1900 suc- 
cessor of Winsor and (Geo. R ) Kreul. 

Bookkeeper: C. E. Narev. 

Broom Maker: John Workman 
(blind), since 1899. 

Carpenters: F. Oscar Youngren, 
C. F. Coleman, R. C. Hall, L. N. and 
Herbert Ellis, L. L. Cook. 

ChopHojse: John Sniggs, 

Clerks: Daniel Davis, John Miller, 
John Cromwell, John Jensen, Charles 
Swauson, Harry Ludwig, Herbert 
Babcock, Albert Kreu 1 , Lettie Allen, 
Ralph E. Hughes. 

Clothiers: Thompson & Bellman, 
succeeded by V. A. Noble in 1902, who 
closed out the stock. 

Churches: Methodist, (built 1888), 
— Rev. H. C. Chambers, pastor; Chris- 
tian, (1893), —Rev. J. C Hanna, Pastor; 
Swedish Lutheran, (1893),— Rev, R. 
Beckstrom. pastor; German Luther- 
an,— Rev. J. Pless, Pastor; Catholic, 
(1900),— Rev. Joseph Murtagh, of 
Rolfe^Pastor. 

Creamery: Hinn Bros. (W. and 
J. G.)- 

Dentist: Dr. F. N Beam. 

Doctors: J. M. Carroll, J. H. 
Hovenden, P. Gallaher, J. W. Hig- 
gins, and M. Moore, who in 1902 re- 
moved to Walnut, Iowa. 

Draymen: Mather Bros ,(.!. T. and 
E. K. ), Daniel McAfee. Joseph . Clan- 
ton, and E. H. At wood. 

Dressmaker: Marie Lundwick. 

Druggists: Dr. J. M. Carroll, since, 



770 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



1882; C. G. Reed, in 1897 successor of 
Paul Jones & (Sterrett; J. W. Higgins. 

Drainage Engineer: J . E. Peter- 
son. 

Elevators: DeWolf & Wells, in 
1902 successors of Wilson & DeWolf 
(1895), Laurens Grain Co , Cowan & 
Bardue, (1889-92), Cowan and Davis, 
('87-89), D. J. Allen &. Sons, F. G. 
Thornton and Eri D. Anderson; suc- 
cess )rs also of (H. L. Bruett) Geo. H. 
Bunton ('93-1901), Allen Grain Co. 
('89-93); Northern Grain Co., in 1893 
successor of Johnson & Brown, and 
Lyman Johnson ('91-92); Wheeler 
Grain & Coal Co., since 1900. 

Furniture Dealer: T. D. Lan- 
don, in 1901 successor of Eri D. Ander- 
son: 

General Merchants: Hakes 
Bros., (M. and J. R ), in 1885 success- 
ors of S. S. Sturdivan (1882); O. M. 
Murphey in 1895 successor of August 
Youngren (1890); M. T. Nilsson and 
Joseph Peterson, in- 1901 successors 
of Geo. T. and S. D. Johnson, (1886); 
M. M. Noah in 1903. Variety store, 
— C. W. Erret. 

Hardware: Shoemaker J. P., in 
1901 successor of Shoemaker & Ander- 
son, established by J. P. Shoe- 
maker in 1882; Stacy & Weaver, in 
1900 successors of Moore & Stacy, 
Moore & Johnson, John Wells, and 
Frank G. Thornton (1884-87). 

Harness Makers: Edwin II. 
Southworth, Geo. W. Wright. . 

Hotels: Adams Hotel, M. C. and 

C. W. Adam 3, in 1903 succeeded by S. 

D. Johns jn. The Commercial House, 
in 1902 was replaced by the Noble Op- 
era House by V. A. Noble successor, 
as proprietor of the Commercial 
House, of Solomon Cundy, Nelson 
Parker, Sherman Anderson, Geo. W. 
Bellinger, William D,viggans, and 
Robert Foust 1883-84. 

Implement Dealers: Jacob Bill- 
man, in 1900 successor of W. E. Crowd- 
er; V. A. Noble, in 1901 successor of 
H. L. Bruett. 



Insurance: Samuel Harper, N. H. 
White. 

Jewelers: II. M. Spencer, in 1896 
successor of P. J. Cilley; E. J. Nut- 
ting, 1902. 

Liverymen: Mather Bros., James 
T. and E. Kenneth; W. H. Higgins 
and (Frank) Kendall; W. E. Crowder. 

Lumber & Coal: C. J. Bovee, 
since 1882; L. D. Beardsley and B. L. 
Allen; Jesse Smith. 

Magnetic Healer: C. W. Adams. 

Meat Markets: Milton M. Noah 
till 1902; Noer E. Bigglestone, suc- 
cessor of J. M. Turner, Gus Ehlers 
and John Schroeder 1886-97. 

Millers: W. and J. G. Hinn since 
1894. 

Milliners: Mamie Johnson, Elvi- 
na Stuhr, Erickson Sisters, Beda and 
Anna. 

Music Teachers: Mrs. C. J. 
Bovee and Mrs. E. C. Winsor. 

Musical Instruments: Levi 
Dean. 

Nubse: Myra Crandall. 

Painters: Fred Post, M. H. Mur- 
ray, Jesse Clifton, Fred Sawtell and 
Frank Martin. 

Newspaper: The Pocahontas 
County Sun, est. 1885, R C. Garver, 
editor. 

Optician: Harriet F. Spencer. 

Poultry Dealers: M. and J. R. 
Hakes. 

Real Estate: B. L. Saum, II. L. 
Bruett, J. J. Lynch, Samuel Harper 
and N. H. White, Allen Land & Loan 
Co., P. S. Weittenhiller, Beardsley & 
Clanton. 

Photographers: C. F. Garrison of 
Rolfe, and C. O. Brown. 

Restaurant Keeper: M. O and 
C. W. Adams, succeeded by S. D. 
Johnson in 1902. 

Seamstresses: Mrs. Edward Gun- 
kel, Edith Ludwig. 

Sewing Machines: Levi Dean. 

Shoe Dealers: V. A. Noble, Geo. 
Larson, Hakes Bros., O. M. Murphey, 
Nilsson & Peterson. 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



771 



Stock Dealers: Robinson & 
Jones, and Noah & Wiss. 

Teachers: W. H Reever, princi- 
pal, Kate Fowler, Tessa M. Duuglass, 
Alice McDougal, .Viola Bleakly, 
Flora Noble, Margaret McGarty and 
Bertha Warren. 

Telephone: Laurens Independ- 
ent, established 1899 by Charles G. 
Heed, proprietor, Pearl Rickabaugh, 
operator. 

Veterinary Surgeons: C. A. 
Clinton, M. D. C. and P. E. Fagan, D. 
V. S. 

Vocal Instructor: J. P. Scott. 

Well Drillers: Lofquist & 
Mattelin, Thomas Burke. 

School Board: M. M. Noah, presi- 
dent, Christ F. Kreul, Hon. M. E. 
DeWolf, O. M. Murphey, R C. Hall; 
E. G. Coll, secretary, B. L. Allen, 
treasurer. 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

alien, Benjamin E (b. 1842), lum- 
ber dealer, Lauren^, is a native of 
Clinton county, N. Y. In his youth 
became to Kane county, 111., where in 
1861 he enlisted as a member of Co n, 
36th III. Inf. and rendered four years 
of military service during the civil 
war. July 22, 1864 he was captured at 
Atlanta, Ga., and with other com- 
rades was confined twu months in 
Andersonville prison. He was then 
successively transferred to the prisons 
at Florence and Charleston, S. C, 
Wilmington and Goldsborough, N. C. 
He was paroled at Goldsborough, 
March 3, 1865. 

In 1872 at Huntley Grove, Mclienry 
county, III., he married Fannie E. 
Knappen (b. N. Y. 1850) and engaged 
in farming. In 1875 he located on a 
farm in Sac county, Iowa. In the 
spring of 1883 he came to the new 
town of Laurens and, forming a part- 
nership with L. D. Beardsley, has 
since been engaged in the sale of 
lumber and coal. 

Twenty years have passed since the 
firm of Beardsley & Allen began to do 



business at Laurens. They represent 
one of the oldest firms in the town. 
During these years they have witness- 
ed many changes not only in the 
development of the town and country 
but also in the management of the 
business interests of the town. The 
long and prosperous career of this 
Arm is very creditable both to them 
and the community they have been 
endeavoring to serve. They have 
been equitable and progressive in 
their methods and the name of the 
firm has become widely and favorably 
known. Mr. Allen was accorded the 
honor of serving two years, 1890-91, as 
the first mayor of Laurens. 

His family consisted of four chil- 
dren. The two oldest died in 1879 and 
the youngest in 1891. Maud E., a 
teacher, graduated from the high 
school in 1899. 

Allen, Daniel Johnson (b. 1832, d. 
1897), banker, Laurens, was a native 
of Columbiana county, Ohio. In 1853, 
locating near Marietta, he became one 
of the early settlers of Marshall couu- 
ty, Iowa. In 1855 he married Eliza- 
beth Holmes who, two years before 
had also come from Columbiana coun- 
ty, O., and, locating on a farm three 
miles west of Marshalltcwn, contin- 
ued to occupy it, raising and feeding 
stock, until 1886. Previous to that 
date the farm, known as the Strath- 
more stock farm, had been increased 
to 1,000 acres and he had improved it 
with large and beautiful farm build- 
ings. It was then sold to Ex Guv: 
Packard of Lousiana. 

In 1890 he located at Laurens, where 
his two sons, Charles S. and Benjamin 
L., had preceded him four years and, 
through his co-operation, had estab- 
lished the Exchange Bank of Laurens 
(p. 761.) and the Land & Loan Agency 
of D. J. Allen & Sons. 

During the brief period of his resi- 
dence at Laurens he exerted a potent 
and beneficent influence in the devel- 
opment of its business interests, and 



772 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



also in its moral and religious life, 
During his later years lie spent the 
winter seasons at San Diego, Cal. In 
the fall of 1897, while enroute to that 
place, he became sick and died Oct. 
13th, before he reached his destina- 
tion, at the age of 65 years. His wife 
died at Laurens at 59 in 1891, and 
both are buried in Riverside cemetery 
at Marshalltown. 

He was a kind and affectionate 
father, and manifested a desire to 
keep his family together as much as 
possible. He was a lifelong republi- 
can and a zealous defender of the 
rights of the negro in the south. He 
was a staunch advocate of the cause 
of prohibition and gave liberally to- 
ward the suppression of the saloon. 
He belonged to the Hicksite Friends 
by birthright and when possible at- 
tended their services. The gener- 
osity of his nature was manifested by 
his words of sympathy to those who 
were in trouble and by numerous 
gi ts of charity to the needy. He 
was unassuming in manner but ag- 
gressive in spirit, and manifested a 
genuine interest in the public welfare 
of Laurens. He left a legacy of $1,000 
to assist in establishing an Orphan's 
Home in the city of Laurens 

His family consisted of eight chil- 
dren. All of them were born in Mar- 
shall county, Iowa, and two of them 
died in childhood. 

Charles Sumner (b. 1856), banker, 
Laurens, is a native of Marshall coun- 
ty, where he grew to manhood and, 
after acquiring an academic and busi- 
ness course of study at the Iowa 
State University, devoted his atten- 
tion to farming and stockraising. 

Fehruary 1, 1886, four years after 
the founding of the town, he and his 
brother, Benjamin L. Allen, located at 
Laurens. Aided by their father, 
Daniel J. Allen, they purchased and 
u/iited the separate banking interests 
of George W. Leverich andM. B. Cas- 
well in the Exchange Bank of Lau- 



rens, and established the real estate 
agency of D. J. Allen & Sons. Charles 
S. has been president of the bank 
ever since and in 1892 effected its in- 
corporation as the State Bank of Lau- 
rens. The same year through the co- 
operation of his father and brother, 
Benjamin, he effected the re- 
organization of the real estate 
agency as the Allen Land & Loan 
Company (p. 761 ) and greatly in- 
creased its capital stock. To these 
important business interests he has 
been devoting his time and talents., 
and has had the privilege of seeing 
them greatly prosper under his skill- 
ful management. In 1891 he per- 
formed a leading part in the estab- 
lishment of the Allen bank at Poca- 
hontas, that the next year was incor- 
porated as the State Bank of Poca- 
hontas but was discontinued Decem- 
ber 31, 1896. He is the owner of a 
large amount of real estate in the 
vicinity of Laurens and in 1898 built 
one of the finest residences in that 
town. He has been a trustee and 
liberal supporter of the M. E. church 
of Laurens since its organization in 
1891 and a loyal republican. 

In 1881 he married Martha E. Stew- 
ard of Marshall county and has a fam- 
ily of six children, Burritt S, Eliza- 
beth, a Laurens graduate in 1902, 
William J., Charles F., Martha Lucile 
and Eleanor May. 

Benjamin Lot, (b. 1858.) banker and 
dealer in real estate, Laurens, is a 
native of Marshall county where he 
grew to manhood and received his 
education. 

February 1, 1886, he located at Lau- 
rens, where he co-operated with his 
father and brother, Charles, in the 
establishment of the Exchange, now 
the State bank and a real estate 
agency. He has been a cashier of the 
bank at Laurens since it was founded 
and has been personally identified with 
all of the business interests establish- 
ed by D- J- Al'eh & Sons at Laurens, 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



773 



Pocahontas and Ware. He is presi- 
dent of the Savings Bank of Ware and 
its organization in February 1901 was 
largely due to his influence and lead- 
ership. In 1891 he succeeded his 
father as a member of the Laurens 
town council and served six years, 
1891 96. He is a republican and is al- 
ways ready to do his part in promot- 
ing the public welfare of his home 
town, Laurens. 

In 1887 he married Lulu, daughter 
of Senator Mills, of Marshall county 
and before the end of the next year 
she died of diptheria. In 1892 he 
married Addie Coulson, of Hinkley, 
111. His family consists of three 
children, Lenore, Thorena and Wil- 
mont. 

Byron J., (b. 1863, d. 1892.) after 
graduating from the law department 
of the Iowa State University in 1887, 
came to Pocahontas county that year 
and located at Pocahontas, where he 
began the practice of law and became 
local manager of the real estate and 
banking business of D. J. Allen & 
Sods. In 1888 he became the republi- 
can nominee for the office of County 
Attorney and, as the second incum- 
bent in that office, served this coun- 
ty two years, 1889-90. 

In 1890 he married Anna Jackson 
and died at 29 in 1892, after an illness 
of three days from appendicitis at 
Fort Dodge, leaving one child, Eliza- 
beth G. 

Mary (b. 1861) in 1882 married Byron 
E. Whalen, a banker and dealer in 
merchandise and liye stock. They 
live at Galva and have a family of 
four children, Edna, Bessie. Ealph 
and Grace. 

Sarah, (b. 1867.) a skillful account- 
ant, after rendering seven years of 
faithful service as head bookkeeper 
and assistant cashier in the Laurens 
Exchange Bank, in 1895 married Rev. 
George F. Whitfield, a member of the 
Northwest Iowa M. E. Conference 
and is now located at Euthven. 



Their family consists of one daughter, 
Rachel Elizabeth. 

Joseph Holmes (6. 1870), a regent 
of the Iowa State University, and 
banker at Pocahontas, is a native of 
Marshall county. He received his ear- 
ly education in the public schools of 
Marshalltown and graduated from the 
high school there in 1889. He then 
came to Pocahontas County and be- 
gan to fill a position in the land office 
of his father and brothers at Pocahon- 
tas at $50.00 a month. Two years la- 
ter he entered the Iowa State Uni- 
versity, completed the college course 
and graduated from its law depart- 
ment in 1895. 

At the University he eDjoyed the 
honor of being chosen one of the de- 
baters of the Irving society in the in- 
tercollegiate contest, editor-in-chief 
of the Hawkeye, the College Annual, 
and represented that institution in 
the all-around Western Football 
team. 

His first earnings of $500 in 1890 
were invested as a payment on a half 
section of land in Emmet County; and 
this investment, suplemented by the 
earnings received during vacations, 
enabled him to defray the expenses 
of his university courses and left him 
a surplus of several thousand dollars. 

Purchasing then a lot of stock in the 
Allen Land & Loan Co. he was elected 
president of it and gave the manage- 
ment of its affairs his' closest atten- 
tion until June 21, 1898, when in re- 
sponse to the call of the president for 
volunteers in the Spanish American 
war he and nine other young men of 
Pocahontas county, going to Cedar 
Rapids, became members of the Tip- 
ton company (F) of the 49th Iowa, and 
rendered ten mouths of service at 
Jacksonville, Fla., Savannah, Ga , and 
Havana, Cuba. Previous to his en- 
listment he had received from the 
governor of Iowa, L. M. Shaw, permis- 
sion to raise a company in this county. 
He did this but as no call was made 



Hi PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



for additional companies he enlisted 
and served as a private soldier. 

In 190u he located at Pocahontas 

On Jan. 1. 1901, with the co-op- 
eration of his brothers, Charles S. 
and Benjamin L., he re-established 
the Allen Bro«.' bank at Pocahontas 
and built for it one of the finest bank 
buildings in this state. The next 
year they built a large brick hotel at 
that place. He has also built a fine 
residence. Through these and other 
recent improvements he has contrib- 
uted greatly to the upbuilding of Po- 
cahontas, our county seat. 

In 1900 he was the delegate from 
this 10th congressional district in the 
national convention at Philadelphia 
that renominated President McKin- 
ley, and in January 1902 he was ap- 
pointed a regent of the Iowa State 
University by the General Assembly 
of Iowa. 

He is a young man, well equipped 
physically, intellectually, and morally 
for the best performance of the duties 
of life, public or private. He possess- 
es that sagacity that is needed to in- 
sure success in business and the cour- 
age to perform his duty conscientious- 
ly in any station. 

In 1899 he married Grace, daughter 
of Prof. James C. Gilchrist. After 
completing her education at Wellesley 
College, Mass., she engaged in teach- 
ing and became a favorite in musical 
circles. His family consists of one 
child, Byron Gilchrist. 

Htkinson, William F. (b. 1840), 
county recorder and postmaster, Lau- 
rens, is a native of Palatine, Cook Co., 
111., the son of Thomas and Elizabeth 
Furness Atkinson. He lived with 
his parents, working on the farm in 
summer and attending public school 
until he became of age. 

Feb. 28, 1862 he became a member 
of Co. G.,18th, 111. Inf., and continued 
to render military service until March 
15, 1865, when he was honorably dis- 
charged at Annapolis, Md, He par- 



ticipated in the battle of Chicamauga, 
Sept. 19-20, 1863, and was there taken 
prisoner by the confederates. He was 
confined in Pemberton Castle and al- 
so in Libby prison, which were on op- 
posite sides of the same street in 
Richmond, until Dec. 1, 1863, and then, 
with most of the prisoners there, he 
was" sent to Danville, Va. Here he 
was assigned the charge of the small- 
pox hospital and, during the following 
winter, cared for more than 600 pa- 
tients. In March in company with 
others from the hospital he was parol- 
ed and sent to Annapolis, Md. Dur- 
ing his imprisonment in Pemberton 
Castle he was tied up by the thumbs 
half an hour for refusing to give the 
names of other prisoners who tunneled 
a hole through under the wail of Pem- 
berton Castle. He belonged to the 
Army of the Cumberland and served 
under General Rosecrans. 

In the fall of 1865, having formed a 
partnership with Thomas Atkinson, 
his father, they came to Norway, 
Benton county, Iowa, and engaged in 
the mercantile business. He wa3 im- 
mediately appointed post master at 
that place with a salary of $36 a year. 
In 1877, owing to ill health he sold 
his interest in the store and engaged 
in farming. 

In 1882 he came to Pocahontas coun- 
ty, and located on the s^sei sec. 11, 
Marshal] township, which he was the 
first to occupy and improve. His 
household goods and stock were the 
first freight goods unloaded at the 
Laurens station. There were only 
two buildings at the station, whicli 
was merely a freight car, in what is 
now the thriving and prosperous city 
of Laurens. Vrarie wolves then sneak- 
ed through the tall grass at twilight 
in search of stray pigs and pullets, 
and, sitting on the hill tops, made the 
night hideous with long drawn wails, 
that never fade from the memory of 
the early settler. 

On the farm he kept a dairy of 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



775 



twenty cows and achieved good suc- 
cess as a stock-raiser. He let the 
calves do their own milking until 
they were old enough to be separated 
from the cow, and thus secured as 
good cattle at two years of age as 
many of those raised on skim-milk are 
at three. 

He served four years as county re- 
corder, 1887-90, and has been serving 
as postmaster at Laurens since Oct. 1, 
1897. 

During the period of his service as 
recorder he discovered that there 
were several small pieces of unpatent- 
ed lands in this county and secured 
one of them containing 40 acres on the 
sei sec. 4, Marshall township, under 
the timber culture act. In 1891 he 
located on sec. 16, Swan Lake town- 
ship and is now a resident of Laurens. 

He was a gallant soldier and has 
been faithful and efficient as a public 
officer. 

In 1867 while keeping store at Nor- 
way, he married Ellen, (b. Joliet, 111., 
1848) daughter of O. P. and Elizabeth 
Phillips, and she has faithfully shared 
with him since the trials and 
triumphs of life. Their family con- 
sists of five children. Paul W. (b. 
1869), a farmer in 1902 married Minnie 
Thornton and is now a resident of 
Clavis county, New Mexico. Ada E. 
in 1890 married Alfred H. Richey 
(see Richey) and now resides at 
Laurens. Charles D. (b. 1877) after 
graduating from the law school at 
Dixon, 111 , in 1900 located at Poca- 
hontas and began the practice of law. 
In 1902 he was chosen chairman of the 
Republican County Central Commit- 
tee and in November that year went 
to Washington, D. C. to fill a position 
in the office of the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives. Previous to his 
departure he married Vina, daughter 
of Mrs. Mary E. (John W.) Wallace of 
Pocahontas. Elizabeth E. (b. 1880) is 
now assistant postmaster at Laurens. 
Oliver Perry (b. 1883.) is a native of 



Pocahontas county, a graduate of the 
Laurens high school in 1902 and is now 
pursuing a business course in the Capi- 
tal City Commercial College, Des 
Moines. 

Bovee, Cassius Jacob (b. 1846), 
lumber dealer, Laurens, is a native of 
Caledonia Co., Vt., the son of Moses 
and Helen Warden Bovee. He was 
raisea on a farm and received his 
education in the public school. In 
1865 he moved with his parents to 
Green Mountain, Marshall county, 
Iowa, and there found employment 
in a hardware store. In 1878 he mar- 
ried Anna, daughter of Daniel Will- 
iams, a prominent farmer of that sec- 
tion, and located on a farm. Two 
years later he moved to Marshalltown 
and served two years as clerk in a 
hardware store. In the spring of 1882 
he located on a farm in Marshall 
township, this county, improved and 
occupied it the next ten years. 

In 1892 he became a resident of Lau- 
rens, where, associated with M. 
Hakes, he became an extensive dealer 
in lumber, coal, brick and tile. He 
had extensive fasilities for carrying a 
large stock of building materials, and, 
as a purchaser, acquired the happy 
faculty of anticipating the coming 
needs of the local market. He is a 
well built man physically and morally 
and has a laudable ambition to confer 
a lasting benefit on the community by 
furnishing the people the largest pos- 
sible amount of the best building ma- 
terials. In 1900 he built a new resi- 
dence in Laurens and his son, Daniel, 
became a member of the firm in place 
of M. Hakes, who then withdrew. 
Jan. 1, 1903, they sold the business to 
the Lane-Moore Lumber Co. 

During his residence in Marshall 
township he served as president of the 
school board one year and six years as 
a trustee. At Laurens he has been 
president of the school board one year 
and a member of the council during 
the last eight years. 



776 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



He has one son, Daniel W., a Lau- 
rens graduate in 1898, and a teacher. 

Carroll, Joseph M., Dr. (b. 1848) 
Laurens, is a native of Laporte, Ind. 
He moved with his parents to Illinois 
in his boyhood and to a farm near 
Iowa City in 1855. After several years 
devoted to study at Iowa City he. be- 
gan the practice of medicine, locating 
in 1873 in Fonda and the next year in 
Pomeroy. In 1874 he marritd Eva J. 
Brock of Calhoun county and in 1879 
graduated from the Medical Depart- 
ment of the Iowa State University. 
In 1882, after a residence of nine years 
at Pomeroy, he located at Laurens, a 
new town founded that year. He 
established a drug store and office, 
the first in the town, and has enlarged 
them from time to time with the 
growth of the place. The building 
now occupied is a two story brick 
erected in 1893. He carries a large 
stock of goods and has acquired a very 
lucrative practice. He cared for all 
the sufferers in the track of the tor- 
nado in Colfax township in April, 
1878, and was medical examiner dur- 
ing Cleveland's last administration. 
He served several years as county 
coroner, as treasurer of Swan. Lake 
township and as the health physician 
for Laurens and the two adjoining 
townships.. He owns a fine residence, 
located at the corner of the road 
south of Laurens. 

His family consisted of two children 
both of whom are married. 

Alma in 1897 married Edmund 
Plumb, a farmer, and lives in Colora- 
do. 

Flora B. in 1896 married Floyd Tool, 
a bather, lives at Laurens and has one 
child, Helen. 

Caswell, Elbert A., one of the 
pioneer lumber dealers at Laurens, lo- 
cated there in the spring of 1882 and 
found employment as a contractcr 
and builder. In the spring of 1883, he 
formed a partnership with L. D. 
Beardsley and bought out J. H. Queal 



& Co., who had established the first, 
and to that date, the only lumber 
yard at Laurens. A few months later 
he sold his interests at Laurens to B. 
E. Allen, and, moving to Rolfe, open- 
ed a new lumber yard at that place. 
At the end of a year he returned to 
Laurens and resumed work as a con- 
tractor and builder. In 1887 he mov- 
ed to Pocahontas and became the suc- 
cessor of J. F. Harlan in the abstract 
and loan business. In 1890 he relin- 
quished his interests at Pocahontas to 
L. C. Thornton, and moved to Grand 
Junction where he has since been en-, 
gaged in the clothing business. 

In 1883 he married Anna, daughter 
of John O'Niel, of Lizard township, 
and has two children, Flossie and 
Glenn. 

Caswell, William E, (b. 1856) 
brother of Elbert, carpenter and 
salesman, Laurens, is a native of Sus- 
quehanna Co , Pa , where he grew to 
manhood. In 1879 he came to Sac 
county, Iowa, and in May, 1882, to the 
new town of Laurens where he found 
employment as a carpenter. He has 
continued to reside at Laurens since 
that date, except two years, 1888 
and 1889, which he spent in Colorado. 
He has been a salesman in the lumber 
yard of Beardsley & Allen during 1 the 
last eleven years. He has been a 
member of the Laurens school board 
two terms and of the city council the 
last twelve years^ 

in 1884 he married Annie, daughter 
of T. J. Nelson, and has three chil- 
dren, Alma E., Carleton A., and Fan- 
nieC. 

Caswell, Miles B., brother of El- 
bert, in 1884 came from Pennsylvania 
to Laurens and established the bank 
of Laurens. Two years later he sold 
the bank to D. J. Allen & Sons, went 
to Colorado and died there in 1889. 

Clifton, Jesse S. (b. 1852) painter 
and justice, Laurens, is a native of 
Whiteside Co., 111., where he grew to 
manhood. In 1878 he married Ida 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



m 



Dietz and engaged in farming and 
teaching school. In 1887 he came to 
Ppcahontas county and located in 
Sherman township, and two years 
later in Laurens, where, as>a member 
of the firm of Cook & Clifton, he en- 
gaged in the implement business. At 
the end of the first year he severed 
his connection with this firm and has 
since devoted his time to painting and 
an office business as justice of the 
peace. He became very popular as a 
justice, held the office a long term of 
years, and served as secretary of the 
school board of Laurens nine years, 
1893-1901. 

He owns a good residence and has a 
family of four children, Leroy E., 
Guy E., Ethel B., and Merritt Melvin. 

DeWolff, Merton E. Hon. (b. July 
23, 1867), grain dealer, Laurens, and 
representative 1898-99, is a native of 
Cambria, Hillsdale Co,, Mich., the son 
of S. P. and Martha J. DeWolf. 

He attended district school until 
he was fourteen, and then began to 
work ou a farm at $7 a month. This was 
a very satisfactory compensation and 
two of the lighter forms of employ- 
ment, incident to this situation, con- 
sisted in running a bucksaw and pick- 
ing stones from the fields. After one 
year's employment on the farm, an 
uncle, like a prince in disguise, afford- 
ed him an opportunity to attend the 
Hillsdale High school, by working 
evenings and mornings at his home 
for his board. The excellent course 
of study in this school placed it on 
the university list, so that its gradu- 
ates were' admitted, without exami- 
nation, to the academic department 
of the State University at Ann Arbor. 
By close and faithful application he 
completed the three years course in 
this institution in two years, and 
taught school during the winters. 

In the fall of 1888, being under the 
necessity of replenishing his treasury 
and assisting some relatives, he nego- 



tiated a small loan to pay traveling 
expenses, packed his grip and came 
west, stopping at Eock Valley, Sioux 
county, Iowa. Here he found employ- 
ment in the harvest fields and later 
"struck a job" on an elevator in pro- 
cess of erection. After its completion 
he worked for the grain buyer a short 
time and then became manager of an 
elevator at Inwood, Lyon county. 
While thus engaged he was offered 
and accepted a position as bookkeeper 
in the State bank of Hull, and seven 
months later became assistant cashier 
of the State bank of Rock Valley, 
where he remained eighteen months. 
Through the favorable mention of the 
state bank examiner, who was greatly 
pleased with the thoroughness of his 
work, he was offered several good po- 
sitions and at the end of eighteen 
months became cashier of the Savings 
bank at Marathon. In 1895, at the 
end of four years of service, he formed 
a partnership with A. J. Wilson, 
president of the bank, and engaged 
in the grain business at Laurens, un- 
der the name of Wilson & DeWolf, 
with the principal office at Laurens. 
During the seven years of their part- 
nership he enlarged the field of their 
operations so that on Oct. 1, 1902, 
when Hon. A. J. Wilson sold his in- 
terests to Anson E. Wells, they were 
operating seven elevators and one 
bank, In the spring of 1902 a new 
elevator was built at Laurens having 
a capacity for 60,000 bushels, modern 
hopper bins, conveniences for eleva- 
ting corn in the ear and a sheller that 
can shell 500 bushels in an hour. The 
new firm of DeWolf & Wells has its 
principal office at Laurens. It has 
ether elevators at Havelock, Mara- 
thon, Varina, Albert City, Webb and 
Curlew. 

He has been accustomed to attend 
the county conventions of the republi- 
can party since he became of age, and 
had the good fortune to be elected to 
the first office to which he aspired 



778 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



representative in the General Assem- 
bly of Iowa. He had the honor to 
represent the 76th district, composed 
of Pocahontas and Humboldt counties 
in the 27th assembly of Iowa during 
the years 1898-99; and in 1900 was a 
formidable candidate for congress in 
this district. 

He early learned the importance of 
performing every duty in the very 
best manner and always enjoyed the 
utmost confidence of his employers. 
In the managementof business activi- 
ties he has discovered the possession 
of that sagacity and executive ability 
that insures successful achievement. 

He is a man whose hands are clean 
whose ambitions have been noble and 
praiseworthy and whose sense of hon- 
or and uprightness has been manifest 
in the good record he has made. 

During his service in the legislature 
he received considerable notice from 
the public press of the state as a man 
"whose pleasing yet forceful person- 
ality and strong, vigorous style of de- 
bate raise him above the level of leg- 
islators, as a towering peak lifts itself 
above a plain. He is not only potent 
and graceful in debate, but there is 
an atmosphere of cleanliness, method 
and goodness of purpose, that even 
those, who differ with him in his 
views, accord him the recognition of 
sincerity. His argument on the build- 
ing and loan bill was conceded to be 
the strongest, most lucid and well ar- 
ranged of any during the discussion 
that preceded the passage of that 
bill."— Register, March 8, 1898. 

His rapid rise from an humble and 
contented farm hand to successful 
achievement in business, and to the 
honor of occupying a seat in the legis- 
lature of Iowa at thirty, is a good 
practical illustration of the possibili- 
ties before our American youth 
in this section of our beloved country. 

In 1891, during his residence at Rock 
Valley, he married Elizabeth Prentice, 



a classmate of his high school days, 
and his family consists of four chil- 
dren, Maris, Hester, Mabel and Gail. 
Dubbert, Fred (b. 1856) is a native 
of Germany. In 1872 he came to 
America and located in Wisconsin, 
where he married Lottie Roewe. In 

1883 he located on the nwi sec. 36, 
Swan Lake township. He was the 
first to occupy this farm. He has im- 
proved it with large and well con- 
structed buildings, and surrounded 
them with a large grove. In 1889 he 
increased the farm to 320 acres. He 
served as assessor four years and has 
been secretary of the school board 
since 1896. He is a member of the M. 
E. church and has a family of four 
children, Louisa, Bernhard, Ulrich 
and Frederic. 

Parson, John H. (b. 1837-1895), 
doctor, Laurens, was a native of West 
Virginia, the son of William and 
Susan C. Farson. At eighteen he 
moved with his parents to Madison 
county, Iowa. After completing the 
common school course he pursued his 
education as a- private student. In 
1863 he was drafted and served until 
the close of the civil war, as a mem- 
ber of Co. I, 15th Iowa. During this 
period he served considerable time as 
a nurse ana often performed the 
duties of the chaplain. He possessed 
considerable natural ability, and, 
after the war, engaged in the practice 
of medicine in Madison county. In 

1884 he located in the new town of 
Laurens and continued the practice 
of medicine until his death at 58 in 
1895. He was affable and pleasing in 
his manners and was highly esteemed, 
by those who knew him. 

In 1859 he married Susan Kesler, 
who died leaving two children, John 
Wesley, a carpenter, who in 1884 mar- 
ried Nancy O. Clanton, and lives at 
Laurens; and Elizabeth Ann, who in 
1880' married Stephen Clanton, a 
farmer, Laurens. In 1892, Dr. Farson 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



779 



married Louisa Bradshaw, who, with 
one daughter, Florence, survives him 
and lives at Laurens. 

Frost, Eachel D., wife of Robert S. 
Frost and widow of John Pettit, was 
a native of New Jersey. At thirteen 
she moved to Saratoga county, N. Y. 
where in 1835 she married John Pettit 
who died in 1874. Their family con- 
sisted of ten children and six of them 
are settled in this county. In 1878 
she married Robert S. Frost, a vet- 
eran of the civil war, and located in 
Swan Lake township. She died at 72 
in 1S90. She was one of nature's noble 
women whose heart beat, in sympathy 
with the sorrows of mankind and her 
hand was ready to relieve them. She 
exerted an angelic influence and the 
world was made better by her humble 
and kind ministries. 

John Pettit, a son, who in 1879 lo- 
cated on sec. 19, was a trustee of the 
township in 1880—83, and R. S. Frost 
was president of the school board '85 — 
87 and 90. He was the last mail car- 
rier on the route from Pocahontas to 
Sioux Rapids, 1880—82. 

flakes, Montague (b. 1858) senior 
member of the firm of Hakes Bros., 
Laurens, is a native of Jones county, 
Iowa, where he was raised on a farm. 
In 1880 he graduated from the scien- 
tific department of the State Agri- 
cultural College at Ames. During the 
next four years he was in the employ 
of a railroad construction company 
and worked on the Oregon Short Line 
in Idaho, the Denver, South Park & 
Pacific in Colorado, and the extension 
of the B. C. R. & N. Ry. to Water- 
town, S. D. 

In December 1884 he married Hat- 
tie L. Arnold of Marion, Iowa, and in 
January 1885 located at Laurens, 
where he has since been engaged as a 
dealer in general merchandise and 
poultry. 

G-. J. Hakes, his father, was first as- 
sociated with him in the business un- 



der the name of G. J. Hakes & Son. 
Jan. 1, 1890 his brother, James R. 
Hakes, became a member of the firm 
in place of his father, and the name of 
the firm was changed to Hakes Bros. 
They have continued in the mercan- 
tile business until the present time 
save the brief period required to re- 
build after the great fire in 1898. 
They sustained a loss on that occasion 
of $20,000. This was a serious dis- 
couragement. They wasted no time, 
however, whining over their sad loss, 
but, rebuilding, they resumed with 
renewed vigor, the struggle, for com- 
mercial supremacy. Their efforts 
have been handsomely rewarded. The 
volume of their merchant trade, that 
ranged annually from $25,000 to $30,- 
000 before the fire, has since increased 
to as high as $85,000 in a single year. 

In the fall of 1885 they began to 
handle poultry, but only on a small 
scale. In 1894 they secured the serv- 
ices of Alva Marshall, an expert cap- 
onizer, (p. 763) as an experiment. Not 
yet being familiar with the best meth- 
ods of dressing and handling all kinds 
of poultry, they employed that) year, 
to manage this part of the work, A. 
R. Loomas of Fort Dodge. During 
that and the next two years they 
made no effort to secure any trade 
outside of Laurens and vicinity, and 
they shipped annually about three 
carloads of dressed fowls. 

Previous to 1897 their poultry trade 
was managed as a sort of necessary 
adjunct to their mercantile business. 
During that year, however, they de- 
cided to greatly enlarge its scope, as a 
means of benefiting the farmers and 
for profit, and began to solicit patron- 
age in other communities. In 1900 
they had extended, their trade to all 
the towns on the C. & N. W. Ry. from 
Humboldt to Hawarden and to many 
of the new towns along the C. R. I. & 
P. railway. They built that year, 
along the Northwestern track, a large 



780 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



establishment for handling and dress- 
ing poultry, that has a storage capac- 
ity sufficient to hold twenty car loads 
of dressed poultry and sheds for many 
thousands of live fowls. Since 1897 
they have dealt extensively during the 
summer seasons in live poultry and 
their annual shipments of this pro- 
duct have ranged from fifteen to fifty 
car loads. Their poultry trade gives 
constant employment to ten men and 
to thirty-five during the busy periods 
of the year. The value of the poultry 
product handled annually ranges now 
from $75,000 to $100,000. These results 
serve to illustrate what may be 
achieved by intelligent effort. The 
enterprise of these men has made the 
town of Laurens the attractive center 
of the poultry trade in a large section 
of country. 

Montague Hakes was associated 
with Charles J. Bovee in the lumber 
and coal business at Laurens from 1892 
to 1900. He was one of the first coun- 
cilmen at Laurens and served as a 
member of that body five years, 1890— 
94. In 1891 he was the democratic 
nominee for representative from this 
76th district. 

His family consists of four children, 
Byron G. A., Karl M., Ledgard B., 
and Leland Paul. 

Hakes, James R. (b. 1868) junior 
member of the firm of Hakes Bros., is 
a native of Jones county, Iowa, where 
he received a good common school ed- 
ucation. In May 1885 he located at 
Laurens and worked for his father in 
the store until Jan. 1, 1890 when he 
became his successor as a partner in 
the store, since known as Hakes' Bros. 
He was treasurer of the Laurens 
school board in 1896 and has been a 
member of the town council during 
the last four years, 1899—02. 

In 1889 he married Gertrude E. 
Arnold of Marion, Iowa, and has 
three children, James Russell L. 
Catherine M. and Nona Caroline. 



Herrick, Alpha (b. 1823; d. 
who in 1870 located just across the 
line in Buena Vista county, was a 
native of Allegany county, N. Y. At 
an early age he moved with his par- 
ents to Massachusetts and at nineteen 
located in Chautauqua county, N. Y. 
Here in 1847 he married Ruth, daught- 
er of Asa and Eliza Comstock. He 
located in Houston county, Minn., in 
1858, in eastern Iowa in-1868, and on a 
homestead, just across the line in 
Buena Vista county in 1870. The 
large grove he planted was the first 
one in a large section of the country 
and became a well known land mark. 
His commodious and comfortable 
home was famed far and wide for its 
ever open portals, where the weary 
traveler always received a friendly 
greeting and cordial hospitality. 
He was an honest, honorable and con- 
scientious man, a thorough and sue 
cessful farmer. After a residence of 
twenty-five years on the farm Mr. 
and Mrs. Herrick moved to Laurens. 
He died at 75 in 1898 at Humboldt. 

His family consisted of four sons 
and three daughters. Charles E., in 
1880 located in Washington township 
and is now a resident of Marathon. 
Frederic G. and Alonzo L. live at 
Humboldt. Nettie married J. E. 
Metcalf and lives at Storm Lake, Ida 
a teacher, married Eri D. Anderson, 
Laurens. Naomi, a teacher, who be- 
came the wife of Frank G. Thornton, 
and Florence E. are both dead. 

The golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. 
Alpha Herrick was celebrated at the 
home of their daughter, Mrs. Eri D. 
Anderson, Laurens, Sept. 18, 1897. 

Hughes, Jared (b. 1843), carpenter 
and mail carrier, Laurens, Is a native 
of Ontario, Canada. In 1852 he came 
with his parents to Cedar county, 
Iowa, and in 1861 to Marshall county, 
where on Aug. 16, 1862, he enlisted as 
a member of Co. D. 33rd Iowa, and 
continued in the service until the 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP 



781 



close of the war, serving under Gener- 
als Grant and Sherman in the 14th 
Army Corps, and passing through 
Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Ar- 
kansas, Louisiana and Alabama. In 
1866 he married Mary C. Williams and 
worked at carpentering. In 1880 he 
located on the Pease homestead on 
sec. 30, Swan Lake township, and oc- 
cupied it until 1888, when he became 
a resident of Laurens. He has made 
bee culture a subject of special study 
and in 1898 had a fine apiary contain- 
ing 48 colonies. 

Feb. 1, 1902 he became the mail 
carrier on rural route No. 1, south of 
Laurens, at a salary of $500. 

His family consisted of six children. 

Ealph E., a pharmacist, after grad- 
uating from the chemical department 
of Highland Park College, Des 
Moines, in 1889 graduated from the 
College of Pharmacy, Chicago, and 
has since filled a position in Dr. 
Carroll's drug store, Laurens. 

Ross C. is a carpenter and Carl a 
telegraph operator. The others are 
Leona, a Laurens graduate in 1899, 
Eoy and Logan E. 

Johnson, George T. (b. 1859) mer- 
chant, Laurens, is a native of Musca- 
tine county, Iowa, the son of Alexan- 
der and Nancy Ann Johnson, who 
were natives of Ireland and Indiana, 
respectively. He remained at home 
on the farm until he was of age and 
completed his education at Wilton 
Academy. In 1882 he went to Hol- 
stein, Ida county, and engaged in the 
lumber business. In 1886 he located 
at Laurens and engaged in the sale of 
general merchandise. He rebuilt 
after the great fire of 1898 and contin- 
ued in the mercantile business until 
the close of the year 1901, 

He was a member of the Laurens 
town council from the time of its in- 
corporation in 1890 until 1898 and has 
served many years a§ a member qf the 

hoard pf $totion, h§ has ty^n an 



official member of the Christian 
church and served three years — Jan. 1 
1890 to May 31, 1893— under Harrison's 
administration, as postmaster at 
Laurens. 

In 1883, during his residence at 
Holstein, he married Mary C. Venard 
of Muscatine county, and his family 
consists of three children, Eoy A., 
Milo L., and Coral Amanda. 

Stephen T). Johnson, his brother, 
who was associated with him in 
business became proprietor of the 
Adams Hotel and restaurant in 1901. 

Kreul, Christian Fred (b. 1858) 
senior member of the firm of Kreul 
Bros., Laurens, is a native of Wiscon- 
sin, the son of J. F. and Margaret 
(Schmahlenberger) Kreul. In 1883 he 
married Emma Munns and continued 
to work at his trade as a blacksmith. 
In 1884 he came to Laurens and by 
the erection of a small blacksmith 
shop laid the foundation for the large 
establishment now occupied by the 
Kreul Bros (p. 765). He is the owner 
of a fine residence at Laurens and has 
taken an active part in the manage- 
ment of municipal affairs, having 
served eight years as a member of the 
town council and two years, 1898-99, 
as president of the board of education. 

His family consists of four children, 
Albert A., Mattie L. Elgin A. and 
Mary C. 

Kreul, Henry August (b. Wis. 1860) 
came to Laurens in 1885 and three 
years later became a partner with his 
brother Christian. He is an excellent 
workman and has contributed much to- 
ward effecting the enlargement and 
promoting the efficiency of their large 
smithing and manufacturing estab- 
lishment. 

Kreul, George R. a younger broth- 
er of C. F. came to Laurens in 1888 
and learned ^he smithing trade with 
his brothers. In 1895 he became a 
member qf ' fchj fjrrn pf WiRSQF $ 



782 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Kreul, blacksmiths, Laurens, and in 
the fall of 1900 moved to Pacahontas 
where he is still engaged in the smith- 
ing business. 

In the fall of 1894 he married Ros- 
anna F. Fuller, a teacher. She has 
been for several years the secretary of 
the Pocahontas County Sunday School 
Association. 

Lange, Louie E. (b. 1861), founder 
and editor of the Pocahontas County 
Sun, 1885 to 1900, spent fifteen of the 
best years of his early life at Laurens. 
He came to the town when it was 
new and connected it with the read- 
ing public by establishing the Poca- 
hontas County Sun, (p. 768) May 15, 
1885, Finding that the patronage at 
first was not sufficient to support the 
paper he taught the Laurens public 
school four years, 1886 to 1889: and 
seryed as postmaster from Jan. 1, 1893. 
to OGt. 1, 1897. As a candidate for 
the postofflce during the last adminis- 
tration of President Cleveland, .he 
received the unanimous endorsement 
of the people and a cordial recog- 
nition on the part of those who stood 
nearest the throne. In the fall of 
1895 he was elected a member of the 
board of eounty supervisors, but re- 
signed after serving one year. 

He was well qualified for the work 
of teaching and rendered acceptable 
and efficient service as postmaster and 
supervisor, but it was as editor of 
the Sun that he became most 
widely known, exerted the strongest 
influence and will be longest remem- 
bered. He was not discouraged in the 
day of small things, when a contem- 
porary jokingly suggested that an ap- 
propriate name for the paper would 
be "The Laurens Lantern," because it 
was a little light that shined in a 
barn; and when after fifteen years he 
relinquished it, he had the satisfacj 
tion of seeing it occupy a large sun- 
shiny office, supplied with a complete 
modern printing equipment and re- 



cieving the official patronage of Poca- 
hontas county. He endeavored to 
give to the paper a high moral tone 
and did not hesitate to rebuke local 
evils with considerable severity. He 
strongly opposed the saloon, and on 
that issue was elected mayor of Lau- 
rens four successive terms. 

In 1900 he entered the law depart- 
ment of the Iowa State University 
and, graduating from it in 1902, lo- 
cated at Apache, and in 1903 at 
Anadarko, Oklahoma, where he is 
now engaged in the practice of law. 

In December 1885 he married Lillie 
Olive Jennings, a native of Illinois 
and then teaching school in Clay 
county. She died at 27 in 1890, having 
previously sustained the loss of two 
little children. 

McNee, William Alexander (b. 1861) 
cashier of the First National Bank, 
Laurens, is a native of Benton county 
where he received his early education 
in the public schools. Later he at- 
tended the academies at Vinton 
and Blairstown. He left the farm 
at twenty-one and, becoming a tele- 
graph operator for the C. & N. W. 
Ry. Company, served as an agent 
for that company at several of the 
stations from- Tama to Hawarden on 
the Toledo and Northwestern Branch 
of their road. In 1887 he was trans- 
ferred to the station at Laurens. In 
1889 he resigned this position in order 
that he might become an assistant in 
the bank then established of which he 
has been the cashier gince its organi- 
zation as a national bank in 1891. He 
has served as clerk of Swan Lake 
township and treasurer of Laurens 
several years, and as 

the first recorder of Laurens thirteen 
years, 1890—1902. 

In 1899 he married Emma "Wiss of 
Laurens and his family consists of one 
son, Lawrence W. 

Metealf, Abraham (b. 1843: d. 
1902), was a native of Belmont county, 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP 



783 



O., and at seven came with his par- 
ents to Illinois. At the outbreak of 
the civil war he enlisted in an Illinois 
regiment, but was soon afterwards 
transferred to Co. I. 8th Kansas, and 
served four years and four months. 

In 1864, while home on a furlough, 
he married Martha Sturdivan of Illi- 
nois, and in 1870 located in Powe- 
shiek county, where he remained 
eight years. He then lived five years 
in Missouri, five years in Nebraska, 
and 1888 located in Swan Lake town- 
ship, where he died at 58 in 1902. He 
was a member of the M. E. church 
and left a family of six children, 
Frank C, William B., Albert I., Net- 
tie E. (Mrs. Sparks), Charles S., and 
Mary P. (Mrs. Ashmore). 



r, OttoMaynard, (b. 1855.) 
general merchant, Laurens, is a 
native of Indiana. In his boyhood 
he moved with his parents to Des 
Moines, Iowa, where he grew to man- 
hood. He then located at Stuart, 
where he became a clerk in a store, 
and in 1880 married Mary E. Wells. 
He spent five years in the state of 
Washington. In 1895 he located in 
Laurens, where he has since been en- 
gaged in the sale of general merchan- 
dise. He carries a large and varied 
assortment of goods and his store- 
room always presents a bright and an 
attractive appearance. He is a liber- 
al supporter of his home paper, by 
making generous use of its columns to 
announce to the public the arrival of 
new or special goods in anticipation 
of approaching seasons. He is a mem- 
ber of the city school board and an 
elder in the church of Christ. He has 
become widely and favorably known 
over the county by his active inter- 
est in the Pocahontas County Sunday 
School Association, having served as 
secretary of it one year and president 
of it two years. 

His family consists of two children, 
Charles A. and Nellie; Francis, the 



youngest, having died at fifteen, in 
1902. 

RToah, Milton M., (b. 1861), mayor 
of Laurens in 1902, is a native of Rock 
Island county, 111., the son of Peter 
and Mary A. (Sturdivan) Noah. In 
1865 he moved with his parents to 
Poweshiek county, Iowa, and lived 
there the next twenty-two years. 
After receiving a good common school 
course he attended Iowa college at 
Grinnell and later completed a com- 
mercial course at Iowa City. In 1887 
he located at Laurens and was engaged 
as a dealer in stock and proprietor of 
a meat market until 1902 when he 
became a dealer in general merchan- 
dise. He has acquired the reputation 
of being a good judge of live stock 
and the possessor of many of the 
qualifications of a good business man. 
There has been accorded to him the 
honor of serving as president of the 
Lanrens school board six. years, 1893- 
96 and 1901-02, and of serving as mayor 
of the city five years, 1896-99 and 1902. 
In 1890 he married Emma M. Ham- 
mer. She died in 1901 leaving one 
son, Muriel. 

Shoemaker, Jacob P. (b. 1855.), 
hardwareman, Laurens, is a native of 
Muncy, Pa. In 1866 he came with his 
parents to Cedar county, Iowa. In 
May, 1882, accompanied by his brother, 
H. P. Shoemaker, both single, he 
came to Laurens, where they bought 
lots, built the fourth business house 
in the town and opened a hardware 
store. His brother in 1885 married 
Mattie Bellinger and in 1888 moved 
to Nebraska. In 1891 Mr. Shoemaker 
took in Eri D. Anderson as a partner, 
another building was erected on an 
adjoining lot and it was supplied with 
a stock of furniture. Both of these 
buildings and their stocks of goods 
were distroyed by the fire of 1898. 
Later that year they were replaced by 
brick buildings and .Messrs. Shoe- 
maker & Anderson continued in the 



784 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



furniture and hardware business un- 
til 1901 when E. D. Anderson with- 
drew and the furniture business was 
sold to T. D. Landon. The hardware 
store of Mr. J. P. Shoemaker is one of 
the oldest business enterprises in 
Laurens and he carries a stock of 
goods so large and well assorted that 
every customer finds here just what 
he wants. 

Mr. Shoemaker is a republican and 
has rendered efficient service as a 
member of the town council a number 
of years. In 1883 he married Mollie 
S. Fisher, now occupies one of the 
good residences in Laurens and has 
one son, Horatio N. 

His mother, Elizabeth P.. wife of 
Horatio N. Shoemaker died at his 
home, December 12, 1902, at the age 
of 76 years. She was a native of Penn- 
sylvania and was married in 1848. In 
1866 the family moved to Cedar coun- 
ty, Iowa, where her husband died in 
June 1900. Their family consisted of 
Maggie, Ella, Jacob, Harry, Anna 
and Lizzie. 

Southwortlt, Joseph (b. 1832.), 
Laurens, is a native of new Jersey. 
In 1856 he came with his parents to 
Buchanan county, Iowa, where in 1858 
he married Augusta Hayes (b. 1834.), 
a native of New Brunswick, and en- 
gaged in farming. In 1876 with a 
family of three children, he came to 
Pocahontas county and located on the 
Osborn homestead, on the nei sec. 18, 
Dover township. He improved and 
occupied this farm until 1888, when 
he moved to Fonda and four years 
later to Laurens. He has frequently 
supported the candidates of the pro- 
hibition party, but in recent years 
has been a republican. He has been 
a life-long worker in theM. E. church 
and respect for his excellent judg- 
ment has enabled him to exert a 
potent influence in every community 
in which he has lived. The amiable 
camp&nion. of bis wedded life died at 



was one of beautiful trust in God and 
she exemplified in a happy manner 
the Christian graces of patience, kind- 
ness and loye. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren: 

Jessie F. (b. 1859) in 1882 married W. 
H. English, a traveling salesman, lives 
at Fremont, Neb., and has four chil- 
dren, Grace, Wallace, Nellie and Wil- 
lard. 

Edwin H. (b. 1862) a harness maker, 
in 1886 married Bertha B. Burnett 
and located at Laurens, where he 
still works at his trade. He is the 
owner o*f several properties at Lau- 
rens and a farm of 80 acres in Dover 
township. He has two children, Vin- 
cent and Arckie B. 

Fred J. (b. 1870). also a harness 
maker located at Pocahontas, where 
he acquired considerable promin- 
ence by serving several terms as a 
justice of the peace. He married 
Bessie G. Wallace and has two chil- 
dren, Mabel and Verne. 

In 1902 Fred and family and his 
father, Joseph Southworth, moved to 
Boden, North Dakota. 

Strotise, John, (b. 1803; d. 1886.) 
one of the early pioneers of Swan 
Lake township, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1826 at Terre Haute, 
Ind., he married Mary Reed (b. 1806; 
d. 1881.) and locating on a farm lived 
there until 1844, when he moved to 
Milford, Iroquois county, 111. In 1865, 
accompanied by his two sons, Al- 
pheus and John B. and their families, 
he moved to Drakesville, Davis coun- 
ty Iowa. In the fall of 1875 he bought 
and located on 204 acres of land on 
sec. 16, south and west of Swan Lake 
in Swan Lake township, on which 
Alexander McEwen had erected new 
buildings that spring. After a few 
years he gaye his farm to his son, Al- 
pheus. In 1876 he built a new house 
near the residence of his son, John B. 



SWAN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 



785 



lived, and occupied it until his decease 
at 83 in 1886. In 1890 his wife moved 
to the home of her son, John B., at 
Madrid and died there the next year 
at 85. 

Strouse, John B. (b. 1837.), younger 
son of John Strouse, and first settler 
of Swan Lake township, was a native 
of Indiana. In 1863 he married 
Cynthia J. Peed, at Milford, 111., and 
remained there one year. He then 
moved to Davis county, Iowa. In 
May 1*869, accompanied by his brother- 
in-law, Isaac W. Peed, he set out in a 
lumber wagon to find a home in the 
northwest territory. On June 14th 
following he camped on the shores of 
Swan Lake. A beautiful skirting of 
timber, on the east and south banks 
of Swan Lake made its shores an at- 
tractive resting place and favorite 
camping ground to those who journey- 
ed,east and west. Here he found a 
little log cabin called "Trappers' 
Hotel," and he and Peed began to oc- 
cupy it, as it was vacant at that sea- 
son of the year. Here they met two 
prospective settlers, Church and Col- 
lins, who went with Peed to the land 
office at Sioux City, to secure their 
claims while Strouse went to Fort 
Dodge for provisions. When they re- 
turned from these long journeys it 
was found that only two claims were 
available. Peed secured a homestead 
on sec. 14, Strouse the nei sec. 16, 
which included the hotel, and the 
other men left for the eastern part of 
the state. 

A few days later Strouse left his 
goods consisting of a cook stove, a 
table, some flour, meat and potatoes 
in the hotel, and returned with Peed 
to Warren county. Returning with 
his family and other household goods 
he arrived at his frontier home on the 
east bank of Swan Lake, July 7, 1869, 
and thus became the first settler in 
Swan Lake township. 

The entire country in that section 

was Men an uoutwbitefl waste, the 



nearest house being that of Samuel 
Booth in Powhatan, thirteen miles 
east. The trapper's hotel, which he 
first occupied as a dwelling place for 
his family, had been built of logs llx- 
12 feet and fiye feet high at the eaves. 
The roof was covered with clapboards 
and dirt, and the weeds grew upon it 
four feet high. It had no windows, 
the floor was the soil of Mother Earth 
and the entrance was closed with a 
blanket. On his return from Warren 
county he was pleasantly surprised to 
find that, though others had enjoyed 
it during his absence, his provisions 
had been left undisturbed and a note 
was left on the table that read. "We 
are much obliged for the improve- 
ment, all is well." 

Having frequent occasion to share 
the hospitality of this humble log 
cabin with those who were constantly 
passing, later that season he erected a 
frame house 14x16 feet and 6 feet high 
at the eaves. The frame lumber for 
this building was obtained from logs 
hauled from the banks of Swan Lake 
to the mill at Sioux Rapids, and the 
other materials were hauled from 
Fort Dodge. In this building he fur- 
nished hotel accommodations as good 
as he could to the throngs of people 
that were constantly passing east and 
West on the mail route to Sioux 
Rapids. This humble hostelry was 
located about midway between the 
settlements along the Des Moines and 
Little Sioux rivers and as many as 
sixty wagons camped at the same time 
in his grove. 

July 5, 1872 his house and its con- 
tents were entirely consumed by a fire 
that originated from a defective flue. 
It was immediately replaced by a 
larger and better one that was con- 
sumed by an incendiary fire in April 
1877, when he was on a trip to the 
grist mill at Rutland. This fire oc- 
curred at midnight and consumed also 
his barn and other outbuildings. 

T/hpe repeated, and, eerjouj lps^e§ 



786 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



by fire and the slow progress of the 
settlement led him to seek an older 
community, and in November that 
year he moved to Madrid, and in 1900 
to Luther, Iowa. 

His family consisted of eight chil- 
dren, Lee (b. 111., 1863), Mary (b. 
Davis Co. la., 1865), John W. (b. Cal- 
low, Mo., 1867), Montgomery C. (b.. 



Indianola. la., 1868), Frank (b. Dec. 31 
1870), the first child born in Swan Lake 
township, Noah M , Ann and Wilbur 
M. Lee in 1887 graduated from the 
Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincin- 
nati, O., and has since been engaged 
in the practice of medicine at Coving- 
ton, Ky. 








SAMUEL H. GILL. 



'**•> / ' ~ 




DR. DAVID NOWLAN. 




JAMES C. STRONG AND FAMILY, HAVELOCK. 
Mary E., Alva A., Jason F., Myrtle L., Mrs. Strong, Mr. Strong, William A. 




PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, HAVELOCK. 




RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL H. GILL. HAVELOCK, (Mrs. Gill is on the Steps.) 



XXVII. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



'Tis splendid to live so grandly, 

That long after you are gone, 
The things you did are remembered, 

And recounted under the sun; 
To live so bravely and so purely, 

That a nation stops on its way, 
And once a year, with banner and drum, 

Keeps its thoughts of your natal day." 

—Margaret E. Sangster. 



Talent develops itself in solitude; character in the stream of life.— Goethe. 



GENERAL FEATURES. 




AS KINGTON 

township (93-33) is 
the third from the 
easfc,inthe north row 
of the county. It is 
throughout a gent- 
ly rolling prairie and the soil is splen- 
did both for raising stock and agri- 
cultural purposes. It is traversed in 
a south easterly direction by three 
streams of water, of which the prin- 
cipal one, Lizard Greek, passes through 
the center of it and only a few. rods 
west of Havelock. A part of Herman 
lake, that has its outlet through Pilot 
creek in the north east, extends a 
short distance southward on section 



one. These streams furnish a good 
supply of running water. 

The territory now included in 
Washington formed a part of Des 
Moines township from the organiza- 
tion of the county in 1859 to Sept. 3, 
1866, when it became a part of Pow- 
hatan, then called "Nunda." Wash- 
ington township was established 
Sept. 5, 1876, and the territory now 
included in Sherman was attached to 
it until April 5, 1880. 

The first sales'of land in Washing- 
ton township were made Aug. 13, 1858 
to non-resident purchasers. A large 
part of the township was disposed of 
in tthat way during the remainder of 



(787) 



788 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



1858 and 1859. On July 19, 1867, the 
unsold portions of the odd numbered 
sections were given as a grant to the 
McGregor and Sioux City R. R. Co. 

No homesteads were taken and no 
sodhouses were built in Washington 
township. 

During the year 1869 James C. 
Strong, a resident of Dubuque county, 
effected the purchase of 2,200 acres in 
the vicinity of section 32, Washington 
township, at $4 00 an acre for himself 
and friends as follows: 
James C. Strong, 560 on sec. 32; Jona- 
than L. Clark, 320 on sec. 30; Benja- 
min Mather, 240 on sec. 30; John E. 
Russell, 560 on sec. 28, all in Washing- 
ton townsnip; and for Jason N. Rus- 
sell, 106 on sec. 4; Harvey S. Russell, 
103 on sec. 4; Morah F. Russell, 80 on 
sec. 4; Ephraim Smith, 80 on sec. 6; 
Lewis Foland, 120 on sec. 6, in Sher- 
man township. He purchased all 
of these lands from John E. Owens, a 
resident of Parkersburg and a bridge- 
builder for Butler county. Butler 
county had received them from the 
state of Iowa, in lieu of swamp lands 
in it, and then transferred them to 
Owens for bridges that he had built. 

EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

The early settlement of Washing- 
ton township begins with the month 
of May 1870 when James C. Strong of 
Dubuque county located on 560 acres 
on section 32, that he had bought the 
previous year. There came with him 
on wagons, Ja«on N. Russell, a broth- 
er-in-law, who had secured land on an 
adjoining section in Sherman town- 
ship, and Jonathan L. Clark, who lo- 
cated on the v ] sec 30, Washington. 
Strong and Russell assisted Clark to 
build the first house in the township 
and then lived with him during that 
season. Mis, Clark and three chil- 
dren arrived by rail as soon as the 
house was ready for occupancy. 

These persons formed the nucleus 
Qf f^e tlrgjt settilemeiits jrj tyjg fcwQ 



townships of Washington and Sher- 
man. They were separated many 
miles from any neighbors, and, during 
the next twelve years, their nearest 
markets were at Fonda and Sioux 
Rapids, about twenty miles distant. 

1871. In the spring of 1871 J. C. 
Strong built the second house and 
planted the first grove in the town- 
ship. His wife and family of four 
children then joined him. 

A little later that year M. D. Herr- 
ington and family located on sec. 4, 
in the north part of the township; 
and Harvey S. Russell joined his 
brother Jason on the latter's farm. 

1872. In .1872 the only new family 
in this locality was that of Morah F. 
Russell, who had married Jemima, 
daughter of Benjamin Mather, and he 
located on sec. 4, Sherman. 

1873. In the spring of 1873 Philip 
Hamble, wife, son and daughter lo- 
cated on the swi sec. 33; his daughter, 
Maggie, having become the wife of» 
Jason N. Russell. 

1875-80. The grasshopper period 
made hard times on the frontier and 
Benjamin Mather and family, who lo- 
cated on sec. 30 in 1875, were the only 
new comers. In 1879 they were follow- 
ed by J. A. Saddler on sec. 9, in 1880 
by J. W. Logan on sec. 13 and D. C. 
Williams on 31. Others that voted in 
1880 were C. E. Herrick, J. Crone, G. 
H. Hinckley, F. H. Merchant, J. C. 
Percing, A. T. Hark, J. T, Kinkead, 
David Miller, F. Miller and C. E. 
Duer. 

1881. An era of better times and 
the survey of two new railroads 
through the county, one of them, 
the Toledo and North Western, 
through Washington township, gave 
anew impetus to the work of improve- 
ment and the prairies were dotted 
with a number of new buildings. 
Among the new arrivals this year 
were B. C. Bohn (b. Ohio, 1845) on 5, 
}l fj, Bue& (MH-» TO Qfl^j §&&< 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



189 



uel L. Horsmin (b. Ohio, 1852) on 36 
Elijah Chase on 12, Elijah Veazie (b. 
Mass., 1856 J on 14 and E. S. Hulse. 

1882. In 1882 the railroad came and 
the town of Havelock was founded on 
sec. 35. Among the new settlers that 
year were Samuel H. and Osborne W. 
Gill, M. B Parks, H. E. Spurrier, 
Charles Talbot, C. L. Flint, David 
Nowlan, M. D., J. B. Miller, John C. 
Potter on 2, E. P. Edmundson on 17, 
Col. James Dickey and A. E. Fish. 

1883-1885, Others that came soon 
afterward were Henry Goodchild on 
27, W. Vanderhoof on 31, Peter Wil- 
son on 11, John A. Ryon on 19, H. W. 
Wilcox, E. A. Donahoe, Amos Baker, 
(b. N, Y. 1824) on 22, David Miller (b. 
O. 1831) on 11, G. H. Miller (b. 111. 
1854) on 29, Geo. W. Hathaway (b. O. 
1844) on 29, C. F. Gegenheimer (b. Pa. 
1836) on 36. Geo. O. Spratt(b. Pa. 1847) 
on 24, C. H. Collins, T. G. Demaray, 
S- P. Thomas, A. E. Wells, J. W. 
O'Brien, Charles J. Gill, L. M. Eaton, 
E. W. Clinton, Wm. Stcei and W. G. 
Runyon. 

Luella postoffice was established at 
the home of J. C. Strong in 1877 and 
it was continued until 1882. 

ORGANIZATION AND OFFICERS. 

The petition for the establishment 
of the township was circulated and 
presented to the board of county 
supervisors by James C. Strong, who 
suggested the name of Washington, 
"the father of our country," "first in 
war, first in peace and first in the 
hearts of his countrymen." 

The first election was held Nov. 7, 
1876. The first officers elected were 
J. C. Strong, Benjamin Mather and 
Jason N. Russell, trustees; Philip 
Hamble, clerk; M. F. Russell, assessor; 
J. C. Strong and M. D. Herrington, 
justices. J. C. Strong was then serv- 
ing his second year as a member of 
the board of county supervisors. 

The succession of officers has been 
as follows: 



Trustees: B. Mather, J. C. Strong 
1877-'78; Philip Hamble, '78, 80-82; 
J. N. Russell, '77-80; Harvey S. Rus 
sell, Alva A. Strong, Charles L. Flint, 
F. H. Merchant, '82-83; H. E. Spur- 
rier, Charles W. Baker, '82-85; W. 
Vanderhoof, '84-87; J. C. Potter, '83- 
88; J. A. Ryon, '86-90; E. A. Donahoe, 

C. A. Clinton, C. H. Collins, '88-99; 
E.P. Edmundson, '91-94; J. W. Logan, 
'90-92; C. J. Drecszen, '95-97; Henry 
Goodchild, '93-95; O. F. Oleson, '98- 
1902; J. B. Madden, '96-98; J. S. Cole, 
1900-'02; W. E. Pirie, '99-1901; H. E. 
Buck '02-03; C. A. Clinton, '01; S. H. 
Gill, 1903. 

Clerks: Philip Hamble, '77; M.D. 
Herrington, M. F. Russell, '79-S0; C. 
E. Herrick, '81-82; D. C. Williams, H. 
E. Buck, '83-87; S. H. Gill, '88-90; E. 
W. Clinton, '91-92; W. O. Sidwell, '93- 
96; J. B. Sheldon, '97-98; U. S. Vance, 
T. G. Demaray, 1900-'03. 

Justices: J. C. Strong, '77-82; M. 

D. Herrington, D. Harvey, G. W. 
Hathaway. '83-84; David Nowlan, '84- 
87; E. A. Donahoe, '88-92; C. J. Drecs- 
zen, '93-98; C. J. Gill, '99; G. J. Peter- 
son, 1900- '03; A. J. Scott 1900-'01; C. 
H. Collins, '03. 

Assessors: M. F. Russell, '77-78 
J. N. Russell. J. W. Carson, '80-82 
C. L. Flint, '83-84; S. H. Gill, '85-88 
J. B. Madden, '89-94; H. E. Buck. '95- 
98; Edwin Meredith, '98-1903. 

In 1889 the board of health was or- 
ganized and suitable regulations 
adopted. 

In 1890 the cemetery on the se cor- 
ner of the swi sec. 26, five acres, was 
purchased for $200. 

In 1893 a Western Reversible Road 
machine was tried and purchased for 

$225. 

The early history of Washington 
township was not marred by any act 
of defalcation, misappropriation of 
the public funds or sudden departure 
ofleading citizens for parts unknown,- 



790 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



unfortunate experiences that happen- 
ed to some of their neighbors. The 
men who participated in the manage- 
ment of the public affairs of this 
township have bequeathed a clean es- 
cutcheon and a noble heritage to the 
present generation. The debt of 
gratitude due to those who braved 
the hardships and endured the priva- 
tions incident to pioneer life, while 
they established and nurtured happy 
homes, schools, churches and other 
important institutions on the fron- 
tier,— the rich heritage of the present 
generation, — is manifested in the 
best manner, by treating them while 
they live with all the respect 
that is due to their age and worth, 
and by manifesting the same spirit of 
fidelity in the further development 
of the institutions they have so 
prudently and faithfully planted. In 
this township it may be said, 
"Each loyal son 

Holds as a birthright from true sires 
Treasures of honor, nobly won, 
And freedom's never-dying fires." 

The first marriage ceremony in this 
township was performed by Justice J. 
C. Strong in 1880 for Clayton Herring- 
ton and Maggie Armstrong. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

Washington township has furnished 
the following county officials. 

Supervisor: James C. Strong. 1875- 
'83. 

Superintendent: U. S. Vance, 
the present incumbent, since 1900. 

public schools. 
The first school house was built in 
the J. C. Strong neighborhood in the 
fall of 1871 when there were only two 
families to attend it, those of Mr, 
Strong and Jonathan L. Clark. It 
was located midway between these 
two families and Mary E. Barnes 
(Frost) was the first teacher in it. 
After the removal of Clark in 1873 and 
the arrival of other families it was 



placed in its present location in the 
center of district No. 8. 

April 16, 1888, when the township 
was divided into sub-districts a spe- 
cial election was held in each of them 
for the purpose of electing a new 
school board, the old one having re- 
signed. 

The succession of the school officers 
of the township has been as follows: 

PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD: Philip 

Hamble, 1877; M. F. Russell, '78-79; 
M. D. Herrington, '82. David Miller, 
H. E. Spurrier, C. L. Flint, C. Gegen- 
heimer, Thomas Yerkes, C.J.Harvey, 
W. H. Jarvis, C, J, Gill, '90; C. A. 
Clinton, S. G. Peterson, A. T. Hakes, 
M. K. Butcher, Thos. Phelp, '95-96; 
O. F. Oleson, '97-98; H. E. Buck, Ed- 
win Meredith, 1900; W. E. Craig. W. 
F. Hamble. 

secretaries: Alva A. Strong, '77- 
84; Wm. Vanderhoof, '84-86, E. A. 
Donaboe, '87-89; L. M. Eaton. '90-92; 
H. E. Buck, E. Wilson, Wm. Steen, 
'95-1903. 

treasurers: J. C. Strong, '77-85; H. 
W. Wilcox, S. P. Thomas, David 
Nowlan, M. D., C. A. Clinton, C H. 
Collins, '90-93; E. W. Clinton, W. G. 
Runyon, '96-1903; 

In 1902 the board of directors, ac- 
cording to the number of their district; 
consisted of Wm. Goodchild, E. R. 
Barber, P. Keck, F. A. Leander, H. 
E. Buck, Ed. A. .Meredith, T. C. 
Ward, W. E. Craig, and W. F. Ham- 
ble. 

Some of the early teachers were 
Mary E. and Anna C. Barnes, Alex- 
ander McEwen, Amanda Fancher, 
Delilah Hamble, Maggie Hamble 
Russell, Geo. vV. Hathaway, Edward 
L. Strong, Benjamin Samuels, L. M. 
Strong, Mrs. Chapel, S. Smith, Mr. 
and Mrs. Charles E. Herrick, Fannie 
Thornton and Mary Sanders. 

Among recent teachers were Mary 
Seright, Blanch Marquart, Annie 
Madden, Myrtle Logan, Estella and 
L. E. Smith, Luella O'Malley, Mary 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



791 



•T. Grey, Ina Jollifie, Mary Keck, W. 
J. Rodda and Andrew Olkjer. 

During the school year ending Sept. 
1, 1901, several of the schools in Wash- 
ington township received large dona- 
tions from Hon. Geo. W. Schee of 
Primgar to their library fund, having 
secured the three highest prizes offer- 
ed by him for that year, namely, dis- 
trict No. 1, $35; No. 6, $30, and No. 2, 
$25. Mr. Schee had offered to the pub- 
lic schools of this county, that year, 
$200 to be divided into 17 prizes for 
raising library funds. 80 of the 130 
schools that were eligible entered the 
contest and raised $1,335.44 for library 
purposes. 18 schools raised over $20 
each, and 39 from $10 to $20. Mr. 
Schee gave an extra $10 to each of the 
three schools named above in Wash- 
ington township. For the year end- 
ing Oct. 1, 1902, he increased the 
the amount to be given to the rural 
schools of this county to $250 to be 
divided into 22 prizes. 

HAVELOCK. 

The town of Havelock is located 
on the north east quarter of sec. 35, 
along the line of the C. & N. W. Ry. 
It was surveyed and platted Nov. 23, 
1881 by P. Folsom for the Western 
Town Lot Company, consisting of 
Albert Keep, president; J. B. Redtield, 
secretary; Gilford F. and Elmada 
Greene. It was named after the 
British general, Sir Henry Havelock 
(1795-1857), the hero of the Indian 
Mutiny, who relieved Lucknow and 
was then besieged there until rescued 
by Colin Campbell. 

May 15, 1891, William H. and Mary 
J. Jarvis platted the Jarvis addition, 
containing blocks 1 to 13 on the si sei 
sec. 26. Sept 26, 1892, C. W. and Nellie 
Green platted the Green addition 
consisting of blocks 7 and 8 between 
Clay and Wood streets. The first ad- 
dition by the Town Lot Co. was made 
June 2, 1892. 

Havelock has a pretty location in 
the center of an agricultural region, 



that is favorable for the most success- 
ful farming and stock raising. It is 
midway between the east and west 
lines of the county, and seven and a 
half miles from Pocahontas, the coun- 
ty seat. The population, which is 
American and numbered 365 in 1895, 
was about 600 in 1902. It has good 
railway facilities, two banks, two 
churches, a good school building, a 
creamery and a number of good gener- 
al stores. The business men are 
thrifty and progressive. They are 
united and take pride in maintaining 
that high moral character and repu- 
tation that was characteristic of the 
noble hero after whom the town was 
named. The town has never had a 
saloon, a fact the citizens note with 
commendable pride. They have 
shown a preference for putting their 
earnings and savings in beautiful 
homes and comforts therein. The 
town has no bonded indebtedness 
and the people are happy and prosper- 
ous. The growth of the town has 
been steady and substantial. 

In the country around Havelock 
more apples are grown than in any 
other section of this county. ■ There 
are several fine orchards in the vicin- 
ity that are now in good bearing con- 
dition. An abundance of good water 
is found at a reasonable depth, the 
soil is unsurpassed in richness and 
fertility, and year after year produces 
great crops of Indian corn, 
"God's gift to the new world's great 
need, 
That helped to build the nation's 
strength, 
Up through beginnings rude, to lead 

A higher race of men at length. 
How straight and tall and stately 
grand, 
Its serried stal ks upr i ght and strong ! 
How nobly are its outlines planned, 

What grace and charm to it belong! 

What splendor in its rustling leaves! 

What richness in its close-set gold! 

What largess in its clustering 

sheaves, 

New every year, though ages old I" 

— CELLA THAXTER. 



792 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



GREAT LONGEVITT. 

The climate of this section is as 
conducive to health and long life as 
any that can be found anywhere. The 
proof of this statement appears, not 
only in the general health of the peo- 
ple, which has been uniformly good, 
but in the great longevity attained by 
so many of them. Although the coun- 
try is comparatively new the follow- 
ing instances may be noted. 

Mary Swenson, after a residence of 
fifteen years in this section, died at 
Fonda, Oct. 10, 1897, at 89. J. W. 
Harrington died at Fonda, March 26, 
1901, at 93. John G. Lampe one of 
the pioneers of Bellville township died 
at his home Nov. 27, 1900, at 92. Mrs. 
Fannie N. Strong, an early pioneer of 
Powhatan township is 86, and Mrs. 
Eliza Ann Stone, a resident of the 
same township since 1866, passed her 
93rd birthday Feb. 27, 1903. Joseph 
Cbapman, a long-time resident of the 
vicinity of Fonda, passed his 94th 
birthday Nov. 3, 1902. Mrs. Lydia 
Wool man attained the great age of 
103 at Gilmore Cit>y in 1900, and died 
the next year at Denison. 
"Helivethlong, who liveth well; 

All else is life but flung away. 
He liveth longest, who can tell 

Of true things truly done each day. 

— BONAR. 
HAVELOCK IN 1882. 

The track was laid and the first 
construction train on the Toledo (now 
Chicago) & Northwestern rail road 
arrived at Havelock Jan. 16, 1882. The 
trains began to carry freight in March, 
when J. B. Miller, agent, arrived, and 
the depot was completed in May, 1882. 

The first building in Havelock was 
a frame house built by M. B. Parks, 
druggist, in February, 1882. The 
second one was the store building of 
S. H. and O. W. Gill and the third 
one the hardware and grocery store 
of W. and H. E. Spurrier. The first 
freight train brought several cars of 
lumber and two lumber yards were 



started, one by John H. Queal & Co., 
Charles Talbot, manager, and 
the other by Burnside and Flint, 
C. L. Flint manager. Among 
the other store buildings built that 
spring were a general store by Col. 
James Dickey and A. E. Fish, a 
grocery by E. S. Hulse and a drug 
store by M. B. Parks. Dr. David 
Nowlan arrived and began the prac- 
tice of medicine. 

Samuel H. Gill was appointed post- 
master March 1, 1882, and, during the 
first two and a half months of his 
term, carried the mail on horseback 
twice a week from Pocahontas. This 
carrying of the mail was a matter of 
public spirit and it was discontinued 
as soon as the trains began to carry it. 

The first patriotic celebration at 
Havelock was held July 4, 1882. 
Everybody seemed to enjoy them- 
selves and it was pronounced a"grand 
success." 

The first school house, a temporary 
building, was completed in July, 1882, 
and Ursula Goodchild (Overholt) 
taught the first term in it that sum- 
mer. 

Mr. W. H. Wilcox held the first re-, 
ligious services in the school house 
July 16, 1882. 

The first election held in Havelock 
was on June 27, 1882, when 37 out of 
the 41 votes in the township were cast 
for the prohibitory amendment. At 
this election D. C. Williams served as 
clerk and M. D. Herrington, F. H. 
Merchant and G. H. Hinckley as 
judges. The general election on Nov. 
6th following was held in the depot. 

HAVELOCK OFFICIALS. 

The petition of the citizens of Have- 
lock to become an incorporated town 
was approved by the district court 
March 22, 1892, and the first election 
was held May 9th following. On that 
day the following officers were elect- 
ed. 

Mayor, C. H. Collins; recorder, E. A. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 793 

Donahoe; councilmen, J. C. Strong, hoe, May 1, 'v)3-97 ; Davicl Nowlan, M.' 
S. H. Gill, J. W. O'Brien, C. J. Harvey D., Oct. 13, '97 to date 1902. 

David Nowlan, M. D., Edward Mere- 

.... , „ T , m , ., agents c. & n. w. ry: J.B.Miller 

dith; treasurer, S. P. Thomas; Mar- 

.„-__,. . . T n the first agent opened the station in a 

shall, J. C. Potter; commissioner, J. S. 

_, . box car on the side track in March, 

Cole. 

and began to occupy the depot May 

The succession of the town officers 19j 1882 . He continued four years. His 

has been as follows: successors have been W. C. Foster, 

mayors: C. H. Collins, 1892-93; A. ' 86 - 88 ; A. F. Clarke, '88-99; J. E. 

E. Wells, J.C. Strong, T. G. Demaray, Robinson, '99; A. W. Waldeck, Wm. 

'96-97: S. H. Gill, '98-1901; O. W. Gill, Diesen. 

The Havelock and Pocahontas mail 

recorders: E. A. Donahoe, '92-93; route was discontinued Dec. 15, 1900, 

T. G. Demaray, '94-95; A. F. Clarke, when two trains a day were running 

'96-97; WH. Harris, '9S-99; C. M. on the C, R. I. & P. Ry. but two days 

Madden, 1900-1901; J. H. Adams. before they began to carry mail. 

treasurers: S. P. Thomas, '92, 94- The first election held in Havelock 
99; J. C. Potter, '93-1901; J. E- Allison was on June 27, 1882, when 37 out of 
99-1900; A.. F. Clarke. the 41 votes in the township were cast 

for the prohibitory amendment. At 



assessors: A. A. Wells, '92-94; G 
W. Proctor, C. H. Collins, '96-1901; W. 
J. Tumbleson. 



this election D. C, Williams served as 
clerk and M. D. Herrington, F. H. 
Merchant and G. H. Hinckley as 
councilmen: J. C. Strong, '92-94: judges. The general election on Nov. 
S. H. Gill, '92-96; C. J. Harvey, '92-95; 6th following was held in the depot. 
Edward Meredith, '92-95: J. W ■ HAVBL0CK SCHOO ls. 

O'Brien, '92-93; Dr. D. Nowlan, '92; 

E. S. Hulse, '93-96; G. O. Spratt, '94- The ^dependent District of Have- 
99; J. C.Potter. '95-97; A. E. Wells, lock waS established A P ril 80,1881. 
'96-98; U. S. Vance, '96-98; P. L. The first board of education consisted 
Christopher, '97; C." W. Miller. '97-99; ot J " C - Potter ' °« J ' Gil1 ' and W " H " 
W. O. Sidwell, '98-1902; T. G. Dema- Jarvis ' who held their first meeting 
ray, '98-1902; J. B. Sheldon, '99-1902, July 14 ' 1891 ' and elected C. J. Gill, 
L.D.Smith, '99-1901: J. C. Barth, President; L. M. Eaton, secretary; and 
1900-'02; J. Pattersnn, 1900; J. W. C ' IL CollinS ' treasurer ' 0ne week 

O'Brien, 1901-'02, Dr. F. E. Heath- later lt W&S deCided t0 build a new 

_,„ A t school house costing $3,000 but in 

man, 1902. e ' 

March 1892 it was decided to sell the 

postmasters: S. H. Gill, March old property, and lots 1 and 2 in block 

1882-86; E. A. Donahoe, June '86-89; 8, Jarvis addition were bought for 

S. H. Gill, April, '89-93; E. A. Dona- $250. A new four room building was 



794 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



built that year by J. W. O'Brien, con- 
tractor, at a cost of $4,000. 

The succession of school officers has 
been as follows: 

Presidents of the board: C. J, 
Gill, '91-92; E. A. Donahoe, '93-97; J. 
C. Potter, '98-1900; E. A, Donahoe, 
1901-'02; 

Secretaries: L. M, Eaton, '91-92 
Anson E. Wells, '93-94; J. W. O'Brien 
'95-1902. 

Treasurers: C. H. Collins, 91-92; 
Edward Meredith, '93-94; J. B. Shel- 
don, '95-99; S. H, Gill, 1900-'01; J. B. 
Sheldon, 1902. 

Others that served as members of 
the board were W. H. Jarvis, J. H. 
Adams, A. «A. Wells, Edward A. 
Meredith, C. H. Collins, G. O. Spratt, 
J. S. Cole, M. P. Weston, T. G. Dema- 
ray, W. H. Pool. 

The early teachers in the Have- 
lock school were Ursula Goodchild, 
'82; Rufus A. Brownlee, Elizabeth 
O'Brien, Stella O'Brien, and Addie 
Newton, Kittie Coutant. 

Since the organization of the inde- 
pendent district the succession of 
principals has been R. H. Bowman, 
1892; M. P. Weston, '93; U. S. Vance, 
'94-97; M. P. Weston, '98-99 Frank 
Jarvis, 1900-1903. 

The assistants have been Hattie 
Jolliffe '92-93, Laura E. Anderson, 
Anna B. Greensides, Ada Harvey,' 94- 
96; Sue M. Merriam, '95-97; Mamie 
Hammond, Littie Tumbleson, Cilena 
G. Mercer, Ella Johnson, Mrs. M. P 
Weston, Ruth Seright, '99-1900; Mary 
Taylor, Kate Seright, Olive Wray, 
Stella Smith. 

Graduates: The following classes 
have graduated from the Havelock 
High School. 

Class of 1894: Burt C. Nowlan. 

1896. Lucy W. Potter, Ella Har- 
mon, Myrtle L. Strong, Litta Tumble- 
son, Emma Gill, Grace Spear, Fay 
Thomas, Ray Tumbleson, Edward 
Nowlan, Ada Harvey. 



1901. J. F. O'Brien, James Adams, 
Nina Seright. 

1903. Blanch Spratt, Anna Good- 
child. Mary Donahoe, Clara O'Brien, 
Lizzie Harmon. 

HAVELOCK CHURCHES. 

Methodist church— The first ser- 
vice held in Washington twp. was a 
cottage prayer meeting which when 
instituted in the summer of 1871 was 
maintained on alternate Sabbaths in 
the home of the people in the 
Strong neighborhood. The first 
preaching service was held in the 
home of J. C. Strong in 1871 by Rev. 
John E. Rowen of the old Rolfe M. E. 
charge. On the occasion of his second 
visit a class was organized with J. C. 
Strong, leader, and Jonathan L.Clark, 
steward. After the erection of the 
Strong schoolhouse in the fall of 1871, 
the services were held in it. They 
continued to be held there until 1882 
when they were transferred to Have- 
lock. 

Mr. H. W. Wilcox, a local preacher 
living on the farm of Frank Williams, 
now owned by John A. Ryon, on sec. 
19 held religious services in Havelock 
in the schoolhouse July 16, 1882. They 
were then continued on alternate 
Sabbaths until autumn byRev.Thomas 
J. Cuthbert of the old Rolfe charge. 
Then services continued to be held in 
the school house until 1890 when a 
church building costing $4,000 and a 
parsonage costing $1,000 were built. 

Since that date the congregation 
has had a resident pastor and their 
succession has been as follows: 

F. L. Moore Oct. 1. 1888-'91; L. F. 
Troutman '91-94; C M. Phoenix '94- 
97; G. W. Shideler '97-1900; C. W. 
Coons, W. O. Tomkins 1901-'03. 

The successors of Rev. T. J. Cuth- 
bert were Rev. A. W. Richards '83-85; 
Mr. Doan '85-86; D. H Fosburg '86-88. 

Havelock was connected with the 
Rolfe charge until September 1885, 
and, including Plover and other 
classes, with the Curlew charge until 



WASHINGTON. TOWNSHIP. 



795 



Sept. 23, 1890, when the Havelock and 
Plover charge was formed. The orig- 
inal members w<.re James C. and 
Eliza M. Strong, William and Mary 
Alexander, Frank and Martha Beers, 
John, Betsy and Alice Barnes, L. M. 
Foland and others. 

In 1902 the stewards were J. C 
Strong, Minnie V. Gill, Viola Clark, 
and Onie Jarvis. The trustees, L. M. 
Foland, W. O. Sidwell, G. O. Spratt, 
S. H. Gill, L. D. Smith, J. B. Sheldon, 
and John Johnson. The class leaders, 
L M. Foland and W. C. Ellis. Presi- 
dent of the Epworth League, Leonard 
Sease. The Sunday school officers 
were, G. O. Spratt and W. H. Pool, 
superintendents; and Ina B. Smith, 
.secretary and treasurer. 

Baptist: The Haveleck Baptist 
church was organized Feb. 10, 1893, 
with 21 constituent members, and it 
received formal recognition at a 
council held Dec. 2, 1893. The first 
officers were Rev. John A. Kees, P. S. 
Wilson, and Thomas Ward, trustees; 
Mrs. Cora (W, S ) Cox, clerk; Thomas 
Ward, treasurer; P. S. Wilson, deacon. 
In 1895 lots were purchased for a 
house of worship, but no building was 
erected. 

The succession of pastors was as 
follows: John A. Kees, Feb. 10-Dec. 
31, 1893; Charles G. Wright '94-95; 
Frank A. D. Keys '96-until his de- 
cease; Geo. Yule '96 and 97. The 
services were then discontinted. 

Christian church: As a result of 
some evangelistic meetings held by 
Rev. G. W. Elliott, of South Dakota, 
the Havelock Christian church was 
organized March 29, 1896. The orig- 
inal members were John C. and Lucy 
C. Potter, Mr. and Mrs. M. K. Butch- 
er, Mr. and Mrs. S. T. Grove, Mr. and 
Mrs. Joseph Grove, Mr. and Mrs. 
U. S. Vance, Mr. and Mrs. Jason 
Smith, Mr. and Mrs. M. F. Sly, Mr. 
and Mrs. F. H. Merchant and other 
members of their families. The first 
officers were J. C. Potter, Jason 



Smith. J. B. Smith, M. K, Butcher, 
and U. S. Vance, trustees! J. C. 
Potter, Jason Smith, S. T. Grove, and 
M. F, Sly, elders; I. L. Chandler, J. 
W. Groff, M. K. Butcher, and John 
Lucas, deacons; U. S. Vance, clerk. 

In 1897 they bought the old school 
building and used it as a house of wor- 
ship. Rev. S. T. Grove served as 
pastor during that year and in 1898 
the services were discontinued. 

HAVELOCK IN 1902. 

Agent c. & n. w. ry.: William 
Deesen. 

Mayor: O. W. Gill. 

Postmaster: David Nowlan, M. 
D. Carrier R. F. D. Route No. 1, 
Charles Kerer; route No. 2, William 
J. O'Brien. 

Councilmen: T. G. Demaray, W. 
O. Sidwell, J. B. Sheldon, J. C. Barth, 
Dr. F. E. Heathman. 

Recorder: J. H. Adams. 

Treasurer: A. F. Clarke. 

Educational board: E. A. Dona- 
hoe, Pres.; C. J. Gill, T. G. Demaray, 
J . S. Cole, W. H. Pool. 

Teachers: Frank Jarvis, Prin., 
Olive Wray, Ruth and Kate Seright, 
Stella Smith. 

Auctioneer: J. A. VVonderlich. 

Banks: Citizens: S. H. Gill & Co. 
proprietors; S. H, Gill, A. F. Clarke, 
and W. H. Harris, managers. Bank 
of Havelock, Farmer, Thompson & 
Helsell, proprietors; T. G. Demaray 
and W. H. Halverson, cashiers. 

Barbers: Gej. Dipkerson and A 
Holderness. 

Blacksmiths: Joseph B. Smith 
and A. F. Kinkade; Fred Deidrick 
and Roy Lucas, in 1902 successors to 
C. J. Harvey. 

Churches: M. E., built 1890, Rev. 
W. O. Tompkins, pastor. 

Clothiers: Gill Bros., W. S. Cox. 

Creamery. Hinn Bros., proprietors. 

Dentist: A. D, Johnson. 

Draymen: J. C. Barth, Al. Wine- 
garten. 

Dressmaker: Mable Lockie. 



796 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Druggist & jeweler: J. B. Shel- 
don. 

Elevators: DeWolf & Wells, J. A. 
Jameson, Mgr.; Wells-Hood Grain Co., 
John Dickerson, Mgr. 

General merchants: Gill Bros. 
(Charles J. and Osborne W.); W. S. 
Cox; W. O. Sidweil; Mrs. G. H. and 
Mamie Hinckley have variety store. 

Hardware ANDFUiiNiTURE: Smith 
Bros. (Lewis D and I. C.) 

Harness maker: James A. Scott, 
in 1902 successor of W. O. Sidwell. 

Hotel: Hotel Ellis, built 1902, W. 
C. Ellis owner and proprietor. J. S. 
Lutz, Mgr. 

Implements: John Dakin, in 1902 
successors of E. M. Hamilton & E. A. 
Donahoe, Henry Murray, Mgr. 

Jeweler and optician: J. B. Shel- 
don, 

Lumber and coal: Jenkins Hesla 
Lumber Co., Lewis McDermaid, Mgr, 

Livery: J. C. Barth. 

Mason and plasterer: A. K. 
Cleyeland. 

Meat market: J. Bradley Moore, 
Chauncey Cox, assistant. 

Milliners: Mrs. Annie J. Bodgers; 
Ina Smith with dress making de- 
partment by Mabel Lockie. 

Newspaper: The Havelock Item, 
Frank Jarvis editor and proprietor. 

Physicians: David Nowlan, F. E. 
Heathman. 

Poultry dealers: Gill Bros., W. 
S. Cox. 

Real estate agents: S. H. Gill 
& Co; W. T, Kemp; John H. Adams; 
DeVaul Bros., F. T. Burdick. 

Restaurant: Joseph B. Smith. 

Telephone: Havelock Telephone 
Co., established 1902; G. W. Smeltzer, 
president; Dr, F. E. Heathman, secre- 
tary and treasurer; Julia Fitzgerald, 
operator. 

Well-Driller: G. W, Smeltzer. 
havelock business enterprises. 

The citizens bank: The Citizens 
Bank of Havelock was established in 
1887 by Samuel H. Gill and John C. 



Potter, two of the leading citizens of 
the community. It was the first bank 
in the town, and their aim was to 
supply a convenience, that was greatly 
needed in the community. Its pro- 
prietors have been true to this aim, 
and the people of Havelock and vi- 
cinity have shown their appreciation 
of their endeavor by giving it a liberal 
patronage. In addition to the usual 
business transacted by such an insti- 
tution, this bank handles a large 
amount of real estate and furnishes 
abstracts of title to all lands in Poca- 
hontas county. Its proprietors have 
always performed a very prominent 
part in the management of the affairs 
of the town and none have done mora 
than they to promote its growth and* 
development. In 1899 J. C. Potter 
relinquished his interest in the bank. 
Its present proprietors are S. H. Gill 
& Co., and its officers are S. H. Gill, 
president; A. F. Clarke, vice-presi- 
dent and Wilbur H. Harris, cashier 
In 1900 they erected a new brick 
building 25x40 feet, equipped with 
modern banking conveniences, includ- 
ing two vaults, one for their own use 
and the other for the use of their 
patrons. 

Bank of havelock: The Bank of 
Havelock, established by Farmer, 
Thompson & Helsell of Sioux Rapids, 
Iowa, was opened for business March 
21st. 1891, with the following officers; 
J. P. Farmer, Pres., O. P. Thompson, 
vice-pres.; F. H. Heisell, Cashier; O. 
S. Gibbons and S. P. Thomas, Asst. 
Cashiers. 

In 1892 they erected for it a two 
story bank building, the first brick 
building in the town, at the south- 
west corner of Main and Wood 
streets. Aug. 15, 1892, C. S. Gibbons 
was succeeded by T. G. Demaray as 
an assistant cashier. May 1, 1898, S. 
P. Thomas, an assistant cashier, was 
succeeded by J. E. Allison. Jan. 1, 
1900, he was succeeded by W. H. Hal- 
vorson. Since the death of O. P. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, 



797 



Thompson, which occurred in 1902, 
the officers of the bank have been as 
follows: J. P. Farmer, Pres.; F. H. 
Helsell, vice-pres.; T. G-. Demaray, 
cashier, and W. H. Halvorson, Asst. 
Cashier. 

This bank was established for the 
accommodation of the merchants and 
farmers in the vicinity of Havelock, 
and ha3 received a large and profit- 
able patronage. The original plan of 
its founders has been conservatively 
pursued from year to year and it 
ranks as one of the solid financial in- 
stitutions of Pocahontas county. 

Havelock item: The Havelock 
Item (p. 319) is the only paper pub- 
lished in the town. It was establish- 
ed Aug. 1, 1893, by Fred J. Pratt, who 
conducted it about eight months and 
then sold it to E. A. Donahoe. Mr. 
Donahoe continued as its editor about 
four years and on Oct. 11, 1897, sold it 
to Prof. U. S. Vance, who had charge 
of it the next two years. Oct. 1, 1899, 
it was bought by Charles C. Johns. 
Prof. Frank Jarvis. his successor and 
the present proprietor of it, has pub- 
lished it since July 1, 1902. In Novem- 
ber 1901 the office was equipped with 
a new press of modern mechanism, 
and the old Washington hand press, 
that had done trustworthy service 
during the previous years, was dis- 
carded. 

The aim of its publishers has been 
to make ii a good local rather than a 
political paper. In this respect they 
have succeeded admirably. A high 
moral tone has always been a 
characteristic of its editorial columns. 
It has been loyal to local interests and 
has been accorded a large and profit- 
able advertising patronage. 

Gill bros., merchants: Charles J. 
and Osborne W., dealers in dry goods 
and groceries, Havelock, represent 
one of the oldest and most popular 
firms in the town. Gill Bros., S. H. 
and O. W., erected the first store 
building in the town in 1882-^and put 



in it the first stock of merchandise. 
They have been identified with the 
mercantile interests of the town ever 
since. In 1887, S. H. relinquished his 
interest in the firm and soon after 
ward his place was taken by his broth- 
er, Charles J. Gill. In 1891, they erect- 
ed anew, two-story double brick build- 
ing at the north end of Main street, 
where they have a splendid location. 
As an emporium of trade their store 
has held the fore-most place in the 
town and it has ranked high in the es- 
teem of the citizens of the community. 
Here may be found an immense stock 
of dry goods, clothing, groceries, fur- 
niture, in fact every article included 
under the general classification of 
family supplies. The proprietors are 
conversant with every detail of their 
business and possess that sagacity 
that enables them to anticipate the 
wants of their patrons. They pay 
the highest market price for country 
produce, including poultry, and sell 
their goods on the principle of quick 
sales and small profits. They are old 
settlers, and by serving the interests 
of their patrons through a long series 
of years they have won the confidence 
and esteem of the community. 

Havelock creamery: The Have- 
lock creamery was established in 1892 
by a cooperative association who or- 
ganized by the election of S. H. Gill, 
president; S. P. Thomas, secretary, 
J. B. Potter, treasurer. 

In 1898, owing to a lack of patron- 
age, it suspended operations. It was 
then purchased by the Hinn Bros., of 
Laurens, who re-arranged the plan of 
its management by supplying each of 
its patrons with a hand cream-sepa- 
rator. The creamery continues to be 
operated under the new arrangement 
and receives a remunerative patron- 
age. 

RURAL FREE DELIVERY. 

To the farmers of Washington 
township belongs the honor of taking 
the initiative and securing the first 



798 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



rural free delivery route in Pocahon- 
tas county. In July 1901 W. E. Pirie 
mapped out a route, circulated a pe- 
tition and forwarded it to the author- 
ities at Washington. A few days 
later he and other residents of the 
township, including David Nowlan, 
M. D. , post master at Havelock, at- 
tended a conference, at Rolfe, at 
which John T. Boylan, special agent 
for the rural free delivery routes, was 
present. Pirie prevailed on the latter 
to go home with him and the next day 
drove him over the proposed route. 
Later he secured the service of a 
carrier and became one of his bonds- 
men. 

Route No. 1, extending northwest 
from Havelock, was established Nov. 

1, 1901. Jesse C. Harriott was appoint- 
ed carrier and Edward R. Nowlan, 
a substitute. The route is 25i 
miles long, covers 41 square miles, and 
serves 105 families, representing a 
population of 325 persons. Charles 
Kezer has been the carrier on this 
route since March 15, 1902. Route No. 

2, extending southward into Sherman 
township, was established Jan. 1, 1903, 
John F. O'Brien, carrier. 

The growth of free rural delivery 
in Pocahontas county has been as fol- 
lows: 

Nov. 1, 1901, Havelock No. 1, Jesse 
C. Harriott, carrier. 

Jan. 1, 1902, Rolfe No. 1, south in 
Clinton and Center townships, Pat- 
rick H. Hanlon (deceased) carrier till 
April 1, 1902, Edward E. Bruce his 
successor. Rolfe No. 2, north through 
Clinton and Des Moines townships, 
Walter Spence, Harry S. Fain and 
Jerome Hollenbeck, successively, 
carriers. 

Feb. 1, 1902, Laurens, No. 1, south, 
Jared Hughes, carrier; Gilmore City, 
No. 1, south east through Weaver 
township, Humboldt courity, J. C. 
Smith, carrier; No. 2, south through 
Lake and Lizard townships, D. A. 
Rice, carrier. 



Aug. 1, 1902, Rolfe, No. 3, north 
west through Powhatan and Des 
Moines townships, Herbert E. Tubbs, 
carrier; No. 4, west from Rolfe 
through Powhatan and Center town- 
ships, Clarence U. Price, carrier. 

Jan. 1, 1903, Havelock, route No. 2, 
John F. O'Brien, carrier. 

At the close of 1902 Iowa has more 
rural free delivery routes than any 
state in the union, having 1,102, Illi- 
nois, 938 and Ohio, 885. In Iowa the 
work of establishing new routes has 
been more systematically proseciited 
than in any other sta'.e. Those in 
charge of the work have pursued the 
policy of completing the service for an 
entire county at a time and nineteen 
counties are now fully supplied. The 
increase in the number of routes in this 
state during the last year was over 50 
percent more than in 1901. Nevada is 
the only state that had no rural route 
in 1902. Nearly 2,000 post offices, rep- 
resenting an annual expenditure of 
$116,807 00, have been discontinued by 
reason of the rural free delivery serv- 
ice. The discontinuance of so many 
post offices encourages the belief that 
when the entire country is covered 
with rural routes the system will be 
self sustaining. 

Robert J. Wynne, First Assistant 
Postmaster General, recently said, 
"I do not think that any development 
of recent years, not excluding irriga- 
tion and the opening of vast tracts by 
continental railroads, has done half so 
much for the farmer as rural free de- 
livery." In his recent message Presi- 
dent Roosevelt expressed his hearty 
approval of the rural free delivery 
system, because he sees in it more 
than the mere delivery of mail to the. 
occupants of the farm. It is one of a 
number of modern conveniences, that 
tend to make life on the farm, away 
from the city, more pleasant and at- 
tractive; and the hope is expressed 
that some day the constant flow of 
young men and women from the farm. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



799 



to the over-ciowded city will be 
checked. There is a manifest need 
for more successful raisers of good 
stock and progressive tillers of the 
soil, but this want cannot be supplied 
while the sons of the farmer, craving 
the excitement of the busy city, walk 
not in the footsteps of their fathers. 
More men have achieved good fort- 
unes on the farm than in the city, and 
in the soil is found the broad founda 
tion of our national prosperity. What- 
ever science, invention and new laws 
can do to make life on the farm more 
attractive to the young people, will 
exert a favorable influence on the 
future welfare of this nation. Rural 
telephones, daily mails and electric 
railroads are bringing the best of city 
life to the farm and beneficial results 
will be sure to follow. 

RURAL TELEPHONE. 

In November 1902 some of the farm- 
ers of Washington township organized 
the Washington Center Telephone Co. 
by the election of Peter • S. Shultz, 
president; J. D. Ward, secretary, and 
William Steen, treasurer. 

They immediately purchased poles 
and apparatus and have for their own 
convenience an eight-mile line con- 
necting with the Havelock Telephone 
Co. 

THE WILLIAMS NURSERY. 

In January 1881, D. C. Williams and 
family, of Cedar Falls, located on the 
nei sec. 31, 160 acres, fur the purpose 
of establishing a nursery, (p. 312), and 
FraDk Williams, his son, coming from 
the Rocky Mountain region, located 
on sec. 19, 640 acres. 

Inasmuch as their lands were un- 
broken and therefore unsuited for im- 
mediate planting. Mr. Williams leased 
for nursery purposes, five acres of 
cultivated land on the farm of James 
C. Strong, on sec. 32, and planted it 
in 1881. Three years later he planted 
ten acres on his own farm, now owned 
by Julia A. Edwards, and five acres on 
the farm of his son, Frank Williams, 



which was sold later that year, 1884, 
subject to the nursery lease, to John 
A. Ryon, its present owner and occu- 
pant. 

Previous to this date horticulture 
had received but very little attention 
in this county. There were only a 
few orchards in it. No general inter- 
est had been awakened or enthusiasm 
developed in the matter of raising 
fruit. The county had been annu- 
ally canvassed by itinerant tree ped- 
dlers, who exhibited highly colored 
pictures of their high priced fruits, or 
carried in glass jars, large samples of 
them as grown in California, or some 
other fruit growing section. They 
invariably claimed that their fruits 
were raised successfully in neighbor- 
ing townships or counties, and fre- 
quently showed samples that they 
claimed to have picked from the 
orchard of some prominent man, usu- 
ally not very far distant but always 
inaccessible for immediate reference. 

In the spring when the farmer 
found everything he had planted the 
previous fall was dead, he realized 
that a deception had probably been 
practiced upon him and frankly con- 
fessed he would never make a similar 
investment. But when the next oily- 
tongued tree peddler came along with 
new pictures and v samples the new 
bait for the purchase of hardy, iron 
clad fruit trees was too tempting and 
again he would make an investment 
with the important stranger that 
promised a sure surprise to him and 
his neighbors, but ended in another 
complete disappointment. 

After several repetitions of this 
sort of experience with the stranger- 
tree-peddler, many of the early set- 
tlers declared it was no use to try to 
raise fruit trees in this locality and 
even refused to purchase the well- 
known, low-priced, hardy varieties; 
but a few others who had acquired a 
knowledge of the hardy and profitable 
varieties and protected them from the 



800 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



depredations of their own stock, met 
with good success. In 1886 it was es- 
timated that nine-tenths of the fruit 
trees that had been planted in this 
county, had died before they came to 
maturity. 

D. C. Williams was a practical 
horticulturist, having had thirty 
years' experience, and was not deter- 
red from his purpose of establishing a 
nursery in this county, by reason of 
the misfortunes of others. He planted 
60,000 seedlings in the spring of 1880, 
and had a considerable quantity of 
stock ready for sale the next year. In 
1884, he had 20 acres planted with 
nursery stock, and, leasing the culti- 
vated portions of his own farm to 
others, he gave his undivided atten- 
tion to the care and sale of the trees. 

The following varieties of apples, 
planted by him, have proved hardy 
and profitable in this county. The 
Duchess (summer), Wealthy (fall), 
Pewaukee's, Bailey's and Talman's 
Sweets (winter), and Martha and 
Whitney No. 20 (crabs). Whoever 
plants these varieties, and also the 
Longfieid, a new and prolific winter 
apple, Tetofsky (summer), Haas (large, 
red, fall) Waldbridge (fall) and Plum 
Cider (winter), will surely.have apples. 
The Willow Twig, Spice and Straw- 
berry varieties are hardy and desirable 
but will yield only when sprayed. The 
Duchess may have to be replanted at 
the end of twenty years. The cost of 
the varieties of apples will not be ex- 
pensive. Hardy apple trees and grape 
vines are not expensive, while the 
high-priced ones are worth little or 
nothing in this locality. 

Through the columns of the Poca- 
hontas Record he endeavored to give 
the farmers of this county the benefit 
of his long experience in raising fruit 
trees. We reproduce some of his 
suggestions in regard to the planting 
of fruit trees in this locality. 

"Trees lifted in the fall and buried 
over winter, do better than 'those 



lifted in the spring. When trees are 
received keep the roots moist with 
wet hay or straw. When you reach 
home, open the bundles, separate and 
heel the trees in the earth, wetting 
and banking them eighteen inches. 
Dig as many holes as you have trees 
21 feet square and H feet deep. Dig 
another hole close to the trees, fill it 
with water and mix in it clay or dirt 
until it becomes as thick as pudding 
Then, taking one tree at a time, 
when the sun is not shining, cut back 
the end of every root to the white 
wood and the top to suit. Immerse 
the roots of a sufficient number for 
one row, in this pudding, and lay them 
one at each hole. Fill the hole about 
six inches with well pulverized earth, 
locate the tree, straighten the roots 
to their natural position and complete 
the work by filling in the earth. 

Plant between the trees any crop 
that requires cultivation such as po- 
tatoes, beans or corn, but do not plow 
so near or cultivate so deep as to in- 
jure the roots. About the middle of 
July mulch each tree six inches deep 
and three feet across with manure or 
straw as protection against drought. 
In the fall protect from rabbits by 
placiDg occasional bunches of hay 
among them, and from mice, by wrap- 
ping each, during the first three years, 
with a strip of tarred paper." 

More recent experiments have dem- 
onstrated that mulching apple trees, 
or manuring the ground occupied by 
them, may determine whether they 
will bear fruit luxuriantly or even live 
many years. Those who do not fre- 
quently manure their orchards can- 
not expect to see their trees growing 
so thriftily or bearing so bountifully as- 
those of their more thoughtful neigh- 
bors. In planting evergreens or large 
trees, it is' a good plan 1 o set at one 
side of the hole in a slanting position, 
a three inch tile, so that water poured 
into it the first season, may leach the 
roots of the tree. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



801 



In 1889, D. C. Williams died, and, in 
October of tbat year, the surplus 
nursery stock was sold at half price, 
by J. T. Knapp & Co., by their agent 
R. R. Taber. Fine orchards may be 
seen, however, on the grounds occu- 
pied by him for nursery purposes. 
Many other orchards of less size in 
the north part of this county, were 
planted with trees raised by him. 
His experience served to show tbat 
apple trees may be raised in this 
county as surely and easily as ash, 
walnut, butternut, catalpa and even 
maples; but that it is unadvisable to 
send south or even very far east for 
them. This is no doubt due to the high 
altitude of this section, it being near 
the summit of the divide between 
the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. 
Some varieties that did well in the 
same latitude but on a lower ievel 
farther east, proved a disappointment 
on this higher altitude Small fruits 
in this section need alow wind break 
of willow or box elder on the south 
and west to protect them from the 
evaporating rake of the dry hot winds 
of summer. An orchard needs a 
similar protection and a northern 
slope is best for it, because its colder 
and later soil will retard the blossom- 
ing period and thus lessen the danger 
from spring froi-t-i. 

Later experience and observation 
has demonstrated that even hardy 
apple trees will not bear good fruit 
unless they are protected from apple 
scab, t'uogus, and the apple worm or 
coddling moth; that cherries and 
plums must be kept free from rot; and 
the currant and goose ber.y bushes 
free from mildew and worms. This 
is successfully done by spraying the 
trees and buslfes, at the proper times, 
with a solution of paris green to des- 
troy the insects and of bordeaux mix- 
ture to destroy the fungus. The 
bordeaux mixture is made by mixing 
four pounds of unslacked lime and 

four pounds of copper sulphate with 



fifty gallons of water. Four ounces of 
paris green added in this mixture will 
kill the coddling moth as well as pre- 
vent fungus growth. The scab and 
coddling moth make their appearance 
at about the same time and both can 
be successfully treated at the same 
time by spraying the trees or bushes 
just before the blossoming buds ex- 
pand and again just as the petals of 
the blossoms have fallen. It is often 
not unwise to make a third applica- 
tion two weeks later. To do this spray- 
ing the farmer needs a good barrel 
spray pump made entirely of brass ex- 
cept the head and handle, and having 
a large air cylinder within the tank, 
but no leather or rubber valves or 
iron screws. 

Horticulture is now a special branch 
of learning in our State Agricultural 
College. A quarter of a century ago 
many acted as if they believed that all 
thati was necessary to raise all sorts 
of fruits was to plant the seeds, vines 
or trees and let nature do the rest. 
Now the importance of good judg- 
ment in the selection of hardy varie- 
ties and their subsequent care, is 
recognized. Nature, however generous 
her promise, is a coy maiden, a co- 
quette. Like any other maiden worth 
having, she has to be persistently 
wooed if her smiles are to be secured. 
The horticultural swain must know 
and attend to his business or he for- 
feits the harvest. 

OLD SOLDIERS AND OLD SETTLERS 
REUNIONS. 

The first large gathering at Have- 
lock was the patriotic celebration of 
July 4, 1882. Everybody seemed to 
enjoy themselves and it was pro- 
nounced a "grand success." 

Since 1895, Havelock's "big day "has 
usually been the annual reunions of 
the old soldiers and old settlers in the 
fall of the year. 

For the first meeting, Aug. 21, 1896, 
the committee of arrangements, se- 
cured the big tent of Hon. J. P. 



802 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Dolliver that held 1,500 people. After 
a street parade in the forenoon it was 
filled to overflowing. Rev. C. M. 
Phoenix acted as president of the day 
and toastmaster. Addresses were 
made by editor Al Adams, of Hum- 
boldt, Hon. J. J. Bruce. Rev. C. W. 
Clifton and Rev. R. H. Dolliver, of 
Chicago. The music was furnished 
by the Havelock band, glee club, 
Grace Gilchrist, soloist, and the Po- 
cahontas band. After the speaking, 
some time was devoted to sack races, 
apple races and other forms of amuse- 
ment. 

At six o'clock the town and tent 
were deluged by a heavy rain, hay 
was bauled into the tent and the 
large crowd listened to one of Doll- 
iver's great political addresses on the 
gold standard and free silver. 

At the meeting held Aug. 26-27 1897, 
J. C. Strong presided, and addresses 
were delivered by Swan Nelson, C. M. 
Sajlor, James Henderson, J. W. Car- 
son, Ex-Governor C C. Carpenter of 
Fort Dodge and Major Bailey of Prim- 
gar. A large tent was secured for 
this occasion. Music was furnished 
by a drum corps and the ^Eolian 
Warblers of Humboldt. J". W. 
O'Brien superintended the barbecue 
and even the neck of the ox was de- 
licious. The sports arranged for the 
next day were prevented by the rain. 

At the third annual meeting, Sept. 
14, 1898, J. C. Strong presided, Mayor 
S. H. Gill delivered the address of 
welcome, and County Attorney, Will- 
iam Hazlett, the response. Rev. Jesse 
Cole delivered the principal address. 
Others that participated were j. W. 
Carson, James Rodda of Co. K. 52 
Iowa (just returned from Chicamauga) 
A. H. Handler and Frank L. MacVay. 
The last sp°aker, as a barefooted bjy 
had herrltd cattle on the prairies now 
occupied by the towns of Havelock, 
Rolfe. Plover, and Curlew, remember- 
ed when the ox teams in Powhatan 
out-numbered the horses, when John 



Fraser got the first spring seat in the 
township, and W. H. Hait the first 
carriage in the north part of the 
county. 

Aug. 22, 1899, the fourth annual 
meeting was another gala day* at 
Havelock. The day was beautiful 
and the tent inadequate to admit the 
crowd. J. C. Strong presided, Rev. 
J. A. Kees as usual led in the invoca- 
tion, Mayor S. H. Gill extended the 
welcome and Hon M. F. Healy of 
Fort Dodge delivered the address. 
Others that participated were J. J. 
Jolliffe, J. W. Carson, Al Adams, A. 
H. Hancher, George Goodchild, and 
Lee Anderson, of Bradgate. 

Previous to this occasion there had 
been no permanent organization to 
record events and preserve the min- 
utes. A permanent organization was 
that day effected by the selection of 
the following officers: J, C. Strong, 
president, E. A. Donahoe, secretary, 
A. J. Stover, treasurer, and a vice- 
president from each township. In 
the evening a camp fire was conducted 
by Dr. David Nowlan, commander. 
The barbacue was prepared and serv- 
ed by Frank Stott, assisted by J. W. 
Carson and W. J, O'Brien. 

One cannot but admire the courage 
and perserverance of those who 
settled in the north part of this coun- 
ty in the early days of long distances 
and of exposure to hard winters and 
stormy blizzards. When looking 
across the prairie they saw the smoke 
and heard the whistle of the locomo- 
tive, their loneliness departed and a 
new impetus was given the work of 
improvement. . Their perseverance 
during the period, when they had to 
make bricks without straw, was the 
harbinger of their greater success 
after the dawn of the new era. 

The grateful sentiment prompting 
these reunions was neatly expressed 
in an address of welcome by S. II. 
Gill 

"The younger generations realize 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



803 



what they owe to the pioneers whose 
endurance of hardships opened the 
way for the grand possibilities that 
have been abundantly improved. We 
also recognize the debt of gratitude 
we owe the old soldiers whose valor 
on the battlefield made the blessings 
of freedom and the continuance of an 
uodivided county, the best on the 
globe. On behalf of the citizens of 
Havelock, we greet all who have as- 
sembled to keep green the memory of 
those, who have done so much for the 
country aud extend to you all aheaity 
welcome." 

In a response William Llazlett Esq. 
said: 

'The old settlers and old soldiers find 
added pleasures each year in these re- 
unions and I have the honor of ex- 
pressing to the people of Havelock 
the hearty thanks of the pioneers and 
veterans for your welcome and the 
freedom of your city. I speak also 
for others, the newer settlers and the 
younger generation— those who have 
never gone to war or made a county. 
We take great pleasure in this day, be- 
cause we honor the men who saved 
the freedom and liberty of this coun- 
try and the men and women who 
wrestled this beautiful country from 
the wilds of nature. We like to sit at 
their feet and learn the wisdom of 
the past. The old settlers tt 11 us of 
the hardships of leaving the old home, 
their aged fathers and mothers; their 
coming to a new country far from a 
railroad, crossing unbridged streams 
and undrained swamps, taming the 
wild soil through years of privations 
and how they made Pocahontas coun- 
ty productive and pn sperous— an 
Eden with rapidly growing towns, val- 
uable farms, beautiful groves and 
comfortable homes 

"When we, the younger generation, 
see what has been done for us,' and 
hear of the hardships endured to do 
it, we say, 'All honor to the old set- 
tlers who wrought and made a county 
for themselves, their children, their 
children's children, and the stranger 
within their gates ' It is well to meet 
with them and hear their stories, 
that with them we may appreciate 
the fruits of their labors." 

LEADING CITIZENS. 

Cox, Willett S. (b. 1862), merchant, 
Havelock, is a native of Oquawka, 
Henderson county, 111., the son of 



Chapman and Rebecca Cox, with 
whom at eleven, he moved to Wapello, 
Iowa. After completing his studies 
in the high school in 1878, he learned 
the tinner's trade. In 1882, he en- 
gaged in the hardware business at 
Humboldt and remained until 1889, 
when he located at Havelock. Here 
he established a large hardware store 
ana soon afterwards began to 
maintain branch stores at Plover and 
Mallard. In 1896, he disposed of all 
his interest in the hardware business 
and in 1897, resumed business at 
Havelock as dealer in general mer- 
chandise. In Ihe fall of 1900, he erect- 
ed the first building and opened a 
store in the new town of Ware. He 
was appointed and s-erved as the first 
postmaster at Ware, from Oct. 7, 1900, 
t<> Dec. 1. 1901, when he relinquished 
his interests there and built a large 
brick store room at Havelock to meet 
the demands of his growing business 
at that place. This new building is 
one of the best store rooms in the 
county; it contains 8,200 feet of floor 
space, is finished in oak and heated 
with steam. The stock includes dry- 
goods, groceries, shoes, hardware, 
furniture and undertaker's supplie?. 
He; is the owner of considerable land 
in Iowa and Minnesota, and a leading 
stockholder in the Havelock Tele- 
phone Company. He is an enter- 
prising and successful business man 
and stands ready to prom )te any en- 
terprise that will prove a permanent 
benefit to the town of his adoption. 

In 1886 he married Cora M. Potter, 
of Rolfe, and his family consists of 
four children, Eva, Warren P , Sam- 
uel W. and Eklon. 

Demaray, Therm G. (b. 1866), 
cashier of the Bank of Havelock, is a 
native of Niagara, Co., N. Y. In 
1870, he came to Mitchell county, 
Iowa, where he lived on a farm till 
1885, when h.3 commenced working for 
Morgan & Faneghill and was with 
them till 1892, when he came to Have- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



lock. After serving nine years as 
assistant, in 1897, he was appointed 
cashier of the Bank of Havelock. He 
is a republican and has served as 
chairman of the county central com- 
mittee. In Havelock he has served 
as recorder and mayor, each two years, 
as a member of the council live years, 
and is now serving his third year as 
clerk of Washington township. He is 
also a mem er of the Havelock school 
board. 

In 1894 he married Mattie, daught- 
er of Charles J. Gill, and has two 
children, Ruth and Richard. 

Gill, Samuel Henry (b. 1850), bank- 
er, Havelock, is a native of Ogle 
county, 111., the son of Thomas and 
Charlotte Plane Gill. His father 
(b. 1809; d. 1890), was a native of Nor- 
folk, England, and in 1833, emigrated 
to Nova Scotia, where, later that year 
lie married Charlotte Plane, (b. 1820; 
d. 189P), who was also a native of Nor- 
folk. They located first at Geneseo, 
N. Y., and in 1842, at Byron, Ogle 
county, 111 , where they remained un- 
til 1870, when they came to Fort 
Dodge, Iowa. In 1882, they accom- 
panied their sons, Samuel and Os- 
borne W., to the ne v town of Elaye- 
lock, where he died at 81 in 1890. 
After his decease, Charlotte, his wife, 
lived with her sister, Sarah, widow of 
Benjamin Gill, who died at Havelock, 
iu 1891. She died at 79 in 1889, and 
was buried beside her husband at 
Fort Dodge. Their family consisted 
of fourteen children, ton of whom are 
still living, namely, Mrs. W. B. 
Harris, Jolle.; J. B. Gill, Fort Djdge; 
Mrs H. A. Schoonmaker, Vincent; T. 
B. Gill, Byron, 111.; R P. Gill, Port- 
land, O;egon; Mrs.- J. W.Donald 
Fort Dodge; Mrs. Charlotte (Wright) 
Wolrod, Callender; Samuel H., 
Charles J., and Osborne W. Gill, 
Havelock. 

Three children died in infancy and 
one sou at sixteen at Fort Dodge. 
They encouraged, with un Mi aching 



Norman heroism, their three oldest 
sons to go forth and battle for the 
home of their adoption, during the 
war of the Rebellion; and under the 
good providence of God, all returned 
home; but one of them contracted 
seeds of disease that have made his 
subsequent life one of constant, suffer- 
ing. Their three youngest sons have 
been prominently identified with the 
business interests and history of Have- 
lock, fince that town was founded. 
"He builds the state who to that 
task 

Brings strong, clean hands and 
purpose pure, 
Who wears not virtue as a mask; 

He builds the state that shall en- 
dure." 

Samuel H. Gill was born and ra'sed 
near Byron, Ogle county, Illinois. In 
1869, he came to Fort Dodge, preced- 
ing his father one year. In February 
1872, having spent most of the pre- 
vious year in Pocahontas county, he 
located, temporarily, on sec. 24. Colfax 
township. That fall he married Ida 
D., daughter of Gad C. Lowrey, and 
in 1874, secured the homestead of 
Wm. B. Owen, brother of Mrs. Wm. 
Brownlee, on the nl swi sec. 18, Bell- 
ville township. He occupied this 
farm three years, spent two in Pom-- 
eroy, and then returned to the farm. 
When the tornado of April 21, 1878, 
came one year later, destroying his 
house and -causing the death of 
his wife (p. 359), he returned to Pom- 
eroy. During 1879, he was engaged at 
Fonda and the next two jea>s at Fort 
Dodge. 

In January 1882, soon after its sur- 
vey, he came to the new town of 
Havelock, and, in partnership with 
his brother, Osborne W., erected a 
building and established the first 
store in the town. He continued a 
partner in the store until 1887, when, 
in partnership with John C. Potter, he 
founded the Citizen's Bank of Have- 
lock, an Institution with which he is 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



805 



still identified as president and prin- 
cipal proprietor. He is the owner of a 
fine farm of 360 acres adjoining Have- 
lock. 

He lias taken the lead in the devel- 
opment of other important interests 
at Havelock. He has been principal 
shipper of live stock and in 1892, when 
the Havelock co-operative creamery 
was established, he was chosen presi- 
dent of it. He was the first post- 
master of Havelock, March 1, 1882, to 
June 1886, and served a second term, 
March 1, 1889, to May 1, 1893. He was 
assessor of Washington township 
1885-'88, four years, served five years 
as a member of the first council in 
Havelock and four years as mayor of 
the town, 1898 to 1901. In 1883, as an 
independent republican candidate he 
lacked only five votes of being elected 
sheriff of this county. He has dis- 
covered himself to be a broad minded, 
public spirited citizen, and has met 
with good success in his business en- 
terprises. 

In 1884, he married Minnie Perry, of 
Marshalltown. His family consisted 
of two children, both by his first mar- 
riage. 

Viola C. in 1890, married Arthur F. 
Clarke, eleven years station agent at 
Havelock and vice-president of the 
Citizen's bank since 1899. They have 
two children, Maud and Beth. 

Etta J. in 1892, married John C. 
Barth, a livery man, Havelock, and 
has one child, Carl S. 

Gili, Charles J. (b.Ill., 1854), senior 
member of the firm of Gill Bros., 
came to Iowa in 1873, and located at 
Fort Dodge where he found employ- 
ment with the Fort Dodge Coal Com- 
pany five years, and then in the trans- 
fer business. In 1890, he and his 
younger brother, O. W., became deal- 
ers in general merchandise, occupying 
the first year their mother's building, 
on the west side of Main street. 
In 1891, at the north end of Main 
street, they erected a two story frame 



building, the upper story of which is 
used as a town hall. Here they have 
a splendid location and one of the 
best department stores in the county. 
He served as president of the Wash- 
ington township school board in 1890 
and the next two years as the first 
president of the Havelock school 
board. 

During his residence at Fort Dodge 
he married Anna, (b. 1854), daughter 
of A. W. and Cornelia Kingsley, and 
his family consisted of four children. 

Mattie (b. 1874) in 1894, married 
Theron G. Demaray,(see Demaray.) 

William (b. 1873), a druggist, in 1900, 
married Bertha Geise, lives at Terrel 
and has one child, Foster. 

Emma, a Havelock graduate in 1897, 
and a teacher, in 1899, married Clar- 
ence Lighter and lives at Rolfe. 

Carl, "a druggist, lives at Terrell. 

Gill, Osborne W. (b. 111., 1855) 
junior member of the firm of Gill 
Bros., in the spring of 1882, came to 
Havelock and at once became a mem- 
ber of the firm of Gill Bros., general 
merchants, his older brother, Samuel 
H. , being the other member of the 
firm during the first six years or un- 
til 1888. He then engaged with his 
brother, Charles J., two years in the 
hay business, and then, resuming with 
him his place and interest in the store, 
has continued in it until the present 
time. 

In 1883, he married Mary Jane 
Portz, of Fort Dodge, and has two 
sons, Earl and Brooks. 

He was mayor of Havelock in 1902. ■ 

The other children of Thomas and 
Charlotte Gill were John B., who mar- 
ried Mary J. McClain, merchant, Fort 
Dodge; Thomas B., who married 
Agnes Barry and is engaged in the 
furniture business at Barron, 111.; 
Robert P. at Portland, Oregon, mar- 
ried Maggie McClain; Kate married 
Wm. B. Harris and lives at Jolley; 
Sarah E. married Henry Schoonmaker 
and lives in Webster county; Ida M. 



806 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



married Joseph Donald, Fort Dodge; 
Charlotte married S. P. Wright, who 
served as railroad agent at Tara eight- 
een years and afterwards died at Call- 
ender. In 1899 she married Jesse Wol- 
rod, a farmer, and still lives at Calen- 
der. 

Hamble, Philip (b. 1832), one of 
the early pioneers of Washington 
township, is a native of Hamilton 
county, Ind., the son of Anthony and 
Elizabeth (McPeek) Hamble; who 
were natives of Virginia and New 
Jersey respectively. In 1854 he mar- 
ried Amanda Jane Burns and located 
on a farm. 

His father was a soldier in tne war 
of 1812, and Philip, enlisting in 1862 
at Nashville, as a member of com- 
pany A. 5th Ind. Cavalry, served in 
the Civil war until its close, June 29, 
1865. His first engaem ent waa with 
Morgan's raiders at Buffi ngton Bar, 
Ohio, and the next were Blountville 
and Rheatown, Tenn, At Knoxville 
the regiment was dismounted and 
sent back across the mountains afoot 
through Cumberland Gap to Mount 
Sterling, Ky., where it was remount- 
ed. It then passed with Sherman's 
army to Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, 
where it was surrounded and captured . 
After their return a number of the 
men,including Philip, were dismount- 
ed and sent to the command of Gen. 
Thomas at Nashville. He spent the 
remainder of his time in the vicinity 
of that place,Ptouaski and Louisville. 

At the close of the war he returned 
to his farm in Hamilton county, Ind. 
In 1868, he located in Dubuque coun- 
ty, Iowa, and in 1873, on the swi sec. 
33, Washington township. At this 
date there were only three other fam- 
ilies in the territory now included in 
Washington township, He and his 
family lived in their wagons and 
among their neighbors until their 
house was completed. He improved 
his farm with good buildings and oc- 
cupied it until 1901, when he moved to 



Havelock and in 1902, to Long Beach 
near Los Angeles, Cal. 

He was a very highly respected citi- 
zen and participated in the organiza- 
tion of Washington township. He 
served as the first clerk of the town- 
ship, as the first president of the 
school board in 1877, and later four 
years as a trustee. He rendered cor- 
dial co operation in the maintenance 
of public worship and in efforts to pro- 
mote the moral and educational inter- 
ests of the community. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren all of whom were born during 
his residence in Indiana and came 
with him to the frontier in 1873. 

Margaret Elizabeth, Dec. 18, 1872, 
in Dubuque county, married Jason 
N. Russell, (see Russell). 

Delilah, a teacher, married Alexan- 
der McEwen, (see McEwen). 

William Franklin, a carpenter, in 
1883, married Lulu C. Blake and lo- 
cated on a farm of 120 acres on sec. 33. 
In 1892, he moved to Havelock. His 
family consists of four children, Earl, 
Philip W., Medorah Vashti, and 
Amanda Eleanor. 

Masters, William Elmers (b. 1862), 
owner and occupant of nei sec. 33, 
1890 to 1902, is a native of Buchanan 
county, the son of David and Ellen 
Gates Masters. In 1890, he married 
Lucy R. Hovey, and located in Poca- 
hontas county. He was very success- 
ful in raising hogs and succeeded 
finely on the farm. He was an active 
member of the M, E, church and en- 
joyed the good esteem of the com- 
munity. In 1902, he moved to Bu- 
chanan county, 

His family consists of four children, 
Charles Roy, Nellie F., Fannie E., 
Lewis David. 

Mather, Benjamin (b. 1820; d. 1888), 
a pioneer, Washington township, was 
a native of Darbyshire, England. He 
was bereft of his mother in infancy 
and of his father in childhood. At 15 
he came to Dubuque county, Iowa, 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



807 



with an uncle and aunt. In 1845, he 
married Mary Spensley (b. Eng. 1829; 
d. 1888) and located on a farm. All 
the members of his large family were 
born and raised in Dubuque county. 
In 1875, he located on sec. 30, Wash- 
ington township, Pocahontas county. 
Here he spent the remainder of his 
days. He died at 68 in 1888 and his 
wife at 59 one month later. He par- 
ticipated in the organization of Wash- 
ington township in 1876, and served 
as one of its first trustees. 

His family consisted of thirteen 
children, four of whom died in child- 
hood, 

Jemima, in 1869, in Dubuque coun- 
ty, married Morah F. Russell (p. 744). 
Richard S. (b. 1849), in 1878, married 
Ellen Watson, daughter of Robert 
Struthers, and located on a farm near 
Rolfe. His family consists of seven 
children, William, Susan E , Mary C, 
Robert B., James A., Margaret J., and 
Helen Jemima. James Thomas (b. 
1851), in 1892, married Louise Ludwig. 
He is engaged in the livery business 
at Laurens and has two children, 
Edith and Clarion. William R. (b. 
1860), in 1886, married Emma Bonn. 
He owns and occupies a farm of 160 
acres near Laurens and has three 
children, Ray, Benjamin and Elva 
May. John (b. 1862), lives at Laurens. 
Emma K. (b. 1864), in 1897, married 
Dena Siemring. He is engaged in the 
livery business at Laurens and" has 
two children, Helen and Rex. Frank 
B. (b. 1866), in 1892, married Florence 
Wells and lives at Laurens. Walter 
M. (b, 1869), in 1890, married Pearl 
Ellis, lives at Laureus, and has two 
children, Grace and Laurel. 

Nowlan, David, M. D. (b. 1842), 
post master at Havelock, is a native 
of Toulon, Stark county, 111., the son 
of Michael and Florence Nowlan, who 
raised a family of ten sons. He grew 
to manhood on the farm and at nine- 
teen, in 1861, he enlisted as a member 
of Co. B. 37th 111., Inf., and spent 



three years and three months in the 
army on the frontier, along the Miss- 
issippi, under Gen. John C. Black. He 
participated in the siege and capture 
of Vicksburg, and the battles at 
Prairie Grove and Pea Ridge. He was 
a member of the first G. A. R. Post, 
which was organized at Galva, 111., in 
1866, and on coming to this county, 
became a member of the Andrew 
Mills Post at Rolfe. 

In 1867, he married MaryC. (b. Ohio 
1849), daughter of Alonzo Smead, M. 
D., of Fon du Lac, Wis., and located 
at La Fayette, 111. In 1873, he lo- 
cated at Pomeroy, Iowa, and two 
years later in Jasper county, where he 
completed a course in medicine under 
Dr. C. C. Smead. his brother-in-law. 
In the sprlog of 1876. he received a 
medical diploma from the State Board 
of Examiners and began the practice 
of medicine 3t Rensnor, Jasper coun- 
ty. In June, 1882, he located in the 
the new town of Havelock and very 
soon secured a lucrative practice. He 
has served as a member of the town 
council of Havelock, and has been in 
charge of the post office there since 
Oct. 13, 1897. There are few men in 
the town or township that have lived 
so long in it or become so widely and 
favorably known. He received a good 
education in his youth, and heartily 
supports the principles of the repub- 
lican party. He is also an advocate 
of total abstinence and woman suffr- 
age. 

His family consisted of two chil- 
dren: 

BreteCassius (b. 1878), after gradu- 
ating from the Havelock high school 
in 1894, and teaching five terms of 
school, in 1900, graduated from the 
Electrical Engineering department of 
the Iowa State Agricultural College 
at Ames. Since that date he has been 
in the employ of the Western Elec- 
tric Company of Chicago, and is now 
at Fargo, N. D. 

Edward R. (-b. 1881), a Havelock 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



graduate in 1898, after completing the 
course in Electrical Engineering at 
Ames in 1902, also entered the employ 
of the Western Electric Co., and is 
now at Denver, Colorado. 

©'Br!ea, John W. (b. 1848), Have- 
lock, is a native of White Oak Springs, 
Wis. His father died when he was 
fifteen. This event caused an unusual 
responsibility to fall on his youthful 
shoulders, that of providing a home 
and support for his mother, eight 
sisters and one brother. His mother 
died ■ when she was 74. In 1879 he 
married Alice Noonan and lived two 
years on a farm near Shullsburg, Wis. 
In 1881, he came to Pocahontas coun- 
ty, and located on the nei sec. 9, 
Sherman township, which he improv- 
ed and occupied until 1890, when he 
moved to Havelock, where he has 
since been engaged, first as a coal 
dealer, and then as a contractor and 
builder. He built many of the fine 
residences and store buildings in 
Havelock and others in its vicinity. 

He has taught school many winters, 
and is now serving his eighth year as 
secretary of the Havelock school board 
and fourth year as a member of the 
town council. During his residence in 
Sherman township he served three 
years as a member of the board of 
county supervisors, 1884-'86, one year 
as assessor, and several terms as a 
justice, and also as treasurer of the 
school board. In 1886, he was the 
democratic nominee for the office of 
county recorder. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren, two of whom died in childhood. 
Michael S. (b. 1880), a teacher, is 
clerking in a general store at Pocahon- 
tas. John F., Clara, Neal, and Mary 
Theresa are at home. John F. has 
been the carrier on the Havelock R. 
F. D. No. 2 since its establishment 
Jan. 1, 1903. 

Potter, John Calvin (b. 1855), bank- 
er and farmer. Havelock, is a native 
of New York, son of Rev. W. A. Pot- 



ter, who served fifteen years as pastor 
of the Baptist church at Monticelio, 
Wisconsin. He moved with his par- 
ents to Ohio and later to Wisconsin, 
where he grew to' manhood on the 
frontier. In 1880, he married Lucy C. 
Marshall and located on a farm near 
Albany, Wis. In 1882, he came to Po- 
cahontas county, Iowa, and located on 
a farm of 200 acres on sec. 3, Washing- 
ton township, that he was the first to 
occupy and improve. 

CLINTON FARM. 

At the time of his arrival he had 
formed a partnership with James 
Campbell ^called R. R. Tim) of Madi- 
son, Wis., owner of 280 acres on sec. 3, 
for the purpose of raising stock on 
these lands. In 1883, Mr. Campbell 
died and his interest passed to his 
daughter, Charlotte, wife of G-. O. 
Clinton, formerly a superintendent of 
the O, M. & St. P. Ry., and now a 
resident of Joliet, 111. The partner- 
ship was continued and J. C. Pot'er 
continued in charge of it six years. 
During this period the farm was 
increased to 1,000 acres, splendid build- 
ings were erected and the Clinton stcck 
farm became the most prominent one 
in the township. During the next 
seven years it was managed by Mr. 
and Mrs. G. O. Clinton, who were rep- 
resented on the farm by their son, C. 
A. Clinton, in 1888-'89. In 1890, they 
located on it. In 1895, it was divided 
into four farms and three other sets 
of farm buildings were erected. 

In 1887, J. C. Potter moved to Have- 
lock and became associated with S. 
H. Gill in establishing the Citizens 
Bank. He continued in the banking 
and real estate business until 1899, 
when he relinquished his interest in 
the bank to engage again in raising 
stock on his own farm east of Have- 
lock. 

He served six years as a trustee of 
the township, '83-88, and in Havelock 
three, each as a member of the town 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



809 



council, treasurer of the school fund 
and president of the school board. 

His family consists of six children, 
one of whom, LaVerne, was born and 
raised in Wisconsin, the others, Wini- 
fred, Pearl, Lona, John C, and Mar- 
shall, in Pocahontas county. 

After the death of his father in 1880, 
his mother, Mrs. Harriet Capon Pot- 
ter, came to this county and lived 
several years in Havelock. She then 
returned to Wisconsin and died in 
1894, leaving one son, Elmer, who lo- 
cated at Monticello, Wis.; and three 
sons and two daughters, who are lo- 
cated in Pocahontas county, namely, 
John O, Havelock; Juliette, who mar- 
ried Ross Dennis, a painter, Rolfe; 
Cora, married W. S Cox, a general 
merchant, Havelock; Frank A., who 
is in the grain business, Rolfe; and 
William A., the deputy sheriff of 
this county, Havelock. 

Ryon, John A. (b. 1836), owner and 
occupant of sec. 19, 640 acres, is a 
native of Wayne county, Pa., the son 
of William nnd Eleanor (Roberts) Ry- 
on. His mother was a descendant of 
Rev. Hugh Roberts, the flrs r Quaker 
preacher in Philadelphia. His grand- 
father, William, was a native of Wy- 
oming, Pa., and his great-grand-father 
came from Connecticut to Wyoming a 
short time previous to the massacre 
by the Indians of that place. A fam- 
ily bible, that his father purchased 
about th3 time of his marriage, while 
on a rafting expedition and carried 
home on foot, a distance of 100 miles, 
may be seen at his home. 

At the age of two years he came 
with his parents to Kendall county, 
111., where he grew to manhood. In 
1861 he engaged in farming in DeKalb 
county, where in 1863 he married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and 
Elizabeth Dunbar. After his mar- 
riage he sold his farm and served in 
the army as a member of Co. K, Eighth 
Illinois Cavalry, from Oct. 4, 1864, to 
July 22, 1865. His regiment, under 



Col. Clendenning, was assigned to the 
work of guarding Washington City 
and watching the movements of the 
guerrilla forces under Moseby and 
White. 

After the war he returned to De- 
Kalb county, Illinois, and in 1884 lo- 
cated on his present farm on section 
19, 640 acres, which he purchased from 
Frank, a son of D. C. Williams, the 
nurseryman. The small house and 
barn that had been erected on this 
farm have been greatly enlarged, so 
that they are now among the largest 
in the township. 

In the spring of 1883,D. O Williams 
started a nursery of five acres and an 
orchard of 200 apple trees on this farm. 
Many of the apple trees have been 
bearing during the last ten years. 
The varieties that have done best are 
the Duchess (summer), Wealthy (fall), 
Pewaukee's, Bailey's and Talman's 
Sweets (winter), Martha and Whitney 
No. 20 (crab). The apple crop in 1896 
was about 100 bushels, and much 
larger crops have been gathered since 
that date, 

Mr. Ryon has been very successful 
in raising stock, both hogs and cattle, 
and is now in very comfortable cir- 
cumstances. He is a fine looking man, 
wears a full beard, takes little interest 
in politics and enjoys the confidence 
and esteem of his fellow citizens. He 
has secured a good heritage for his 
children. 

His family consists of four children : 

Lizzie in 1892 married Wilbur E. 
Craig (p. 684) and located on the nw i 
sec. 30, where they occupied the first 
house built in Washington township, 
by J. L. Clark in 1870. Her family 
consists of two children, Hattie and 
Alice. 

Andrew D., (b. 1868) in 1893 married 
Grace, daughter of William and Julia 
Edwards. He occupies the sw i sec. 
19. His wife died in 1894, leaving one 
child, Grace. In 1898 he married 



810 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Mary Pooler (b. 1873) and has one son, 
John. 

Hugh L. (b. 1870) in 1898 married 
Alice Gertrude Moore. He occupies 
the nw i sec. 19, and has two children, 
Bertha and Julia Etta. 

Jay (b. 1872) in 1900 married Lizzie 
M. Aschenbrenner, and is located on 
section 19. 

Sheldon, John Burton (b. 1867), 
druggist and optician, Havelock, is a 
native of Illinois, the son of William 
A. and Sarah A. (Loverin) Sheldon. 
After completing a course in phar- 
macy at the Iowa State University in 
1889, he became a member of the firm 
of C. D. Baker & Co., druggists, To- 
ledo, Iowa. In 1891 he married Myrtle 
Stauffer of Giadbrook and located at 
Havelock, where he has since been 
proprietor of a drug store and jewelry 
business. There is no occupation in 
which care, knowledge and experience 
are more essential than in that of the 
druggist, and the establishment con- 
ducted by Mr. Sheldon is one of the 
most reliable in the county. He has 
had many years of profitable experi- 
ence and carries a large stock of fresh 
drugs, medicines, oils, paints, school 
books and stationery. He is also an 
optician, having completed a course 
in optics at the college at South Bend, 
Ind., in 1901, and carries a carefully 
selected stock of jewelry. 

He is serving his fourth year as a 
member of the Havelock council and 
sixth year as treasurer of the school 
funds. 

His family consists of two children, 
Olive B. and Lawrence Burton, one 
child having died at the age of two in 
1895. 

Sidwell, William Onides (b. 1867) 
is a native of West Virginia. In 1873 
he came with his parents to Marshall- 
town, Iowa, where two years later his 
mother died. Later he accompanied 
his father to Benton and also Grundy 
county. In 1886 he located at Have- 
lock and three years later established 



there a harness shop, which he main- 
tained during the next thirteen years. 
During this period he was industri- 
ous and earnest, and by close atten- 
tion to business built up a good trade. 
He was a good workman and carried a 
large and varied stock of harness and 
other horse furnishings. His shop 
was the only one in the town and by 
employing skilful workmen and using 
only good materials he was enabled to 
draw trade from long distances. In 
the spring of 1902 he disposed of his 
interest in the harness business and 
became a dealer In general merchan- 
dise. He has carried into this new 
and wider field of business operations 
the good-will he acquired during his 
long previous residence in Havelock. 
He served as clerk of Washington 
township four years, 1893-96, and has 
beena member of the Havelock Coun- 
cil five years, 1898-1902. 

In 1892 he married Matie Webster of 
Havelock and has a family of three 
daughters, Zella, Madge and Benita. 

Strong, James C. (b. 1834), a pi- 
oneer resident of Washington town- 
ship and a county supervisor, 1875-83, 
is a native of Branch county, Mich- 
igan, the son of John and Eliza 
(Moore) Strong, both of whom were of 
Scotch descent. His father died when 
he was four years of age, and all of 
his brothers and sisters are also dead. 
In 1854 he married Ellen, sister of 
Morah and Jason Russell, and located 
on a farm. In 1858 they came to Du- 
buque county, Iowa, where he worked 
in the lead mines six years and en- 
gaged in farming the next five. In 
1869 he came to Pocahontas county 
and made the purchase of 2,200 acres 
of land for himself (560 acres), Jon- 
athan L. Clark, Benjamin Mather, 
Ephraim Smith, Lewis Foland, John, 
Harry, Morah and Jason Russell in 
Washington and Sherman townships. 
In May, 1870, accompanied by Jon- 
athan L. Clark and Jason N. Russell, 
he began to occupy and improve his 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



811 



farm on section 32, and the next year 
built on it the second house and 
planted the first grove in the town- 
ship. He improved this farm with 
good buildings and orchard and occu- 
pied it until 1888, when he moved to 
Havelock and became tne proprietor 
of a lumber yard. After a few 
years he relinquished his interest in 
the lumber business and has since 
been living in comparative retirement 
in the enjoyment of the well earned 
competency acquired during the early 
and prosperous years of his long, ac- 
tive and eminently useful life. 

He performed a leading part at the 
time the township was organized, and 
served two years as one of the trustees, 
six years as the first justice, and nine 
years — 1877-85 — as the first treasurer 
of the school funds. He served nine 
years— 1875-83— as a member of the 
board of county supervisors. He was 
mayor of Havelock in 1895 and served 
three years as a member of the first 
town council. 

He is president of the Havelock Old 
Settlers' association and has presided 
at all of their annual gatherings since 
the second one, held in 1897. Ever 
since he located in Washington town- 
ship he has been the most prominent 
citizen of it. His long period of ser- 
vice as a member of the board of 
county supervisors is suggestive of 
the public confidence reposed in him. 
He has always endeavored to do his 
duty conscientiously, and the integrity 
of his motives has never been as- 
sailed. During his long and active 
career he has exerted a potent influ- 
ence in the township and county, and 
his memory will be cherished by his 
fellow citizens as that of an upright, 
honorable man. He is a good illustra- 
tion of the adage that "Patient plod- 
ding persistently prosecuted produces 
permanent prosperity." 

During the eighteen years spent on 
the farm he had his early experiences 
with the grasshoppers (p. 258) and 



with marauding trappers (p. 274). 
When the era of better times began, 
about the year 1880, he spent much 
time in the work of improving his 
land, and has erected the second and 
third set of farm buildings. Two of 
his farms have wells 300 feet deep, 
operated by windmills. Two of them 
have orchards in good bearing condi- 
tion, and one of them contains eight 
acres. The Wealthy, Duchess and a 
few other varieties of apples have 
stood this climate well, and since 1895 
have yielded several crops of 200 
bushels or more. 

His family consisted of five children: 

Alva A. (b. Mich. 1854), a teacher in 
the early days, in 1874 married Marilda 
Pilgrim and occupies the old home 
farm three miles southwest of Have- 
lock. He served as a township trustee 
in 1879, and seven years as the first 
secretary of the school board. His 
family consists of eleven children, one 
having died in childhood: Etta May, 
James F., Elizabeth, Pearl W., Ida F., 
Elmer, John, Mary, Mildred, Wilbur 
and Archibald. 

William A. (b. Mich. 1857) married 
Mary Pilgrim, a cousin of Marilda, 
lives at Alida, 111., and has one daugh- 
ter, Lucile. 

Jason F. (b. Iowa., 1860) in 1889 
married Amy Wilson and lives on a 
part of the old farm on section 32. 

Mary Ellen (b. Iowa, 1866) in 1893 
married Rev. Joseph Herrington, a 
minister of the M. E. church, lives 
now at Barnum and has a family of 
two children, Luella Grace and Lois 
Maud. 

Myrta Luella (b. 1876), the only 
member of the family born in this 
county, in 1899 married George Dick- 
erson, lives at Havelock and has two 
children, James Claude and Burton 
Clay. Luella postoffice, the first 
one in Washington township, was 
named in her honor. 

Thomas, Sylvester P. (b. 1852), as- 
sistant cashier of the Bank of Have- 



812 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



lock, 1891-98, is a native of Mahaska 
county, the son of James B. and Irene 
A. Thomas. In 1875 he married Ella 
M., daughter of William and Mary 
Perry, and located on a farm in Mar- 
shall county. In 1887 he located in 
Havelock and engaged in the mer- 
cantile business in partnership with 
C. H. Collins. In 1891, when the 
Bank of Havelock was established, he 
relinquished his interest in the store 
and becoming an assistant cashier in 
the bank, continued to fill that posi- 
tion until 1898, when he moved to 
Humboldt county and became cashier 
of the Bank of Rutland. In 1902 he 
located at Hunter, Oklahoma, and as- 
sociated with Clark L. Thompson, bis 
son-in-law, became proprietor of the 
Bank of Hunter. Clark L. Thompson 
became its vice-president and Fay C. 
Thomas, his son, its cashier. At the 
time of his removal from Havelock he 
owned several valuable town proper- 
ties and about 780 acres of land in that 
vicinity. He served five years as 
treasurer of Havelock. 

His family consisted of two chil- 
dren: Bertha M., a graduate of Mt. 
Vernon college, became the wife of 
Clark L. Thompson, banker, and lives 
at Hunter, Oklahoma. Fay O, a 
graduate of the Capital City Commer- 
cial college, and cashier of the Bank 
of Hunter, died at the age of twenty- 
four in 1903. 

A SPRINGFIELD SURVIVOR. 

It is of interest to note that S. P. 
Thomas was a survivor of the Spirit 
Lake massacre of 1857. His father 
and family, consisting of wife and six 
children — Frank, Albert, Emma, 
William, who was killed (p. 33), Syl- 
vester and Mary, the baby — in 1855 
had located at Springfield, Minn., 
wherethe Indians arrived with bloody 
intent about 4 o'clock in the after- 
noon of March 26, 1857, after the mas- 
sacre at Spirit Lake. The log cabin 
of Mr. Thomas was located at the 
edge of some timber and 22 persons 



had sought refuge in it at the time 
the Indians arrived. When the In- 
dians came they hitched their ponies 
and secreted themselves in the tim- 
ber some distance from the cabin. 
Then one of the chiefs came to the 
cabin dancing and singing to attract 
the family out of it. William, about 
ten years of age and being in the yard, 
was the first to see the chief approach- 
ing and called to those in the house 
to see the "old chief," whom he rec- 
ognized, dance. This Indian had 
been at the Thomas home on several 
previous occasions to receive food and 
had smoked the "pipe of peace." As 
soon as the family was attracted out- 
side the cabin the Indians rushed 
from the timber and as a result of 
their first volley William was shot in 
the head and instantly killed. Mr. 
Thomas received a severe wound in 
the right arm and two of the neigh- 
bor women were also wounded. Af- 
ter this onset the attention of the In- 
dians was occupied for a short time 
in getting the horses from the stable. 
This gave the family time to get into 
the house and barricade the door and 
windows. Fortunately three hunters 
or trappers, who were well provided 
with arms and ammunition, were 
lodging with the family at this time, 
and Mr. Thomas had three rifles, 
though after his injury he could not 
use them. The fusilade of the hun- 
ters kept the Indians at bay until 11 
o'clock at night when they withdrew, 
taking the horses but leaving about 
eight of their own number who had 
been killed by the hunters. 

One hour later preparations were 
begun for the departure of the family 
and those that were with them to Ft. 
Dodge 75 mihs distant. To make 
this journey some of the cattle that 
were left were hitched to a sled, the 
women and children were loaded on it 
and the trip was begun in the dark- 
ness of the night. In the haste of 
leaving, supplies of food were forgot- 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



813 



ten and they were nearly famished 
from hunger when met by the relief 
expedition from Ft. Dodge. Mary, 
the baby, died from the exposure in- 
cident to the journey, about the time 
of their arrival at Fort Dodge. 

Mr. Thomas had built the log cabin 
on his own homestead, but after this 
terrible experience, he never returned 
to occupy it. lie engaged for a few 
years in the mercantile business at 
Nevada and then moved to Marshall 
county, where he died in 1866. 

Vance, Ulysses Samuel (b. 1868) 
county superintendent, was born near 
Indianapolis and at tbree years of age 
moved to Benton county, Ind , where 
he grew to manhood on a farm. He 
received his education in the public 
school, Oxford Academy and Purdue 
University at La Fayette, Ind. He 
began to teach school at seventeen 
and, with the exception of two yeais, 
has been engaged in teaching or edu- 
cational work ever since. In 1894 he 
located on a farm in Washington 
township, this county, intending to 
engage in farming, but in less than a 
month he was induced to become prin- 
cipal of the Havelock schools, and 
held this position from April 1,1894 
to July 1, 1898. He organized the 
high school and graduated the first 
class from it in 1898. In connection 
with his school work he served as edi- 
tor of the Havelock Item from Oct. 
11, 1897 to July 1, 1898, and then gave 
his entire time as a moulder of public 
opinion to the paper until Oct. 1, 1899. 
In 1897, as a candidate for the office of 
county superinttndent, he gave his 
predecessor a close race for the nomi- 
nation and became his logical success- 
or, on the basis of skill as an educator 
and popularity among the teachers. 
In 1900 he began to perform the du- 
ties of the office of county superin- 
tendent and is now serving his second 
term. He became a leader in town- 
ship institutes in Indiana and was an 
instructor in the county institutes in 



this county each year of his residence 
in it until he became superintendent. 
He is a man well qualified by educa- 
tion, experience and good character 
to perform efficiently the duties of a 
teacher or superintendent. 

Encouraged by the generosity of 
Hon. George Schee of Primgar, as 
superintendent of the schools of Po- 
cahontas county, he has accomplished 
one thing for which he has often been 
congratulated and will be long re- 
membered, namely, the development 
of an interest in libraries, that has 
placed an assortment of good books in 
the rural schools of this county. He 
believes that when a child is taught 
to read, he should be encouraged to 
read good books, and he has put forth 
an honest endeavor to place good 
reading, through the public schools, 
within the reacn of every child in the 
county. All the rural schools of this 
county, with four exceptions, now 
have libraries of 10 to 375 volumes 
each, and the town schools have larg- 
er ones. The annual report for 1903 
will show that there are over 10,000 
volumes in the schools of this county, 
instead of 1,021 volumes in 1900 when 
he became superintendent. Accord- 
ing to the last statistics issued by the 
state superintendent, Pocahontas 
county stands at the head of the list 
in reporting the largest Increase in 
the number of library books for the 
public schools, and largest amount of 
money raised for that purpose. This 
is one of many evidences that he is 
laboring efficiently to promote the in- 
terests of our public schools. He is 
held in high esteem by the educators 
of the state. 

In 1892 he married Ella Maud, old- 
est daughter of Geo. W. Kyle, who 
has been a resident of Washington 
township since 1893. Two of his fam- 
ily of four children are living: Emmet 
Lowell, the oldest, and Ulysses Sam- 
uel, the youngest. In 1901 he moved 
to Pocahontas. 



814 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Ward, Thomas (b. 1835) is a native 
of Canada, the son of Calvin and 
Margaret Ward. In 1862 he married 
Rosanna Dorman and four years later 
located on a farm in Clinton county, 
Iowa. In 1891 he located on his pres- 
ent farm, the se I sec 28, Washington 
township, which he was the first .to 
occupy and improve. He has increas- 
ed this farm to 400 acres and improv- 
ed it with good buildings. 

His family consisted of five child- 
ren: 

Jeremiah D. (b. Canada 1863) in 1887 
married Nellie L. Hubbard and occu- 
pies the north part of sec 28. He has 
one daughter, Alice, 

Catherine in 1883 married William 
Steen, owner and occupant of the se i 
sec 16. He has been secretary of the 
School board since 1897. His family 
consists of seven children: Roy, 
Thomas, Arthur, William, Rose, Am- 
ber and Ellen. 

Margaret A. in 1887 married John 
E. Moats, lives at Boone and has one 
daughter, Blanche. 

Sarah Jane in 1887 married Mitchell 
E. Hoover, an engineer, and lives at 
Lake City. 

Thomas C. (b. 1872) in 1894 married 
Margaret Boekenoogen, occupies the 
nw i sec 28 and has two children, 
Hazel and Clifford. 

Rose and Philip Isaac are at home. 

Williams, David C, nursery man, 
in January 1881 purchased the ne i 
sec 31, all of sec 19 and altogether 



1280 acres of land in Washington 
township. He located on 31 and his 
son Frank on 19. That spring they 
broke 310 acres and planting it in flax 
secured a yield of 18 bushels to the 
acre from some of it. He built that 
year two sets of farm buildings, sunk 
three wells and planted five acres 
with nursery stock on the farm of 
James C. Strong on sec 32. 

In 1884 he enlarged the nursery to 
20 acres (p. 997) but Frank leaving sec. 
19 it was sold to John A, Ryon. 

His wife, Sarah M. Chapman, died 
at 57 June 17, 1887, and "he died two 
years later. 

His wife was a native of Chautauqua 
county. N. Y. In 1847 she married 
D. B. Chapman and located at Mon- 
mouth, 111. Two years later they 
moved to Arkansas. About ten years 
later they returned to Illinois, and in 
1864 he died at Eau Claire, Wis., leav- 
ing one daughter, Mary L. Chapman. 

In 1869 Mrs. Chapman became the 
wife of D. C. Williams and located at 
Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he engaged 
in the nursery business and remained 
until 1881, when they came to this 
county. 

Mary L. Chapman, who became 
very prominent as a teacher in this 
county, in 1886 married Prof. Abbott 
C. Page, principal of the Waterloo 
high school. She was a graduate of 
the State Normal school and served 
as an instructor at several of the an- 
nual institutes in this county. 



XXYIII. 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



'If you have a word of cheer, 
That may light the pathway drear, 
Of a brother pilgrim here, 
Tell him so. Let him know 
How much you appreciate 
What he does; and do not wait 
Till the hand of Fate 

Lays him low. 
For the spirit that has fled 
Does not need, to speed it on, 
Our poor praise, where it has gone." 



•'Granite monuments may crumble but cherished memories endure while 
life lasts." 



One of the chief glories of America 
is, that it is a country in which abili- 
ty and industry find their surest and 
speediest reward. Fame and fortune 
are open to all who are willing to 
work. Neither class distinctions, 
social prejudices, nor differences of 
birth or religion prevent the man of 
true merit from winning just reward 
of his labors in this favored land. 
The lives of great men, like great 
events, occupy a prominent place in 
the history of the world and they 
become our instructors. 
"The lives of great men remind us 

We can make our lives sublime; 
And departing leaye behind us 

Footprints on the sands of time," 



"No man is born into the world 
whose work is not born with him; 
there is always work and tools to work 
withal, for those who will; and bless- 
ed are the horny hands of toil. Our 
lives are songs; God writes the words, 
and we set them to music at pleasure; 
and the song grows glad, sweet or sad, 
as we choose to fashion the measure. 

The following biographical sketches 
include some who have lived in one or 
more parts of Pocahontas county, and 
others who have come to it during 
recent years. The same motives that 
led us to make favorable mention of 
others prompts us to place these also 
in loving remembranee. 



816 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



BIOGRAPHIES. 

Bailey, John W.. (b. 1835; d. 1893), 
was a native of West Chester, Pa. In 
1860 he married Louisa Graham. He 
was a member of the 36th Wis. Inf. 
from Nov. 11, 1863 to Sept. 5, 1865. 
In 1874 he located at Fonda and, with 
the exception of two years in Williams 
township, continued to reside there 
until his decease at 58 in 1893. He 
was an honored member of the Fonda 
G. A. R. post, having held nearly 
every office in that organization. 

His family consisted of five chil- 
dren. Nelson in 1886 married Mary 
Wood and lives at Marathon; Ida in 
1887 married Frank Niece and died at 
Fonda in 1894; Frank in 1896 married 
Matie Turner and lives in Nebraska; 
Oscar in 1892 married Hattie. Hender- 
son and lives at Fonda; Myrtle in 1899 
married ^ Wallace Haven, a painter, 
and lives at Pocahontas. 

Behrendsen, George, (b. 1843; d. 
1898), was a native of Denmark. In 
1869 he came to America, located in 
Cook Co., 111. where he married that 
year Anna Nissen and found employ- 
ment as a carpenter. In 1875 he loca- 
ted on sec. 33, Clinton township, Poca- 
hontas county, and occupied this farm 
until his death in 1898. His wife, 
Anna, died in 1878 and three of her 
four children were living at the time 
of his decease, namely, Anna, Mrs. 
Meta Holmgren and B. G. Behrend- 
sen. In 1879 he married Mrs. Henri- 
etta Behrendsen, who with one 
daughter, Mary G., survived him. All 
of hiS'Children are still residents of 
Clinton township. He was a man of 
rugged honesty and was held in high 
esteem by all who knew him. 

Blizzard, Harry A., (b. 1867), 
clothier, Fonda, is a native of Wilton, 
Iowa, the son of Augustus C. and 
Margarite (Ayres) Blizzard. At 17 he 
went to Clarks, Neb., and finding em- 
ployment as a clerk in a store, remain- 
ed there the next eight years. In 
1895 he located in Fonda and became 



proprietor and manager of a clothing 
store, under the name of Woodhouse 
(George) & Blizzard. By his uniform 
modesty and courtesy he has won the 
good-will of the people of Fonda and 
vicinity, and is now (1903) a member 
of the board of education. 

In 1892 he married Margarite But- 
ler, of Clarks, Neb., and has a family 
of three children, Grace, Harold and 
Ruth. 

Burnett, William H, (b. 1834), 
resident of Cedar township from 1877 
to 1888, was a native of New Bruns- 
wick and a cousin of George Spragg. 
During his residence in Illinois he 
married Mary Vaughn and soon after- 
ward located in Buchanan county, 
Iowa. In 1877, after a short residence 
in Greene county he bought of Mrs. 
Rachel Hartwell the nisei sec. 6, 
Cedar township, improved and occu- 
pied it during the next eleven years, 
when he located first at Dana, then 
in Colorado and is now in Missouri. 
He was a first day advent and during 
his residence at Sunk Grove secured 
the maintenance of occasionalservices 
there and in the Pinneo schoolhouse 
in Dover township. 

His wife died during his residence 
in Colorado. His family consisted of 
nine children. Burpy died at 21 at 
Sunk Grove; Ida married James Rari- 
see, has two children and lives in 
Missouri; George is at Central City, 
Colo.; Wm. H, an attorney, lives in 
Colorado; Letitia married Milton E. . 
Burkhalter and lives at Pocahontas; 
Bertha married Edwin J. Southworth 
and lives at Laurens; Alice died in 
1895; Lula married Wm. Haller and 
lives in Des Moines. The others are 
Albert and Ruth. Four of the 
daughters, Letitia, Bertha, Alice and 
Ruth, and their brother, William, 
were teachers in this county and 
rendered very acceptable service. 

Burson, Abram, (b. 1856), Carpen- 
penter, Fonda, is a native of Greene 
Co. Pa., the son of James and Rebec- 
ca (Reynolds) Burson. His father's 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



817 



family consisted of five sons. John R , 
David, Abram, Alexander P. and 
James; and the three oldest, John, 
David and Abram became residents 
of Pocahontas county. David came 
to Fonda in 1881, found employment 
in a hardware store and two years 
later went to California where he 
still resides. Abram in 1879 married 
Margaret Ann Greenlee, of Greene 
Co , Pa , and in 1882 located at Fonda 
where he found employment as a car- 
penter and builder. During four 
years, 1896-1900, he was a partner with 
Elijah H. Anderson in a drug store. 
During recent years he has been en- 
gaged in the sale of real estate. He 
has served several terms as a member 
of the Fonda school board and town 
council. 

His family consists of five children. 
Albert G., a graduate of Fonda and of 
the pharmaceutic department of the 
Iowa State University, in 1902 mar- 
ried Mae Fitch and is now engaged in 
the drug business at Pierce, "Nebraska; 
James is a bank clerk; Frank, Rebec- 
ca and Madge are at home. 

Burson, John R., a carpenter, in 
1882 located at Fonda where in 1884 
he married Anna, daughter of Robert 
Leslie, of Cedar township. In 1887 he 
moved to Los Angeles, Cal.,butis 
now in Pennsylvania. He his two 
children, Nellie and Ruth. 

Byrne, Wm. Michael, (b. lS58),is a 
native of Countv Roscommon, Ireland, 
the son of William and Mary (Kelley) 
Byrne. He was raised on a farm In 
1878 he married Catharine Lynch and, 
coming to America, worked two 
months on a railroad in N. J., and 
then located in Cedar township, Poca- 
hontas county. In 1880 he bougnt a 
farm of 80 acres on sec 14. Dover 
township, which he was the first to 
occupy and improve. He increased 
this farm to 240 acres, improved it 
with' good buildings, grove and or- 
chard and occupied it until 1896, when 
he, built a house and moved to Fonda 



for the education of his children. He 
has managed the affairs on the farm 
several years since his first removal 
from it and usually carries about 70 
head of cattle. In 1900 he formed a 
a partnership with his nephew, Thos. 
J. Byrne and has since been engaged 
in the stock, grain and implement 
business in Pocahontas. He is a 
democrat and a member of the Catho- 
lic church. 

His family consists of five children, 
Michael, Catherine, Anna Ellen, Mar- 
garet and Mary Elizabeth. William, 
the oldest, died from an accidental 
gunshot wound in 1896. 

Mary Byrne, his widowed mother, 
came to America in 1880 and has been 
a resid3nt of this county since that 
date. She has dwelt most of the 
time with her three sons, Thomas 
in Grant, Matthew in Cedar, and Wil- 
liam. Peter Byrne, who was a resi- 
dent of Grant township 20 years and 
moved to Minnesota in 1902, was also 
her son. He married Ann, sister of 
Jeremiah O. Sullivan, and raised a 
large family. Her other son, Michael, 
lives in England. 

©arleton, Samuel M., (b. 1825; d. 
1895), farmer, Cedar, was a native of 
Salem, N. H., where in 1846 he mar- 
ried Lydia R. Sargent. He found em- 
ployment in the cotton mills at Sal- 
mon Falls, N. H., and remained 
there 35 years, serving as an overseer 
during the last ten years. In 1879 he 
came to Pocahontas county and loca- 
ted on a farm southwest of Fonda, 
which he improved and occupied until 
1891 when he moved to Fonda. Re 
died at 70 in 1895 and his wife at 78, 
Jan. 1, 1902. 

His family consisted of three chil- 
dren two of whom died in childhood. 
James S., the oldest, in 1874 married 
Elva A. Mitchell and located at Sal- 
mon Falls. Five years later he and 
family came with his parents to Cedar 
township. He died at 28 in J891, one 
month after the death of his wife. 



818 PIONEER HISTOEY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



He left one daughter, Rena, a Fonda 
graduate in 1894. In 1896 she married 
Vernon W. Harris, a clerk, and in 
1902 located at Anthon, Iowa. 

@halland, George, (b. 1846; d. 1900) 
was a native of Canton, England, and 
at four came with his parents to 
Shabbona Grove, 111., where he grew 
to manhood and in 1871 married Julia 
Alice, daughter of Montolbert Green- 
field. In 1872 he located near Clare, 
Iowa, and, a few years • afterwards 
near Rolfe, where his wife died at 50 
in February 1900. He died in Decem- 
ber following. 

Their family consisted of eight 
children, Mrs. Wealthy Smith, of 
Minneapolis, Terry at Rolfe, Mrs. 
May (Frank) Neal, formerly of Poca- 
hontas (Des Moines), Clarence, Maud, 
Claude and Martin. 

©lark, Mrs. Sarah A., (b. 1822), 
Fonda, is a native of Washington Co., 
Pa., the daughter of John and Mar- 
garet Williams. In 1843 she became 
the wife of John W. Clark and located 
in the vicinity of Cincinnati, O. In 
1853 they moved to Stark Co., 111., and 
in 1875 to Warren Co., where he died 
a few years afterwards. In 1889 Mrs. 
Clark became a resident of Fonda, 
where her daughter, Mrs. Emmet 
Kay had previously located. Dec. 14, 
1900, at the end of ten years' service 
as president of the Ladies' Aid Society 
of the M. E. church, she was very 
pleasantly surprised at a meeting held 
in her honor, by the presentation and 
adoption of the following resolutions: 

"In view of the fact that sister 
Sarah A. Clark, who has reached the 
advanced age of 79 years, has for more 
than ten years performed efficiently 
the arduous duties of president of 
this society, and has been a faithful 
member and an untiring worker in 
the M. E. church for more than half a 
century, therefore, 

Resolved, that she be made an 
honorary member of our aid society, 
have a voice and vote therein, be free 
('mm the payment of all dues ( >>i<i re- 

i ' mni>I1.nu-;H!,ii,r< InvitiHlun t-,> 



all suppers served by the society. 
Attests: Mrs. Dr. Lbesb, pres. 

Mrs. A. Btjrson, sec. 

Her family consisted oi five daugh- 
ters. Euphemia E. married Albert; 
Hillard and died soen afterwards. 
Mary B. married Emmet Kay, (see 
Kay) Alice married James B. 
Knotts and lives in Lucas county. 
Emma died in her youth, and Georgia 
A., an assistant in The Times office 
many years, resides with her mother. 

@hapman, Joseph, (b. Nov. 3, 1808) 
resident alternately of Williams 
township and Fonda during recent 
years, is a native of Fairfield Co. 
Conn., the son of Phineas and Ruth 
Treadwell Chapman. His father who 
was the seventh son of Phineas Chap- 
man, Sr., was born, lived and died, at 
the age of 57 in 1821, in the same 
house. During the period of the war 
of 1812 he served as the sheriff of 
Fairfield county. His six older broth- 
ers, during the Revolutionary War, 
were in the U. S. army, where John 
became a captain and Albert and 
James were promoted to minor posi- 
tions. Joseph was fourteen at the 
time of his father's decease. He had 
three brothers, John, Hiram and 
Charles, and seven sisters, Laura, 
Betsey, Ann, Eliza, Matsey, Lydia, 
and Mary, and all of them died many 
years ago near the old home in Con- 
necticut, except Hiram, who died in 
Oregon. 

At sixteen Joseph was put out by 
his mother as an apprentice and 
worked during the next five years at 
the hatter's trade in Wilton. The 
next year was spent in a jewelry store 
at Albany, N. Y., where he learned to 
clean and repair the clocks in use at ' 
that time. As a book agent and 
jeweler he spent the next two years 
canvassing Culpepper, Madison and 
several other counties in Virginia. 
During this period he furnished many 
an evening's entertainment playing 

nil Mu» l1(|«enle| , HliuyiriR pong* »nd 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



819 



telling witty stories. In 1835, in 
company with his brothers, Hiram 
and Charles, all single, he came to 
Peoria county, 111., where in 1837, he 
married Eliza Ann Sher wood and, lo- 
cating on a farm of 80 acres, improv- 
ed, enlarged and occupied it until 
1872, when his wife died and he went 
to the home of his daughter, Robah 
Oakes. In 1887, he became a resident 
of Fonda and vicinity in the home of 
his son, Baxter S. Chapman. 

He united with the Presbyterian 
church in his youth, served fifty years 
as a teacher in the Sunday school and 
nearly as long as a deacon in the 
church. Such was his reverence for 
the Sabbath and love for the sanctu- 
ary, that when he had passed four 
score and ten he made personal sacri- 
fices to attend church. 

He passed his 94th birthday Nov. 3, 
1902, and has been the oldest resident 
in the vicinity of Fonda since 1900. 
He never used tobacco or liquor in 
any form and attributed his steady 
nerves and good health in old age to 
that fact. "I cannot tell," said he on 
one occasion, "what effect the use of 
tobacco or liquor might have had on 
me, for I never used either; but I 
have noticed the effect they have had 
on others, and have profited by their 
experience. I have taken some light 
from the lamp of their experience 
without diminishing their light in 
the least." He had an effective 
method of administering a gentle re- 
proof to those who were so irreverent 
as to use profane language in his 
presence. After reminding them that 
good people have no need to use pro- 
fane language, and that its use always 
makes the impression that there is 
something wrong with the user, he 
would illustrate the matter by a refer- 
ence to the use of props. "When any 
one passes a house that is supported 
by props, it is not necessary that 
another should tell him there was 
HntuoUun^ wrong aDPUt \l. lur t,h« nm 



of the props show it. In like manner 
the U9e of profanity to support a 
man's veracity always shows where 
he is weak, Don't swear, if you ex- 
pect others to believe you." He was 
very entertaining, possessed con- 
siderable native wit, and often sur- 
prised his listeners by beautiful and 
apt quotations, such as: 

"From others fields we gather flowers, 
The thoughts are theirs, the thread 
is ours." 

In his 93rd year he repeated several 
stanzas of the ode on Heaven. 
"The faithless world in ruin lies, 

Enwrapt in fancy's vision, 
Allured by sighs, beguiled by shows 

And e r apty dreams; nor scarcely 
knows 
There is a brighter heaven. 

"A lonely stranger here I roam, 
From place to place am driven, — 

My friends are gone and I'm in 
gloom — 
This world is all a dreary tomb, 

1 have no home but heaven." 

He was .accustomed to looking on 
the bright side of things, endeavored 
to make others happy, often referred 
to the secret o*f a happy life and kept 
a supply of the Shorter Catechism for 
free distribution. 

His family consisted of four child- 
ren: 

Mary married John Sullivan ana 
died in 1882, leaving, three children, 
Kittle Kinne, Bessie Orton and Hugh 
Sullivan. 

Baxter S , married Hattie Clemens, 
a pioneer and early teacher of Will- 
iams township. He is the owner and 
occupant of a farm of 240 acres south 
of Fonda. He has served several 
years as justice and has two suns, 
Fred C, a teacher and fruitgrower, 
and Charles. 

Robah married Wm. M. Oakes, a 
farmer, and IJv^p i\% FrsHPh Ornyfi. 
III., 



820 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Joel died in his youth. 

eoffin, Marcellus W. (b. 1842; d. 
1902), editor of the.Rolfe Reporter, was 
a native of Glens Falls, N. Y. His 
father died when he was twelve, and 
id 1863. he married Enma Warren (b. 
1843). In 188R, he moved to Maquo- 
keta, Iowa, and three years later to 
Gruody county. In December 1882, 
when the town of Rolfe was new, he 
located there and was proprietor of 
the Rolfe House ten years. As an 
editor of the Rolfe Reporter, the first 
paper established at Rolfe, he was 
associated two years with E. A. Duke 
and the next four years with Percy O. 
Coffin, his eldest son, when (1890) the 
paper was discontinued. He wore a 
lODg black beard, possessed consider- 
able business capacity, and had the 
spirit of a leader. He served three 
years as a member of the first town 
council of Rolfe 1884-'86, as the first 
president of the school board and was 
a justice at the time of his death, 
Sept. 2, 1902. 

His family consisted of three sons. 
Percy O., who was associated with 
him in the publication of the Report- 
er, 1886-90, lived five years in Omaha, 
where he graduated as an electrician. 
In 1901, he returned to Rolfe. In 
1886, he married Lena Fisk and has 
one son, Ray. Edwin G., a farmer, 
married Flora Butts and lives at 
Burwell, Neb. Clarence W. in 1891, 
married Lulu Belle Roberts and has 
three children, Harry, Iona and 
Wayne. 

Lem C. C iffin, a brother of Marcel- 
lus, was for many years the owner and 
occupant of a farm near Rolfe. Sept. 
5, 1864, he enlisted as a member of 
Co. D. 175th N. Y. and served until 
the close of the Civil War. He is now 
a resident of Lyons, Neb., where he 
has been engaged in the hardware 
business. 

©oleman, Michael G., (b. 1854) 
Fonda, is a brother of James H. 
(p. 576), the son of William and Mar- 



garet Cashman Coleman. He is a 
native of Derby, Conn., where he re- 
ceived his early education. In 1868, 
he came with his parents to Allama- 
kee county, Iowa, and settling on a 
farm, attended the high school at 
Lansing, spent two years at St. John's 
College at Prairie du Chien, Wis., and 
in 1877, completed a commercial 
course in the Bryant & Stratton Com- 
mercial College, Davenport, Iowa. 
He taught school during the next 
seven years. In 1885, he married 
Emma Spelling and located at New 
Alb n, where he served as postmaster 
three years, 1887 to 1890. During the 
next three years he was engaged in 
the sale of general merchandise at 
West Bend. In 1892, he came to Fon- 
da, where he has since been engaged 
in the insurance and loan busi- 
ness. He served three years as a 
township clerk in Allamakee county, 
two years as a member of the council 
at West Bend, and seven years as city 
recorder at Fonda. He has been sec- 
retary of the Northern Telephone Co. 
since its organization in 1899. 

His family consists of two children, 
Hazel Leone and Helen. 

Deacon, John (b. 1846), owner and 
occupant of a farm of 160 acres on 
sec. 5, Cedar township, is a native of 
Ireland. In 1865, he came alone to 
America, lived two years in Boston 
and then located in Jackson county, 
Iowa, wherein J873, he married Mar- 
garet Mahoney. In 1883, he located 
in this county on his present farm, 
which he has improved with good 
buildings, groves and orchard. His 
family consists of six children, Mary 
A., Robert, Alia, Julia, Margaret and 
Henry. 

Dean, Thomas L. (1841), a pioneer 
of Lincoln, is a Bacive of Ohio. In 
1870, with wife and three children he 
located on a soldier's homestead of 
160 acres, the sei sec. 34, Lincoln 
township, this county. He assisted 
in the organization of that township, 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



821 



was elected the first justice, and 
served twenty eight consecutive 
years, 1873 to 1900. He served as pres- 
ident of the school board two years, 
clerk four years, and treasurer six 
years. He also served as sheriff of 
Pocahontas county two years, 1878-79. 
Aug. 8, 1862, he enlisted as a member 
of Co. D. 98th Ohio Infantry and 
served until the cl^se of the war. He 
has made a splendid record as a sol- 
dier and citizen. He improved his 
farm with good buildings and occupied 
it until 1900, when he moved to Poca- 
hontas. 

His family consisted of ten children 
of whom the first born died in child- 
hood. Ellen M., a native of Mercer 
county, 111., in 1884, married William 
D. Pattee and died at 33, in 1899, at 
Pocahontas, leaving four children, 
Mary, George, Minnie and Nellie. 
Mary E. in 1889, married George E. 
Hawk, a farmer, lives in Minnesota, 
and has two children. Arthur and 
Prank. Minnie O. in 1887. married 
Charles E. Andrews. They own and 
occupy a farm of 160 acres in Lincoln 
township and have four children, 
Lewis. Roy, Mabel, and Lloyd. 
Martha A. in 1900, married Edward 
Challberge, a farmer, and together 
with her brother, George T., con- 
tinues to live on her father's farm in 
Lincoln township. James E., a car- 
penter, lives at Palmer. Frank in 
1902, married Josephine Flaherty and 
lives at Pocahontas. John, the young- 
est, lives at Pocahontas. 

Dennis, Ross, painter, Rolfe, in 
1872, married Juliette Garvis, daught- 
er of Rev. W. A. Potter, and located 
at Monticello, Wis. In 1884, he 
came to the new town of Rolfe, Poca- 
hontas county, where his wife died in 
1900, leaving a family of three daught- 
ers, two children having died in 
childhood. . 

Hattie May in 1894, married George 
Hauck, a merchant, Rolfe. Ida in 
1895, married Joseph White, a grain 



dealer, Rolfe, and has one child, 
Elzabeth Lucile. Annie in 190J, 
married Wardale O. McKilvey, a 
druggist, Rolfe. 

Oetwiller, John (1887-1893) victim 
of the tornado of July 6, 1893, was a 
native of Canada, where in 1897, he 
married Helen Stewart. In 1889, they 
located in the vicinity of Fonda and 
at the time of his death were living 
on the south part of the William Mar- 
shall farm. The house they occupied 
was well protected*on the west and 
north by a dense maple and walnut 
grove. They were not apprehensive 
of danger and were seated at the sup- 
per table. When the unusual roar of 
the whirling storm was heard, they 
hastily rose from the table and, open- 
ing the door, perceived that their 
barn and outbuildings had been car- 
ried away. The next moment the 
porch was wrested from its fasten- 
ings. Stepping quickly into the room 
it seemed to Mrs. Detwiller, who sur^ 
vived, to be unroofed and commencing 
to revolve. Becoming unconscious, 
she knew not what occurred, until 
she was in the act of rising to her feet 
amid prostrate tree tops about twelve 
rods north of the place where the 
house had stood. No fragments of 
the shattered house were near her, 
but she soon beheld the prostrate form 
of her husband a few feet distant, 
and found him helpless and uncon- 
scious from terrible wounds about the 
head and limbs. As the shades of 
evening drew near, he breathed his 
last. Both had been carried north- 
ward over a tall maple grove, in 
which the trees had been broken by a 
blast from the north and lay one upon 
another in the rows facing southward. 
His wife sustained serious injuries, 
and in 1896, -returned to the home of 
her mother at Carliogford, Perth Co., 
Ontario. John Detwiller lived but a 
few years at Fonda, but so excellent 
were his principles and so noble was 
his conduct that he won the esteem 



822 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



and confidence of all who knew him. 
He was survived by five brothers and 
five sisters, of whom tbree brothers, 
Alexander, William and Gavin, and 
one sister, Annie, a seamstress, were 
residents of Fonda a few years. 

William G. Detwiller, in 1900, grad- 
uated from the Iowa State Normal 
School, at Cedar Falls, receiving the 
Master's degree. During his school 
days at Cedar Falls he won many hon- 
ors as an athlete. In the fall of 1899 
he was appointed a captain of cadets 
by Major Dinwiddile and received 
his commission from Gov. Leslie M. 
Shaw in the spring of 1900. He is 
now principal of the Webster school, 
Sioux City. 

Alexander Detwiller Feb. 3, 1892, 
began to work as a farm hand for his 
uncle, Hon. James Mercer, for $200 a 
year and at the end of five years his 
balance sheet was as follows: 

INCOME. 

Earnings for five years $ l,0u0.00 

EXPENDITURES. 

For support of the church 

and Sunday school 60.00 

Sent home to his mother 175.00 

Paid current expenses 140.00 

Spent in travel 75.00 

Personal property acquired 150.00 

Money at interest 400.00 

This is a very interesting and sug- 
gestive statement. It tells its own 
story of success achieved by discretion, 
industry and economy. Nothing un- 
usual was undertaken when he com- 
menced to work for his uncle, but the 
results greatly exceed those of the 
average young man who at twenty-one 
begins life with no other capital than 
his brain and brawn. 

He discoyered himself worthy the 
confidence and esteem of his employer 
which was the secret of his long con- 
tinuance in the same position. Time 
was cheerfully given him to visit the 
World's Fair in 1823, and later a 
month was given to visit his old 
home. If the amount sent home for 



the support of bis mother be added to 
the value of the personal property ac- 
quired and money on interest it 
makes $725.00 saved by the industri- 
ous farm hand in five years; and that 
during a period when every business 
interest suffered more or less from the 
serious financial depression, and the 
average farm renter made nothing 
worthy of mention. He is now mar- 
ried and the happy owner and occu- 
pant of a half section of land at Hay- 
field, Manitoba. 

Doty, Henry M. (b. 1852), owner 
and occupant of a farm of 80 acres on 
sec. 14, Marshall township, is a native 
of Michigan. Locating in Marshall 
county, Iowa, he married there Mary 
E., sister of A. J. Stover, with whom 
in 1880, he came to Pocahontas coun- 
ty. He was the first to occupy and 
improve his present fatm, and has 
met with good success as a farmer. 
He participated in the organization 
of Marshall township, was one of its 
first trustees and served nine years in 
that capacity. His brother, Emery 
M. Doty, (b. Mich. 1849), who located 
near him on the same section, was 
treasurer of the school funds four 
years, 1885-88. 

His family consists of two children, 
Laura and Torah. 

Dower, Tomas J. Dr. (b. 1866) is a 

native of Williamsburg, Iowa, the son 
of John and Elizabeth (Ward) Dower. 
He acquired his special education by 
taking the .scientific course at Val- 
paraiso, Ind., the medical course at 
the Iowa State University, where he 
graduated in 1896, and two special 
medical courses in Chicago, one be- 
fore and one after his graduation at 
Iowa City. He located first at 
Livermore and in February 1899, at 
Fonda, where he has been favored 
with a lucrative practice. In 1898, he 
became a member of the Iowa State 
and also of the American Medical 
Associations, In 1900, he married 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



823 



Mamie 1. Lyons, of Webster City, and 
owns a pretty cottage home. 

Eberle, Thomas, one of the recent 
settlers of Marshall township, located 
on sec. 20 in 1899. He is meeting with 
good success on the farm and his 
capacity for managing the public af- 
fairs of the township has been recog- 
nized by making him president of the 
school board in 1902. 

His family consisted of nine child- 
ren. John in 1900, married Helen 
Holder and lives in Grant township. 
Mane in 1899, married Clement Guth- 
rie and lives in Dover. Frank married 
Maggie Holder and lives in Marshall. 
Charles, Clara, Thomas. Annie, a 
teacher, Louisa and Edward are at 
home. 

Fitch, Samuel (b, 1822; d. Fonda, 
1903), was a native of Wilburton, Eng- 
land. In 1851, he married Elizabeth 
Hazel, and coming to America located 
in New York. In 1856, he came to 
Clayton county, Iowa, and located on 
a farm. In 1893, he located in Fonda, 
where his wife died at 69 in 1895, and 
he at 80 in 1903. His family consisted 
of threechildren, Charles C. (b. N. 
Y. 1851) lives at Mt. Vernon, S. D. 

George H. (b. Iowa, 1858) in 1878, 
married Amelia Biggie and engaged 
in farming in Clayton county. In 
1884, he moved to Calhoun county, 
and in 1891 to Fonda, where two years 
later he was joined by his brother, 
Fred, and they became associated in 
the hardware business, under the 
name "Fitch Bros." This partner- 
ship was maintained until 1903, when 
George and family moved to the state 
of Washington. He served several 
years as a member of the Fonda coun- 
cil and as a steward of the M. E. 
church. His family consisted of four 
children, of whom the first born died 
at Fonda. Mae, a Fonda graduate in 
1899, in 1902, married Albert G. Bur- 
son, a druggist, and lives at Pierce. 
Neb. Grace and Esther are at home. 

Fred W. Fitch (b. 1865), junior 



member of the firm of Fitch Bros., 
Fonda, 1893 to 1903, is a native of 
Clayton county, Iowa, where in 1891, 
he married Elizabeth Broker and en- 
gaged in farming until 1893, when he 
came to Fonda and engaged in the 
hardware business. His family con- 
sists of three children, Eva, Leon and 
Elnor. 

Flint, George W . resident of Will- 
iams township, 1868 to 1878, was the 
son of Silas Flint, who came with him 
from Benton to Calhoun county. 
After a few years his parents return- 
ed to Benton county and died there, 
his father at 84 and his mother at 82. 
George W. was a highly respected 
citizen and served as treasurer of 
Calhoun county two years during his 
residence in it. In 1878, he moved to 
Clay county, Neb., and died there in 
1897. 

He married Sarah J., daughter of 
Joseph L. Flint, and his family con- 
sisted of six children, two of whom 
died during his residence in Williams 
township. Ines married Henry E. 
Spencer, a carpenter, and died in 1898, 
leaving two children. Lulu M. mar- 
ried Nathan C. Barker .and lives at 
Geneva, Neb. Lenora M. in 1900, 
married Boy T. Carpenter, merchant, 
Fonda, and has one child, Horace. 
Georgia Grace is at home. 

Flint, William P., a pioneer of 
Williams township and later a resi- 
dent of Fonda, is the son of Joseph 
L. and Jane Curtis (Dickey) Flint. 
His parents were natives of Maine, 
where they married in 1842. In 1851, 
they came to Illinois and two years 
later to Johnson county, Iowa, where 
his father died in 1887. His mother 
and brother, Caleb, live at Barnum. 
In 1875, he married Kate J. Clemens 
and his family consists of three child- 
ren, Mabel, Edith and Clarence. 

Ann • Flint, who married Joseph 
Play, who in 1868, made the first en- 
try of the Warner homestead, and 
Enceba Flint, who became the wife 



824 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



of Wesley Hay, were both sisters of 
William Flint and early residents of 
Williams township. 

Forbes, John (b. 1858), merchant, 
Fonda, is a native of Dixun, 111., the 
son of Rev. Hugh W. and Mary 
(Broadwell) Forbes. In 1860, he mov- 
ed with his parents to Iowa, and has 
been a resident of the state ever 
since, first at Tama, and later in Car- 
roll, Buena Vista and Pocahontas 
counties. In 1887, under the name of 
John Forbes & Company, he engaged 
in the sale of general merchandise at 
Newell. In 1895, he located at Fonda 
and continued as a general merchant 
until 1902, when he became associated 
with E J. Chingren in the real estate 
business. 

His father, who died in Fonda at 74 
in 1896, was the first Presbyterian 
minister to preach in Dixon, 111. He 
served faithfully and well the church- 
es of Cambridge and Hanover, 111, and 
of West Irving, Millersburg, Deep 
River, St. Charles, Rock Creek, and 
Iowa Center, Iowa. Walter Forbes, 
an older brother of John, was a resi- 
dent of Fonda and assisted in the 
store from 1895 to 1900, when he loca- 
ted in Colorado. 

John was a member of the Fonda 
council three years, 1897-99. In 1885, 
he married Emma Woodring, of Car- 
roll, and his family consists of five 
sons, Judd, Bert, Linn, Newell and 
Donald. 

Fouch, Daniel, miller, Rolfe, is a 
native of Ohio. After a residence of 
five years in Carroll county, Iowa, 
where he was engaged in the milling 
business, in 1895, he came to Rolfe ac- 
companied by his brother, Richard, 
and built a fine grist and feed mill. 
In 1898, this mill was nearly destroy- 
ed by Are but was rebuilt. In 1900, 
his brother relinquished his interest 
and Fouch & Patterson have been the 
proprietors since. Daniel Fouch has 
served a number of years as an elder 
of the Presbyterian church. His fam- 



ily consists of four children, Verdie, 
May, Helen, and Webster D. 

Griffin, James (b. 1848), resident of 
of Cedar, is a native of Cork county, 
Ireland. In 1866, he came to Dubu- 
que county, Iowa, and worked as a 
bridge carpenter for the I. C, Ry. Co., 
fifteen years. Here in 1872, he mar- 
ried Catherine, sister of Jeremiah 
Sullivan. In 1881, he located on sec. 
4 Cedar township. He has improved 
this farm with beautiful buildings 
and increased it to 240 acres, 

His family consisted of seven child- 
ren. 

Michael in 1901, married Eliza, 
daughter of Patrick Kearns, and lives 
in Fonda, where he is engaged in the 
furniture business. 

James, Annie, Mary, Maggie, Julia, 
and Hannah are at home. 

Hanke, Aloert (b. 1849), a pioneer 
of Cedar township, is a native of 
Germany. In 1871, he aad his brother, 
Frank, located on homesteads in Ce- 
dar township. Albert married Augus- 
ta Stry and is still the occupant of a 
farm on sec. 6. His family consisted 
of seven children. Edward married 
Mary Netski, lives in Buena Vista 
county and has three children, Mar- 
tin, Ella and Annie. Bertha, Aman- 
da, George, Carrie, Lillie, Ethel and 
Albert are at home. 

Frank Hanke, his brother, in 1882, 
moved to Buena Vista county and 
died there in 1899. He married Min- 
nie Stry, a sister of Augusta, and five 
of his family of nine are living, name- 
ly, Rineholt, Olive, Nettie, Elizabeth 
and James 

Hardy, Verlin Elijah (b. 1873), far- 
mer and stock breeder, Fonda, is a 
native of Richland county. Wis. In 
1880, he located in Cherokee county, 
lowar, where in 1886, he married Ada, 
daughter of Walter and Elizabeth 
Rice. In 1887, he located on his pres- 
ent farm, on sec. 31, Cedar township, 
three miles west of Fonda. He has 
improved this farm with large and 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



825 



substantial buildings and during re- 
cent years has acquired considerable 
prominence as a breeder of line stock. 
His family consists of two children. 
Mabel and Elby Ray. 

Harrington, Jermiah W. (b. 1808; 
d. Mar. 26, 1901), was a native of Ire- 
land, and comiDg to this country at 
18, located first in New York and 
then further west. He served as a 
section boss nearly half a century, 
and continuously for a quarter of a 
century on one section of the Colum- 
bus and Indiana railroad in Ohio. He 
resided at Fonda and vicinity during 
the last twelve years of his life, and 
died at 93 in 1901. He was a tall 
strong and well preserved man, genial 
modest and dignified in his manners. 
He never used tobacco nor indulged 
in profanity. He was the fatber of a 
large family of children, who have 
married and established homes of 
their own. He was the oldest resi- 
dent oZ Fonda at the time of his 
death. His wife survives him. 

Hauck, Valentine (b. 1837), mer- 
chant, Rolfe, is a native of Coburg, 
Germany. In 1852, he came to Amer- 
ica and located in Jo Daviess county, 
111. In 1866, he married Maria Kehl 
(b. 1847), a native of that county, and 
two years later became proprietor of 
a grocery store at Marshalltown, 
Iowa. Later he located at Glenwood, 
Mo, and in 1882, associated with 
Martin Weible, a brother-in-law, 
opened a general store in the new 
town of Rolfe. The firm, Weible & 
Hauck, have been doing business in 
Rolfe ever since, though August Wei- 
ble, in 1894, became the successor of 
his father as a member of the firm. 
This is one of the oldest business 
firms in the county, and it has grown 
stronger financially and in favor with 
the people as the years have passed. 
He is the owner of the store building, 
considerable other town property and 
480 acres of farm land most of it in 
the vicinity of Rolfe. He has served 



several years as a member of the 
Rolfe school board, and is a democrat. 

His family consisted of two children 
one of whom died in childhood. 

George Otto Hauck, his son and 
associate in business, in 1894, married 
Hattie May, daughter of Ross and 
Juliette G. Potter Dennis, and his 
family consists of four children, Ida 
May, Esther, Margaretta and Valen- 
tine. 

Haven, James Henry (b. 1841), a 
carpenter, is a native of Butland 
county, Vt., the son of Solomon and 
Charlotte (Tower) Haven. At five he 
came with his parents to a farm near 
Rockford, 111. In 1857, he located in 
Clayton county, Iowa, where his 
father purchased a tract of land that 
had on it a saw-mill. July 18, 1861, 
he enlisted at Colesburg as a member 
of Co. G. 9th, Iuwa, passed from Du- 
buque to St. Louis on the Mississippi, 
then through Missouri and Arkansas 
with the army of Gen. Curtis, partic- 
ipating in the battles of Pea Ridge, 
the siege of Vicksburg and Lookout 
Mountain. After that he was in the 
army of Gen. Sherman until the close 
of the war, and altogether partici- 
pated in 28 of 32 battles in which his 
regiment or a part of it was engaged. 
He was twice slightly wounded but 
was never marked "off duty." He 
was mustered out July 18, 1865, after 
having rendered four years of military 
service. 

In 1866, he married Mary M. Bushee 
and located on a farm near Dyersville. 
After three years he learned carpen- 
try and pursued that vocation. In 
1880, he located at Fonda, where be 
has been prominently identified with 
the G. A. R. Post. His wife, while 
she lived, was an active member in 
the M. E. church. She died at 56 in 
1900. She was twice president of the 
Fonda W. R. C. and later, its treas- 
urer. Mr. Haven is a charter mem- 
ber of Fonda G. A. R Post, and on 



826 PIONEER HISTORY OS 1 POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



many public occasions has served as 
leader of the drum corps. 

His family consisted of five children 
but the first born died in childhood. 
Wallace W., a painter, in 1899, mar- 
ried Myrtle Bailey and lives at Poca- 
hontas. Adah A. in 1892, married 
Frank Cheney and lives south of 
Newell. Lurean and Albert are at 
home. 

Hawkins, B. K. (b. 1864), photog- 
rapher, was a native of Fountain Co , 
Ind. In the fall of 1865, he came with 
his parents to Polk county, Iowa, 
where he grew to manhood and learn- 
ed photography. He maintained a 
photographic gallery at Fonda from 
1892 to 1898, when he located at Poca- 
hontas. He was a good violinist and 
took the lead in organizing and de- 
veloping local musical talent. 

Hayden, Tullius C. (b. 1852; d. 1890) 
merchant, was a native of Union Co., 
Ind., and at twenty in 1872, located 
at Panora, Iowa, where he served 
successively as clerk in a store, depu- 
ty sheriff and deputy clerk. After 
three years service in a bank at 
Guthrie Center he became a member 
of the mercantile firm of Hayden & 
Ferree and established a store at Fon- 
da, where he died at 38 in 1890. In 
1875, during his residence at Pan- 
ora, he married Maggie Townsend, 
who with two children survives him. 
Blanch in 1898, married David Rose, 
an Illinois Central railway agent, and 
now lives in Washington. Teddie lives 
with his mother in the state of Wash- 
ington. 

Hewlett, Alfred (b, 1816; d. 1901), 
was a native of Somersetshire, Eog- 
land. In 1849, he came to America 
and located in Dubuque county, Iowa, 
where In 1864, he married Christiana 
Rigg. In 1873, with a family < f five 
children, he located in Pocah ntas 
county, near Rolfe. He died at 81 in 
1901, leaving to his children the neri 
tage of an honest, upright man. 
James, John and George Hewlett, 



their sister, Mrs, M. C. Ransom, and 
their mother still reside at or near 
Rolfe, and Mrs, Geo. W. Horton lives 
at Cedar Kapids. 

Hornor, Squire Finley (b. 1845; d. 
Fonda, 1897), was a native > of Boon Q 
county, Ind. In his youth he moved 
to BloomiDgton, 111., where in 1866, 
he married Harriet E. Crosby, In 
1895, he moved to Iowa, and located 
near Fonda,, where he died at 52 in 
1897. He was held in high esteem 
and honored by all who knew him. 
He took the lead in effecting the or- 
ganization of the Christian church at 
Fonda and the erection of the taber- 
nacle in 1895. 

His family consisted of nine child- 
ren. Laura Jane in 1892, married Ira 
Hair and died at 31, at Fonda in 1898, 
leaving three children, Pear), Ruth, 
and Paul. Martha May, a graduate 
of the normal department of Drake 
University, and her sister, Anna P., 
are engaged in teaching. Cora S. in 
19(>3, married Amos Eaton and lo- 
cated near Fouda. William N., a 
farmer, in 1898, married Edna J. Hef- 
lin and has one son. 

Perry E., Eber G., James F., and 
Russell are at home. 

Kay, Emmet (b. 1848), mayor of 
Fonda in 1903, is a native of Kewanee, 
Henry county, 111., the son of James 
and Julia Post Kay. In 1867, he mar- 
ried Mary B., daughter of John W. 
and Sarah A. Clark, and located on a 
farm. In 1872, he moved to Warren 
county, Iowa, and in 1885, to Fonda, 
where he has been engaged first in 
the livery, and later in the real e tate 
business. 

His family consisted of three child- 
ren. Claude C , married Ellen Russ- 
ell and lives in Fonda. Maud mar- 
ried Albert Ehline, a tailor, lives in 
Fonda and has one daughter, Ethel. 
Zola is at home. 

Leece, Samuel Edgar (b. 1863) den- 
tist, Fonda, is a son of John and Mary 
(Sweeney) Leece. He is § native of 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



827 



LaFayette county, Wis., where he 
grew to manhood, received his early 
education and began the practice of 
his profession. After taking a com- 
mercial course in the normal school 
at Valparaiso, Ind., he entered the 
Chicago Dental College and graduated 
from it in 1894. In 1895, he married 
Susie L. Benston of LaFayette, Wis , 
and located in Fonda, where he has 
since been engaged in the practice of 
dental surgery. He performs all 
dental operations without pain to his 
patients and has attained a high de- 
gree of skill as a workman. He has 
served as mayor of Fonda two years, 
1900 and 1901. He has one daughter, 
Marie. 

Loats, Albert G. (1823-1895), Bell- 
ville, was a native of Germany, where 
in 1850, he married Sceta Shap (b. 
1823). In 1868, they came to Amer- 
ica and resided two years in Living- 
ston county, 111. On March 4, 1870, 
with a family of five children, John 
A., George A., Albert A., Jennie A., 
and Folka A., they located on a farm 
of 160 acres on sec. 28, Bellville town- 
ship, which they were the first 1o 
occupy and improve. At the" time of 
their arrival all the money possessed 
was $84.00 and with this amount a 
frame shanty, 12x14 feet was erected, 
that served as the home of the family 
more than ten years. During the 
thirty years that have passed since 
they began to occupy this humble 
structure, great changes have taken 
place. The country has developed 
rapidly, cozy and substantial improve- 
ments have been erected at the old 
home, and all the members of the 
family have married and secured 
comfortable homes of their own. The 
venerable patriarch died at 72 in 1895, 
and his aged wife lives in comfort at 
the old home with her second son, 
George A. Loats. 

John A. Loats (b. 1854) in 1881, mar- 
ried Irene Johnson and located on a 
homestead in Turner county, S. D., 



whera he still resides. In 1894, she 
died leaving a family of two sons and 
five daughters. 

George A. Loats (b. 1856) in 1882, 
married Gacha (Tessie) Weimers, 
They own and occupy the old home 
farm and an additional quarter on 
sec. 27, bought in 1881, making 320 
acres. Both farms are improved with 
good buildings, fences and groves. 
The large new house on the home 
farm was built in 1898. Mr. Loats is 
a man who concentrates his interest 
in his family and farm, and has been 
very successful in raising good crops. 
He was president of the school board 
in 1884, .and a trustee three years, 
1893-95, but has no desire to hold of- 
fice. He is a liberal supporter of the 
Emmanuel German church, and was 
one of its original members and first 
officers. He has a family of six child- 
ren all of whom are at home, Sacha 
(Sadie), Garrett (Charles), Albert, 
Henry, Richa (Frederika) and Jennie. 

Albert A. Loats in 1883, married 
Swancha (Susan) Dewall and two 
years later bought a farm of 160 acres, 
in Lincoln township, which they were 
the first to occupy and improve. They 
moved to South Dakota in 1898, to 
Havelock two years later, and in 1897, 
located in Minnesota. They have a 
family of five children, Albert, Mary, 
Hannah, Sadie and William. 

Folka A. Loats in 1889, married 
Gustave Boteen and located in Lin^ 
coin township, where they own a 
farm of 160 acres on sec. 16 which 
they have improved with good build- 
ings. They have a family of four 
children. Lena, Sadie, Albert, and 
August, 

Jennie A. (b. 1851), the eldest, in 
1872, married Anton Ringering in 
Illinois. In 1884, she died leaving a 
family of seven children. 

The second initial "A" in the name 
of the children of Albert G. Loats, 
stands for Albert. It was not an un- 
usual custom in Germany for all the 



828 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



members of the family to have the 
same name, and in this instance no 
reason can be assigned for the use of 
Albert, except that their father mani- 
fested a preference or fancy for it. 

Long, Andrew O. (b. 1837), Bell- 
ville, is a native of Sweden and in 
1863, married there Karin, John 
Peters' daughter, (b. May 30, 1842). 
Four years later, with two children, 
they came to America and located in 
Webster county, Iowa. In June 1870, 
they came to this county and began 
to occupy as a homestead, the si nwj 
sec. 8, 80 acres, Bellville township. 

Their first improvement was a 
little frame shanty, and the following 
incident, related by a neighbor, is 
suggestive of their early struggles to 
keep the wolf from the door. During 
the period of impassable roads in 1870 
their supplies having become ex- 
hausted, he walked to Pomeroy, a 
distance of five miles, for a sack of 
flour. Having no money and being a 
stranger, his request for flour was 
refused and he was compelled to re- 
turn empty handed. Relating his ex- 
perience to a neighbor on whom he 
called, the latter said, "Why did you 
not call on me, I would have loaned 
you the money?" Mr. Long replied, 
"Perhaps you would let me have -it 
yet." He gave him the money and, 
retracing his steps to Pomeroy, car- 
ried the flour all the way home on his 
shoulders that same day, 

This act of kindness in the hour of 
need is still gratefully remembered 
and great are the changes that have 
since occurred. The old homestead 
is still occupied but it has been en- 
larged from time to time by addition- 
al purchases, so that the home farm 
now includes 560 acres and the first, 
and even second, sets of buildings 
have been replaced by a large dwell- 
ing house in 1885, and several un- 
usually large barns for the care of 
horses, cattle and hogs. He has been 
very successful as a farmer and stock 



raiser, and, by all who know him, is 
highly esteemed as an industrious, 
prosperous, and upright man. He is 
a member of the Swedish Mission 
church, and a republican, but has 
never cared to hold office. 

He raised a family of nine children: 

Annie in 1892, married John A. 
Sodestrom, who engaged in the lum- 
ber aud implement business at Sac 
City. She died at 36, in 1901, leaving 
four children, Emma, Ellen, Andrew, 
and Anna. 

Peter (b. Sweden, 1867), came to 
America with his parents in 1868, and 
after two years in Wabster county, 
located in Bellville, where he has 
grown to manhood and still resides. 
In 1894, he married Sophia Youngberg 
and lives on a farm on sec. 5, which 
he was the first to occupy and im- 
prove. He has four children, Helen, 
Clara, Esther and Edna, twins. 

Alma in 1892, married John W. v 
Swalin, the pioneer occupant of a 
farm of 120 acres on sec. 6, Bellville, 
on wftich he has erected all the im- 
provements. His family consists of 
six children, Mabel, Huldah, David, 
Esther, Earl, and Albert. 

Mary in 1896, married Charles Swa- 
lin. They own and occupy an im- 
proved farm of 80 acres in Bellville, 
and have four children, Carl, Edward, 
Oscar, and Emil. 

Amanda S. in. 1894, married Ole 
Sodestrom and located on a farm of 
80 acres on sec. 8, Bellville. which 
they were the first to occupy and im- 
prove. She died at 26 in 1901, leaving 
four children, Alice, Walter, Ada, and 
Mabel, 

Frank (b . 1877) in 1901, married 
Carrie, daughter of P. Akerman, and 
lives on the Akerman farm. 

Emma, Albert, and Charles are at 
home. 

McDermott, John J. (b. 1851), 
farmer, at Fonda since 1879, is a 
native of Brooklyn, N. Y., the son of 
John and Bridget McDermott, who 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



829 



were natives of Ireland. At ten he 
moved with them to Ashland county, 
O., where he grew to manhood and in 
1875, married Martha E Bonney. A 
few months later he located in Weber 
county, Utah. In 1879, he located 
west of Fonda, first on the Mackey, 
then the Jack Hamilton farm, and in 
1883 on his present farm, which he 
has improved with good buildings, 
grove and orchard, 

His family consisted of three 
daughters. Louella in 1899, married 
William C. Lookingbill, a real estate 
agent and proprietor of a feed store 
at Sac City. Daisy, the eldest, and 
Jessie are at home. 

McLellan, James Nelson (b. 1838), 
ex-county treasurer, is a native of 
Chautauqua county, N. Y. He receiv- 
ed a good common school education 
and enjoyed two terms at Wheaton 
College. July 10, 1861, he enlisted at 
Camp Douglass, Chicago, as a mem- 
ber of Co. K. 42d 111., the same com- 
pany that Abram O. and vVilliam E. 
Garlock belonged to, and remained in 
the service until Feb. 20, 1865. He 
served under Gen. Fremont in 
Missouri, and passing down the 
Mississippi river participated in the 
capture of Island No, 10, Fort Pillow 
and Pittsburg Landing. He then 
passed to the army of the Cumberland 
under Sheridan, and later under Gen. 
Newton, the man that blew up Hell 
gate in the harbor of New York. He 
also served under Halleck, Rosecrans, 
Sherman and Thomas, and participa- 
ted in thirty-seven different battles, 
including those at Farmington, Stone 
River, Chickamauga, Missionary 
Ridge and Nashville. He was under 
fire 100 of the 120 days occupied in 
the Atlantic campaign. 

In 1868, he married at Waterloo, 
Iowa, Ellen Hagenbuch and located 
on a farm. In 1879, he became a resi- 
dent of Pocahontas county and en- 
gaged in the drug business at Fonda. 
He served as treasurer of Pocahontas 



county six years, 1888-1893. In 1894, 
he moved to Des Moines where he 
still resides. He has devoted some 
time and attention to raising fine 
horses and in 1898, received from the 
Louisville Trotting Association the 
flattering price of $10,000 for Pilatus, 
a six year old, that had been pur- 
chased at the Berry sale in Chicago 
in 1894. He is a man of portly bear- 
ing, was a gallant soldier and a popu- 
lar public officer. 

• His wife died in 1901, leaving a 
family of five children. 

William Boyd, a jeweler, is located 
at Pocahontas. He is the proprietor 
of the Pocahontas telephone ex- 
change. In 1899, he married Ella, 
daughter of R. D. Bollard and has 
one daughter, Phyllis Roberta. 

Stephen Alexander, a graduate of 
the medical department of Drake 
University in 1902, in the same year 
married Alice Weaver and engaged 
in the practice of medicine at 
Buckeye. 

Philip Sheridan, a horse trainer, 
Affa Roberta, a Des Moines graduate 
in 1900, and Laora Bell are at home. 

Moulton, John (1828-1893), resi- 
dent of Cedar, was a native, of Ohio 
county, Ind. In 1848, he married 
Nancy D. Bush (o. 1829) and located 
on a farm. In 1860, he moved to 
Livingston county, 111., and remained 
there until 1876, when he located on a 
farm of 80 acres in Cedar township, 
which he improved, increased and oc- 
cupied until his death at 65 in 1893. 
He left a family of nine children. 

Elizabeth (b. 1849) in 1870,-in Peoria 
county, 111., married John Garton, 
and in 1881, located on a farm of 80 
acres on sec. 18, Cedar, which he im- 
proved and occupied until his death 
in 1897, when he left a family of four» 
children, Emma, who in 1891, married 
Frank Hamilton, Cora, who in 1893, 
married Charles Moore, Isaac, who in 
1900, married Clara Perry, and Pearl. 

Thomas (b. Ind. 1848), a farmer, ia 



830 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



1881, in Livingston county. 111., mar- 
ried Elizabeth Dudley and located 
that year in Cedar township, Poca- 
hontas county. Three years later he 
located on sec. 18, Dover and remain- 
ed there thirteen years. His family 
consisted of four children, Chester, 
Reuben, Walter and Charles. 

Delilah in 1872, married Daniel 
Scribbins and located on a farm in 
Livingston county, 111., but later near 
Peoria, and died while visiting 
friends at Fonda in 1900, leaving a 
family of ten children. 

Arthur (b. Ind. 1854), in 1881, mar- 
ried Cora, daughter of JohnLemp, 
and is now the owner of a farm of 
400 acres in Cedar township, which he 
has recently improved with new and 
very commodious buildings. He has 
a family of eight children, George, 
John, Wilford, Roy, Grace, Henry. 
Fay and Nettie. He died in 1904. 

Floyd (b. Ind. 1856) in 1889, married 
Ella Decorah. He is the owner of a 
farm of 160 acres in Cedar township, 
and has two children, John A. and 
Elsie. 

Frank (b. 111. 1860) in 1881, married 
Lucy, daughter of William Eaton, 
who died in 1886, leaving two child- 
ren, John W. and Belle. In 1894', he 
married Pearl Shreves and is now a 
resident of Dover. 

Stephen J. (b. 111. 1863) married 
Bertha Walters, lives in South Dako- 
ta, and has two children, Dottie and 
Mary. 

Mary Ann in 1886, married James 
Trude, a drayman, Fonda, (See 
Trude). 

Jared L. (b. 111. 1886) owner and oc- 
cupant of the old home farm in Cedar, 
in 1898, married Anna Larson and has 
one son, Clarence. 

In 1895, Nancy D. (Brush) Moulton 
married Americus V. Sargent and 
after a few years' residence at Fonda, 
returned to the old Moulton home, 
west of town, 

Mullen Bros., Owen W. and John 



P., dealers in live stock and imple- 
ments at Pocahontas and Fonda, 
have been residents of Fonda and vi- 
cinity since 1879. Terrence Mullen 
(b. 1821), their father, is a native of 
Ireland, where in 1860, he married 
Margaret Ward (b. 1841) and located 
on a farm. In 1881, he came to 
America and located on a farm of 80 
acres south west of Fonda, which he 
still owns, increased to 640 acres, im- 
proved with good buildings and oc- 
cupied until 1899, when he and family 
moved to Fonda. 

His family consisted of seven child- 
ren. 

Margaret in 1889, married Michael 
Kelly (b. Ire. 1848), who came to 
America in 1863, and located in New 
York state. In 1884, he came to 
Iowa and located on a farm of 160 
acres south of Fonda. He improved 
and enlarged this farm, by the pur- 
chase of neighboring tracts, to 640 
acres and occupied it until 1900, 
when he moved to Fonda. His family 
consists of five children, John, Eva, 
Dennis, Terrence and Michael. 

Owen W. (b. Ire. 1863), senior mem- 
ber of the firm of Mullen Bros., in 
1900, located at Pocahontas, where he 
has since been engaged as a dealer in 
live stock and implements, 

John P., (b. Ire. 1864) junior mem- 
ber of the firm of Mullen Bros., has 
been a dealer in live stock and imple- 
ments at Fonda since 1899. He spent 
three and one half years at Buena 
Vista College and taught seventeen 
terms of school during his residence 
on the farm. In 1899, he married Rose 
Brady, of Storm Lake, and has three 
children, Margarite, Marie, and Ed- 
ward. 

Rose, a dress maker, lives at Sioux 
City. 

Michael J. after taking a scientific 
course at St. Mary's Academy at 
Omaha, Neb., in 1895, became a civil 
engineer for the Amalgamated Copper 
Company, of Butte Montana. Dur- 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



831 



ing the war with Spain in 189S, enlist- 
ing in the vicinity of the Black Hills, 
he rendered patriotic service as one 
of the rougb riders under Col. Griggs- 
by. 

Mary married Thomas P. Fitz- 
gerald, an implement dealer, and lives 
at Varina. 

Jettie E., a teacher, is at home. 

Murray, Hugh J. (b. 1859) Pocahon- 
tas, is a native of Sharp^burg, Pa., 
the son of Peter and Ellen Murray, 
with whom in 1860, he came to Iowa, 
and located south of Des Moines. In 
1889, he located on the swi sec. 25, 160 
acres, Marshall township, Pocahontas 
county, which he was the first to oc- 
cupy and improve. He herded cattle 
two years in Marshall and Sherman 
townships, having 350 head the first 
year and 800 the next. In 1893, he 
located at Pocahontas, where he has 
since been engaged in the insurance 
business. He is the owner of a fine 
dwelling and two business houses at 
Pocahontas, and a half section of land 
in Sherman township. 

In 1895, he married Catherine, sister 
of M. A. Hogan, and has one son, Vin- 
cent. 

Neal, Benjamin (b. 1828; d. 1903), 
farmer and drayman, Fonda, was a 
native of Richmond, Va. At fifteen 
he moved with his parents to Mason 
county, 111., where in 1854, he married 
Eunice Howe. In 1875, he became a 
resident of Pocahontas county, loca- 
ting on a farm in the vicinity of Fon- 
da. In 1884, he moved to Fonda, be- 
came a drayman and continued in 
that employment until his decease 
at 75 in 1903. He was an industrious, 
honest and honorable man. 

His family consisted of one son and 
seven daughters. Susan Jane in 1883, 
married Lewis Dishoff, a farmer, and 
lives in Greeley county, Neb. Charles 
E , a farmer, in 1885, married Clara 
Wright and lives at Cherokee. Sarah 
C. in 1883. married Frank Messenger, 
a carpenter, lives at Fonda and has 



five children. Lena married Robert 
Boothby, a farmer, and lives at Chero- 
kee. Huldah in 1885, married Charles 
Woodward, a railroad agent, lives at 
Mount Vernon, S. D. Lydia, Hattie, 
and Viola May, a Fonda graduate 
(1899) and teacher are at home. 

Nichols, Nelson Clark (b. 1828), 
farmer, Fonda, is a native of Union 
county, Conn., the son of Warren and 
Matilda Parrish Nichols. In 1846, he 
went to Worcester, Mass , and found 
employment as a machinist. In 1853, 
he married Lucy Jane Patch (b. 1830) 
and remained there until 1858, when 
he came to Clayton county, Iowa. In 
May 1869, he located on a homestead 
five miles south west of Fonda, and he 
is still its owner and occupant. He 
planted fruit trees suited to this sec- 
tion and has one of the finest fruit 
bearing orchards in this vicinity. He 
has not yet forgotten the experiences 
of 1869, when he and his neighbors, 
William Strauss, C. D. Lucas, and 
Orlando O. Brown, hauled the mate- 
rials, for their first buildings, from 
Fort Dodge. In October that year he 
paid the man that lived on the bank 
of the creek, on the Harvey Eaton 
farm, one dollar to ferry him across 
the Cedar at Fonda. The wagon box 
and fixings were put on the boat and 
the oxen swam after it pulling the 
wagon through the water with a 
long rope. 

His family consisted of five child- 
ren. 

Nellie Marie in 1876, married Sam- 
uel Way, a telegraph operator, and 
located successively at Alta and 
Blairsburg, Iowa, and Glasgow, Mon- 
tana, where he died leaving four 
children, Frank, Howard, Nellie and 
Fred. She now resides at Fargo, N. 
D. 

George Newell, (b 1861), a tinner, 
married Clara Roberts and located at 
Fonda. His family consists of five 
children, Lola, Vere, Opal, Claude, 
and Roy. 



832 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Charles Henry (b. 1863), a carpenter, 
married Theresa Dorton and lives in 
Clayton county. 

Frank, a farmer, in 1898, married 
Pearl McGeary, lives on the old home 
farm and has one child Laura Jean- 
nette. 

Cora in 1886, married George Marsh, 
a painter and decorator, lives at Prim- 
ghar, and has a family of five child- 
ren, Harry, Phoebe, May, Dora, and 
Joseph. 

O'Donnell, Edward (b. 1853), Fon- 
da, is a native of Schuylkill county, 
Pa. In 1855 he came with his par- 
ents to Allamakee county, Iowa, 
where he grew to manhood. In 1877, 
he located at Dyersville, where in 
1878, he married Ellen Sayre. In May 
that year he located at Fonda, where 
he found employment as a carpenter. 
He was the postmaster at Fonda six 
years, April 1, 1883, to Oct. 15, 1889, 
and during this period built for the 
office a tine brick building. He has 
been the town assessor most of the 
years since that date. 

His wife died in 1887, leaving four 
children, Carl, a clerk, who in 1902, 
married Vina Kennedy and located in 
North Dakota, Edward, Hazel and 
Lewis, In 1898, he married Susan 
McCartan. 

Olson, John (b. 1826) occupant of 
the south part of the Wm. Marshall 
farm, Cedar, 1869 to 1885, is a native 
of Denmark, where he grew to man- 
hood and married Mary Jensen. In 
1867, he came to America with a fam- 
ily of three children and located in 
Maine. Two years later he bought 
the swi, sec. 33, Cedar township, this 
county, improved and occupied it the 
next six years. The buildings that he 
erected were completely demolished 
and the grove that he planted was 
partially destroyed by the tornado of 
1893. During his residence here he 
returned to Denmark and brought his 
aged mother that she might spend 
the remainder of her days at his 



home. She died at 93 in 1880 and was 
buried on the south side of an eleva- 
tion on the south west corner of the 
farm near Cedar creek. He was a 
member of the Lutheran church but 
his children became Seventh Day Ad- 
ventists. In 1885, he moved to San 
Pasqual, Cal. 

His family consisted of three child- 
ren all of whom were born in Den- 
mark, and bear the name of Johnson, 
after the Danish custom of calling 
the children after the first name of 
their father. 

Henry Johnson in 1878, married 
Florence White, daughter of an Iowa 
clergyman, and in 1884, located in 
California. He taught several terms 
of school in the vicinity of Fonda and 
now has a family of six children. 
Frank, Harry. Arthur, Nellie, Roy, 
and Jessie. 

Lawrence Johnson, a teacher, after 
his removal to California married 
Viola Darling and has two children, 
Inez and Glenn. 

Sophia Johnson, a teacher, pursued 
medical studies at Battle Creek. 
Mich. , in 1895, graduated later from 
the California Medical College and 
has since been engaged in the prac- 
tice of medicine at San Diego, Cal. 
She grew to womanhood at Fonda 
and, having a conviction that there 
was a more advanced sphere for wo- 
man than mere drudgery, pursued her 
education, relying upon her own re- 
sources. The success that has attend- 
ed her unaided efforts is but another 
illustration of what a young lady may 
accomplish if her will and energies 
are rightly directed. 

Patty, Clay C. (b. 1866), druggist, 
Fonda, is a native of Benton county, 
Iowa, the son of Joseph M. and 
Rachel J, (Greenlee) Patty, who lo- 
cated at Carroll during his childhood. 
Here he grew to manhood and secured 
a good education. In 1888, after at- 
tending the Illinois school of Phar- 
macy at Chicago, he engaged in the 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



833 



drug business at Charter Oak. Com- 
ing to Fonda in 1893, he established a 
drug store, and, though its location 
was changed several times, he has 
now one of the finest rooms in the 
town, the first floor of the brick build- 
ing built by Roberts, Kenning and 
Wood, on tbe southwest corner of 
Second and Main streets, in 1901. In 
addition to the usual stock of drugs, 
stationery, school books, soda foun- 
tain, etc., he keeps a news' stand and 
a wholesale ice cream establishment. 
During recent years he has attained 
the reputation of making the best ice 
cream, not merely in the town, but 
in this section of the state. In order 
to supply the large demand for the 
smooth and velvety ice cream that he 
makes, he has provided facilities for 
its manufacture, that are a credit to 
the town. They include, among other 
things, a pasteurizer, a cream separa- 
tor, a mammoth freezer, and a steam 
engine. He can easily make one or 
more hundred gallons of ice cream in 
a day. During the season of 1902 and 
1903, the milk of 100 cows was receiv- 
ed daily, and the product, which is 
called "Velvet Ice Cream" was ship- 
ped to most of the towns along tbe 
Illinois Central and Milwaukee rail- 
roads within fifty miles of Fonda. 

In 1891, he married Ginevra Ballard 
of Odebolt, and has one son, Frank. 

Dr. Louis G. Patty, his brother, 
after a residence of five years at Fon- 
da, during which he was engaged in 
the practice of medicine, in 1898, re- 
turned to Carroll. Frank L., a young- 
er brother, after assisting him two 
years in the drug store, died at 20 at 
Carroll in 1898. 

Pfeiffer, Godfrey (b. 1837), miller, 
Fonda, is a native of Germany. He 
came with his parents in 1846, to 
Butler county, Ohio, and in 1860, to 
Keokuk, Iowa. In 1861, he married 
Sarah Farr, of Wapello county and 
located on a farm. In 1871, he became 
the principal owner and manager of a 



mill at What Cheer. Three years later 
he assisted in the erection and man- 
agement of a mill at Greencastle. 
Three years later he built a mill at 
Newton and when It was destroyed by 
fire three months after its completion 
he rebuilt it. In 1881 he moved this 
mill and its machinery to Fonda, 
erected there also the brick house 
known as the McKee home, and was a 
resident of that place until 1889, when 
he moved to Wilbur, Neb., and in 
1893, to Parkston, S. D. 

His family consisted of five daught- 
ers, four of whom engaged in teaching 
at Fonda and vicinity. 

Laura Bell in 1898, graduated from 
the classical department of the State 
Universiby, Lincoln, Neb., and be- 
came principal of the historic depart- 
ment in the high school at Omaha. 
She is now teaching at Lincoln. 

Louisa Jane, after pursuing a nor- 
mal course in Drake Uniyersily and 
teaching several years, in 1895, mar- 
ried George H. Kerr, proprietor of a 
lineotype printing press, and lives at 
Des Moines. 

Emma Mary, teacher of the primary 
department Fonda two years, in 1888, 
married George Taylor, clerk in a shoe 
store, Omaha, and died there in 1899, 
leaving seven children. 

Rebecca Kate in 1891, married Bert 
F. Osburn, a clerk, lives at Parkston, 
S. D., and hai two children. 

Estella, a graduate in 1891, of the 
high school at Wilbur, Neb., and in 
1899, of the academic department of 
Yankton College, has since been en- 
gaged as a teacher. 

Post, Charles H., farmer, Cedar, 
was a native of Painesville, O., the 
son of Daniel K. and Charity Post, 
both of whom died at Painesville, the 
former at 79, and the latter at 91, 
after raising a family of twelve child- 
ren all of whom grew to manhood. 
Charles H., the seventh son, in 1870, 
married Mary Matson and found em- 
ployment in a nursery. In 1380, he 



m PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



located on the n^nei sec. 36, Cedar 
township, which he improved and 
occupied until 1891, when he moved to 
the vicinity of Newell. In 1901, he lo- 
cated on a farm near Burlington, 
Kan. His long experience in nursery 
work developed a taste for raisiog 
fine fruits and also the skill to do so 
successfully He achieved good suc- 
cess in raising apples, plums, cberries, 
and strawberries wherever he has 
been located. He received a good ed- 
ucation aDd both he and his estima- 
ble wife were efficient and prominent 
helpers in the work of the M. E 
church and Sunday school. 

His family consisted of four child- 
ren. Ella in 1890, married William 
Shorts, a farmer, and lives near 
Stuart, Iowa. Alice in 1899, married 
William Reed, a farmer, and lives 
near Burlington, Kan. Walter and 
Mabel are at home. 

Post. Wilbur Eugene (b. 1861), 
farmer, Cedar, is a native of LaFay- 
ette county, Wis., (near Warren, 111.), 
the son of Alanson and Mary Post. 
In 1885, he married Julia M. Church 
and lived one year on his father's 
farm near Newell, Iowa. In 1886, he 
located on his present farm on sec. 25, 
Cedar township, which he has im- 
proved with good buildings and in- 
creased to 160 acres. He has taken 
an active interest in the management 
of the public affairs of the township 
and served as president of the school 
board three years, 1896-98. His fam- 
ily consisted of four children, Elliott, 
who was accidently drowned at 17 in 
1903, Clayton, Glenn and Stella. 

Reed, Joseph M. (b. 1842), Clinton, 
is a native of Pennsylvania and in 1860 
came with his parents to Deleware 
county, Iowa, In 1861, he enlisted as 
a member of Co. B, 4th Iowa Cavalry, 
and continued in the service until the 
end of the war, four years. In 1895, he 
married Arminta Hayden, and in 1871, 
located on a homestead in Palo Alto 
county. In 1874, he located in Clinton 



township, Pocahontas county, where 
he improved a farm of 120 acres with 
neat and handsome buildings, and oc- 
cupied it until 1900, when he moved 
to Laconner, Washington. His fam- 
ily consisted of three children. Amy 
L. in 1883, married F. F. Fitzgerald. 
Lena in 1891. married Charles A. 
Vaughn, a farmer. Ora married Miss 
Christianson, of Gilmore City. 

Rice, Walter (1845-1901), farmer, 
Fonda, was a native of Schoharie 
county, N. Y., where in 1866, he mar- 
ried Elizabeth Chrystal and located 
on a farm. In 1877, he moved to Iowa, 
locating first in Story and then six 
years in Cherokee county. In 1887, 
he located on the nei sec. 24, Cedar 
township, Pocahontas county, and 
occupied this farm until a week 
previous to his decease, which occur- 
red near Des Moines, March 9, 1901. 
During his long residence at Fonda 
he became well known as an enter- 
prising and successful farmer. His 
family still occupies the farm. It 
consisted of two sons and one daught- 
er. 

Fred in 1892, married May Bennett, 
occupies the old home farm and has 
two children. Ada in 1886, married 
Verlin E. Hardy, farmer, Fonda. 
Frank in 1903, married Olive, daught- 
er of Samuel S. Martin, Fonda. 

Saunders, W. B. (1855-1901), deal- 
er, Rolfe, was a native of Rensselaer 
county, N. Y. At ten he came with 
his parents to Illinois and later to 
Black Hawk county, Iowa. In 1879, 
he married Alma Messinger and in 
1886, located on a farm in Center 
township, Pocahontas county. After 
seven years he moved to Rolfe, where 
he became a dealer in hay and ice. He 
was a man of strict integrity and very 
highly respected. He left a wife, five 
sons and two daughters. 

Schoentahl, Henry, (b. 1844) 
farmer, Fonda, became a member of 
Co. M. 6th Iowa Cavalry. Oct. 16, 1862, 
at Dubuque, and went into camp at 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



835 



Davenport. He was mustered out at 
Sioux City, Oct. 15, 1865, after three 
years of service on the northwestern 
frontier. He participated in the bat- 
tles with the Indians at Hart Mound, 
White Stoae Hill, and the Black 
Hills. 

In 1868, he married Louisa Kruse, 
at Dubuque and tliey continued to 
reside there unt 1 18j6, when they lo- 
cated in tie vicinity of Fonda. His 
family consisted of six children, Emil, 
Wilhelmina, Sadie, August, Ludic 
and Edward. 

Seifert, George Mrs. (1826-1902), 
Clinton, was a native of Germany. In 
1848, at Soheueetady, IS". Y., she be- 
came the wife uf George Seifert, who 
died in 1885, at DeWitt, Iowa, leaving 
a family of nine children. In 18S9, 
Mrs. Seifert and her daughter, Anna, 
became re-ideutsof Clinton township, 
making their home with her daughter 
Catherine, wife of W. C. Kennedy. 
Anna in 1901, married Edward H 
Weigman and located at Barlow, N. 
D, Three of her sons, Charles C, 
John and Amos Saifert, are still resi- 
dents of Pocahontas county. The 
other children are Mrs. McKidd, 
Nebraska City, Mrs Page, Chicago, 
and Henry Seifert, DeWitt, Iowa. 
She was a loving mother and a noble 
woman. She endeavored to exert a 
good influence over all with whom sh i 
associated. (John died in 1934). 

Shea, Patrick (b. 1837), owner and 
occupant of a farm of 240 acres on sec. 
5, Cedar township, is a native of Ire- 
land. At ten he came with his par- 
ents to Canada and in 1862, located in 
New York. The next year he went 
to California and spent the next seven 
years mining copper at Stockton or 
doing other work at San Francisco. In 
1869, he married there Mary Maher. 
In 1870, he left the Pacific coast, 
visited friends in "New York and 
Canada, bought and located on 80 
acres of his present farm which he 
has nicely improved and increased to 



240 acres. He is an intelligent and 
highly respected citizen and has serv- 
ed several years as assessor, trustee 
and treasurer of Cedar township. 

His wife died in 1879, leaving four 
children, Richard, Joseph, Margaret 
and Mary. 

Patrick Shea, his father, who came 
to his home in 1882, died there at 74 
in 1887. 

Sherman, Perry H. (1838-1902), 
Rolfe, was a native of Cattaraugus 
county, N. Y. At the age of four he 
was bereft of his mother and was de- 
deprivde a oflhome, circumstances that 
compelled him to support himself as 
soon as he was able. He grew to man- 
hood on a farm and in 1858, married 
Jerusha Smith. In 1865, he located in 
Jones county, Iowa, where he ex- 
perienced the hardships common to 
the pioneers of that section, one of 
which was the protection of their 
lives and homes against the depreda- 
tions of outlaws. During a part of 
this period he was captain of a band 
of vigilantes, who were organized for 
the purpose of apprehending and 
punishing horse-thieves and other 
violators of law. In 1892, he became 
the owner and occupant of a farm ad- 
joining Rolfe and died at 64 in 19U2. 
By industry and frugality he acquired 
a comfortable competency. He was a 
man of sterling worth, truthful in his 
word and exemplary in his conduct. 

His family consisted of eight child- 
ren, namely, J. P. and F. H. Sherman, 
merchants, Mrs. O. B. Fuller, Nellie, 
Fred A. and Benjamin Sherman, all 
of whom reside at Rolfe. Fred and 
Benjamin in 1902, were students of 
the State University at Iowa City, 
having in view the practice of law 
and medicine respectively. One of 
his children died in childhood and 
Alice, wife of F. F.' Ellicker, died in 
1900, at her home in Des Moines. 

Sinnett, James (b. 1836: d. 1903), 
one of the pioneers of Pocahontas 
county, was a native of Ireland. He 



836 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



came to America in 1853, and after a 
residence of four years in New York 
located in Michigan, where he was 
engaged in the copper industry- the 
next twelve years. In 1869, he mar- 
ried Julia Ryan (b. Ireland 1840), and 
located in Pocahontas county, Iowa, 
first in Lizard, the next year in Bell- 
ville, and in 1878, on sec. 23, Lake 
township, where he secured a farm of 
240 acres. In 1900, he moved to Rolfe 
and later to Gilmore City, where he 
died at 67 in 1903. 

His family consisted of twelve 
children, seven of whom survive him. 
M. T. in 1891, married Julia Murphy. 
After spending ten years in the min- 
ing districts of Colorado, he located at 
Pocahontas and has a family of four 
children. Maggie in 1883, married 
Thomas Laihoff, lives at Marysville, 
Montana, and has seven children. 
James in 1899, married Anna Kelleher 
occupies his own farm in Lake town- 
ship and has two children. Kate in 
1892, married M. J. Ford, a farmer, 
lives in Webster county and has six 
children. Patrick in 1899, married 
Agnes Nugent, lives on his own farm 
in Lake township and has two child- 
ren. Mary in 1895, married J. C. 
Hood, a farmer, lives in Webster 
county and has two children. Julia 
A., a teacher in 1903 at Gilmore City, 
has been very successful in her pro- 
fession, having taught three and one- 
half years in Rolfe. Her mother liyes 
with her. 

Smith, Thomas Brennan (1855-1902) 
Clinton, was a native of Peoria, 111. 
He was the son of Andrew Brennan, 
who died when he was a babe. His 
mother soon afterward married An- 
drew S. Smith, father of James S. 
Smith of Plover, and the name of 
Smith was adopted. In 1870, he came 
with his father to Pocahontas county 
and continued to reside in it until his 
death at 48 in 1902. In 1878, he mar- 
ried Julia Nemecek who died at his 
home on sec 29. He left one daught- 



er Mary, who lives with her grand- 
mother, Mrs. Nemecek. 

Tom Smith was a pioneer character 
whose acquaintance or fame was not 
confined to Pocahontas county. Dur- 
ing the early days he kept large herds 
of cattle on the prairies and as the 
years passed became possessor of 560 
acres in Clinton township. His tastes 
were extremely primitive and during 
the summer months he scorned to 
wear anything on his feet. He made 
his trips to the neighboring towns 
and even to the cities without any 
special change of clothing. As a 
trader in hay and cattle he did a 
large business each year. He was a 
hard and persistent worker, often dis- 
regarding the time of day. He experi- 
enced the hardships of the pioneer 
through many years of wearing and 
wearisome labor. 

He was a brother of Mrs. John H. 
Oldaker and Mrs. John Bush, a half 
brother uf James S. Smith, a cousin 
of H. C. Barnes, and was related to 
the Nemecek brothers and Votlucka 
families. 

SmorkovskI, Anton (1824-1881), 
Bellville, was a native of Bohemia, 

where in 185 1, he married 

Dosa, who died a few years afterwards 
leaving one daughter, Mary. In 1856, 
he married Barbara Dosa, a sister of 
his first wife, and, coming to America 
in 1867, located in Livingston county, 
111. In 1872, with a family consisting 
of wife, four sons and three daughters, 
he came to Pocahontas county, Iowa, 
and located on the ei swi sec. 28, 80 
acres, Bellville township. He was an 
industrious and thrifty farmer, and 
improved his farm with good and sub- 
stantial buildings. At the time of 
his death at 57 in 1881, he was the 
owner of 320 acres, all of which are 
still owned and occupied by his wife 
and the younger members of his fam-' 

iiy. 

Mary, a daughter by his first wife, 
in 1875, married Peter Kemmer and 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



837 



located on a farm of 160 acres on sec. 
13, Sherman township, which they 
have improved, increased to 320 acres, 
and still occupy. Their family con- 
sists of three children, Peter, Annie 
and John. 

Anton (b. Boh. 1857) in 1885, mar- 
ried Mary Stoley. He owns and oc- 
cupies a farm of 170 acres in Center 
township and has a family of five 
children, Mary, James, Elizabeth, 
Lois and Anna. 

Anna (b, Boh. 1858) inl877, married 
Budolph Beneke, (see page 345). 

John (b. Boh. 1860) owns and occu- 
pies a farm of 100 acres on sec. 16, 
which he has improved with good 
buildings. 

Donna (b. 111. 1868) in 1890, married 
George Peters, who owns and occupies 
a farm near Havelock, which he was 
the first to improve. Their family 
consists of five children, George, 
Barbara, Anton, Joseph and John. 

Sophia (b. Iowa, 1872) in 1895, mar- 
ried John Clain, a farmer, lives in 
Washington township, and has a fam- 
ily of three children, Jennie, Anton 
and Joseph. 

Joseph, Frank and their mother oc- 
cupy the old farm home. 

Straight Bros., Lee S. and Guy 
H., manufacturers of brick and tile. 
Fonda, are natives of McLean county, 
111, j sons of Rufus C. and Francina 
R. (Abbey) Straight. They grew to 
manhood and received their early 
education at Fairbury, Livingston 
county, 111. Lee in 1882 erected a tile 
factory at Manhattan, and two years 
later, selling this plant, bought an- 
other one at El paso, 111., where Guy 
then became associated with him in 
business. In 1894 they came to Fonda 
and erected a brick and tile manufac- 
turing establishment (p. 38S), that 
has since received their undivided at- 
tention and been successfully operated 
by them. Both are skillful mechanics 
and entirely familiar with every de- 
partment of the work. They have 



with their own hands erected not only 
their buildings, but also their most 
important and delicate machinery. 
The industry they have established 
is one of the most important at Fon- 
da and its management, under their 
careful personal siuervision, has been 
very successful. They are the owners 
of several hundred acres of land in the 
vicinity of Fonda, and leading stock- 
holders of the Northern Telephone 
Company. 

Lee S. Straight (b. 1860) completed 
his education at the Bryant & Strat- 
ton business college, Chicago. He is 
a director of the Northern Telephone 
Co. and has served several terms as a 
member of the Fonda council. In 
1882, in Livingston county, 111., he 
married Ida Tanner, a teacher, and 
his family consists of six children. 
Halver 'and Fleda, Fonda graduates 
in 1932 and 1903, respectively, Gladys, 
Ina, Merton and Alma. 

Guy H. Straight (b. 1868), junior 
member of the firm of Straight Bros., 
in 1891 during his residence at El 
Paso, 111,, married Ida E. Mahoney, 
a teacher and resident of Fairbury, 
111. His family consists of three chil- 
dren, Oma, Leta and Lois, one having 
died in childhood. He is now (1903) a 
member of the Fonda council. 

Struthers, William ^b. 1836), far- 
mer, Des Moines, brother of Robert, 
(p. 171) is a native of Canada where in 
1860 he married Anna, daughter of 
John and Margaret Kilgour. Coming 
to Pocahontas county that year he 
located on the nwi sec. 13, Des Moines 
township, which he improved and 
occupied until 1877, when he located 
on the nei sec. 23, where he still re- 
sides and is the owner of 226 acres. 

His family consisted of seven chil- 
dren, one of whom died in childhood. 

John A. (b. 1862), a farmer, in 1892 
married Emma Norman, lives in Des 
Moines township and has a family of 
four children, Vernon, Gordon, Flor- 
ence and Robert. 



838 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



William J. (b. 1865), a railroader, in 
1894 married Hulda Elg, lives at 
Gowrie and has a family of four child- 
ren, Donald, Pauline, Clifton and 
Carl Eva. 

Nellie in 1894 married Frank King, 
a dentist, lives at Rolfe and has one 
daughter, Milfred Louise. 

Elizabeth in 1894 married Frank 
Duvoe, a banker, and lives at Jeffers, 
Minn. 

George D. (b. 1876), is the owner and 
occupant of a farm of 170 acres on sec. 
13, Des Moines township. In 1900 he 
married Natalia Julmi and has one 
son, Melvin. 

Leslie (b. 1879) is at home. 

Struthers, James, brother of Will- 
iam, after seven years spent in Aus- 
tralia, located across the line in Hum- 
boldt county near McKnight's Point, 
a beautiful point of timber extending 
from the east bank of the Des Moines 
river out upon the prairie a few miles 
northeast of Rolfe. He improved and 
occupied this farm until his death in 
1898, at which time he was the owner 
of a large and finely improved farm. 

In 1861 he married Margaret Jane, 
daughter of John and Margaret Kil- 
gour, and his family consisted of eight 
children, five sons and three daught- 
ers, namely George, a farmer; Mag- 
gie, deceased; Andrew J., who located 
at Sioux Rapids and died at 36 in 1903 
leaving a wife and two children. Bar- 
bara, Robert, Fred, Anna, and Wat- 
son. 

Sullivan, Henry (b. 1854), Cedar, 
is a native of Wheeling, W. Va. At 
the age of nm y^ar he moved with his 
parent^, John and Ann (Ribbons Sulli- 
van, to Green county, W's , where he 
grew to manhood. In 1890, hb located 
in Pocihontas county, Iowa, in the 
vicinity of Fonda, and is now the 
owner and occnpmt of a farm of 160 
acres near the town, on which he has 
erected all the improvements. In 1832 
he married Ann Knight of Green 
county, Wis. 



Sullivan, Jeremiah O. (b. 1840), 
is a native of Ireland. At the age of 
nine he came with his parents tx) 
Memphis, Tenn., and six months later 
to Jackson county, Iowa. In 1870, he 
came to Pocahontas county and lo- 
cated on a homestead of 80 acres on 
sec. 4, Cedar township, which he still 
occupies, has increased to 430 acres 
and improved with good buildings. 

In 1874, he married Mary Keefe and 
has a family of three sons and three 
daughters, Michael, Anna, Margaret, 
John, William, and Mary. 

John Carey, James Griffin and Peter 
"Byrne, who reside in the vicinity of 
Fonda, are married to sisters of Mr. 
Sullivan. His parents lived and died 
in Jacksun county. 

Swenson, Swen J. (b. 1840), tailor, 
is a native of Sweden, where he grew 
to manhood and in 1867, married Al- 
berta Eigil (b. 1843). In 1869, he came 
to America and lived nine years in 
Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1878, he located 
at Newell and in 1892, at Fonda, Iowa, 
where he established tailor shops that 
at times gave employment to several 
workmen besides himself and his two 
sons, Paul and Gustave. Nov. 1, 1900, 
he moved to Albert City. He is an in- 
dustrious worker, a man of sterling 
int p grity and has raised a fine family. 

His family consisted of six children. 

Bertha in 1891, married Carl E. 
Thorpe, a tailor, lives at Manson and 
has three children, Evelyn, Lloyd and 
Margarite. 

Swen N. (b. 1871), a drug clerk, St. 
James, Minn., in 1894, married Eva 
Alfreda Krohn and has two children, 
Irena and Marion. 

Paul (b. 1875), a tailor, Lake City, 
in 1896, married Edna Clearwater and 
has one child, Pauline. 

Gustave T. (b.1877), a Fonda gradu- 
ate in 1894, worked in the tailor shop 
several years, acquired a practical 
knowledge of electrical engineering 
and became chief electrician for the 
Pacific Wireless Telegraph and Tele- 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



839 



phone Company, San Pedro, Cal. In 
1902, he married Edith, daughter of 
William arid Rebecca J. Busby, Fon- 
da, and located in Los Angeles. 

Minnie and Carl are at home. 

Mary Johnson Swenson (1808-1897), 
his mother, in 1872, the year after the 
death of her husband, Swen Swenson, 
at the age of 64 years, came to Amer- 
ica and lived with her son, Swen- J , 
at Brooklyn, Newell and Fonda, un- 
til her death at 89 in 1897. She was 
the mother of four children, one of 
whom, the eldest, died in childhood; 
Anna Bertha married August Foegel- 
quist and lives in Minnesota; Augusta 
married C. Ljungren, lives in Sweden; 
and Swen J. Swenson. She was a de- 
vout member of tne Lutheran church. 

Thatcher, Isham Clarence (b. 
1845), county auditor, is a native of 
Williston, Yt., the son of Stephen and 
Helen Isham Thatcher. In 1853, he 
moved with his parents to Indiana, 
in 1857, to Dodge county, Wis , and in 
1863, to Minnesota, where his parents 
still reside. In 1888, he located in Des 
Moines township, Pocahontas county, 
where he soon won recognition as an 
enterprising and prosperous farmer. 
He was three times elected and served 
efficiently as auditor of this county 
six years, 1897-1902. Called from the 
plow to accept an important public 
trust he discovered to his friends that 
the man who successfuly stirs the sod 
can faithfully and efficiently perform 
the duties of the auditor's office. He 
is now serviDg as a deputy ic the 
auditor's office. 

Io 1869, he married Helen A. Faster 
who died in 1871 leaving one daughter 
now Mrs. H. B. White, Houston, 
Minn. In 1878, he married Ella C, 
only daughter of Sanford and CIVoe 
Br iwn Bitter, and their family con- 
sists of one daughter, Eloise, a teach 
cr. 

Trude, Solomon H. (b. 1816), car- 
penter, Fonda, was a native of Sara- 
toga, N. Y. In 1839, he married 



Rachel Bailey (b. 1820) and located at 
Erie, Pa., where he found employ- 
ment as a carpenter and later nine 
years as a ship builder on the lakes. 
In 1858, he moved to Johnson county, 
Wis. Oct. 4, 1861, he enlisted as a 
member of Co. H, 13th Wis. Inf. and 
continued iu the service three years 
aud two months. He belonged to the 
army of the Cumberland and served 
successively under generals Rosen- 
crans, Grant, and Sherman. 

His family consisted of eight child- 
ren, and three of his sons, William, 
George, and Marion, followed his pa- 
triotic example and rendered military 
or naval service during the civil war. 
William served three years in the 
same company with his father and 
died at Hillsboro, Wisconsin, in 1880. 
George W. enlisted as a member of 
the 8ih Wis. Inf., the eagle regiment, 
and served nearly four years. He is a 
carpenter and lives at Des Moines. 
Francis Marion entered the navy and 
was under the command ot Capt. Win- 
slow on the ill-fated Kearsarge. 

Solomon H. in 1880, came to Fonda, 
Iowa, where he continued to reside 
until 1900, when he and wife moved 
to Des Moines where he died at 85 in 
1901. 

James J. Trude, his youngest son, 
came with him to Fonda and engaged 
in draying many years. In 1900, he 
located on a farm in South Dakota. 
In 1886, he married Mary A. Moulton 
and has a family of six children, John, 
Nancy, Cora, Charles, Clarence and 
Arthur. 

Tucker, Seth Samuel (b. 1830), 
hotel keeper and dairyman, Fonda, is 
a native. of Erie county, N. Y.,the 
s m of George and Susan Tucker, who 
were natives of that vicinity. In 1850 
he married Jane Coyle a native of 
Poughkeepsie. In 1878 he located on 
a farm in Uedar township, north of 
Fonda. In 1883 he became proprietor 
of the Central House and four years 
later of the Ewing Hotel, Fonda. He 
has maintained a dairy and sold milk 



840 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



most of the time since 18?9. His wife 
died at 56 in 1888. 

His family consisted of seven child- 
ren, two of whom died in childhood. 

Mary Belle, an early Fonda teacher, 
in 1884, married Frank H. Covey, a 
cigar maker, lives at Fonda and has 
one son, Harry. Minnie in 18S.6, mar- 
ried John Weaver, one of the first 
engineers on the Wabash (now C, M. 
& St. P.)railroad, Des Moines to .Fon- 
da, is now a master mechanic on the 
Santa Fe railroad. They live at 
Marceline, Mo. Gilbert W. in 1893, 
married Emma Jennings and lives at 
Marceline, Mo. Charles S. an engineer 
on the Santa Fe railroad, in 1897, 
married Susan Tucker and lives at 
Burlington, Kan. Hepzibah Lapen 
in 1891, married Palmer C. Toy, lives 
at Storm Lake and has one daughter, 
Opal. 

Weible, Martin, (b. 1836) merchant, 
Rnlfe, is a native of Wittemburg, 
Ger. In 1846, he came with his par- 
ents to America and located in Jo 
Daviess county, 111. In 1861, he mar- 
ried Cathrina, sister of Valentine 
Hauck. In 1878, he located in Carroll 
county, 111., later at Grundy Center, 
Iowa, and in 1882, associated with 
Valentine Hauck, he established a 
general store- in the new town of 
Rolfe. This pioneer firm is still do- 
ing business at Rolfe under the old 
name '-Weible and Hauck," but Au- 
gust, his son, in 1894, became the ac- 
tive member of the firm. During the 
years 1894 to 1902, he found congenial 
and profitable employment as a dealer 
in stock. He is the owner of 360 acres 
of farm land in the vicinity of Rolfe. 
He was brought up in the Evangelic- 
al Association or Albright church. 

His family consists of three child- 
ren. 

Margaret in 1881, married Jacob 
Yetter, a farmer, who- owns and occu- 
pies a farm of 320 acres in the vicin- 
ity of Rolfe. 

Anna in 1885, married Charles Ma- 



haffey, a mason. He died in 1891, 
leaving three children, Judson, 
Catherine and Leona. In 1894, she 
married Stewart B. Whitmore, a 
farmer, lives near Rolfe and their 
family consists of three children, 
Hazel, Harriet and Stewart. 

August (b. 1870), merchant, is a 
native of Jo Daviess county, 111. In 
1891, he married Nellie Hoard and in 
1894. became the successor of his 
father in the general store of Weible 
& Hauck, Rolfe. He is the owner of 
considerable town property and in 
1902, completed one of tin most 
handsome residences in the town of 
Rolfe. It is modern in its plan of 
construction and from cellar to attic 
is supplied with the most recent 
facilities for comfort and convenience. 

Wilde, William (b, Dec. 25. 1849), 
is a native of Dodendorf, Germany. 
He came to America in 1869, and lo- 
cated at Oregon, 111., where he found 
employment on a farm. In 1878, he 
moved to Center township, Calhoun 
county, Iowa, and in 1879, married 
Amanda McNames. In 1884, he mov- 
ed to Pomeroy and became an assist- 
ant in a lumber office. Since 1890, he 
has been the manager of the lumber 
and coal business of the Woodford & 
Wheeler Company, Fonda. 

His family consists of five children, 
Morton Clyde. Guy, Hazel, Linn and 
Iris. 

Wolf, Joseph (b. 1859), Center, is a 
native of Tama county, the son of 
Albert and Frances Wolf. In 1880, he 
married Josephine Anderly (b. 1859) 
and located on a farm. In 1889, he 
came to Pocahontas county and after 
one year in Sherman located in Center 
township. He served as clerk of the 
township three years, 1895-98. His 
family consists of four children, 
Charles F., Mamie, Albert and Julia. 

Wolfe, Maurice (b. 1820; d. 1901), 
Lincoln township, was a native of 
Ireland. At twenty-two he came to 
Illinois, where he married in 1859. In 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



841 



1887, he came to Iowa and remained 
until his death at the home of his 
daughter, Mrs. Geo. Bonne, Lincoln 
township, in 1901. He left a family 
of twelve children all of whom were 
with them at the time of his death, 
namely, John, Robert, Edward and 
Jerry Wolfe, Mrs. Geo. Bonne, Mrs. 
W. J. Stegge, Mrs. John Alberts, 
Agnes, Maggie, Julia, Josephine and 
Cecilia. 

Wykoff, William Marshall (1834- 
1902), farmer, Fonda, was a native 
of Canandagua, N. Y., the son of 
James and Esther Gates Wykoff. He 
was the youngest of a family that 
consisted of five brothers and two 
sisters. At four he was bereft of his 
father and at twenty-one went to 
Elmira, learned the tinner's trade and 
later engaged in the hardware busi- 
ness at Brownsville, Minn. In 1876, 
he located three miles southwest of 
Fonda on a farm, which he was the 
first to improve and occupied it 
until his decease at 68 in 1902. His 
house on the knoll west of Cedar 
creek has always been a very promi- 
nent land mark. A happy home and 
family were the objects of his first 
concern, and then the faithful per- 
formance of his duty as a good citizen. 

In 1858, at Brownsville, Minn., he 
married Phoebe Snyder and his family 
consisted of six children. Frank, 
William who married Lizzie Spiel- 
man, Fobes, Esther who married 
Virgil Heston, Dollie, and Mamie 
who married Geo. H. Stafford. 

Bartosh, Matias (b. 1832), Poca- 
hontas, is a native of Bohemia, where 
in 1856, he served as a soldier under 
King Joseph in the war with Italy. 
In 1858, he married Anna Stejskal 
(b. 1829), and, coming to America in 
1865, located in Winnesheik county, 
Iowa. In 1874, he located on the nwi 
sec 29, Center township, Pocahontas 
county, which he was the first to oc- 
cupy and improve. He increased this 
farm to 320 acres and occupied it until 



1895, when he moved to Pocahontas, 
where he still resides. He is one of the 
founders and liberal supporters of the 
Catholic church at Pocahontas. 

He raised a family of seven child- 
ren, one having died in childhood. 

Catherine (b. Boh. 1859) in 1879 
married Anton Sedlacek and located 
on the nei sec. 29, Center township, 
which he improved, increased to 280 
acres, and occupied until his death in 
1882. He left five children, Anton, 
Michael, Mary, Joseph and Wencel, 
who, together with their mother, oc- 
cupy his late farm. 

Mary in 1879, married Anthony 
Hudek, see Hudck. 

Anna (b. Iowa 1866) in 1888, mar- 
ried Wencel Stoulil, see Stoulil. 

Elizabeth in 1890, married Joseph 
Payer, who lives on his mother's farm 
in Center township, and has four 
children, Mary, John M., Anna, and 
Agnes. 

John (b 1870) in 1894, married Anna 
Sinek, occupies a farm of 160 acres on 
sec. 29. Center township, and has four 
children, Frances, Agnes, Elizabeth, 
and Albert. 

Ella in 1895, married Joseph L. Eral 
who occupies a farm of 160 acres in 
Lincoln township and has three child- 
ren, William, Lucia and Wencel. 

Wencel (b. 1873) in 1894, married 
Anna Schroeder, occupies a farm of 
160 acres in Center township and has 
one son, Wencel. 

Bollard, Joseph B. (b. 1858; d. 1903) 
druggist, Fonda, was a native of 
Crawford county, Pa., where he re- 
ceived a good education and later 
graduated from Oberlin College. He 
began to teach school at the early age 
of seventeen and pursued this employ- 
ment three years after he located in 
1880, with his elder brother, Richard 
D. Bollard, in Pottawattamie county, 
Io?va, In 1883, he located on a farm 
north of Fonda, and the next year be- 
came a resident of that town, where 
he found employment as a drug clerk. 



842 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



In 1886, associated with Dr. M. F. 
Patterson, he became proprietor of a 
drug store and maintained it nearly 
fifteen years. Others that were suc- 
cessively associated with him in this 
business were Henry Brown, S. M. 
Carleton and Wm. Bott. In 1891, he 
erected a two story brick block over 
the ruins of the frail structure that 
was destroyed by fire, Aug. 25th, that 
year. He served as a member of the 
Fonda council six years, 1890-95, and 
served several terms as a member of 
theBoard of Education, of which he 
was president two years, 1893-94. He 
performed a leading part in effecting 
the organization of the Big Four Fair 
Association, and was a member of its 
first board of directors. During the 
period of his official recognition he 
exerted a potent influence in the 
management of the public affairs of 
the community, especially those re- 
lating to its educational interests, 
and was an active participant in the 
politics of the county. His pleasant 
voice, genial nature and natural abil- 
ity caused him to be recognized as a 
leader in the circles in which he mov- 
ed. He died at 45 in 1903. 

In 1885, he married Jennie M., 
daughter of William . Bott, Fonda, 
and his family consisted of five child- 
ren, Roy, Robert, June, Elzina, and 
Eva, 

Gates, Jarvis D. (b, 1859), farmer, 
Fonda, is a native of Shabbona Grove, 
111., the son of Isaac and Laura A. 
Gates. In 1870, he married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Martin and Catherine 
Welsh, and located on a farm. In 
1879, he located south of Fonda, and 
in the fall of 1880, on the farm of Geo. 
Sanborn, which, after the lapse of 
twenty-three years, he still occupies. 
He has met with good success in rais- 
ing stock and has manifested con- 
siderable pride in keeping a flock of 
fine sheep. His long continuance on 
the same farm suggests the mainte- 
nance of a pleasant relationship with 



the owner thereof and a just regard 
for the old adage, "A rclling stone 
gathers no moss." 

His family consisted of four child- 
ren. Jennie May, a teacher, in 1892, 
married Daniel A. Whitney, a farmer, 
lives at Shelbina, Mo. and has two 
children, Everett and Sarah Etta. 
Kleber W. in 1885, located at Marsh- 
field, Wis., where in 1894, he married 
May Beach and has two children. 
Lester and Harry are at home. 

Fremont Eugene Gates, a carpenter 
and younger brother of Jarvis, has 
been a resident of Fonda since 1895. 

Gezy, John (b. 1855), Fonda, is a 
native of Seneca county, Ohio, the 
son of Joseph and Rosa Gezy, who 
were natives of Germany. In his boy- 
hood he moved with his parents to 
Pulaski county, Ind. In 1880, he 
found employment in Newton county, 
Ind., where in 1881, he married Lydia 
E. Martin and located on a farm. Two 
years later he passed to Iroquois 
county, 111., and in 1885, to a farm of 
120 acres south of Fonda. He increas- 
ed this farm to 220 acres, improved it 
with good buildings and occupied it 
until 1903, when he erected a pretty 
house in Fonda, which he now enjoys. 
He has one daughter, Maud, who is 
at home. 

Gezy, Joseph H. (b. 1857), farmer, 
south of Fonda, is a brother of John. 
In 1882, in Indiana he married Lucin- 
da Burritt, and the next year located 
on 80 acres in Williams township, 
Calhoun county, Iowa. He has increas- 
ed this farm to 540 acres and improv- 
ed it with good buildings. His wife 
died in 1902. His family consists of 
four children, Henry, Edward, Fred- 
eric and Pearl. 

McEwen, William D. (b. 1865), 
banker, Pocahontas, is a native of 
Ormstown, province of Quebec, Cana- 
da, the son of Duncan and Mary Mc- 
Ewen, and nephew of W. D. McEwen, 
Esq., Rolfe. He became a resident of 
Pocahontas county in September 1S§8j 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



843 



first on his own farm and in 1893, at 
Pocahontas, where he became cashier 
of the Pocahontas Savings Bank. He 
continued to fill this position in a 
very efficient and satisfactory manner 
until January 1900, when he resigned, 
and, in partnership with Joseph 
Simpson, established the City Ex- 
change Bank of Pocahontas. He is 
still president of this bank and has 
been the sole proprietor of it since 
1901. He built and occupies one of 
the fine residences at Pocahontas. In 
1903, he was a member both of trie 
council and school board of that city. 

In 1893, he married Emma Tutt, of 
South Bend, Indiana, and has two 
children, Lawrence R., and Leon 
Duncan. 

McEwen, W. S., a cousin of Will 
D. McEwen, succeeded him as cashier 
of the Pocahontas Savings Bank, 
which, in July 1902, was reorganized 
as the Firnit National Bank of Poca- 
hontas. He continued to fill this 
position in the reorganized bank un- 
til. Septemper 1903, when all the stock 
of this bank was purchased by the 
proprietors of the Allen Bros. Bank, 
and the latter was merged into it, 
under the new officers, J. H. Allen, 
president; G. S. Allen, vice-president; 
and F. W. Lindeman, cashier. The 
office was then transferred to the new 
Allen bank building. 

Squire, George B. (1839—1903), 
Fonda, was a native of Huron county, 
Ohio. He enlisted as a member 
of the 3rd Ohio Cavalry, when the 
first call for volunteers was made at 
the beginning of the Civil War, and, 
at the end of three years, re-en- 
listed and contioued in the service of 
his country until the close of the war. 
He then came to Iowa, and located at 
Iowa City, then at Grinnell and later 
in Audubon county. In 1893, he lo- 
cated near Fonda, where he died at 64 



in 1903. He possessed a pleasing per- 
sonality, was a faithful soldier and 
highly respected citizen. 

In 1869, he married Sarah Detwiler 
and left a family consisting of two 
sons and three daughters. Mrs. 
Georgia Easthouse, Enola and Grace, 
teachers, Allan and Ernest. 

Stoulil, Joseph (b. 1835), Pocahon- 
tas, is a native of Bohemia, where in 
1859, he married Antonia Sramek. 
Some years afterwards he came to 
America and located in Tama county, 
Iowa, and in 1872, on 160 acres on sec. 
19, Center township, Pocahontas 
county. He was the first to occupy 
and improve this farm and increased 
it to 440 acres. In 1875, when Center 
township was organized, he was elect- 
ed a trustee and also the first treas- 
urer of the school board. He is now a 
resident of Pocahontas, where he is 
the owner of considerable town prop- 
erty. His family consisted of four- 
teen children, nine of whom are liv- 
ing. 

Joseph (b. 1860), married and lives 
in South Dakota. 

Wencel (b. 1865) in 1888, married 
Ann Bartosh, occupies a farm of 160 
acres in Center township and has six 
children, Mary, Ella, Joseph, Wencel, 
William and Agnes. Mary in 1885, 
married Anton Smorkovsky, lives 
near Pocahontas and has five children 
Mary, Wencel, Elizabeth, Alice and 
Anna. Anna in 1888, married Joseph 
Hobart, lives in Arkansas, and has 
three children, Agnes, Josephine and 
Alice. Frank (b. 1873) in 1899, married 
Josephine Hudek, occupies a farm of 
160 acres in Center township and has 
one son, Richard. Frances is a nurse 
at Sioux City. Edward is married 
and occupies the old home farm on 
sec. 19, Center township. Emma and 
William are at home. 



XXIX. 



GARFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



"God give us men! A time like this demands 
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands. 
Men, wbom the lust of office does not kill; 
Men, whom the spoils of office cannot buy; 
Men, who possess opinions and a will; 
Men, who have honor; men, who will not lie; 
Tall men, sun-cro,wned, who live above the fog 
In public duty and in private thinking. 

Lo! Freedom weeps, 
Wrong rules the land and waitiner justice sleeps." 

—Holland. 



"Let us make ourselves members of a new and better race." 




ARFIELD town- within the limits of the Independent 
ship (92-31, except School District of Rolfe (sections 5 
and 6, the w£ of 4 and nl of 7 and 8) 
into a new township, called 
Garfield, Sept. 11, 1903. Center school 
house was designated as the place for 
holding the first election, Nov. 3, 1903, 
and the following persons were ap- 
pointed to serve as the first election 
board, namely: Milt D. Wolcott, W. 
C. Kennedy and James McCreary, 
judges; L. W. Ives and Nels Peterson, 
clerks. At this first election the fol- 
lowing officers were elected: W. C. 
Kennedy, B. C. Votlucka and H. G. 



section 5) is the new 
name given in 1903, 
rj^lSI^^P^' Jto the rural sections, 
I,! liT^^^T** "fl 1 1 and 6-36, of Clin- 
ton township, the history of which 
has already been given under its old 
name of Clinton township. 

In response to a petition signed by 
Geo. W. Henderson and many other 
citizens in the eastern part of Clinton 
township, the Board of County Super- 
visors formed all that part of Clinton 
township that was not contained 



GARFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



845 



Mason, trustees for one, two and three 
years, respectively; John fSiefert and 
E. G. Fargo, justices for one and two 
years, respectively; Nis Behrendsen, 
clerk; F. W. Ives, assessor; J. E. 
Schnug and W. E. Campbell, con- 
stables. 

Nov. 12, 1903, the board of super- 
visors, in response to another petition 
enlarged Garfield township by adding 
to it all the territory in Clinton except 
section 5, which was included within 
the incorporate limits of the town of 
Rolfe. 



It was also ordered at this time 
that the boundary lines of Clinton 
township shall be those of section five, 
92-31. This change made the incor- 
porate town of Rolfe a township, and 
rendered unnecessary the further 
election of township officers. The 
officers of Clinton for 1903, were R. S. 
Mather, B. C. Votlucka and H. G. 
Mason, trustees; and J. K. Lemon, 
clerk. 

Garfield is still included in the first 
supervisor district with Clinton, Des 
Moines and Powhatan townships. 




XXX. 



THE PUBLI© SCHOOLS. 



"Sow a thought reap an act, 
Sow an act reap a habit, 
Sow a habit reap a character, 
Sow -a character reap a destiny." 




N 1860, this county 
'was organized as one 
school district, with 
Robert Struthers, 
lOra Harvey and 
^John A. James, di- 
rectors. The Lizard district, embrac- 
ing the south half of the county, was 
organized May 6, 1861, at the third 
meeting of the board of county super- 
visors. The county records, relating 
to this department of work in the 
early days, are no longer available for 
reference. The growth in education- 
al matters, however, as in other in- 



terests of the county, has been steady 
and permanent. 

Perry Nowlen, the first one elected 
superintendent and for the year 1859, 
did not qualify, and the reason no 
doubt was, because there was no oc- 
casion for him to do so. Four of his 
immediate successors, Oscar F. 
Avery, Wm, H. Hait, Ora Harvey and 
Michael Collins, each of whom served 
about one year, during the period, 
1860-1863, were appointed first by the 
county judge, or board of county su- 
pervisors. Fred E. Metcalf was the 
first one to serve two years, 1864-1865. 



(846) 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



84? 



He was succeeded by W. D. McEwen, 
J. J. Bruce, David Miller and Geo. W. 
Hathaway, each two years. Oscar I. 
Strong, after serving in 1874, resigned 
and John F. Clark, being appointed 
and afterwards elected, served three 
years, 1875-77. David Miller and O. I. 
Strong then served successively each 
a term of two years. In 1882, they 
were followed by J. P. Bobinson and 
J. H. Campbell, both of whom served 
terms of four years. Their successors 
have been FredC. Gilchrist tw'o years, 
1890-91; Clel Gilchrist six years, 1892- 
97; A. W. Davis two years, 1898-99; 
and U. S. Vance 1900 to date, 1903. 

O. F. Avery, the second incumbent, 
issued one certificate during his term 
of office. This was given to Helen M. 
Harvey and she taught the first 
school in 1860, in the home of W. H. 
Hait, at old Bolfe. During the fall 
of that year the first school house, a 
brick one, was built at old Bolfe. W. 
H. Hait, the superintendent in 1861, 
issued two certificates, and two 
schools were taught that year, one by 
Helen M. Harvey in the brick school 
house and the other by Ellen Condon 
in a vacant log cabin, later known as 
the "Pioneer School House," built by 
Patrick Collins on sec. 13, Lizard 
township. In 1866, W. D. McEwen 
issued among others a certificate to 
James J. Bruce. At that date there 
were only six school houses in the 
county, namely, the "Brick" and 
(Bobert) "Struthers" in Des Moines 
township, the "Calligan" and 
"Walsh" in Lizard, the "Malcolm" in 
Clinton and "Strong" in Powhatan. 
"No others were built after the one at 
old Bolfe until the close of the war, 
or in 1865, and the first ones then 
were those in the Calligan, Strong 
and Malcolm districts. In 1869. when 
Mr. Bruce was superintendent, he is- 
sued certificates to Nellie Bemtsma 
(Mrs. Fred Swingle), Mary Quinlan, 
Thomas Lumpkin, Henrietta Vaughn, 
Ella M. Butler and Charles E. 



Tuttle. On April 21st that year he 
selected the site for the school house 
at Sunk Grove, the first one in Cedar 
township and west half of the coun- 
ty. 

The report for 1860, when all the 
county was included in one district, 
shows 36 pupils in the county, thir- 
teen of whom were enrolled with an 
average attendance of eleven. 

In 1865. there were two districts, 
and they contained, Des Moines 61, 
and Lizard 39 children of school age. 

In 1870, there were in the county 
591 children, of whom 307 were en- 
rolled with an average attendance of 
159. 

In 1875, there were 13 districts and 
902 children. In 1880, when Fonda 
appeared as the first independent 
town district with 86 children, there 
were 15 districts and 1401 children. 
In 1890, when there were three inde- 
pendent town districts there were 19 
districts and 3,339 children. 

The annual report for 1903, was 
as follows: Subdistricts, 128; inde- 
pendent, 17, of which 8 were in towns, 
8 in Lizard township and one, a joint 
district at Gilmore City, where the 
school is in Humboldt county; 145 
school houses, valued at $126,376; 
teachers' places 174, employed during 
the year 311, of whom 44 were males 
employed at an average of $40.15 a 
month, and 267 were females, at $34.26 
a month; children of school age in the 
county 5,150, enrolled 4,681 with an 
average attendance of 2,756, and cost 
of tuition per month $2.43; value of 
apparatus $7,768; 218 certificates were 
issued, 16 teachers held state certifi- 
cates and the amount paid the teach- 
ers was $51,582; volumes in libraries 
10,887. More than 9,000 of these have 
been obtained since 1900. 

The town of Ware had no school in 
1903. It is located at the corner of 
four sections, that represent as many 
school districts each of which was 
supplied with a good school house be- 



848 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS' COUNTY, IOWA. 



fore that town was founded in 1900. 
After maintaining several terms of 
school in town, it was decided to send 
the children to the school in the dis- 
trict to which they respectively be- 
long. 

Lizard township was divided into 
eight independent rural districts, as 
at present, in 1875. Each district has 
one school and elects its own direct- 
ors, secretary and treasurer. 

The first county institute was held 
in the brick school house at old Rolfe 
in December 1870, by Superintendent 
David Miller, and thirty two teachers 
were enrolled. The second one was 
held in the Pioneer school house in 
Lizard township in December 1871, 
during the closing weeks of his term, 
and forty teachers were enrolled. The 
plan of holding district institutes, for 
the mutual improvement of the 
teachers and the development of an 
intelligent interest in the schools on 
the part of their patrons, was adopted 
during his second term, 1878-79, the 
first ones being held in Grant, Des 
Moines, Center and Washington 
townships. 

The annual institute has been a 
very important factor in the develop- 
ment of the school work in this coun- 
ty. It has furnished many teachers 
the only means they enjoyed for pro- 
fessional advancement. As the years 
passed and new branches were added 
to the required list of studies the in- 
stitute has been supplemented by the 
normal training or summer school. 
The first training school was held at 
Fonda in the fall of 1877, during the 
term of Superintendent J. F. Clark. 
It lasted eight weeks and was followed 
by an institute of two weeks. The 
instructors were Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
Ellison, Prof Hamill and Mrs. Bishop. 

After the lapse of twenty years, or 
during the summer of 1897, a normal 
institute lasting six weeks was held at 
Fonda by Superintendent Clel Gil- 
christ. The new branches that had 



been previously added and to which 
special attention was given at this 
meeting were algebra, physics, civics, 
and economics. The instructors were 
Prof. James C. Gilchrist, Geo. E. 
Reed, D. K. Bond, A. W. Davis, U. S. 
Vance, A. T. Rutledge and Tillie 
Cramer. A summer school lasting 
four weeks has been held in connec- 
tion with the annual institute every 
year since that date, except in 1899. 

Fonda was the first of the High 
Schools of the county to send forth a 
class of graduates, This class gradu- 
ated in 1894, and consisted of six per- 
sons: Gus T. Swenson, L. R. Wright, 
Ada Hawkins (Bond), Rena Carlton 
(Harris), Lena Mercer, and Minnie 
Haffele (Adams). The first classes 
from the other High Schools of the 
county were graduated as follows: 
Rolfe in 1897, Laurens in 1898, Have- 
lock from the tenth grade in 1895 and 
from the twelfth in 1898, and Plover 
in 1899. Aggie Garlock of Rolfe, in 
1887, was the first to graduate from 
the eight year course of study, estab- 
lished by the Board of Supervisors in 
1886 for the district schools of the 
county. 

The principals of the High Schools, 
under the leadership of A. W. Davis, 
in March 1897, organized a county 
oratorical association for the purpose 
of holding an annual contest between 
the pupils of their respective schools. 
Four contests were held and the 
winners in the dramatic and humor- 
ous exercises respectively, were as 
follows: At Fonda, March 21, 1897, 
Jennie Eaton and Weston Martin, 
both of Fonda; at Rolfe in 1898, Abbie 
Davis, Fonda, and Arthur Tumble- 
son, Havelock; at Havelock in 1899, 
Cora Mercer, Fonda, and Mabel 
Gibbs, Rolfe; at Pocahontas in 1900, 
Florence Conroy and Mae V. Wright, 
both of Fonda. 

The consolidation of the rural 
schools has recently become the sub- 
ject of considerable discussion in this 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



849 



-county. State Superintendent E.. C. 
Barrett visited this county and de- 
liverbd an important address on that 
subject at Ware, Feb. 18, 1901, a few 
months after that town was founded. 
The system has since been advocated 
in the public press of the county by 
Superintendent U. S. Vance and 
Prof. Frank Jarvis. Among the con- 
siderations that are urged in favor of 
the system of consolidation are the 
following: 
It requires and makes possible build- 



ings that are larger and better sup- 
plied with educational equipments 
and sanitary appliances. By the 
transportation of pupils to and from 
school under the care of responsible 
parties, more of them attend and 
better protection is afforded, both to 
the health and morals of the pupils. 
It reduces the cost of educating each 
pupil, secures better classification of 
them and better teachers for them. 
It is also urged that in the states 
where it has been tried, Ohio, Massa- 



eounty Teachers's Institutes and Normal Training Schools. 



Date 

1870, Dec. 

1871, Dec. 

1872, Dec. 
1873 

1871 
1875 

1876, Oct. 

1877, Sept. 

1878, Oct. 

1879, "Ct. 

1880, Nov. 

1881, Sept. 

1882, Oct. 

1883, Oct. 

1884, Sept. 

1885, Aug. 

1886, Sept. 

1887, Aug. 

1888, Aug. 

1889, July 

1890, A ug. 

1891, Sept. 

1892, Aug. 

1893, July 

1894, July 



Place 

Old Rolfs 

P'oneer S FT Lizard 

Garlock S H Cedar 



Fonda 
Fonda 

Pocahontas 

Pocahontas 

Pocahontas 

Fonda 

Fonda 

Pocahontas 

Rolfe 

Fonda 

Pocahontas 
Pocahontas 

Pocahontas 

Rolfe 

Fonda 

Laurens 

Rolfe 

Fonda 

Havelock 



Supt. 



Teachers 
Present 



Instructors 



David Miller 32 

David Miller 40 

Geo. W. Hathaway 25 
Geo. W. Hathaway 
O. I. strong 
J . F. Clark 



David Miller 

Geo. W. Bathaway, C. M. Saylor 

Prof. James Enos 



1895, July Laurens 

1896, July Rolfe 

1897, July* Fonda 
1S98, July* Pocahontas 

1899, Aug. Havelock 

1900, Aug.* Laurens 

1901, Aug.* Rolfe 

1902, Aug.* Fonda 

1903, Aug.* Pocahontas 
"Normal Training School. 



J. F. Clark 
J. F. Clark 


40 
43 


David Miller 


39 


David Miller 
O. 1. Strong 
O. I. Strong 
J, P. Robinson 
J. P. Robinson 
J. P. Robinson 


30 

36 
40 
40 
45 


J. P Pobinson 


50 


J. H Campbell 


50 


J H Campbell 


60 


J. H. Campbell 




J. H. Campbell 




F. C. Gilchrist 




F. C. Gilchrist 




Clel Gilchrist 




Clel Gilchrist 


193 


Clel Gilchrist 


193 


Clel Gilchrist 


176 


Clel Gilcbrist 


226 


Clel Gilchrist 


131 . 


A. W. Davis 


130 


A. W. Davis 


141 


U. S. Vance 


103 


U. S. Vance 


134 


U. S. Vance 


131 


J. S, Vance 


150 



Prof, and Mrs. Charles Ellison, 
Hamili and Bishop 
Prof. Hoy, of Hamp'on and Prof. 
Weuiworth, oi Chicago 
Abbie Giflord, A. Cahoun 
Erwin Baker 

Erwin Baker, R. A.Brownlee 
J. Weruli 

Rennett Bigsby, Laura Pfeiffer 
J. W. McCleilan, Mary L. Chap- 
man, Edna Blake 
Franfc E. Plummer, Mary L, Chap- 
man, Anna E. Brown 
J. Wernli, Alice L. Brenton, Anna 

E Brown 

D J Buck, Alice L Brenton, Anna 

E Brown 

J Brecfcenridge, Alice L. Brenton, 
Anna E. Brown 

J. Breckenridge, Alice L. Brenton, 

Anna E. Brown 

Anna E. McGovern A. W. Sargent, 

8. A. Emery, J. C. Gilchrist 

Anna E McGovern, A. W. Sargent, 

f. A. Emery, J. C. Gilchrist 

Geo. E. Reed, Nora, Kelley J. C. 

Gilchrist 

Geo. E. Reed, Mrs. M. D. Fry, J. C. 

Gilchrist 

D. K Bond, Mrs. A. E. Thomas, 

J. C. Gilchrist 

W. N. Hull, D. K. Bond, Mrs- A. E. 
Thomns 

J. C. Gilchrist, T. J. Loar, A. W. 

Davis, U S. Vance, Tillie Cramer 

J. O. Gilchrist, U. rt. Vance, A. T. 

Rutledge, A. W. Davis, D. K. Bond 

W. W. uavis, TJ. S. Vance, A. T. 

Rutledge. Cyrus Thompson 

W. W. Uavis, G E. Finch, A. T. 

Rutledge, Mary Young 

A W. Davis, G E. Finch, A. T. 

Rutledge. E. L. Grout 

A. E. Bennett, Fred L. Cassidy, A. 

T. Rutledge, E. L. Grout 

Adam Pickett, Fred L. Cassidy, A. 

T. Rutledge, Prank Jarvis 

C. J. Boyington, Fred L. Cassidy, 

W. H, Reever, Frank Jarvis 



850 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



chusetts, Maine and New York, it has 
been more beneficial to the children 
and more economical to the patrons 
than the old system. 

A County Teacher's. Library Asso- 
ciation was formed in 1899, during the 
term of Superintendent Davis. This 
association contributed $50, and, re- 
ceiving $50 presented to this county 
by Hon. Geo. W. Schee, of Primghar, 
on Nov. 25, 1899, established a County 
Teacher's Library, containing 125 
volumes. This library was divided 
into five sections and were located in 
different parts of the county as fol- 
lows: 

No. 1— Rolfe, care of A. T. Rut- 
ledge. 

No. 2— Laurens, care of E. L. 
Grout. 

No. 3— Pocahontas, care of W. B. 
Matson. 

No. 4— Palmer, care of Minnie Han- 
son. 

No. 5— Fonda, care of D. E. Barnes. 

The books in each section are pass- 
ed in rotation from one station to the 
other every six months, on the first 
day of January and July. They are 
for the exclusive use of the teachers, 
who become members of the associa- 
tion by the payment of fifty cents a 
year. They may be retained three 



weeks, but must be returned before 
the semi-annual rotation of the sec- 
tions. 

The Board of Supervisors on July 
18, 1900, decided to donate $50 a year 
for ten years towards the development 
of this library, in order to secure the 
proposed gift of the same amount for 
that period from Mr. Schee. This 
library, at the end of ten years, from 
these two sources, will have books 
costing in the aggregate $1,000. 

Our County Schools, a monthly pa- 
per, established by Superintendent A. 
W. Davis in July, 1898, is published 
by the superintendent as a means of 
communication between him and the 
directors and teachers on educational 
matters. 

The public school is the American 
method of solving the problems of 
human rights, individual liberty and 
popular government. Other countries 
have government, society and church 
schools; America alone has the peo- 
pled schools in which is attempted 
universal education— one of the great- 
est movements of the age. Our pub- 
lic schools, as a means of developing 
general intelligence, constitute the 
hope of the nation and merit the 
liberal support of every citizen. 



XXXI. 



e©DMTY ©RGnNIZRTIONS. 



"United we stand, divided we fall." 



bounty Medical Association. 



The physicians residing in different 
parts of this county assembled at Po- 
cahontas. Aug. 23, 1897, for the pur- 
pose of forming a county organization. 
There were present at this first meet- 
ing the following physicians- W. W. 
Beam, and Charles E. Leithead, of 
Rolfe; Drs. Charles R. Whitney and 
L. G. Patty, of Fonda; Dr. J. D. Wall- 
ace, of Plover, and Drs. O. H. Barthel 
and C. B. Lawrence, of Pocahontas. 
Dr. Whitney served as temporary 
chairman. 

The officers for the first year were 
chosen by ballot and as follows: Dr. 



W. W. Beam, president; Dr. C. R. 
Whitney, vice-president; Dr. O. H. 
Barthel, secretary; Dr. J. D. Wallace, 
treasurer. It was decided to call the 
organization, The Pocahontas District 
Medical Association. Drs J. D. 
Wallace. L. G. Patty and A. L. Belt 
were appointed a committee on or- 
ganization, constitution and by laws. 
It was decided to hold the next meet- 
ing at Pocahontas at 2:00 p. m., Sept. 
28th following; and Drs. Chas. E. 
Leithead and C. B. Lawrence were ap- 
pointed a committee to arrange the 
program. The secretary was author- 



(851) 



852 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ized to procure such books and sta- 
tionery as were necessary to keep the 
records of the association. Drs. Belt, 
Matson and McManus of G-ilmore 
City, Edgar of Fonda, Carroll and 
Higgins of Laurens, sent letters ex- 
pressing regrets that they could not 
attend this meeting. 

The object of this association was to 
promote the interests of the medical 
profession in this part of the state. 
Also to afford its members an oppor- 
tunity to become acquainted with 
each other, to compare notes and 
discuss matters relating to the work 
of their profession. As indicated by 
its name its territory was not confined 
to .Pocahontas county. 

At the second meeting, which was 
held in the County Auditor's office, 
Pocahoutas, Sept. 28, 1897, the follow- 
ing new members were enrolled: Drs. 
O. W. Wright of Pomeroy, A. L. Belt 
and W. F. Matson of Gilmore City, 
and F. E. Heathman of Havelock. 
At this meeting papers were read by 
Dr. A. L. Belt on "Diptheria," and 
T>r. Patty on the "Duties of one 
practitioner to another, "and President 
rJeam delivered an address on the 
wonderful progress made in the prac- 
tice of medicine and surgiry during 
the last few years. At the next meet- 
ing held Jan. 18, 1898, Dr C. R. Whit- 
ney presided, "Anaesthesia" was the 
subject of a general discussion, and 
Dr. O. "W. Wright read a paper on 
"Traumatic Surgery." 

Two subsequent meetings of this 
district association were held and the 
following physicians were added to its 
membership, viz: D. W. Edgar, Fon- 
da; J. M. Carroll and J. H. Hovenden, 
Laurens; E. W. Wilson. Rolfe; J. W. 



MacCreary, Pioneer; W. M. Shipley, 
Ottosen; and A. H. Thornton, Poca- 
hontas. In 1902, this association was 
practically disbanded when it was 
merged into the Fort Dodge District 
Medical Association. 

Aug. 25, 19i)3, the physicians of this 
county organized anew, as the Poca- 
hontas County Medical Society, ac- 
cording to the plan of the Iowa State 
Medical Society, to which it is subor- 
dinate. The object of this society is 
to attend to the business of the medi- 
cal profession in this county, as the 
representative of the Iowa State 
Medical Society, to bring into one or- 
ganization the physicians of the coun- 
ty, so that by frequent meetings, full 
and frank interchange of views, they 
may secure such intelligent unity and 
harmony, in every phase of their labor 
as will elevate and make effective the 
opinions of the profession on all scien- 
tific, legislative, public health, ma- 
terial and social affairs. The first 
officers of this society, chosen in 1903, 
were Dr. A. L. Belt, Gilmore City, 
president; Dr. J. W. Wallace, Plover, 
vice-president; Dr. E. W. Wilson, 
Rolfe, secretary and treasurer. The 
other members of this society in 1903, 
were Drs. W. W. Beam. Rolfe; F. W. 
McManus, Gilmore City; A. H. Thorn- 
ton, O. H. Barthel and J. W. Starr, 
Pocahontas; D. W. Edgar, C. R. Whit- 
ney and T. J. Dower, Fonda; J. M. 
Carroll, J. W. Higgins, and J. H. 
Hovenden, Laurens; F. E. Heathman, 
Havelock; B. A. Smillie, Palmer. 



bounty Bar Association. 



The attorneys of this county met at 
the court house March 10, 1903 and or- 
ganized the Pocahontas County Bar 
Association with the following mem- 
bers: F. C. Gilchrist and F. W. Paige, 
of Laurens; C. C. Delle, Higby, 

S. H. Kerr, Robert Bruce, Fred Sher- 
man and W. H. Wilcox, of Rolfe; A. 
W. Davis, F. H. Bond, Z. C. Brad- 



shaw, J. D. Wurtzbaugh, Frank A. 
Fairburn, and W. H. Healy, of Fonda; 
J. H. Allen, Wm. Hazlett, James 
Bruce, Geo. A. Heald, W C. Ralston, 
B. B. Foster, O D. Atkinson, T. F. 
Lynch and J. M. Berry, of Pocahontas. 
Hon. Fred C. Gilchrist was elected 
president and J. M. Berry secretary. 
Messrs B. B. Foster, F. H. Bond and 



COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS. 



853 



preparation of rules for its manage- 
ment. These committes will report 
at the next meetiog to be held during 
the session of the court in January, 
1904, when it is expected the organi- 
zation will be completed. 



A. W, Davis were appointed to pre- 
pare a code of rules and regulations 
for the government of the association. 
Messrs Wm. Hazlett, F. A. Fairburn 
and W. C. Ralston were appointed a 
committee to consider the feasibility 
of forming a common library and the 

(Bounty Druggist's Association. 

The druggists of this county met at Geo. W. Core, C. M. Webb, Joseph 

Rolfe, Dec. 31, 1897, and effected the Wiewel, H. W. Lohse, Rolfe. 

organization of a county association, J. B. Sheldon, Havelock. 

called the Pocahontas Pharmaceut- R. E. Hughes, C. G. Reed, J. W. 

ical League, by the election of the Higgins, M. D., J. M. Carroll, M, D., 

following officers: L. E. England, Laurens. 

Gilmore City, president; C. H. Beam, C.C.Patty, Fonda. 

Rolfe, secretary; R. E. Hughes, Lau- Geo. W. Day, Plover. 

rens, treasurer. The membership in- S. C. Jones, Pocahontas, 

eluded the following druggists: The next and last meeting was held 

L. E. England, F. L. Colgan, C. H. at Pocahontas, Jao. 25 
Beam, Gilmore City. 

(Bounty Press Association. 



The editors of the newspapers es- 
tablished in this county met in the 
Record office at Pocahontas, Nov. 24, 
1902, and effected the organization of 
the Pocahontas County Newspaper 
Association by the election of the 
following officers: L W. Chandler, 
Fonda, president; W. S. Clark, Poca- 
hontas, vice-president; D. O. B'ake, 
Pocahontas, secretary; and A. R. 
Thornton, Rolfe, treasurer. The 
objects of this association are to af- 
ford an opportunity for better ac- 
quaintance on their part, and, by the 
friendly discussion of matters that 
are of common interest, to secure the 
best system in the management of 
their respective establishments. At 
a meeting held in January 1903, the 
temporary organization was made 
permanent. 

The newspapers, their date of es- 
tablishment, editors and proprietors, 
that were in this county at the time 
this association was organized were as 
follows: 

The Fonda Times, (1876), the Fon- 
da Publishing & Printing Co., pro- 



prietors since Jan. 10, 1901; L. W. 
Chandler, editor. 

The Pocahontas Record, (1884), 
by D. O. Blake. 

The Pocahontas Sun, (1885), by R. 
C. Garver;U. S. Vance since Dec. 1903. 

The Rolfe Reveille, (1888), by A. 
R. & Lottie Thornton. (By J. H. 
Lighter since Aug. 13, J903.) 

The Gilmore City Globe, (1892), 
by H. C. Marmon. 

The Havelock Item, (1893), by 
Frank Jarvis, and by G. E. & F. S. 
McCaffree in 1903. 

The Rolfe twice a week Tri- 
bune, (1898-1903), by J. H. Lighter, 
(merged in Rolfe Reveille, Aug. 10, 
1903. ) 

Thf- Pocahontas Herald, (1899), 
by A. L. Shultz. 

The Plover Review, (1900), by G. 
H. Liddell. 

The Pocahontas Democrat, (1901) 
the Pocahontas Publishing Co., pro- 
prietors; W. S Clark, editor. 

The Palmer Press, (1903), by L. O. 
Hull. 

Our County Schools, a monthly pa- 



854 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



per published bv the county superin- 
tendent, is printed at Charles City. 

The newspaper press has become 
one of the seven wonders of the mod- 
ern world. As a controlling factor in 
society it exerts an influence like that 
of the parent, teacher and pastor. In 
one view the newspaper reflects the 
character of its editor, revealing his 
thoughts, feelings and views on public 
questions; but in another sense it is a 
combination of labor, money, intelli- 
gence and principles, and has distinct 
objects before it. It is worthy of 
note that those who conduct them are 
learning the dignity of their calling 
and are making strenuous efforts to 
place their papers where they belong 
— among the best agencies that are 
helping to develop a Christian civil- 
ization. 

The wide awake, local paper carries 
to the family circle information con- 
cerning local affairs that is of interest 
to every citizen in that locality. Its 
record of progress is an aid to popular 
education and an incitement to fur- 
ther enterprise tuo valuable to be 
lightly esteemed. It publishes the 
local news with a fullness of detail 
that invests it with an interest un- 
known to the average daily, while its 
brief paragraphs, acid breezy columns 
of personals have a charm peculiarly 
their own. So long as sociability, 
curiosity and sympathy distinguish 
human character it will continue to 
hold its oldtime place in the esteem 
of the community, while it serves as a 



faithful chronicler of passing events. 
One of the treasures of our daily life, 
like the water we so freely drink and 
the pure life giving air, 
"Is the newspaper, with its welcome 
message 

To matured age and youth, 
With pure bright thoughts from 
many minds, 

And many a pleasant truth, 
Breaking like a ray of sunshine, 

And almost magic charm, 
The monotony of the farm." 
Such is the nature of the tie that is 
developed between the good-natured 
and long-time editor and his readers, 
that he thrives with their prosperity, 
rejoices in their mirth and sympa- 
thizes in their sorrow. 

All the newspapers in this commu- 
nity, except the Fonda Times, have 
been established during the last two 
decades and they have been greatly 
improved during the last ten years by 
r;he use of improved presses and other 
printing utilities. When.it is mani- 
fest that the local paper is putting 
forth an honest and efficient endeavor 
to promote the best interests of the 
community, as an executor and pro- 
moter of good morals, every citizen of 
that locality should naturally feel 
that he has a certain degree of inter- 
est in its prosperity, and do a!l he can 
to sustain it and increase its useful- 
ness; for increased support always 
means enlargement of facilities and 
corresponding improvement of the pa- 
per. 



(Bounty Sunday School Association. 



The first Sunday school in Pocahon- 
tas county was organized at old Rolfe 
in 1864, and Rev. Fred E. Metcalf, a 
missionary of the M. E. church, was 
superintendent of it the first two 
years. John Fraser had charge of it 
the next two years and then in 1868, 
organizing the second one in the coun- 
ty in the Strong school house (sec. 23) 
in Powhatan township, served as its 



superintendent eighteen successive 
years. Other Sunday schools that 
were organized during the seventies 
were the M. E. at Fonda, Coopertown, 
and in Grant township, and the union 
school in the Heathmau neighborhood 
north of Plover. 

The first Sunday school convention 
of which any record has been preserv- 
ed was held at old Rolfe on Saturday 



COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS. 



855 



Bod Sunday, May 26-27, 1877. It was 
called a county convention. The local 
workers were Rev. Wm. McCready, 
John Fraser, A. II. Lorimer and J. J. 
Jolliffe; and the teachers were J. O 
Miller of Nevada, J. A. Marion of 
Humboldt, and N. A. Price. A basket 
dinner was enjoyed by the visitors and 
workers on the Sabbath. 

On July 26th of the same year the 
Sunday schools of Pocahontas and 
Humboldt counties held a union cele. 



nately. In those days the devout 
pioneers, having a teeming soil be- 
neath their feet and a smiling heaven 
over head, when the Sabbath came, 
gathered in the wood, and lifted up 
their hearts in prayer to God,the giver 
of all good. 

"Their temples then were earth and 
sky, 

None others did they know, 
In the days when they were pioneers, 

Thirty years ago. " 




REV. C. W. CLIFTON. 



bration or basket picnic in the grove 
of James Struthers near McNight's 
Point in Wacousta township, Hum- 
boldt county. 

During the summer of 1880, services 
consisting of Sunday echool at 10 
o'clock a. m., followed by preaching, 
were regularly held in the grove of 
Mr. John Wilkinson on the old David 
Slosson farm, sec. 26, Des Moines 
township. The services were con- 
ducted«by Rev. Thomas Cuthbert and 
B©Vj Li Q. Gray, who preached aH©r- 



On Aug. 16, 1880, Rey. C. W. Clifton 
county secretary, issued a call for an 
all day Sunday school convention and 
picnic to be held in the grove of A. H. 
Hancher on sec. 24, Powhatan town- 
ship, for the purpose of organizing a 
County Sunday School Association, 
auxiliary to the Iowa State Associa- 
tion. Announcement was made that 
several Sunday school workers from 
abroad would be present, and every 
Sunday school in the county was re- 
quested to report its same, denomi" 



856 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



nation and membership, and to send Fraser served as president, Mrs^ 
one or more delegates. Wm. L. Fraser Sewell VanAlstine as secretary and 
was to have a fruit and confectionery treasurer, and Wm. C. Kennedy as 



stand for the purpose of raising some 
funds to liquidate the debt and cost of 
painting the M. E. parsonage at old 
R'.lfe. 

At the meeting held in response to 
this call, John Fraser presided and 
addresses were delivered by Mr. Clif- 



chairman of the committee of ar- 
rangements. The principal partici- 
pants in addition to those already; 
named were Rev. C. M. Wood, J.J.- 
Bruce, E. D. Seeley, John Barnes, and * 
J. S. Hatton. J. J. Bruce, E. D. Seeley ' 
and B. M. Fessenden were appointed ' 



ton and Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Lorbeer,of delegates to the State S. S. Conven- 
Humboldt. The day was unfavorable tion at Marshalltown. Inasmuch as 
and only a few persons were present, the south and west parts of the coun- 
Oct. 28, 1880, John Fraser, president ty had not been represented ei'ther at 
for Pocahontas county, issued a call this or precedingconventions it wm 
to pastors, Sunday school superintend- decided to hold the next mee£irag.a& 
ents and teachers in the county, to Fonda. 



attend the second annual Sunday 
school convention of the Ninth Dis- 
trict Sunday School Association at 
Humboldt, Nov. 11, 1880. 

The meeting at which the Pocahon- 
tas County Sunday School Associa- 
tion was organized was held in the 
court house at Pocahontas in Septem- 
ber, 1881. The Iowa State Sunday 
School Association was represented 



Mr. W. C. Kennedy, president ki* 
1903, has contributed greatly to tSe ! 
maintenance and efficiency of this or- 
ganization. Locating in Cliuton, now 
Garfield, township in 1881, he has at- 
tended and participated in every one 
of the twenty-three annual meetings 
that have been held since the time of 
its organization in September that 
year. He was then elected vice-presi- 



by Mrs. C. A. Lorbeer, of Humboldt,a dent, and later, as its president, has 



district secretary. The county organi- 
zation was effected by the election of 
the following officers: John Fraser, 
president; Wm. C. Kennedy, vice- 
president; Mrs. Sewell VanAlstine, 
secretary and treasurer. Others who 
were present and participated in the 
convention were James J. Bruce, J. S. 
Hatton, Mrs. Fraser, Mrs. Kennedy, 
Mrs. W. G-. Bradley, Mr. and Mrs. E. 
M. Hastings, Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Say- 
lor. There were then only eight Sun- 
day schools in the county, the new 
ones being those at Pocahontas and 
in the Pilot Creek district in Clinton 
township. 
The second county convention was 



presided at thirteen of the annual 
conventions. 

Mr. J. H. Parks, of Pocahontas, has 
manifested a similar devotion and in- 
terest in the Sunday school work. 
Though occasionally changing his 
residence he has been a Sunday school 
superintendent almost continuously 
since the Civil war and in 1903, was 
made a member of the executive com- 
mittee of the Iowa State Sunday 
School Association. 

Every Sunday school in the county 
is expected to contribute annually 
two cents a member to the county 
association, and the latter is now con- 



held in the court house at Pocahontas tributing twenty-five dollars annually 



June 10, 1882, by the same officers. 

The third county convention, the 
first one held in the new town of 
Rolfe, met in Bruce's hall Saturday 
and Sunday, May 26-27tb, 1883. John 



to the State Association. In 1903, 
there were reported in this ccunty 40 
Sunday schools having an enrollment 
of 2,300 members. The county associ- 
ation is now organizing for another 



COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS. 



857 



house to house visitation throughout 
the county during September, 1904.* 

The object of this association is to 
disseminate and promote religious in- 
formation among Sabbath school 
workers. Its membership consists of 
the officers, delegates from township 
organizations and all Sunday school 
workers who are present and enrolled. 

The Iowa State Sunday School As- 
sociation, under which this county 
has been organized, is an interdenom- 
inational organization that endeavors 
to bring every Sunday school in the 
state to greater efficiency and into 
helpful contact with every person. It 
is one of a series of State, Provincial 
and Territorial organizations, that 
forms the International Sunday 
School Association and maintains the 
International Series of Sunday School 
Lessons. It was organized in 1864. 
Its methods of work include the or- 



ganization of counties and townships 
for the purpose of holding an annual 
convention, to promote house to house 
visitation, the establishment of home 
and normal departments in each Sun- 
day school, primary unions in cities 
and the publication of a state paper. 
It aims to awaken a deeper interest 
in Bible study and to bring denomi- 
national workers into closer contact 
and harmony, believing that in the 
interdenominational co-operation of 
persistent christians lies the salva- 
tion of this country. 

The first Sunday school in the world 
was established by Robert Raikes in 
Gloucester, England, in February, 
1781. The first one in London was 
established Sept. 7, 1785. The first 
one in the United States was started 
in Virginia in 1786; the first one in 
Philadelphia, by Bishop White, in 
1791; the first one in New York in the 



bounty Sunday School Conventions. 

The date, place of meeting, succession of officers and special lecturers 

present, appear in the following exhibit: 

Date Place Church Pastor President Sec & Lecturers 

Treas 

John Fraser Mrs. S. Van Alstine 

Mrs. C. A. Liorbeer 



Pocahontas Court House 



1881 Sept 

1882 June 10 Pocahontas 
18<3 May 26-7 Rolfe * Bruce's Hall A. W. Richards " " Rev. C. M. Wood 
1881 May 28-9 Fonda M. E. ch. C. B Winter W, O, Kennedy " Rev. G, Groat 
1885 May Pocahontas Court House H. W. Hoy 



1886 June 7-8 

1887 May 24-5 Rolfe M. E. ch 

1888 June 5-6 Fonda Pres ch 

1889 May 21-22 Rolle " 

1890 June 7-8 LaurPns M. E. ch 

1891 May 19-20 Fonda M. E. ch 

1892 Oct. 11-12 Pocahontas Bapt'st 

1893 Oct. 11-12 Plover M. E. & Pres ch M. X. Rainier 



John A. Kees Fred Swingle 
Chas.Artman B.M.Fossend«n 

Mrs Nellie Swingle 
R. E. Fllckinger C.W.Clifton Becoa Pfeiffer 

Hon. B. F. Wright 
Geo. H. Duty Wm. C. Kennedy 

R. E. Flickinger 
R. Burnip " 

W. H. Fliut 



John A. Kees 



1891 Oct. 24-5 
1895 Oct. 22-3 



Hivelock 
Rolfe 



M. E. ch 
M. E. ch 



C M. Phoenix 
T. E. Carter 



Christ'n ch C. R. Neel 

M. E. ch C. M, Phoenix 



Mattie M. Bailey 

" Mrs. W. C. Ralston 

Capt. Brown 
,v " Mattie M. Bailey 

" Sylvester Smith 

Rev. C. W. Sweet 
C. C. Wallace 
O. M. Murphy 

Rev. R. L. Marsh 
Pres ch R, E. Flickinger Sylvester Smith Mrs W. C. Ralston 

Rev. f\ S. Thompson 
C. C. Wallace 
1899 Sept. 25-6 Pocahontas Christ'n ch S. T. Grove O. M. Murphy Erne Mercer 

Miss Mary Barnes 
1900;Aug 21-2 Plover Pres ch Z.W.Steele Sylvester Smith O . M. Murphy 

Rev. C. W. Sweet 

1901 Aug 25-6 Rolfe M. E. ch O. S. Bryan W. C. Kennedy Mrs. G. R. Kreul 

Mrs. Mary Mitchell 

1902 Aug 19-20 Gilmore Cy Presch F. E. Hoyt " " " 
190} feept. 3-2 Pocahontas M. E. ch C. E. Van Horn " MiSs Inez Byerly 

B, F. Mitchell 



1896 Oct. IS -14 Laurens 

1897 Aug. 24-5 HavelocK 



Sept. 8-9 Fonda 



858 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



autumn of 1803. The first one in the 
Mississippi valley was organized by 
.Mrs. Margaretta Brown in 1818, in 
connection with the Presbyterian 
Church in Frankfort, Ky. A Bible 



dictionary could not then be found in 
any of tne cities of the west, and she 
prepared and published at her own 
expense a little concordance for the 
use of her school. 



County Temperance Alliance. 



In accordance with the recommen- 
dation of the Iowa State Temperance 
Convention, held in Des Moines, Feb. 
6--7, 1888, that the friends of temper- 
ance proceed to perfect a more thor- 
ough organization in all parts of the 
state, a call was issued by the pastors 
of the churches and the representa- 
tives of the three temperance organ- 
izations at Fonda, and a convention 
was held in the Presbyterian church, 
Fonda, June 7, 1888, on the day fol- 
lowing the 8th annual meeting of the 
county Sunday school convention. J. 
J. Bruce, vice-president of the State 
Alliance for this Congressional Dis- 
trict, acted as chairjuan and gave a 
history of the previous temperance 
work id this county. Reports of tem- 
perance organizations and their work 
were made by Mrs. Geo. Sanborn, Mrs. 
N. M. Perry and Anna Brown. Ad- 
dresses were delivered by Hon. S. H. 
Taft, of Humboldt, Revs. G. H. Duty 
and F. M. Quinn, of Rolfe; Rev. G. H. 
Hastings, Godfrey Pfeiffer, Geo San- 
born and others; and a permanent 
organization was effected by the elec- 
tion of J. J.Bruce, president; John 
Fraser, W. C. Kennedy, and A. F, 
Hubbell, vice-presidents; and Rev. R. 
E. Flickinger, secretary and treasur- 
er. 

The following resolutions were 
adopted: 

That we demand from our local 
nominating conventions the placing 
of sober men in nomination, and that 
under no circumstances will we vote 
for an habitual drinker, or one who 
furnishes intoxicating liquors for. 
others to drink, or advocates their 
use. 

II. That wa demand from our local 
public servants the faithful enforce- 



ment of all laws, including those pro- 
hibiting the liquor trafic. Having 
tried moral suasion and found it inef- 
fectual, we believe the duty of the 
hour is the immediate enforcement 
of the laws of the state against the 
lawless liquor power, wherever that 
power may be entrenched. 

On July 21, 1888, the Powhatan 
Township Alliance was organized at a 
meeting held in Plover, by ths elec- 
tion of John Fraser, president; James 
Henderson, vice-president; P. G Hess, 
secretary, and Mrs. J. Strouzel, treas- 
urer. 

The second annual temperance con- 
vention was held at Rolfe, May 22, 
1889, in connection with the county 
S. S. convention, and special address- 
es were delivered by Hon. B. F. 
Wright of Charles City, Hon. Geo. L. 
Dobscn of Newell, and Rev. John 
Hamerson of Fonda. Rev. M. W. At- 
wood of Rolfe was elected president 
and the secretary was continued. 

At a meeting of the executive com- 
mittee held at Rolfe, Dec. 9, 1889, $35 
were pledged to the state enforce- 
ment fund. Another meeting of the 
executive committee was held at 
Rolfe Feb. 26, 1890. Rev. Charles Art- 
man was elected president and dele- 
gates were chosen to attend the state 
convention. No county convention 
was held that year owing to the ab- 
sence of the secretary from the coun- 
ty at the time for holding it. The 
same cause prevented the meeting 
announced to be held in the M. E. 
church, Fonda, May 20, 1891. 

The work of the Alliance, for sever- 
al years after that date, was carried 
on by the members of the executive 
committee, the secretary of which, at 
the state convention, held in Des 



COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS. 



869 



Moines, February, 1890, was elected a 
director of the Iowa State Temper- 
ance Alliance and urged to endeavor 
to close all the saloons in the sixteen 
counties of this Tenth Congressional 
district. During the next eighteen 
months six hundred and seventy-five 
dollars were solicited, the evidence 
was secured, and injunctions, or, tines 
and penalties for contempt of court, 
were obtained in 59 of 60 cases, insti- 
tuted in the courts of Carroll, Greene, 
Humboldt, Palo Alto, Pocahontas and 
Webster counties. This campaign 
was begun at Carroll, where fourteen 
cases were instituted, and it was 
rendered useless in that and Webster 
counties by the attitude of the Gov- 
ernor of Iowa (Boies), who remitted 
the tines and penalties as soon as re- 
quested and as fast as they were im- 
posed by the courts. 

After the enactment of the mulct 
law in 1894, two consent petitions 
were filed in this county for the es- 
tablishment of saloons at Fonda. 
The canvass for the first one was 
made in September, 1894, and after 
this petition was filed, three saloons, 
two at Fonda and one at Gilmore 
City, were opened. The law did not 
then specify who should examine and 
approve the petition. J. J. Bruce, 
chairman of the board of supervisors, 
made an examination, found it lack- 
ed the required number of signatures, 
and on application to Judge Thomas, 
injunctions were granted against two 
of them on July 30, 1896, and on the 
other one in September following. 

The second consent petition, which 
was circulated in November following 
(1896), was signed by a sufficient num- 
ber of voters and received the approv- 
al of the supervisors. Two saloons 
were immediately establised at Fonda, 
and one in Gilmore City; and when in 
1899, the new towns of Palmer and 
Varina were located, a saloon was 
opened in each of them. 

To prevent the successful issue of 



this second canvass of this county, a 
union mass meeting was held under 
the auspices of the local Alliance in 
the Presbyterian church, Fonda, Sab- 
bath evening, Oct. 11, 1896, when 
the principal addresses were delivered 
and special songs were sung by five of 
the leadiDg business men, of Sac City; 
who among others stated the fact that 
County Auditor Peck had found that 
the costs of criminal prosecutions in 
Sac county during the last year under 
license, ending. Sept. 30, 1886, were 
$3,263.70; and during the next year 
the first one under prohibition, they 
were only $1,750.51, or a saving in one 
year in this one item of $1,513.19. 
Resolutions setting forth Fonda's 
previous unsatisfactory experience 
with the saloon and asking all voters 
in the coanty to refrain from signing 
the consent petition, were adopted, 
published in the county papers and 
circulated in leaflet form by pastors 
of the churches;.* 

The saloon was more persistent in 
appearing and reappearing at Fonda 
than elsewhere in the county, and this 
fact caused that place to be the storm- 
center of the field-operations of the 
County Alliance. Its work was made 
effective in the "early days," before 
Wm. Hazlett became the county at- 
torney in 1897, through J. J. Bruce, 
Esq., its attorney. The results 
achieved by him were as follows: In 
1888, two saloons were searched and 
the keepers were fined in a justice's 
court and afterwards enjoined. In 
1890, a lot of gamblers were routed 
from the fair ground, two places were 
closed and four barrels of beer were 
destroyed. In April, 1895, indictments 
were found against more than a half 
dozen persons in different parts of the 
county. In July, 1896, the consent 
petition in the auditor's office, having 
been examined was proven insufficient 
and injunctions were obtained against 



* Page 329. 



860 PIONEER HISTORY OF:POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



three saloons, all that were then in 
the county. 

During the years the consent peti- 
tion of 1896, was in force, the friends 
of temperance, though constituting a 
majority of the people of the county, 
were powerless to overthrow it, and 
the citizens in the townships, where 
the new towns were established, were 
powerless, either to prevent saloons 
from operating, or to close them. 
Fortunately the supreme court of 
Iowa, on Jan. 29, 1900, in the case of 
Lorenz 111, Polk county, decided that 
when the new code went into effect, 
Oct. 1, 1897, it rendered insufficient 
all consent petitions filed previous to 
that date. This included the one in 
Pocahontas county and the county 
attorney, a few days later, notified 
all the saloons of the county of that 
fact. On March 28th, following, 
permanent injunctions were issued 
by Judge Helsell against all of the 
five saloons, that had been operating 
under the petition of 1896. Temper- 
ance saloons were subsequently start- 
ed in most of the places that had been 
enjoined; but where evidence of the 
fact that the old keepers were at the 
"old business," was placed in the 
hands of the county attorney, they 
were easily and speedily closed. 

The local temperance Alliance at 
Fonda, in February, 1900, or as soon 
as the consent petition in this county 
was declared insufficient by the su- 
preme court, was reorganized as an 
Anti-saloon League, and began its 
campaign throughout the county to 
prevent the re-establishment of the 
saloon in it. Anti-salcon meetings* 
were held in all the towns of the 
county, and a five year anti-saloon 
pledge was circulated and signed by 
voters in nearly every township. 
Pastors of churches and the public 
press of the county co-operated with 
the League, and as a result the effort 
to secure a consent petition in Novem- 
ber, 1900, was a dismal failure. 



The fact was noted in The Fonda 
Times of Nov. 12, 1903, that the vote 
of 1901, which was only 2,212, had in- 
creased to 3,092 in 1903, which indi- 
cated an increase of 760 citizens in the 
county in two years, a remarkable 
growth, and an increase in the popu- 
lation during the same time of 3,950 
persons. It would be difficult to find 
a better reason for letting "well 
enough alone," and for keeping Poca- 
hontas county on the high road to 
future and long-continued prosperity. 

It is also worthy of note, that they 
were the facts above stated in regard 
to the experience of the friends of 
temperance in Pocahontas county, 
before and after their deliverance 
from the galling and unbreakable 
yoke of a consent petition, by the su- 
preme court decision in 1900, that 
suggested the propriety and reasona- 
bleness of the Time Limit Movement, 
which has for its object the enact- 
ment of an amendment to the Mulct 
law, so that all consent petitions 
shall expire at the end of a reasonable 
time, three or five years; and thus af- 
ford the citizens in all the Mulct 
counties an option, or opportunity, to 
dispense with the saloons, whenever 
a majority of them desire to do so. In 
other words, it is merely a request 
that the legislature, as a matter of 
justice to the good people in the 
Mulct counties, repeat in 1904, what 
it did with such good results, by a 



* The union meetings included 
those addressed by Mr. Flickinger in 
Fonda, Varina, Laurens and Plover; 
those addressed by the local pastors 
at Havelock, the Rolfe opera house 
and the Swede churches in Colfax 
township; and those addressed by 
Rev. H. H. Abrams at Gilmore City, 
Pocahontas and Fonda. Other meet- 
ings arranged and hand-billed by the 
secretary for Mr. Abrams in this 
vicinity at that time were those at 
Pomeroy, where he addressed the 
Presbytery of Fort Dodge, at Manson, 
Jolley and Rockwell City. 



COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS. 



861 



slight amendment of the Mulct law 
in 1897. 

The question of prohibiting the 
sale of intoxicating liquois as a bever- 
age has been iwice submitted to the 
people of this county— Oct. 11, 1870, 
(P. 302), and June 27, 1882 -and on 
both occasions a large majority of 
the voters were in favor of prohibit- 
ing their sale. In 1870, prohibition 
was adopted as the policy of this 
county by a vote of 123 to 25, and in 
1882, the prohibitory amendment was 
carried by a vote of 407 to 246. 

Josh Billings never uttered a truer 
sentiment than when he said 
"Whiskey is a good thing in its place, 
but hell is the place for it " Robert 
G. Ingersoll, just as truly said, "The 



saloon is the sum of all villainies, 
the father of all crime, the mother of 
all abominations, the devil's best 
friend and God's worst enemy." 

"He that any good would win, 
At his mouth must first begin." 

The benefits attending the practice 
of total abstinence and of practical 
prohibition have raised the general 
standard of public opinion regarding 
the liquor traffic; so that in those 
states where the saloon does exist, pub- 
lic sentiment is demanding a higher 
license and more stringent regula- 
tions, while the rising spirit of com- 
mercialism now demands that only 
total abstainers be employed in all 
the important industries of the land. 




PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, FONDA. 



APPENDIX. 



Public Officers,— Supplemental List. 



SUCCESSION OF SUPERVISORS. 
(SEE PAGE 202) 

1900. Terrence Doyle, Lincoln, 
chairman; Claus Johnson, Des Moines; 
A. H. Richey, Marshall; M. A. Hogau, 
Dover; C. B. Elsen, Lake 

1901. Terrence Doyle, Lincoln, 
chairman; Robert Hunter. Clinton; 
A. H. Richey, Marshall; S. W. Mc- 
Kinney, Colfax; fJ. R Elsen. Lake. 

1902 C B. Elsen, Lake, chairman; 
Robert Hunter, Clin' on; A. H. Richey, 
Marshall; S W. McKinney, Colfax; 
Josenh Mikesh. Center. 

1903. A. H Richev, Marshall, fhair- 
man: Ro'oert Hunter. Clinton; S W. 
McKinney, Colfax; Henry Weber, 
Lake; Joseph Mikesh, Cpnter. 

1904 A. H Richey, Marshall, chair- 
man; Joseph Mikesh, Center; Henry 
Weber, Lake, Frank White, Colfax; 
B C. Burlolfson, Clinton. 

UNITED STATES SENATORS. 

Jonathan V. Dolliver, since 1900; 
William B. Allison. 



REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 

J. P. Dolliver, Fort Dodge. 1889- 
1900; J. P. Conner; Denison, 1900-1904. 

CENSUS ENUMERATORS IN 1900. 

The census of 1900 was taken by the 
following enumerators: 

Bellville township, Anthony Larson. 

Cedar, including Fonda, Geo. B. 
Sanborn. 

Lincoln and Center, including Poca- 
hontas, Frank M. Starr 

Clinton, (92-31) including Rolfe and 
partof GilmnreCity. Fred A Malcolm. 

Colfax and Grant, John A. Crummer. 

Dover and Marshall, Benjamin 
Worley 

L*zard and Lake, including part of 
Gi'more City, John E. McBride. 

Des Moines and Powhatan, includ- 
ing Plover, Alex. McEwen. 

Swan Lake, including Laurens, 
Roderick McCombs. 

Sherman and Washington, includ- 
ing Havelock, Horace E. Buck. 



Representatives in the General Assembly of 

Iowa. 

SENATORS REPRESENTATIVES 

G A. Pist. Name County Hist. Name County 

1900 28th 50th Parley Pinch Humboldt 76th John B Kent Pocahontas 

1902 29th 50th EK Winnie " " Fred O GilohMst 

1904 30th 50th E K Winn'e " '• Montague Hakes 

©ounty Officers. 

SEE PAGE 212. 



1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 



Auditor 
I C Thatcher 
1 C Thatcher 

Geo W Day 



Clerk of Court 
FH Plumb 
FH Plumb 

Percy M Beers 



Treasurer 
G S Robinson 



G S Robinsoa 
G S Robinson 



Gounty Officers Continued. 



Sheriff 
1900 W L Mitchell 
1901 

1902 W L Mitchell 
1903 
1904 J J Kelleher 



Superintendent Surveyor Coroner 

U S Vance H W Bissell 



U S Vance 
U S Vance 



H W Bissell 
H W Bissell 



A H Thornton 
A H Thornton 



(862) 



Recorder 
LE Hanson 
L E Hanson 

O E Christeson 



Attorney 
Wm Hazlett 
Wm Hazlett 

Geo A Heald 



APPENDIX. 



863 



Spanish War Volunteers. 

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIST ON PAGE 508. 



LAURENS. 

Joseph H. Allen, Esq, Co. F. 49th Iowa. 

Victor A. Sniggs, U. S. Navy. 

Fritz Lindeman, Co. F. " " " 

Charles A. Homer, Co. F. " " 

S. A. Carlson. Co. F. " " 

Herman Waddell, Co F. " " 

Peter Winter, Co. F. " " 

C. H. Dennis, Co. F. " " 

POCAHONTAS. 

Wm. D. Wallace, Co. F. " " 
Fred Bollard, Co. F. " " 

Charles Montgomery, Co. F. " " 

Ten of the above named left for 
Cedar Rapids June 19, 1898, where 
they were mustered in. They tnen 
passed to Camp Cuba Libre at Jack- 
sonville, Florida, where they joined 
Co. F. (Tipton) of the 49th Iowa. This 
regiment was mustered June 2, 1898, 
at camp McKinley, Des Moines, went 
to Jacksonville, June 11th. ana to 
Cuba, Dec 19. 1898 It participated 
in the scenes attending the evacuation 
of Havana and was mustered out at 
Savannah, Georgia, April 9, 1899. It 
was under the command of Col. Wm. 
G. Dows, and Co. F. was commanded 
by Capt. Louis J. Powell. 

Victor A. Sniggs entered the navy 
as an assistant engineer; Charles 
Montgomery re-enlisted in the regular 



army June 29, 1899; and Oscar Dilocker 
of Laurens, who went with them, did 
not pass the examination on account 
of being too light in weight. 

Dr. A. E. Carney of Pocahontas, 
served two years, 1898-1900, as a sur- 
geon in the U. S. army in the Philip- 
pines, 

HAVELOCK. 

James P. Winne, Co. F. 49th Iowa. 

Roy C. Converse, Co. M, 52d Iowa, 
who died of typhoid fever at Chick- 
amaugaAug. 8, 1898; and his twin 
brother, who was also a member of 
Co. F. 49th Iowa. 

PLOVER. 

John M Barnes. 
William Henderson. 

The l^ter entered the U. S. navy 
and served under Admiral Dewey at 
Manilla. 

FONDA. 

Patrick H. f^rroU, Co. K. 1st S. D. 

Michael J Mullen, who became one of 
Col. Roosevelt's Rough Riders at 
Fort Meade, Texas, May 10, 1898. 
Edward Taylor and Peter Murphy 

served three years, 1894 97, in the 1st 

U. S. Cavalry, stationed at F ort 

Huachaca, Arizona. 



864 



APPENDIX, 



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to looifiooirsoozo'': 

o o o O O — -1 CO I- 

CO CO <M — i <M CO" 1 

rH i—( i— i os tncoo 







OC & 



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O Sh 

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5 e - lis 

COS a & 
-4— -t-(.^li=tf 



Material Growth,— R Bird's Eye View, 

Of the material development of Pocahontas county, as far as the facts could be obtained 
from the various census reports, from the period of its early settlement;— 1860 to ] 





1860 i 


1865 


1870 


1875 


1880 


1885 


1890 


low uu itrm 
1895 


J 900 

15339 

12716 


Population 
Native born 


103 


215 


1416 


2249 


3713 

2698 


6152 

4587 


9.553 
7392 


12442 
9954 


Foreign " 










1015 


1565 


2161 


2488 


2623 
26 6 


Persons to sq mile 


.2 


.4 


2.5 


3.9 


6.4 


70.7 


16.6 


21 6 


Families 


30 


32 


137 


485 


682 


1109 


1850 


2508 


2983 


Dwellings 
Farms, No of 


30 
30 


32 


326 
221 


485 


64!* 
753 


1186 
915 


1816 
1437 


2466 
1738 


2946 

2005 


" average size 










107 


161 


173 


178 


182 
898 
621 
246 


" occupied by owner 








626 


717 




1200 


" " cash tenant 








36 


46 




330 


" " share tenant 








93 


133 




199 


" " manager 












19 




9 


17 
344243 


" acresimproved 139 




7078 


21928 


40592 


71561 


149822 


216550 


" unimproved 










39688 


75754 




93606 


21212 


Value of farms 
" buildings 


82700 




330930 




82S725 


3366532 


2711867 


8104334 


11338 10 

2206670 

5898S0 


41 implements 


170 


2915 


29405 




87117 








Live stock, value of 


2000 




99312 




532976 






877061 


2633035 


" " sold 












174783 




235000 


1008827 


Horses 


4 


73 


374 


1120 


2284 


3658 


7835 


10416 


13012 


Mules 










116 


169 


347 


282 


457 


Oxen 


60 




100 




25 


8 


33 






Cows 


28 


152 


596 


1483 


4707 


6278 


12688 


9154 


1938 


Other cattle 


270 


358 


1280 


3445 


10466 


11717 


28199 


18762 


24305 


Pure bred 












120 


' 223 


444 


923 


Hogs 


38 


200 


292 


2608 


16739 


17984 


53354 


45328 


78705 


Sheep 




2 


7 


30 


629 


842 


1556 


1806 


4315 


Wool, lbs of 
Goats 




8 


30 


125 


3840 


4793 


9066 


10448 


38720 
142 


Chickens 












38899 


101796 


143757 


190238 


Pure bred 












1895 




14470 




Turkeys 














6418 


12149 


9705 


Other fowls 












3945 


5880 


3617 


9578 


Eggs, dozens 












103281 


443580 


424174 


892330 


Poultry and eg?s sold 












$ 11767 




44761 


56833 


Bees, stands of 






10 






20 




670 


584 


Honey, lbs 






200 






470 


3702 


3400 


11050 


Butter, lbs 


1350 


9672 


39265 


86172 


305051 


381444 


817996 


717984 


1103637 


Cheese " 


1000 


929 


1750 


7872 


3329 


1906 


3360 


460 


5709 


Creameries 












1 


3 


7 


(11) 7 


Butter 












1000 


249932 


810904 


626075 


Cheese factory 
















1 




Cheese made, lbs 










^> 






3000 




Dairy products 












874503 






220744 


Farm " 






4993 


112666 


259573 


421353 




1177534 


2376889 


Wheat, acres 




80 


1600 


7434 


3913 


4613 


1737 


2718 


14919 


" bushels 


50 


1000 


18413 


30774 


40383 


58769 


30556 


37652 


175070 


Corn, acres 




266 


483 


8981 


20390 


30300 


57529 


93401 


102979 


" bushels 


1280 


7740 


32860 


229263 


686602 


889176 


131955 


1610116 


3637130 


Oats, acres 




37 


500 


2541 


4765 


14898 


29646 


44614 


6 , ;094 


•' bushels 




602 


11015 


40194 


154023 


482122 1198723 


1061933 


2539810 


Bye, acres 








58 1 


325 


951 


287 


413 


480 


" bushels 








647 


5135 


9750 


5752 


4812 


6908 


Buckwhpat, acres 








63 


13 


315 


464 


130 


220 


" bushels 








842 


123 


3516 


5147 


521 


2150 


Flax, acres 




1 


2 


17 


1129 


3767 


9779 


8716 


368a 


" bushels 




12 


5 


12 


9906 


29197 


102292 


58731 


3435o 

7751 
23163„ 

95* 


Peas and beans, bushels 




96 


205 


1360 


804 




567 


Barley, acres 






30 


1000 


209 


946 


1478 


3238 


" bushels 






260 


830 


4070 


17169 


42491 


49045 


Sorghum, acres 




9 


30 


52 


28 


63 


90 


64 


" gallons 




506 


1)87 


2468 


1323 


4353 


4683 


3105 


Hay, wild, tons 


222 


725 


4861 


12930 


19872 


50441 


91747 


60760 


46494 


Timothy " 












2681 




3111 


4225 


" bushels 












496 




1974 


2000 


Millet, acres 












115 




40 


2015 


" tons 












384 






3853 


" bushels 












201 




425 




Tame grass, tons 


















28333 


Potatoes, acres 




29 


100 


233 


398 


654 


1776 


1729 


1534 


" bushels 


650 


2100 


4753 


21712 


31284 


51950 


301507 


68444 


114753 


Onions » 












675 




20Q0 


775 



(865) 



866 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Turnips 
Beets 

Fruit trees 
Forest " acres 
Natural timber *' 
Apples, bushels 
Plums " 

Cherries " 
Other fruit trees 
Grapes.lbs 

Orchard products, value 
Pmall fruits •• 

Blackberries, qts 
Currants " 

Gooseberries " 
Raspberries " 
Strawberries " 



400 



500 



950 





4086 
984 




820 
122 


} 


817555 


600 


3030 




5100 




45340 


420 


1754 




2612 






650 


760 




900 








562 


706 


1064 




4582 




388 


56 


1415 




1074 




11 


49 


16 




95 




1*5 




323 




386 




304 




1085 




6100 




$490 




3139 




4107 




8625 




220 

100 
1150 

990 
1140 

200 




3028 
1700 
11630 
2890 
4690 
6430 




JOSEPH CHAPMAN, FONDA, 
Died Jan. 27, 1904, in his 96th year. 



History of Elections. 



In this list may be found an account of every election held in Pocahontas 
county from the date of its organization in 1859 until the fall of 1903 It in- 
cludes the names of the candidates.shows the political party they represented 
and the number of votes they received. This list therefore shows the relative 
strength of the various political parties in different years. The last column 
shows the majority the successful candidate received. 

In this list the following abbreviations are used: R. for republican- D 
for democrat; Ind. for independent; Proh. for prohibition; Soc. for socialist* 
Peo. tor people's party; G. for greenback; Nat. for national. 



FIRST ELECTION, MARCH 15, 1859,-17 
VOTES. 

County Judge: 
David Slosson, R 16 9 

Guernsey Smith, R .7 

Clerk of the District Court: 
A. H. Malcolm, R 16 15 

W, H. Hait, R 1 

Treasurer and Recorder: 

W, H. Hait, R 17 

Drainage Commissioner: 

James Edleman, R 17 

County Surveyor: 
Guernsey Smith, R 15 14 

S. N. Harris, R 
David Slosson, R 
Coroner: 

Henry Park, R 
Sheriff: 
Oscar Slosson, R 15 13 

Orlando Slosson, R 
election Oct. 11, 1859,-33 votes 
Senator, 33d district: 
Luther L. Pease, R 
John F. Duncombe, D 
Representative 51st district: 
Samuel Rees, R 
Homer Moore, D 
County Judge: 
John A, James. D 
Patrick McCabe, 
Clerk of Court: 
S. N. Harris, R 
Michael Collins, D 
Sheriff: 
Henry Jarvis, R 
Walter Ford, D 
Coroner: 
Wm. Jarvis, R 
Roger Collins, D 
Surveyor: 
Robert Struthers, R 
G. S. Ringland, D 
Drainage Com'missioner: 

Wm. Jarvis, R 
Superintendent of Schools: 
Perry Nowlen, R 



and Des Moines River bridge be built 
and paid with the swamp lands of the 
county? 
Yes 



16 
19, 1859,- 



21 



15 

1 
1 

17 

15 
2 



17 
16 

18 
15 

19 
14 

19 
14 

19 
.14 

19 
14 

19 
14 

19 

19 



SPECIAL ELECTION NOV 
VOTES. 

Shall the contract for the public 
buildings be approved? 
Yes 

ELECTION NOV. 6, 1860 

Clerk of Court: 

S. N. Harris, R 
County Supervisors: 

David Slosson, Des Moines, 

Ora Harvey, Clinton, 



21 



13 

9 
9 



Collins, Lizard, (Not rec- 

, 1861. 

The following 



Michael 
orded) 

ELECTION OCT 

No record was kept, 
officers qualified: 

Perry Nowlen, County Judge. 

Philip Russell, Clerk of Court. 

Michael Collins, Treasurer and 
Recorder. 

Henry Jarvis, Sheriff. 

ELECTION OCT. 14, 1862,-24 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 

James Wright, R 

Richard Sylvester, D 
Auditor of State: 

Jonathan W. Cattell, R 

John Brown, D 
Treasurer of State: 

Wm. H. Holmes, R 

Samuel Lorah, D 
Attorney General: 

Chas. C. Nourse, R 

Benton J. Hale, D 
Register of State Land office 

Josiah A. Harvey, R 14 

Fred Gottchalk, D 10 



14 
10 

14 
10 

14 
10 

14 
10 



SPECIAL ELECTION SEPT. 7, 1859,-16 
VOTES. 

Shall the court house, schoolhouse 



Judges of 4th Judicial district: 

Josiah Pendleton, R 12 

John Currier, D 12 

District Attorney: 

Henry Ford. R 14 

H. C. Crawford, D 10 

Congressman, 6th district: 

A. W. Hubbard, R 14 



(867) 



PIONEER HISTORY OF2POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



J. F. Duncombe, D 10 

Clerk of Court: 
Philip Russell, D 10 

SPECIAL ELECTION NOV. 1862,-27 
VOTES. 

Shall a three mill tax be levied for 
the Des Moines River bridge? 

Yes 27 27 

SPECIAL ELECTION SEPT. 5, 1863—23 
VOTES. 

Shall a 2£ mill tax be levied to lift 
county warrants— $1396.34— for two 
bridges across Lizard creek? 

Yes 23 22 

No 1 

ELECTION OCT. 13, 1863,-30 HOME AND 
4 SOLDIER VOTES. 

Governor: 
Wm. M. Stone, R 17 5 

James M. Tuttle, D 12 

Senator, 43rd district: 
Geo. W. Bassett, R 22 14 

C. E. Whiting, D 8 

Representative, 60th district: 
James W Logan, R 14 2 

John M. Stockdale, D 12 

Treasurer and Recorder: 
Michael Collins, D 16&*2 18 1 
Wm. H. Hait, R 14&*2 16 

County Judge: 
Fred E. Metcalf 11 4 

S. N. Harris 3&*4 7 

Sheriff: 
John A. James 16 

Abiel Stickney 14&*4 18 2 

Superintendent: 
Fred E. Metcalf 17&*4 21 9 
Philip Russell 12 

Surveyor: 
Robert Struthers 13&*2 15 10 
John A. James 3&*2 5 

Coroner: 
Edward Hammond 17&*4 21 

ELECTION NOV. 8, 1864—40 VOTES. 

President: 
Abraham Lincoln, R 32 24 

Geo. B. McClellan, D 8 

Congressman 6th District; 
A. W. Hubbard, R 31 23 

L. Chapman, D 8 

Clerk of Court: 
W. H. Halt, R 25 16 

Philip Russell, D 9 

Recorder: 
Robert Struthers, R 28 

Sheriff: 
Henry Jarvis, R 23 

ELECTION OCT* 10, 1865,-53 VOTES. 

Governor: 
Wm. M. Stone, R 43 33 

Thos. H. Benton, D 10 



Representative, 57th District:: 

C. C. Carpenter, R 41 31 

L. T. R. Alcorn, D 10 

County Judge: 

S. N. Harris, R 17 3 

Fred A. Metcalf, R 14 

Elijah D. Seely 1 

Treasurer: 

W. H. Hait.R 32 11 

Michael Collins, D 21 

Clerk of Court: 

A. H. Malcolm, R 29 5 

Fred A. Metcalf, R 24 

Sheriff: 

Henry Jarvis 41 

Surveyor: 

Robert Struthers 31 

Wm. H. Metcalf 17 

Superintendent: 

Wm. D. McEwen, R 26 1 

Fred A. Metcalf, R '25 

Coroner: 

Edward Hammond, 12 

ELECTION OCT. 9, 1866,-76 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 
E. D. Wright, R 68 60 

S. G. Vanander, D 8 

Register of State Land Office: 
C. C. Carpenter, R 68 60 

Levi. P. McKennie, D 8 

Congressman, 6th District: 
A. W. Hubbard, R 68 62 

J. D. Thompson, D 6 

Judge of 4th Judicial District: 
Henry Ford, R 68 62 

O. C. Treadway, D 6 

District Attorney: 
Orson Rice, R 43 35 

P. D. Mickel, D 8 

Clerk of Court: 

W. D. McEwen, R 46 14 

A. H. Malcolm, R 32 

Recorder: 
E. C. Brown, lnd. R 78 

FLECTION OCT. 8, 1867,-100 VOTES. 

Governor: 
Samuel Merrill, R 80 60 

Charles Mason, D 20 

Senator, 45th District: 
Thomas Hawley, R 72 52 

C. C Smeltzer, 20 

Representative, 62d District: 
Samuel Rees, R 67 34 

L. S. Coffin, 33 

County Judge: 
S. N. Harris, 97 

Treasurer: 
W. H. Hait, R 54 10 

A. H. Malcolm, R 44 

♦Soldier vote. Received Nov. 26th, five 
weeks after the first canvass;— it reversed the 
election of sheriff. 



HISTORY OF ELECTIONS. 



869 



Sheriff: 

Oscar Slosson, 50 

George Spragg, 50 
On drawing cuts Slosson received 

the office. 

Superintendent: 

J. J. Bruce, R 50 2 

W. D. McEwen, R 48 

Coroner: 

John H. Johnson, 44 6 

E. P. Hammond, 38 

ELECTION NOV. 3, 1868,-112 VOTES. 

President: 

U. S. Grant. R 93 74 

Horatio Seymour, D 19 

Congressman, 6th District: 

Charles Pomeroy, R 93 74 

C. A. Roegell, D 19 

Judge, 2d Circuit 4th Judicial Dis- 
trict: 

J. M. Snyder, R 78 57 

James P. White, D 21 

Amendments to State Constitution: 

For ratification 92 73 

Against " 19 

Clerk of Court: 

W. D. McEwen, R 89 88 

Patrick McCabe, D 1 

John Calligan, D 1 

Recorder: 

Thomas L. MacVey, R 58 8 

E. C. Brown, Ind. R 50 

John Calligan, 1 

ELECTION OCT. 12,1869,-132 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Samuel Merrill, R 109 86 

Geo. Gillespie, D 23 

Representative: 

G. S. Tolliver. R 88 55 

H. G. Brockwell, D 33 

County Auditor: 

W. t>. McEwen, R 108 87 

Oscar I. Strong, Ind. R 21 

Treasurer: 

James J. Bruce, R 93 56 

Michael Collins, D 37 

Sheriff: 

Oscar Slosson, R 83 36 

Henry Jarvis, Ind. R 47 

Surveyor: 

Geo. W. Strong, R 97 63 

Oscar I. Strong, Ind. R 34 

Superintendent: 

David Miller, R 118 116 

W. D. McEwen, 2 

John Calligan, 1 

Coroner: 

Joseph Clason, R 109 100 

John Callitran, D 9 

"Cock Robin," 4 

Drainage Commissioner: 

W. S. Fegles, 116 

Act Restraining Stock: 



For Approval, 
Against " 



86 
4 



82 



ELECTION OCT. 11, 1870,-220 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 

Edward Wright, R 177 143 

Charles Doerr, D 34 

Convention to Revise State Consti- 
tution: 

For, 

Against, 
Congressman, 6th District: 

Jackson Orr, R 

C. C. Smeltzer, D 
Judge, 4th Judicial District: 

Henry Ford, R 
DC. Vanham, D 

istrict Attorney: 

C. H. Lewis, 

Hull 

Clerk of Court: 

W. D. McEwen, R 

W. H. Hait, Ind. R 
Recorder: 

Thos L. MacVev, R 

Geo. W. Strong, Ind. R 
Special Bridge Tax: 

For, 

Against, 
Prohibition in County: 

For, 

Against, 
Act Restraining Stock: 

For, 

Against, 
Increase of Supervisors from 

Members: 

For, 152 142 

Against, 10 

SPECIAL ELECTION APRIL 17, 1871. 

Act Restraining Stock: 
For, 181 100 

Against, 81 

ELECTION OCT. 10, 1871,-311 VOTES. 

Governor: 

C. C. Carpenter, R 263 

Knapp, D 

Senator, 47th District: 

W. H. Fitch, R 266 

Crapper, D 49 

Representative, 67th District: 



22 
157 


135 


171 
43 


128 


125 
14 




130 
14 


116 


117 
101 


16 


119 
91 


28 


123 

54 


69 


123 

25 


98 


76 

97 

Q 3 


21 
to 5 



217 



Robert Struthers, R 


220 


J. H. Johnson, 


1 


County Auditor: 




W. D. McEwen, R 


210 


W. H. Hait, Ind. R 


100 


Treasurer: 




James J. Bruce, R 


197 


A. L. Thornton. 


114 


Sheriff: 




T. J. Curtis, D 


196 


E. Shreve, R 


117 


Superintendent: 





219 



110 



83 



79 



870 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Geo. W. Hathaway, D 200 89 

John A. Griffin, R 111 

Surveyor: 

Geo. Van Natta. R 171 37 

O. I. Strong, Ind. R 134 

Coroner: 

Joseph Clason, 195 91 

A. Cacly, 104 

Drainage Commissioner: 

W. b. Fegles, R 196 90 

W. W. Rathbun, D 106 

Repeal of Stock Act. 

For, 45 

Against, 215 170 
This act vas now declared to be in 

force. 

Legalizing the Sale of the Swamp 
Lands: 

For an Act of Legislation, 171 124 

Against " " " 47 

Legalizing the Title to the Swamp 
Lands: 

For an Act. 81 

Against " " 142 61 

ELECTION NOV. 5, 1872,-331 VOTES. 

President: 9 Electors. 

U. S. Grant, R 263 195 

Horace Greeley, Ind. R 68 

Congressman. 9th District: 

Jackson Orr, R 202 72 

John F. Duncombe, D 130 

Circuit Judge, 4th District: 

Addison Oliver, R 313 

Clerk of Court: 

M. E. Owen. R 316 

R. B. Fish, D 1 

Becorder: 

Thomas L. MacVey, R 320 

ELECTION OCT. 14, 1873,-363 VOTES. 

Governor: 

C. C. Carpenter, R 324 285 

Jacob Vale, D 39 

Representative, 71st District: 

E. J. Hartshorn, R 355 

County Auditor: 

A. 6. Garlock, R 214 65 

T. L. MacVey, Ind. R 149 

Scattering, 2 

Treasurer: 

W. D. McEwen, R 255 142 

G H. Tollefsrude, Ind. R 113 

Sheriff: 

Joseph Rreitenbach. R 228 88 

David W Hunt, Ind. R 140 

Superintendent: 

0«car I. Strong. R 254 146 

David Miller, Ind. R 108 

Surveyor: 

Wm, Marshall, R 260 152 

Geo. Sanborn, Ind. R 108 

Coroner: 

Dr, J. M. Carroll 269 



ELECTION OCT. 13, 1874,-384 VOTES. 

Secretary 6f State: 

Josiah T. Young, R 300 216 

David Morgan, D 84 

Congressman, 9th District: 

Addison Oliver, R 312 239 

C. E. Whuing, D 73 

Dist. Judge, 4th District: 

C. H. Lewis, 299 212 

• P. B. Mickel, 87 

Circuit Judge, 4th District: 

J. R. Zouver, R 244 109 

Frank E. Chamberlin. D 135 

District Attorney: 

Geo. B. McCarty, R 298 210 

M. Wakefield, D 88 

Clerk of Court. 

J. W\ Wallace, R 365 361 

Scattering, 4 

Recorder: 

Andrew Jackson, R 221 67 

E C. Brown, D 154 

Shall Stock be Restrained? 

For 319 317 

Against 2 
This act was again declared adopted. 

ELECTION OCT. 12, 1875,-463 VOTES. 

Governor: 
Samuel J. Kirkwood, R 332 202 
Snepherd Leffler, U . 130 

John Hogarth Lozier, Proh 1 

Senator, 47th District: 

E. J. Hartshorn, R 165 

Fred Hess, D 284 119 

Repiesentative, 71st District: 
G. S Robinson, R 127 

Owen Bromley, I) 330 203 

County Treasurer: 

Wm. D. McEwen, R 440 438 

Scattering, 2 

Auditor: 
A. O. Garlock, R 435 432 

Scattering, 3 

Sheriff: 
Joseph Breitenbach, R 349 252 
John F. Hintz, D 97 

Scattering. 3 

Superintendent: 
J . F. Clark, R 447 

Superintendent, to fill vacancy: 
J. F. Clark, 18 17 

Wm Marshall, 1 

Surveyor: 

Wm. Marshall, R 433 431 

Scattering, 2 

Coroner: 
J. H Johnson, 441 

Shall County Seat be Removed From 
(Old) Rolfe to Pocahontas: 
For, 356 297 

Against, 59 

This change was ordered Oct. 18, 

1875. 



HISTORY OF ELECTIONS. 



871 



ELECTION NOV. 7, 1876,-527 VOTES. 

President, 11 electors; 

Rutherford B. Hayes, R 375 234 

Samuel J. Tilden, D ' 141 

Scattering: 11 

Congressman, 9th District: 

Addison Oliver, R 367 213 

Samuel Rees, D 154 

H. A. Pierce . 1 

Circuit Judge, 14th District; 

John N. Weaver, 360 256 

Lot Thomas, 104 

District Judge, 14th District: 

Ed. R. Duffle, 374 

District Attorney: 

J. M. Tolliver, 379 

County Recorder: 

O. I. Strong, R 328 146 

Michael T. Collins, D 182 

Clerk of Court: 

J. W. Wallace, R 517 516 

J. W. Farmer 1 

ELECTION OCT. 9, 1877, — 54 VOTES. 

Governor: 

John H. Gear, R 370 277 

J. P. Irish, D 93 

D. P. Stubbs, D 44 

Elias Jesup, Proh 36 

Representative, 72d District: 

L. H. Gordon, R 490 439 

J- H. Groves, D 51 

County Auditor: 

A. O. Garlock, R 508 505 

Scattering, 3 

Treasurer: 

W. D. McEwen, R 525 

Sheriff: 

Thomas L. Dean. R 269-3 

J. Breitenbach, Ind. R 266 

Superintendent: 

David Miller, 401 265 

J. F. Clark, 136 

Surveyor: 

Wm. Marshall, 501 497 

Scattering, 4 

Coroner: 

J, C Enfield, 486 

Gopher Bounty Tax: 

For, 206 

Against, 31 

ELECTION OCT. 8, 1878,-59 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 

J. A. T. Hull, R 351 108 

E. M. Farnsworth, D 243 

Congressman, 9th District: 

C. C. Carpenter, R 354 115 

D. Q. llo^at: 239 
Clerk of Court: 

J. W. Wallace, R 582 

J. H. Lowrey, Ind. R 4 
Recorder: 

Geo. Wallace, R 324 64 

Jason H. Lowrey, Ind. R 260 



Bounty on Gophers: 

For, 382 347 

Against, 35 
Restraining Stock: 

For, 465 449 

Against, 16 
At this election the township trus- 
tees were elected for 1, 2 and 3 years 
respectively and afterwards for a term 
of three years, 

ELECTION OCT. 14, 1879,-753 VOTES. 

Governor: 

John H. Gear, R 479 265 

H. Trimble, D i;l4 

D. Campbell, Proh 54 
Senator: 

E. J. Hartshorn, R 591 478 
P. O. Cassady, D 113 
John Wallace, 40 

Representative: 

D* J. McDaid, 609 519 

A. Bradfield, 90 

County Auditor: 

A. O. Garlock, R 509 

Hen:ry Kelley, D 229 

Treasurer: 

W. D. McEwen, R 467 191 

Ray C. Brownell, Ind. R 276 

Sheriff: 

Joseph Mallison, Ind. R 388 42 

Thos. L Dean, R 346 

Superintendent: . 

O. I. Strong, R 666 662 

David Miller, Ind. R 44 

Surveyor: 

Wm. Marshall, R 440 

F. Millard, D 295 
Coronor: 

John M. Brown, 736 

Special Bridge Tax: 

For, 136 

Against, 293 157 

Bounty on Gophers: 

For, 280 76 

Against, 204 

Erection of a Jail: 

For 292 95 

Against, 197 

ELECTION NOV. 2, 1880, — 686 VOTES. 

President: 

James A. Garfield, R 458 247 

W. D. Hancock, D 211 

James B. Weaver, G 17 

Congressman, 9th District: 

C.'C. Carpenter, R 457 249 

P. M. Guthrie. D 208 

Daniel Campbell. G 17 

District Judge, 14th District: 

Ed. R Duffle, R 513 

Circuit Judge, 14th District: 

John N. Weaver, R 507 

District Attorney: 

J. M. Tolliver, R 500 



872 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Clerk ofCourt: 
John W. Wallace. R 671 

"R p f* o rfi p r * 
Michael Crahan, D 349 11 

Joseph E. Pattee, R 338 

Recorder, to fill vacancy: 

C. A. Bryant, R 349 323 
M. Crahan. D 26 

Shall State Constitution be Amended? 
For, 173 54 

Against, 119 

At this election township clerks, 

assessors and road supervisors were 

first elected for two years. 

ELECTION OCT. 11, 1881,-826 VOTES. 

The People's party was organized in 
Pocahontas county this year. 
Governor: 
Buren R. Sherman, R 561 319 

L. G. Kinne, D 242 

D. M. Clark, Proh 23 
Representative, 72d District: 

Horatio Pitcher, R 250 

S. A. demons, D 561 311 

County Auditor: 

C. H. Tollefsrude, R 437 51 
Theodore Dunn, Ind. R 386 

Treasurer: 

W. D. McEwen, R 456 87 

H. G. Tyler, Ind. R 369 

Sheriff: 

Joseph Mallison, R 505 190 

Anthony Hudek, D 315 

T. L. Dean, 2 

Superintendent: 

J. P. Robinson, R 421 19 

Henry Kelley, D 402 

O. I. Strong, 2 

Surveyor: 

Wm. Marshall, R 475 131 
Thos. L MacVey, Ind. R 344 

Charles Briggs, 4 

Coroner: 

J. C. Enfield, 466 108 

John M. Brown, 358 

SPECIAL ELECTION JUNE 27, 1882,-653 
VOTES. 

Prohibitory Amendment: 
For, 449 245 

Against, 204 

ELECTION NOV. 7, 1882,-940 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 
J. A. T Hull, R 618 306 

T. O. Walker, D 312 

Wm. Gaston, 10 

Congressman, 11th District: 
Isaac L Sr ruble, R 537 137 

John P. Allison, D 400 

Clerk of Court: 
John W. Wallace, R 727 515 

W. H. Hait, Ind. R 212 

Recorder: 



A. L. Thornton, R 494 53 

Michael Crahan, D 441 
Coroner: 

M. F. Patterson: 626 323 

John M. Brown, 303 

ELECTION OCT. 9, 1883. 

Governor: 

Buren R. Sherman, R 731 315 

L. G. Kipne, D 416 

J. B. Weaver, G 11 

Senator, 47th District: 

C. O Chubb, R 738 320 

Alex. Mitchell, D 418 

Representative, 78th District: 

J. D McVay, R 734 326 

L. T. Danforth, D 408 

County Auditor: 

C. H. Tollefsrude, R 612 76 

T. F. McCartan, D 536 

Tr63iSur6r* 

Wm. Brownlee, Ind. R 637 132 

Geo. L. Brower, R 505 

Sheriff: 

John F. Pattee, R 568 4 

Samuel H. Gill, Ind. R 564 

Surveyor: 

L. C. Thornton, R 595 52 

C, P. Leithead, D 543 

0. I. Strong, R 1 
Coroner: 

M. F. Patterson, 611 69 

J. M. Carroll, 542 
Superintendent: 

J. P. Robinson, R 687 226 

W. F. Bowman, D 461 

ELECTION "NOV. 4, 1884,-1277 VOTES. 

Prosident: 

Jamfis G. Blaine, R 775 279 

Grover Cleveland, D 496 

J. P. St. John, Proh 6 

Congressman, 11th District: 

1. S. Struble, R 778 275 
Thos. F. Barber, D 503 

District Judge, 14th District: 

Lot Thomas, R 760 264 

A. W. McFarland, D 496 

Circuit Judge: 

J. tf. Macomber, R 778 294 

G. A. Berry, D 484 

District Attornev: 

John W. Cory. R 719 203 

Wm. Hayward 516 

County Recorder: 

A. L Thornton, R 714 170 

Amandus Zieman, D 544 

Clerk of Court: 

John W. Wallace. R 740 218 

Walter P. Ford, D 522 

Scattering, 7 

Amendments to the State Consti- 
tution: 
For, No. 1,299; No. 2, 242 



HISTORY OF ELECTIONS. 



873 



Against, " 39 " 68 
For, No. 3, 268; No. 4, 233 
Against, " 69; " 108 

ELECTION, NOV. 3, 1885,-1354 VOTES. 

The Democratic party was organized 

this year in Pocahontas county. 

Governor: 
Wm. Larrabee, R 760 176 

C. E. Whiting, D 584 

James Mickelwait, Proh 10 

Representative 78th District: 
Thomas F. Kelleher, D 785 340 
James J. Bruce, R 445 

Thus L. MacVey, Ind. R 92 

County Auditor: 
T. F. McCartan, D 774 208 

John W. Gray, R 566 

Treasurer: 
W. D. McEwen, R 773 161 

Carl Steinbrink, D 612 

Recorder, to fill vacancy: 
Mary E. Thornton, R 801 226 

Frank E. Beers, D 575 

Sheriff: 
John F. Pattee, R 777 223 

C. H. Hutchins, D 554 
Superintendent: 

James H. Campbell, R 684 59 

Frank DeKlotz. D 625 
H. J. Willey, Ind , 15 

Surveyor: 

John J. Cullen, R 946 572 

Wm. Marshall, Ind. R 374 

Coroner: 

J. M. Carroll, R 716 103 

D. W. Edgar, D 613 

ELECTION, NOV. 2, 1886,-1358 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 
Frank D. Jackson, R 779 200 

Cato Sells, D 579 

Congressman, 10th District: 
A J. Holmes, R 792 221 

Geo. Wilmot, D 571 

District Judge, 14th District: 
Geo. W. Carr, R 792 787 

J. F. Harlan, 15 

County Recorder: 
Wm. F. Atkinson, R 759 164 

J. W. O'Brien, D 491 



1U4 



595 



W. J. O'Brien, D 

Clerk of Court: 

W. C. Ralston, R 677 3 

W. H. Ferguson, D 674 

W. H Healy, 1 

Countv Attorney: 
W. G. Bradley. R 759 184 

W. H. Healy, D 575 

Coroner: 
W. W. Beam, R 348 344 

G. W. Bothwell, 4 

ELECTION, NOV. 8, 1887,-1397 VOTES. 

Governor: 
Wm. Larrabee. R 808 199 



T. J. Anderson, D 609 

Senator, 50th District: 

A. O. Garlock, R 878 488 

Wm. Thompson, D 390 

J. J. Bruce, Ind..R 123 

Scattering, 6 

Representative, 77th District: 

C. M. Fillmore, R 875 302 

S. F. Sturdivan,,D 573 

County Auditor: 

T. F. McCartan, D 763 66 

C. W. Clifton, R 697 

Treasurer: , 

J. N. McClellan, R 855 j r c258 

W. H. Ferguson, D 597 

Sheriff: 

John F. Pattee, R 830 246 

Thos. J. Calligan, D 584 

Superintendent: 

J. H. Campbell, R 805 178 

L. E, Lange, D 627 

J. L. Warden, 17 

Surveyor: 

Lucius C. Thornton, R 885 312 

L. M. Eaton, D 573 

Coroner: 

W. W. Beam, R 855 248 

J. H. Farson, D 607 

ELECTION, NOV.. 6," 1888,-1785 VOTES. 

President: 

Benjamin Harrison, R 999 253 

Grover Cleveland, D 746 

Clinton B. Fisk, Proh 40 

Congressman, 10th District: 

Jonathan P. Dolliver, R 1017 251 
Capt. J. A. O. Yeoman, D 766 

District Judge, 14th District: 

Lot Thomas, R 1024 

Countv Recorder: 

W. F. Atkinson. R 907 42 

M. W. Linnan, D 865 

Scattering, 6 

Clerk of Court: 

W. C. Ralston, R 1756 1753 

Scattering, 3 

County Attorney: 

Byron J. Allen, R 1035 401 

John P. Pederson, D 634 

C. C. Delle, Ind 45 

Restraining Stock: 

For, 1510 1368 

Against, 142 

Lizard township opposed this meas- 
ure by a vote of 38 for, 61 against. 

ELECTION, NOV. 5, 1889,-1622 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Joseph G. Hutchingon, R 867 123 

Horace Boies, D 744 

S. B. Downing, 3 

Elias Doty, 8 

Senator, 50th District: 

Edgar E. Mack, R 886 148 

Wm. Thompson, D 738 



874 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Representative, 77th District: 

James Mercer, R 915 886 

John Garvey, D *29 

Scattering, 6 

County Auditor: 

T. F. McCartan, D 975 339 

P. J. Shaw, R 636 

J. N. McClellan, R 1088 555 

Eric Anderson, D 533 

Sheriff: 

J. A. Crummer, R 856 99 

C. P. Leithead, D 757 

Joseph Mikesh, 2 

Superintendent: 

Fred C. Gilchrist, R 875 145 

Walter P. Ford, D 730 

Surveyor: 

H. W. Bissell, R 933 262 

L. M. Eaton, D 671 

Coroner: 

C C. Delle, R 884 165 

Henry Schroeder, D 719 

Grade tax of two mills: 

For, 776 256 

Against, 520 

ELECTION, NOV. 4, 1890, — 1795 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 

W. M. McFarland, R 1005 215 

W. H. Chamberlin. D 790 

Congressman, 10th District: 

J. P. Dolliver, R 952 114 

I. L. Woods, D 838 

District Judge, 14th District: 

Geo. L. Carr, R 1015 

County Attorney: 

C. C. Delle, R 1056 333 

J. M. Bishop, D 723 

Clerk of Court: 

W. C. Ralston, R 1078 375 

Frank E. Beers, D 703 

T^iGcordcr * 

R.D. Bollard, R 954 133 

M. W. Linnan, D 821 

Scattering, 7 

Coroner: 

J. M. Carroll, R 1005 

To Revise State Constitution: 

For a Convention, 44 

Against, 56 12 

ELECTION, NOV, 3, 1891,-2260 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Hiram C. Wheeler, R 1213 188 

Horace Boies, D 1025 

A. J. West.fall, 22 

Representative, 76th District: 

Frank E. Carpenter, R 1235 215 

Montague Hakes, D 1020 

County Treasurer: 

J. N. McClellan, R 136-5 478 

Carl Steinbrink, D 887 

Sheriff: 
"All in Dover township. 



J. A. Crummer, R 1379 505 

John M. Smith, D 874 

Superintendent: 

Cleland Gil6hrist, R 1298 364 

L. E. Lange, D 934 

Scattering, 5 

Survevor: 

-H. W Bissell, R 1302 347 

P. A. Quinn, D 955 

Coroner: 

O. A. Pease, R 1256 284 

A. S. Mygatt, D 972 

ELECTION, NOV. 8, 1892,-2513 VOTES. 

President: 

Benjamin Harrison, R 1304 365 

Grover Cleveland, D 939 

James B. Weaver, Peo 210 

William Bidwell, Proh ' 60 

Secretary of State: 

W. M. McFarland, R 1295 348 

J. H. McConlogue, D 947 

E. H. Gillette, Pop 212 

S. H. Taft, Proh 57 

Congiessman, 10th District: 

J. P. Dolliver, R 1286 317 

J. J. Ryan, D 969 

John E. Anderson, Peo 225 

District Judge, 14th District: 

Lot Thomas, R 1326 

County Auditor: 

Frank G. Thornton, R 1255 216 

E. W. Clinton, D 1039 
John Barrett, Peo 189 

Clerk of Court: 

W. C. Ralston, R 1398 506 

James Eral, D 892 

J. D. Fitzgerald, Peo 200 

Recorder: ' 

Richard D. Bollard, R 1412 523 

J. A. Carroll, D 889 

J. C. Brubaker, Peo 189 

County Attorney: 

F. L. Dinsmore, R 1255 179 
W. H. Healy, D 1076 

ELECTION, NOV. 7, 1893,-2416 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Frank D. Jackson, R 1283 419 

Horace Boies, D 864 

J. M.Joseph, Peo 188 

Bennett Mitchell. Proh 81 

Senator. 50th District: 

Geo, W. Henderson, R 1284 408 

T. D. Higers, D 876 

R. Olney, Peo 219 

Representative, 76th District: 

Parley Finch. R 1261 362 

* F. E. Beers, D 899 

A. R. Starrett, Peo 216 

County Treasurer: 

C. A. Charlton, R 1312 418 

L. C. Coffin, D 894 

J, C. Brubaker, Peo 187 



HISTORY OF ELECTIONS. 



875 



Sheriff: 

J. A. Crummer, R 1346 469 

M. J. Collins, D 877 

L. J. Lieb, Peo 181 
Superintendent: 

Cleland Gilchrist, R 1364 470 

Maud Fuller, D 894 
Surveyor: 

Fred A. Malcolm. R 1336 478 

Patrick J. Quiun,' D 858 

Charles Brown, Peo 198 
Coroner: 

Frank Reyburn, R 1346 500 

O. H. Barthel, D 846 

J. T. Sturdivan, Peo 192 

ELECTION, NOT. 6, 1894,-2512 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 

Wm. M. Mctfarland, R 1423 692 

Horatio F. Dale, D 731 

S. B. Crane, Peo 3u8 

Bennett Mitchell, Proh 50 

Congressman, 10th District: 

J. P. Dolliver, R 1421 345 

J. C. Baker, D 1076 

District Judge: 

Wm. B. Quarton, R 1410 361 

C. E. Cahoon, D 1049 
County Auditor: 

Frank G. Thornton, R 1305 187 

E, W. Clinton, D 1118 
Recorder: 

R D, Bollard, R 1555 606 

D. K. Folk, D 949 
Clerk of Court: 

Frank H. Plumb, R 1337 182 

C. F. Linnan. D . 1155 
County Attorney: 

F. L. Dinsmore, R 1406 523 
Wm. J. Collins, D 983 

ELECTION, NOV. 5, 1895,-2449 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Francis M. Drake, R 1272 586 

W. J. Babb, D 686 

S. B. Crane, Peo 418 

Francis Bacon, Proh 73 



Surveyor: 

F. A. Malcolm, R 

John Nelson, D 

E. A. Brown, Peo 
Coroner: 

Frank Reyburn, R 1354 

W. J. Leib, Peo 417 

ELECTION, NOV. 3, 1896,-3274 VOTES 

President: 

Wm. McKinley, R 

Wm. J. Bryan, D 

Jotin M. Palmer, ISTat. D 

Joshua Levering, Proh 
Secretary of State: 

Geo. L. Dobson, R 

H. L. Kerr, D 

Wm. G. Wright, Proh 
Congressman, 10th District 



1330 

681 
387 



1866 

1378 

16 

14 

1866 

1381 

23 



649 



937 



488 



485 



Representative, 76th District: 

Parley Finch, R 82 

James Mercer, Ind. R 999 316 

Geo. W. Core, D 683 

J. S. Hopkins, Peo 370 

Treasurer: 

C. A. Charlton, R 1382 736 

F. D. Hadden, D 646 

J. O. Overholt, Peo 388 

Sheriff: 

J A. Crummer, R 1233 481 

M. J. Dooley, D 752 

T. L. Dean, 447 

Superintendent: 

Cleland Gilchrist, R 1318 578 

Mrs. Melissa Barnes, D 740 

J. W. Ellison, Peo 373 



J. P. Dolliver, R 1853 

John B. Romans, D 1393 

M. W. Atwood, Proh 23 

District Judge: 

Lot Thomas, R 1919 

County Auditor: 

I. C. Thatcher, R 1707 

Henry Fitzgerald, D 1554 

Clerk of Court: 

F. H. Plumb, R 1866 

Z. C. Bradshaw, D 1393 

Recorder: 

R. D. Bollard, R 1911 

Chas. A. Hawley, D 1354 

County Attorney: 

Wm. Hazlett, R 1864 

David Grier, D 1390 

ELECTION, NOV. 2, 1897,-2864 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Fred E. White. D 1401 

Leslie M. Shaw, R 1384 

Chas, A. Lloyd, Peo 25 
Samuel P. Leland, Proh 51 

M. J. Kremer, Soc 3 

Senator, 50th District: 

Parley Finch, R 1447 

M. V. Reed, D 1311 

Representative, 76th District: 

M. E Dewolf, R 1415 76 

L, E. Lange, D 1339 

County Treasurer: 

C. A. Charlton, R 1451 105 

A. G. Wood, D 1346 

Sheriff: 

JohnRatcliff, D 1435 93 

W. A. Grove, R 1342 

Survevor: 

H. W. Bissell, R 1440 114 

A. B. Olson, D 1326 

Superintendent: 

A. W. Davis, R 1572 371 

W. R. T. Merwine, D 1201 

Coroner: 

C. B. Lawrence, R 1420 105 

O. H. Barthel, D 1315 



460 



153 



473 



557 



474 



17 



138 



876 PIONEER HISTORY OP POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



ELECTION, NOV. 8, 1898,-2644 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 

Geo. L. Dobson, R 1490 405 

Claude R Porter, D 1085 

Malcolm Smitb, Proh 51 

R. M. Daniels, Peo 15 

A. C. Swanholm, Soc 3 

Congressman. 10th District: 

J. P. Dolliv'er, R 1419 266 

Edwin Anderson, D 1153 

P. J. Shaw, Proh 61 

A. Norelius, Peo 9 

District Judge, 14th District: 

W. B. Quarton, R 1373 175 

J. W. Sullivan, D 1208 

District Judge, to fill vacancy: 

F. H. Helsell, R 1399 205 

C. E. Cohoon, D 1194 

County Recorder: 

L. E. Hanson, R 1318 27 

Frank Reniff, D 1291 

Clerk of Court: 

Frank H. Plumb, R 1418 207 

Charles F. Pattee, D 1201 

Auditor: 

I. C. Thatcher, R 1315 17 

Geo. W. Day D 1298 

County Attorney: 

Wm. Hazlett, R 1399 194 

L. E. England, D 1205 

Coroner: 

Frank Reyburn, 1444 284 

O. H, Barthel, 1160 

ELECTION, NOV. 7, 1899,-2959 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Leslie M. Shaw. R 1686 474 

F. E. White, D 1212 

M. W. Atwood, Proh 48 

Charles A. Lloyd, 10 

M. J. Kremer, 2 

C. C. Heacock, . 1 

Representative: 

John B. Kent, R 1737 585 

C. A. Rossing, D 1152 

County Treasurer: 

Guy S. Robinson, R 1656 391 

H. W. Lyon, D 1265 

Sheriff: 

W. L, Mitchell, R 1624 327 

M. J. Keenan, D 1297 

Superintendent: 

U. S. Vance, R 1633 364 

Cyrus Thompson, D 1269 

Surveyor: 

H. W. Bissell, R 1701 496 

W. P. Rude, D 1205 

Coroner: 

Frank Reyburn, R 1732 575 

O. H. Barthel, D 1157 

ELECTION, NOV. 6, 1900,-3517 VOTES. 

President: 

Wm. McKinley, R 2176 889 

Wm. J. Bryan, D 1287 



John G. Wooley, Proh 53 

Martin Barker, Peo 1 

Secretary of State: 

Wm, B. Martin, R 2156 869 

S. B. Crane, D 1287 

S. O. Pillsbury, Proh 51 

Congressman, 10th District: 

J. P. Connor, R 2149 799 

R, F. Dale, D 1296 

P. J. Shaw, Proh 54 

District Judge: 

A. D. Bailie, R 2150 844 

I. W. Bane, D 1306 

Countv Auditor: 

I. C. Thatcher, R 2072 686 

J. A. Henery, D 1386 

Recorder: 

Leonard E. Hanson, R 2082 686 

Fred Bruns, D 1360 

Clerk of Court: 

Frank H. Plumb, R 1976 488 

Joseph Dooley, D 1488 

County Attorney: 

Wm. Hazlett, R 1872 304 

T. F. Lynch, D 1568 

Coroner: 

A. H. Thornton, R 2069 688 

T. J. Dower, D 1381 

To Amend State Constitution: 

For Convention, 1204 148 

Against " 1056 

Biennial Elections: 

For, 1355 432 . 

Against, 923 

ELECTION, NOV. 5, 1901, —2274 VOTES. 

Governor: 

Albert B. Cummins, R 1496 780 

T. J. Phillips, D 716 

A. N. Coats, Proh 55 

James Baxter, 6 

L. H. Weller, 1 

Senator: 

E.K. Winnie, R 1475 720 

E. P. Layman, D 755 
Charles Redman, 1 

Representative, 7tfth District: 

Fred C. Gilchrist, R 1411 566 

C. P. Leithead, D 845 

County Treasurer: 

Guy S. Robinson, R 1550 847 

Jonathan Pulley, D 703 

Sheriff: 

Wm. L. Mitchell, R 1512 772 

A. W. Peterson, D 740 

Superintendent: 

U. S. Vance, R 1582 1581 

M. O'Malley, 1 

Surveyor: 

H. W. Bisseil, R 1496 753 

F. J. Poduska, D 743 
Coroner: 

A. H. Thornton, R 1521 807 

T. J. Dower, D 714 



HISTORY OF ELECTIONS. 



877 



ELECTION, NOV. 4, J 902,— 2929 VOTES. 

Secretary of State: 
Wm. B. Martin. R 1767 698 

Richard Burke, D 1069 

W. Howard, Proh . 67 

W. A. Jacobs, Soc 26 

Congressman, 10th District: 



1751 

1001 

62 

23 

1561 
1311 

1514 
1409 

1449 
1445 



James P. Connor, R 

Kasper Faltinson, D 

W. D. El weld, Proh 

F. D. Swick, Soc 
County Recorder: 

Ole E. Christeson, R 

T. P. Fitzgerald, D 
Clerk of Court: 

Percy M. Beers, R 

Geo. F. Dean, D 
Auditor: 

Geo. W. Day, D 

R. E. Postin, R 

This vote was recounted by 
Contest board, Dec. 22-23, 1902, 
the result was as follows: 

Geo. W. Day, 1447 

R. E Postin, 1439 

County Attorney: 

Geo. A. Heald. R 1589 

T. F. Lynch, D 1308 

GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 3, 1903 

For Governor: 

Albert B Cummins, R 

J. B. Sullivan, D 

John F. Hanson, Proh 

John M Work, Soc 

L. H. Weller, Peo 
Lieutenant Governor, 

John Herriott, R 



750 



250 
105 



the 
and 



281 



715 



1860 

1145 

53 

34 

3 



1837 688 



J. D. Butler, D 1149 

James H. Scull. Proh 50 

Judge of Supreme Court: 

Charles A, Bishop, R 1829 681 

John R. Caldwell, D 1148 

William Orr, Proh 50 

Superintendent of Public Instruction: 



John F. Riggs, R 1831 685 

A. R. McCojk, D 1146 

John S. Ward, Proh 49 

Railroad Commissioner: 

David Palmer, R 1832 693 

W. S. Porter, D 1139 

H. R. Bradshaw, Proh 51 

State Representative: 

Fred C. Gilchrist, R 1487 

Montague Hakes, D 1591 104 

County Treasurer: 

Guy S. Robinson, R 1813 594 

L. E. Streater, D 1219 

Sheriff: 

Wm. L Mitchell, R 1527 

James J. Kelleher, D 1561 34 

Superintendent of Schools: 

U. S. Vance, R 1752 475 

Nellie McLaughlin, D 1277 

County Surveyor: 

H. W. Bissell, R 1756 507 

A. B. Olson, D 1249 

Coroner: 
A. H. Thornton, M. D., R 1746 489 

T. J. Dower, M. D., D 1257 

Supervisor 1st District: 

W. S. Butler, R 284 

B C. Budolfson, D 421 137 

Second District: 

S W. McKinney, R 309 

Frank White, D 352 43 




878 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



eORRE0TI©NS. 

A, indicates the first column; B, the second column; and "•••," the words, "instead of.' 



Pa< 
65 

130 
156 
165 
166 
174 
195 
219 
2*2 
286 
289 
295 
297 
312 
314 
337 
352 
361 
422 
441 
455 
479 

483 

486 
487 
510 
510 
513 
532 



533 



536 
540 



557 
567 



568 
577 

583 

597 
600 
603 
607 



614 

615 



616 



je Line Correctloi 

B 18, Powers, ■■■ Byes. 

A. 21, Omit "visited." 

A. 25, 1855, - 1854. 

B 41, Nov. 19, - 15. 

B 4, iJec 17, •■• 20. 

A 32, A dd "Croker" County. 

B 24, Nov. 8, 1874, - Nov. 7, 1872. 

A 44, 1873, - 1871. 

A 9, David, - Mr. 

A 10, 1887, - 1890. 

B 46, June 2, 1894, - Nov. 1,1897. 

B 29, In 1872, - 1880. 

A 1-27, Omit. 

A 38, F. H. Plumb, - J. H. Lighter. 

B 7, Saylor — .^ayley. 

A 6, Henry and H, a., — C. and A. 

A 31, Svedjie, — Schwady. 

B 50 J. P. Kobinson, ■•■■ J. R. Johnson. 

B 43, McCarthy, — McCartan. 

B 8, Aug. 15, . 

A 3, 1890, - 80. 

A 22, Norma, Emily and Charlotte, ■•■ 
Norma and Emily. 

"Clinton," — -'Center," at the top. 

B 21, Seeiy— '70, 75, - 70-75. 

B 81, 189G, - 1886. 

'•(Jiinton," ••• "Center," at the top. 
A Footnote, 286, — 144. 

B " 506,- 300, 

A 47, Add "Michael," after "Crahan." 

A 14, Eldest, •" youngest. 

B 38, Seven, ■•• six; and add"Fletcher S." 

after "Paul B." 

B 47, Age of "19," - 30. 

A 1, 1887, - 1881. 

A 12, His father, ■•• Howard. 

B 41, -74, 82, - '74-82. 

B 47, 6 - George, a son by his first wifi, 

lives in Minnesota and has three 

children. 

Colfax, ■•■ Dis Moines, at the top. 

A 12, 1884, - 1877. 

A 22, H 60, - 1861. 

A 27, 1867, - 1866. 

A 31, 1894, - 1893. 

A 46, 1882, - 1880. 

A 44-47, Englert, - English. 

A 45, Sec. 4, - 6. 

A J 5, Sec. 32, - 29. 

A 12, C. H. Tollefsrude, - H. C. 

B 13, Synstelien, — Hyustelien. 

A 41, Recorder, L. E. Hanson, ••• Auditor. 

A 34, 1890, - 1900. 

A 35, Sec. 29, - 16. 

B 22-23, Barn, is 40x48, - house. 

B 10, Parents, ■•■ wife, 

B 8, Fall of 1870, - Spring of 1871. 

B 3, Matthias, ■•■ Matthew. 

B 21, Amundsrud, ■•■ Amundsend. 

B 39, Sec. 36, - 32. 

A 5, Nordre, ••■ Norder. 

A 9, Near, — on. 

A 31, Cottage was not moved,— a new 
house was built in 1892. 



616 


B 




B 


(114 


A 


go:; 


B 


671 


A 


072 


B 


073 


B 


080 


B 


681 


A 


682 


A 


0.S7 


B 


" 


B 




B 


093 


A 


702 


A 


704 


A 


707 


B 


712 


B 


723 A 


" 


a 


720 


A 


727 


B 


" 


B 


734 


A 



7S6 A 



" A 
744 B 


» 


B 


756 


B 


774 A 


775 


A 


71)3 


A 


793 


A 




B 


794 A 


" 


A 


" 


A 


" 


B 


795 B 


" 


B 


798 


B 


800 A 




A 


801 


A 


" 


B 


■' 


B 


803 A 


'• 


A 


805 


B 


" 


B 


806 


A 


" 


A 


S08 


B 


836 B 


838 


B 


839 A 



8, First, ■■■ second. 
2n, Cows, ••■ sbeep. 
39-40, James M. Tibbetts, - I. N. 
23< Seven, — eleven. 

3 Lucy, — Lizzie. 

31, of, -at.. 

37-38, Steckelburg, — Streckelberg. 
38, 50, - 15. 

31, t<ec. 30, - 8. 

14, Richev, - Ritchie. 

44, Carl G. in 1888, - Julius in 1886, 

47, 1890, - ls92. 

48, Six children,— Josephine, Julius, 

Gustave I., Victor, Edward and 
Elmer, ••• five, Julius, etc. 

14, of, - at. 

41, WA, - E%. 

11, John C, ■■ George. 

20, Milion S., - W. 

30, 560 acres, - 462. 

3, Brotber-in-law, ■•■ brother. 

24, Three, — two; and to the next line 
add, "Mrs. John Barnes of Pow- 
hatan." 
33 Fanny, — Catherine. 
6. two, •■• a few. 
40, Oregon, — Washington. 

1, Name of'C. L. Fliut, '90-91." should 

follow A. Hudek, on the prev- 
ious page. 

14, W. S. Cox, ••• Leonard Sease; latter 

was his deputy. 
38, W. S. Cox, ••• Leonard Sease, 
6, Jessie A. in 1899 married Gdo. Rollin 
Schryver, — May, etc. 

8, May, a teacher, — Jessie R. 
3 Christian F., •■■ Charles. 

48, 18th U. S., - 111. 
34, Chavis, - Clavis 

23, Potter, '93, 1901; - '93—1901. 

32, Edwin, — Edward. 

2, 1903, - 1902. 

13 & 18, Edwin, - Edward. 
46, Brete C, ™ Burt. 

31, The, - then. 

46, Richards '82, - '83. 
13. 1903, - 1902. 

15, John F., - William J. 

9. Iowa "had", ■■■ has. 
13, 1881, - 1880. 

38, Tnese varieties of apple trees, — the 

varieties of apples. 
36. Have, — has. 

2, to, — in. 
22, Colleges, — college. 

9, Country, — county. 
28, Wrested, ■•■ wrestled. 

16, b, 1876, - 1873. 

17 & 22, Terrll. - Terrell. 

24, Insert "at" after "were." 
38, Pulaski, - 'Ptuaskl. 

16, R. R. Jim, •• Tim. 
27, Votlucka, - Volutka. 
46, 1877, - 1875. 

4, add "Carl A. and Wilhelmina are 

at home," 







^^p^^&M^T. ^St 



^rir 1 



A REPRESENTATIVE HOME, 16x24, OF A PIONEER FARMER. 
Built by George Sanborn in 1870, on Sec. 34, Cedar Township. 



(879) 



880 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



INDEX. 



An alphabetical list of the portraits and other engravings will be found 
at the beginning of the volume. 

The hyphen "-, " placed between numbers in this Index, should be read, 
"and;" but in the previous part of this volume, it should be read, "to." 



Abbott, John & William 361 

Abe, the War Eagle, 728 

Adams, A. M., 224 

" C. W. Dr., 770 

" John H 733 4,793-4-5-6 

M.C 755 

" Walter S , 397 

Agricultural College, State, 64, 86 

" Resources 79 

" Society 98, 386 

Ainslee, Geo. Rev 489 

Albright, A. G 485 

John 486 

Alchon, C. F 733-4 

Aldrich, Chas 98 

Alexander, Chas. A 368, 378, 434 

Algonquins 21 

Allen, Benjamin E. 771, 315, 756-9; 
Benjamin L., 872, 749, 756, 760; 
Allen Bros., Bankers, 761, 863; 
Byron J , 773, 209, 456, 751; Charles 
S., 772, 749, 757; Daniel J., 771, 756; 
Joseph H., 773, 457, 863. 

Allison, J. E 793 

Amendment, Prohibitory 302. 872 

" to State Constitution, Elec- 
tions, Grand Jury, County Attor- 
ney. Roads 304 

Ames, E. R. Dr 480 

Anderson, August, 341; Elijah, 397; 
Peter, 339, 341, 350. 

Andrews, Charles E 821 

Apples raised 296, 866 

Apple trees, see Horticulture. 

Arbor day 311, 313 

Argall, Samuel Capt 118 

Argus, TheRolfe 506 

Armstrong, David 83 

Artman, Charles Rev 497 

Aschenbrenner, Geo 749, 767 

Aspholm, Eric 686 

Asvlum, County 315, 603 

Atkinson, Charles, D , 775. 457, 852; 
William F , 774. 205, 212, 314, 502, 
681-2-3, 749, 751-2, 878: 
Attorneys, County, 209, 212-3, 862; 
District, 210. 

Auditors. County 202, 212, 862 

Austin, H.O .... ....749,760 



Backstrom. Peter E 550 

Baker, Alfred, 483-4; Amos, 787; 

Charles, W., 789; Philip E., 749; 

Thomas, 561; Wm. H., 694. 

Bailey, D. J.362; John W., 816 

Baird, John A 485 

Ballot, Australian adopted 318 

Baptist Churches 864 

Barber, E. R 790 

Bardue, John 750 

Barker, Alexander 484-5; John 566 

Barlow, C. F 694, 697-8 

Barnes, Geo. W. Rev., 519, 694, 704; 

Hattie,454; H.,487; Jeremiah, 737; 

John, 694, 703, 856; John M., 704, 

863; John N., 572, 592; Richard, 

562-3; William L., 703. 

Barlow, C F 694 

Barnett, John, 536, 539, 558; Joseph, 

539; Thomas, 300. 
Barron, Marv E., 478, 205, 305, 457-8; 

Port C, 465, 271. 304, 456, 462, 853. 

Barthel, O. H. Dr 456 

Bartok, John 639 

Bartosh, John, Matias and Wencel, 841 

Bash & Bourett 737 

Beam, C, H , 485, 509, 699, 708, 853; F. 

N. Dr., 769; W. O. Dr., 708; W\ W. 

Dr., 508, 209, 212, 296, 490, 494, 851. 

Beams, D. M. Rev 496 

Beard, Edward L 375, 391 9 

Beardsley, L. D 201, 751, 760, 770 

Beaver Creek. 570 

Beavers 276 

Beebe, L. M 483, 491 

Beers, Francis E Capt., 631, 307, 621 2- 

3-4; Frank: and Martha, 795; 

Lvman, 625, 637; Percy M., 637, 

625. 862; Ralph W., 637. 

Bees 276,865 

Behrendsen, George. 816, 483; Mrs., 845 
Behrens, Frederic W.. 350; Henry B., 

350, 339; Herbert W., 350, 336, 339. 

Belden, John A 572, 593 

Belknap. Isaac F 197, 561, 565 

Bell, William 341, 294, 335, 339 

Belt, A. L, Dr 623,861-2 

Bellville Township, 335, 195; County 

Officers, 356; Creamery, 341; Em- 



INDEX. 881 

manuel German Church, 339; First Bourett, Henry 734, 737 

Birth and Death, 339; Indians in, Bovee, Cassius J., 775, 682, 756, 760, 

134; Lone Rock, 149; Palmer, 356; 770; C, 0., 733-4; William F., 681-2, 

R. R. Lands, 244. Bowen, John C. Rev 519, 704, 878 

Bendixen, Charles B. and Erasmus, Boyd, Daniel N., 536, 540; James, 666; 

627; Peter H., 626, 483, 621. SimonP.,540,374, 536, 878; William, 

Beneke, Diederick, 641, 336, 639; 654; William L. & E. C, 737. 

Rudolph, 345, 336, 339. Boyeson, Boy E 733, 737 

Benuett, James, 336, 339, 341; Pelatiah Bradley, William G., 209, 297, 455, 461, 

F., 252, 361. 465. 

Beushoof, Louis 536 Bradshaw, Zenas C, 401, 361, 372, 396- 

Benson, J. Z 490 8, 852. 

Bentley, D. W , 681; Joseph, 683; J. M., Breitenbach, Joseph, 661, 206, 212, 654- 

458; William D., 682. 5-7-8, 671. 

Berry, J. M 852; William A 339 Brennan, J. F. Rev., 374, 573, Thomas, 

Beswick, Robert F., 399, 366, 391-2, 397. 654. 

Bible in the Public bchool, 103; County Bridges, First, 165, 187, 217; Commis- 

Society, 503; Fonda Society, 579. sioner to locate, 287; inspected, 

Bigglestone, Noer E 770 217; iron, 279. 

Bnlman, Jacob 750-1; 770 Bridges, William F., 403, 368, 376; 

Birds, Native. 278 William H., 404, 376. 

Bisohofi, Charles A 537, 539 Brieholz, William 536-7 

Bishop, Da vid J 2 H), 560-1, 565 Bright, W. F .487, 490-1 

BisseU, Hiram W., 466, 137, 208, 212, Briukman, David 454-5,467 

455, 461, 862. Bristow, E. J. Rev 757 

Bivans, L. S 336,339 Broad well, John W 561,751 

Bjorklund, Charles J 681, 683 Brockett, William 684 

Blackbirds 266 Brockshink, Caspar H., 161, 620, 650-2 

Blackhawk War, 23; Purchase. 58. Broderick, Michael 157, 160 

Blair, John I .248, 250 365 Brodsky, Louis, 694, 697-8, 704; Frank 

Blake, D. C 853 J., 697,699. 

Blanchard, Albert, 721; Bros., 699; J. Broleen, A. M., Rev 538 

H , 694. Brookside Creamery 296 

Blanden, Col , 294; Stock Farm, 356; C. Brower, Geo. L., 401, 366, 368, 391; 

G. and L., 341. Henry H., 749, 750-1; Jeremiah, 

Blind, College for 89 757; John J., 572; Joseph, 757. 

Blizzard, Harry A 816, 397 Bromley, Owen 561 

Blizzards, The 266 Brown, Alphonso O., 397; Anna E., 

Blockades 269 368,849, 857; Archibald, 654, 662; 

Blomberg, Andrew G, 681-2; Charles Benjamin, 749; C. E, 601-2; David 

J. ,683, 686; John, 683. W., 662, 655, 658; Edwin V., 654, 

Blomgren, Axel 681 662; Eiisha C, 205, 212, 404, 562, 

Blooming Prairie P. 285, 317 565; E. L., 484; Ethan, 654; F. E., 

Bloomstrand, N. A. Rev 539 756; Fred, 455, 6<V4, 750; Geo. W., 

Bloudel, Joseph 738 750; Hank, 180; Henry A., 654, 662; 

Boekenoogen, C. F 327, 733 Jacob, 694, 697, 711; James E., 405; 

Bofcjue, B. F 694 John, 662; John M., 662, 209, 212, 

Bohemians, the 454, 864 654-5-6-7; M. C, 485-6. 491; Nathan 

Bohn, B C 788 L., 253, 455; Orlando O., 253, 404; 

Bollard, Joseph B., 841, 366-8, 387, 395; Orville V., 654, 662. 

Richard D., 468, 205, 212, 552, 456; Brownell, Niles L., 537, 541; Rav C, 

Fred, 863. 541, 201, 536-7; Thomas J., 541. 

Bond, F. Hamilton 396, 419, 852 Brownlee, William, 345, 134, 201, 204, 

Boog, Charles G. & Frank W , 639; 212, 336, 339, 356, 397, 502; Mrs.,338. 

James W., 639, 340-1; John W,, Brubaker, I. C 484 

341,639. Bruce, James J., 509, 10, 200 3-7, 212, 

Booth, Samuel 694, 697 283 6, 483-7, 490-6,502-7, 561-2-5. 656- 

Boteen, Gustave 827 7-8, 673, 847, 856-7-8; James, Jr., 

Bothwell, Geo. W. Dr 400 852; Marion, 487, 511; Robert, 485- 

Bott, William, 399, 201, 248, 361-2, 368 6, 511. 

Boulders, 148; Hunter's & Lone Rock, Bruett, H. L 770 

149; Pilot Rock, 151. Bruns, Fred 339 

Bounty, Gopher, 265, 871; Wolf, 199, Bryan, O. S. Rev 371, 497 

218, 273. Bryant, 0. A... .. t » 205, 



882 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

Buck, Horace E ..,..788-9, 790, 862 Carson, James W 733-4-5-7, 789 

Buckner, John 572, 627, 679 Carstens, Gerhard B., 664, 654 6-8; 

Buckwalter, Roy 751 Jacob, 663; John H., 654-5-6, 664. 

Budolfson, B. O, 862; J. A 562 Carter, Henry C, 638; T. S. Rev., 497. 

Buell, Henry 682 Cartridge, John 362,406 

Buffalo Chase, 220; Wallows 221 Cartwright, J. W 750 

Bull, Andrew 625-6 Caswell, Albert A., 749; W. E., 756 8; 

Bump, F. O. Rev 486,502 760. 

Bunch, A. A„ 681; A. L H81-2 Catholic Churches 864 

Bunton, Geo. H 756-7, 761, 770 Cattle, 865; Fat, Charlton, 463; Fuchs, 

Burdick, Algernon F., 593, 43, 46, 572, 316, 417; Shannon Bros., 463; Fine, 

590; F. T., 796; Newman H. Rev., Brodsky, 704; Blanden, 357; Lind, 

498. 568. 

Burgeson, Abraham.. 336, 341 Cavanaugh, William 626 

Buck, Edward 760 Cedar Township, 360, 195, 252; Ceme- 

Burkhalter, H. C., 455, 458, Milton E., tery, 367; County officers, 452; 

456, 458. > first death, wedding, 451; first 

Burlington, James... 617 school- house, 867; Fonda, 250, 364; 

Burnip, Robert, Rev .757 Pioneers, Sketches of, 399; R. R. 

Burns, Michael.. 451, 341 lands, 249; Schools, 362. 

Bursori, Abram, 366-8, 816; John. ...816 Cedarstrom, Rudolf F 542, 538, 596 

Busby, Eben J., 362; Jean, 402; William Cedarville Herald .' 251,287 

J;, 402, 361-6-8, 387. Census takers in 1870, 291; in 1880, 292; 

Busbytown 365 in 1890, 314; in 1900, 862. 

Bush, Geo., 397, 432; J. M., 483-4; Wil- Center township, 452; County officers, 

liam P., 253-4. 465; First Sunday School, 465; 

Buswell, William G 361 officers, 457; Pioneers, Sketches of, 

Butler, Stephen Rev., 374. 573, 625, 665; Pocahontas, 456; R. R. lands, 

660; Joseph, 659; W. S., 561. 244; Schools, 455. 

Butcher, M. K........ 790 Chalberge, Edward.. 821 

Butter, process 765 Chalk beds 75 

Buxbom. E..... 486, 499 Challand, 483, 818; T. D 486 

Byrne, Michael, 252, 361-2,405;Thomas, Chamberlain, John 681 

602, 607; Wm. M., 458, 817. Chamberlin, Orlando E. & Percius 



e 



li., 593. 
Chambers, John, 62, 681; H. C, 757, 



Cabinet officers from Iowa 110 _. ,b . 9 ; R, V 48 w 

Cady, Alonzo. 336,339 342 Chandler, L. W... 



Cain, E. K., 336, 340, 351, 64u; Chris, 



Chapin, J. B 536 



622: ' ' Chapman, Baxter S.. 819; Harriet C, 

Calhoun, James T., 471, 694-7-8-9, 700 %> 3 4; Joseph, 818, 254, 792, 866; 

Calligan, Edward M., 159, 654 5-6, 663; _. M^ry l^, 75b, 814. 

John, 157, 650 3, 660-2; Maggie 247 Charlton Charles A., 51 ^ 205 212, 

653, 663, 878; Patrick, 159, 247. 650; f$ ^se, 512; James H., 512, 463, 

Thomas J., 201, 621-5. 656-7, 663. ,,. 4b7 '*Tk .„„ - Qr1 „. 

Campbell, Alexander & Warfield, 699; Chase, Elijah 433, 252, 361, 789 

Charles J., 560; James H., 207, 212 fhatneld. -Richard 560 

48-8, 847-9; John, 703; Willia-n E. Cheese Factory, Plover 865 



511. 621-3, 845. 



Childs, L. E 624 



Cannon, P. J 484 Ch.ngren, Ernest J. 398, 62 

Carey, James C, 654-5-6, 663; John, Chinn Fred C., ,20; Walter E 711 

Lawrence, Matthew & William, Christian Chu rches .... . . . . 864 

576 ' Christeson, Eric O., 607; Ole E., 601- 

Carleton Samuel M 817 7 * ^^> &18. 

Carlson, Andrew, 341;' C ' F.', ' 749;" Carl Christmas, Carrie & John . . 336 340 

J..513;C.N.,692;John, 535; P. F., Chr £ t0 ^ r 9 S 3 ' K H, » 656; J ° hn ' 654; 

Carne^I.E' Dr." 863 ChristopiWson, O. C .300, 455 

Carpenter, C. C, 30, 138, 185; John D., Churches in Iowa, 104, 292; in Poca- 

406, 368, 397; Roy O, 406. hontas County, 864. 

Carroll, Joseph M. Dr., 776, 208, 212, Circuit, Court, 197, 210, 247; Rider, 373 

749, 751, 769, 852-3; P. J. Rev., 373; Civilization, American. 18 

Patrick H., 863. Clampitt, Geo. W 574-5 



INDEX. 



883 



Clancy, Charles F., 542; James, 502,542; 
John W., 536; Maurice, 350. 

Clanton, Stephen 788 

Clark, E. B., 361; James, 62; John F., 
207, 212, 573, 697, 947-9; Jonathan 
L., 733, 790-4; E. B.. 361; Sarah A., 
818! Thomas P., 733; W. S. 398. 

Clarke, Arthur F 793-5, 805 

Clason, Joseph, 512, 209, 482 3.4, 497; 
William, 560. 

Clay 74 

Clerks of District Court, 202, 212, 862 

Climate 77 

Clingman, L. , 682 

Clinton, C. A., 771, 789, 790; Farm, 808 
Clintou Township, 481; Assessment 
in 1870, 533; Cemetery, 488; County 
officers, 490; early school district, 
561; incidents, 489; officers, 483; 
Pioneers, sketches of, 508; post- 
offices, 507; R. R. aid elections, 488; 
schools &. officers, 484; Name 
changed to Garfield, 844. 

Closson, A. C 571-2 

Clute, Samuel 483 

Coal famine, 270; fields in Iowa, 71; 

Chart of, 150. 
Coffin, Marcellus W., 820, 487, 490, 506; 
F'. M., 623, 697; Lem C , 820; Percy 
O , 820, 700. 
Cole, T. S. Rev., 497; Jesse, 757; J. S., 

789, 793-4. 
Coleman, James H., 572, 368; Michael 

G.,820, 368, 392-8. 
Colfax Township, 534, 195; County 
officers, 558; creamery, churches, 
schools, 537; R. R. lands, 244; sod 
houses, 558; sub-district, 362. 
Collins, Annie, 247, 653; C. H., 789, 
790-2-3-4; Hugh. 665, 156 9, 650; 
John, 671; Joseph, 624; Michael, 
664, 156, 196-9, 200-2-3-7, 650-3-6, 
846, 878; Michael T„ 665, 159, 201, 
656-7; Patrick, 665, 167; Roger, 666, 
159, 650-6-8; William J„ 665, 659, 
678. 

Collins Grove 159, 649 

Commercial facilities 80 

Condon, Annie, 338, 660; Ellen, 657; 
Kate, 455; James, 650; John, 670. 

Conley, John 712 

Connelly, F. C 625 

Connor, See O'Connor. 

Connor, J. P 862 

Connors, Dennis, 160, 650-6; Michael, 
666. 

Conroy, Frank M 406, 398 

Converse, Charles C, 197, 563-5-8; Roy 
C, 863. 

Convy, George ' 536 

Cook, Aaron, 621-2; D. W., 682; James, 
621; John, 749, 750-1. 

Cool, E. C, 757; E. G 756, 760 

Coons, C. W. Rev 736, 794 



Cooper, Beriah, 566, 500; Henry, 566, 
215, 560-1-2; Thomas E., 561-6. 

Coopertown 566 

Core, Geo. W 513, 485 

Corn, 309, 315,791,865; used for fuel, 294 

Corner Markers 735 

Cornick, D. D 694 

Coroners ,.;... 208, 212 

Cottrell, W. D .749, 751, 767 

Counselman Grain Co 458, 699, 737 

County Farm . 315, 603 

County, First diyision of, 193; order 
for organization, 196; indebted- 
ness, 282; Map of, 204; Officers, 212, 
862; Supervisors, 198; printing, 187, 
214; Survey, 138; Bible Society, 503; 
Bar association, 852; Farmer's 
Mutual Ins, Co., 502; Medical 
Ass 'n, 851; Press Ass'n, 853; Sun- 
day School Ass'n, 854; Temperance 
Alliance, 858. 
County Seat, 165, 185; relocated, 196, 
279, 870. 

Coustawa ; . . . . 129 

Coville, A. M. ....733-4 

Cox, Willett S., 803, 735, 795-6, 809, 878; 
Chauncey, 700, 796. 

Coxey's Army 326 

Coykendall, Fred 555 

Coyle, Jacob 580 

Crahan. Michael, 513, 666, 205, 212, 391- 
7, 455, 485-7, 505-6, 490, 586, 656-7 8, 
878; John, Patrick, Thomas, 666. 

Craft, Geo. G 397 

Craig, Almaren F., 684, 682; Wilbur 
E., 684, 682, 790. 

Cranes 277 

Creamery, First, Brookside 297 

Creed, A. W 252, 361, 419 

Criminal Conviction, first 315 

Crone, R. B 368 

Crooks, C. H 371 

Crops, good, 295, 308, 310, 315, 333. 865 

Crowder. W. E 756, 760, 770 

Crowell, John, 621; Thomas, 167, 650 

Crum, J K 681 

Crummer, John A., 607, 206, 212, 601- 
2-3-4, 862, 878; John. Rev.. 604-7; 
Lem O., 708, 602; Wellington, 607 

Cuff, James 486 

Cullen, John J 208 

Cundy, Solomon. 458, 770 

Curkeet, William J „448, 598, 601 

Curtis, F. J 206, 361, 457 

Custer, Gen.. : 42 

Cuthbert, A. R. Rev., 700; T. J. Rev., 

496, 794, 855. 
Cyclones 319, 353 

D 

Dady, D. B 455 

Dahl, John 737 

Dairy Products .....865 



884 PIONEER HIS TORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

Dakin, John 196 667. 

Dalton, John F... 668 Donnelly, Denny, 621; Michael, 622 

Daniels, Emmet A 627, 621-3 Dooley, John, 642, 639, 640-1; Joseph 

Darcy, Matthew Rev 459, 660 J., Micbael J., Patrick, 642-3 

Darling, Sarah J., 254; Charles S., 375; Dorton, Geo. M., 408, 288, 361-2 3-6; 

E. S., 490; James, 374. Henry, 681; 4u8, 398. 

Darnell. Alfred 760 Doty, Emory M., 681; Henry -M., 822. 

Dart, Amos W 407, 361-2, 372 Dover Township, 571, 195; Catholic 

Dash, L. A 486 church, 373, 573; county officers, 

Daubenberger, H. A 397 573; Cemeteries, Creamery, 573; 

Davenport Home 95 Varina, 573; Pioneer Citizens, 576. 

Davidson, I. P., 626 T., 749 Dougherty, James W., 457, 579; 

Davis, Arthur W., 408, 207, 213, 368, Joseph, 704. 

847-9, 852; Daniel, 737, 756-7-8, 760- Dower, Thos. J. Dr., 822, 398, 457, 852 

9; Homer A., 760. Doxsee, A. R., 483 4-6 C. J.. 491 

Day, D. D., 487, 490, 706; Geo. W., 706, Doyle, Terrence, 643, 202, 440-1, 862; 

699, 853, 862. John, 536; Michael M., Mrs., 397 

Deacon, John 820 Dozycimski, Nicholas 644 

Deaf, school for 168, 93, 99 Drainage.Commissioners. 209; district 

Dean. Thomas L., 820, 206, 316, 337, No. 1, 3u6; No. 2, 307; of county, 

639, 640-1; George L., 640; Levi, 305. 

770; W. S., 561. Drecssen, C. J 757, 789 

Declamatory Contests 329, 848 Drift, Bouldeis 148. 155 

Deer 277, 603 Droughts 308, 319, 326-7 

DeGraff , Abram F 434,398 Drown, RoswelJ, 570, 560; James, 694; 

Deitrick, F. B 370 Wm H., 570, 749, 751. 

DeKlotz, Frank 749, 750-1, 761 Dubbert, Fred ...778, 749, 751 

Demaray, Theron G., 803, 789, 793-4 5 6 Dubuque Grant, 49 Treaty 48 

Democratic Convention, first, 297; Dubuque & Pacific R. R 243-9 

party organized, 307, 330. Dubuque & Sioux City R. R 248 

Denend, A. J.. 487 Ducks, wild 277 

Denman, Rebecca 584 Duer, C. E 788 

Dennis, Ross, 821, 486, 809; C. H., 863 Dunkards 683 

Des Moines Bridge Contract 187 Dunn, Alexander, 408, 361, 381; Edward 

Des Moines Township. 559, 184, 193; d., 621-3; Theodore, 361-6, 535-6-7 

county officers, 565; families in Duty, Geo. H. Rey., 498-9, 514, 625, 700, 

1880, 565; schools and officers, 560, 857. 

services, 565, 855; Civil war volun- Dwiggans, Wm. R 749, 770 

teers, 562; R. R. lands, 245; old 

Kolfe, 201, 281, 563. E 
Detwiller, Alex & William G., 821; 

John, 821, 322-3. Eaton, Harvey, 409, 572; Amos, 409. 

DeWitt, Walker 368 826; F. E Rev., 701; L. M., 789, 

DeWolf, Merton E., 727, 330, 748, 752, 790-3 4; William H., 410, 572. 

760, 862; & Wells, 754, 770; Frank Eberle, Thomas 823,682 

C, 723, 694-7. Edelman, James A 180, 209, 560 

Dexter, Crolis 737 Edgar, David W. Dr., 410, 296, 307, 366- 

Dickerson, Geo., 8il John, 796 7-8,852. 

Dickey, A. E., 562 James, 789, 792 Edgington, C. W 625-6 

Dickinson, Geo., 621; G. W., 490; Wm. Edmundson, J. M., 749 E. P , 789 

B., 336-8 9, 342. Education 101,846 

Diesen, William. 793, 795 Eggspuehler, Albert J., 706, 471, 694- 

Dilmuth, Fred....--" 600,613 8,700. 

Dinsmore, Prank L 209, 691 Ehline, Albert 398. 826 

District Court '. 210, 246 Eichler, John 573-8 

Divish, John 454 Election Contests 198, 206, 729 

Dodge, W. J. Rev 602 Elections, History of, 861; special for 

Doe, Albertus 520 railroads, 299, 300, 622, 640. 

Doeringsfield, Wm 621 Elk 276, 603 

Dolliver, J. P 333, 862 Elliott, H. M. Rev., 378; Uriah, 621-8; 

Donahoe, E. A., 789, 790-3-4; James, William A 3lfi 397 fi03 

163, 667, 650; John, 667, 654; J, J„ TO William A., 6lb, 6W, Wd. 

623; Peter, 734; Peter M., 164, 656; Elsasser, John 577 

Rose Ann, 163. 247, 653; Thomas, Elsen, Carl B., 628; Charles B., 628, 



INDEX. 



885 



202, 503, 621-3 5, 862; Gerd, 628,' 315, 

621; Henry, 628, 336. 

Embree, Asa F 639, 733 

Emery, S. A 491, 849 

Enfield, J. C 209 

England, Llewellyn E. .. .514, 623, 853 
Englert, (English), Joseph H. & 

Charles, 577, 878 

Eno, J. H 733-4 

Enright, Patrick, 351, 336; James, 

John, 351; Thomas, 351-3. 
Eral, John, 468. 454; James W., 468, 

455 6; Frank R., 469; Martin, 469, 

639; Joseph L., 469, 841. 
Erickson, Aaron, 342; sisters, 755, 770 

Erne, Bonefacius 453, 469, 598 

Erret, C. W 770 

Eskimos 20 

Evangelical Church 864 

Evans, Hiram, 215, 562: Eugene, 411, 

362; Orange C, 411, 361; Elmer, 

William, 398, 411. 

P 

Fagan, P. E 771 

Fair, Big Four District 315. 386 

Fairburn, George, 411, 248, 366 8, 370 4, 
396; Edward H., 414, 396; Frank 
A., 414, 852. 

Fairman, C A 750 

Fancher, Ruf us Rev 496 

Fargo, E. G . 315, 622-3, 845 

Farm, barns of state, 72; County, 315; 
Blanden, 356; Charlton, 463; Clint- 
on, 808; machinery, 295; Thornton, 
Grune & Co., 680; Farms in 
County, 865. 

Farmers' Alliance 313, 597 

Farrell, Francis 588 

Farson, John H. Dr 778, 749, 756 

Faus, O. H. P. Rev 372 

Fegles, William S., 209, 215, 248, 294, 
561-3. 

Fells, Joseph 535 6 

Ferguson, C. S., 458; Duncan, 514. 586; 
Ward, 515, 487, 5o5; T. E., 455. 

Ferrand, Seymour 675 

Ferron, DeEtta 368 

Fessenden, Bradley M . . .706, 856, 

Fiftieth Anniversary 9 

Finnicum, William 406 

Finch, Parley .211, 862 

First. Apples, 296; Arbor day, 311; 
brickyard, 192; cheese factory, 302; 
children born, 247; court session, 
198, 246; at Pocahontas, 280; death, 
247; d*eri, 160; flag day.313; gradu- 
ates, 848; iron bridges, 279; jurors, 
191; marriage, 247; naturalization 
paper, 174; newspaper, 214, 248; 
pile driver, 279; printing of super- 
visors' proceedings, 287; public 
roads, 192-9; railroad, 248, 254; 



sawmill, 192; schoolhouse, 192; tax 
sale, 215; telephone, 308. 
Fish, A. E., 789, 792; rtomeyn B., 515, 

200, 561-5, 
Fisher, Lot, 566, 561, 878; I. F., 561; M. 

L., 83; Thomas, 567. 
Fitch, C. B , 623-6; Fred W., Samuel, 
823; Geo. H„ 823, 367-8, 392; Bros., 
397. 
Fitzgerald, Daniel (Dover Twp.), 578; 
Daniel (Lizard Twp.), 654; Francis 
F., 643, 639, 640; John, 578; John 
D., 574-8; John T., 572-8; Henry, 
697-9, 700; Patrick, 597; Thomas 
P., 578; William, 578, 43, 201, 316, 
572-3. 

Fix, Hugo, George & John 579 

Flaherty, William 458 

Flickinger', Robert E. Rev., 374-9, 499, 

573-5, 700, 857 8; Mrs , 377. 
Flint, C E , 361; Charles L , 733 4, 789, 
790 2; C. W. Rev., 458, 460, 641; 
Geo. W., William P., 823; W. H. 
Rev., 372; Silas, 253, 

Flowing wells 154 

Flynn, F. M 487, 490 

Foland, Lewis M 788, 795 

Fonda, 250, 364; in 1900, 396; agents, 
370; creamery, 296, 310, 317, 390; 
churches, 371; fair, 315, 386; free 
mail delivery, 317; fire depart- 
ment, 385; fraternal societies, 383; 
Gazette, 296; G. A. R. Post, 380; 
I. O. G. T., 381; Review, 328; 
Times, 251, 281-6, 304, 394, 853; 
officers, 361; postmasters, 371; 
Schools, 367; shipments, 310; Town 
Lot Co., 365; Public School Build- 
ing, 861. 
Forbes, Hugh W. Rev., 824; John, 824, 

367-8, 392-7. 
Ford, Walter, 159, 668, 188, 200. 650-6, 
667; John F., 668; Walter P., 656, 
668. 
Forey, Patrick, 165, 191-6, 483, 620, 650- 
3-6; Edward F., 621, 640. 

Forsburg, O. A 681 

Fort Dodge 27, 127. 240, 637 

Foster, B. B., 852; & Graves, W.A.,457 

Fosburg, D, H 794 

Fossum, N. C 608, 597-8 

Fouch. Daniel' 824, 487; Richard, 
483, 506. 

Foust, Robert 770 

Fox, Emorv R 575. 593 

Fraser, John, 706, 386. 504, 697, 854-7; 
Charles E . 707. 483 6, 495; John T., 
Wm. J., 707; Wm. J., Rev., 701. 

Freelove, A. L 457 

Freeman, F. E., 458; John, 483; W. 

J., 750. 
Fritz, (C. M.), & Fritz, (S. B.), 457-8 
Froid, A. F 339 



886 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Frontier Soldiers 43 1902, 625; R. F. D. , 626, 797. 

Frontispiece, log & sod nouses ex- Gilson, j. William, 418, 572; Albert, 
plained, 228. Everett L , 398, 418. 

Frost, Roberts, 779. 561. 750 1-2, 760; Gish v Si,- ..... . ' 484 

Daniel P. , 694 5 7, 7u3 Glacial period " " * 151 

Fruit trees, 272, 865; Saylor, 647; Glass, R. C. Rev 497 

Kintzley, 687; Tnompson, 591; Goats, angora 705 

Williams, 312, 799 Gom bar, Fred M 579 

Fuchs, Joseph, 417, 316, 388; Louis, Gorman, James '..167,668 

417,362,395 Goodchild, Geo., 708, 794; Henry, 708, 

Fulcomer, Henry, 697-8; Thomas, 694 789; Wm. A., 7U8, 694, 790 

Fuller, E.C., 694 7; Geo., 697; Maud, Gophers 264 871 

368; O. B., 486. Gottfried, Geo. H 418,362 

Furness, J. W 681 2, 760 Governors of Iowa 110 

Gowrie & Northwestern R. R 756 

to Graduates 311, 848 

Gad, Axel '. 683 4 Gratton, Peter 602 

Gadaw, William 342 Grant, Cyprian A., 516, 486 7, 495; 

Gallaher, P. Dr 769 ^ John T., 517; Richard- C, 455. 

Game, wild, 276,752; crane, 277; deer, Grant Township, 595, 195; churches, 
277, 603; clucks, 277; Elk, 276 603; 602; county officers, 603; early 

Geese, 277, 603; muskrats, 275. 697. teachers, 598; Republican, 603; 

Gammon; G. H 749 „ R - glands, 244. 

Gandertown 729 Grass - Wlld 225 > 327 

Gardner, J. J. Rev 372 Grassnoppers 255,597 

Garfield township 844 Graves, W. A 457 

Garlock, Abram O. , 415,202,212, 252, Gray. John W., 361-6-8, 370-1; Lyman 
283, 3612, 455 7, 493 5; Aggie, 311, ^ O. Rev,, 489, 497-8. 
648; Ephraim, 414, 252; Levi! Greene, Ruf us, 685, 572, 680, 848; J. R., 
415, 623; William E., 415, 252. „ .J 49 - T 

Garlock Postoffice- • •'• 749 Griffin, James, 824; John A. Rev., 608, 

Garrahan, Peier 164 596 8, 60I 2; J ohn P. , 572-3; Robert 

Garrison, Charles F 521, 486, 878 _ .S;> 36 i' fi 9 ' 

Garton, William H, Clifford R, 579; Griffith, B. 1 733-4 

John , 829 Grindstone War 28 

Garver, R. C.' 768, 853 Grote, Benjamin 572 

Garvey,John 579 Grove, S. T. Rev., 459; E. S., 795; W. 

Gaylor, John 215, 262 3 „ A -> 4 , 85 7 < 491 - 

Gearhart, Geo. W 361, 536 Grove planting 235, 273, 294 

Geddes, Alexander.... 708, 336 9, 694 9 Groves, School, Bellville, 338; Sher- 

Gegenheimer, C. F 789, 790 ~ man, 734. 

Gehrig, see Gerrick. Grout, E. L 759 

Geological formation 146 Growth, Material, 865; Religious, 864; 

Gerhart, W. F 458 „ £^-?& -J 303 - 

German Church, Beliville T 339 Gruble, Charles 486 

Gerrick, (Gehrig), Edmund, Emmanuel Grund, Julius 681-5 

Nicholas, 579. Guernsey, A ..6213 

Gezy, John & Joseph H 842 Gunderson, Charles L., 521, 455 6; G. 

Gibbons, Edward 697,700,711 _ B., 455. 

Gifford, R. H. 562 Gustaison, August 681 

Gilbert, A. H 458 Gustasnn, J. F 536 

Gilchrist, Cleland, 742, 207, 213, 733 4- Guy, George 543 

5-7, 847-9; Fred C, 742. 2-tf, 212 3, Guyett, C. G 296, 418 

491, 737. 752, 847 9. 852, 862; James Gypsum beds 74 

C. 739 88, 733, 849; Norma L., 742, „ 

737, 862. H 

Gill Bros.. 797, A. L.. 626; C E, 491; „ n . _„- 

ChanesJ.. 805, 789, 790 3 4 5 7, 878; „ p' ^ usra ,y e -- g*> 

Osborne W., 805, 793 5 7; Samuel g a ^ er80 "' ?, ust ™ 4 

H.. 804, 336 9. 359, 789. 793-6, 802, SoSSfP' ivfi Via 'o«« V. SJ 

878; J. E, 486. Haffele, Fred 419, 366-8; 397 

«., ' „ ' „_, Hagan, James 336,341 

Gilmore, C. S 324 Hait) William H., 170, 161 9, 174, 185. 

Gilmore City, 623, 304; Globe, 853; in 191 9, 202-3-4-7, 212, 220, 247, 561 2 



INDEX. 887 

3-4-5. 685, 681; Fred K., 686, 682, 767; W 

Hakes Bros,. Montague & James B,, A. Dr , 458. 

763, 749, 754 5-6, 770; James R. ; 780, Hay, Albert, 251; John A., 200, 250, 

756; Montague, 779, 750 6, 775, 862; 278, 360-1, 371. 452; Harvey W., 

A. T., 790. 201 252, 361, 452. 

Hall, J. L., 485 6 L. D., 742 Hayden, Tuliius C 826 

Hallock, Charles H., 336 9, 623; D. B., Hayes, David H 749, 750 

342, 339, 621-3. Hazlett, William, 473, 209, 212, 803, 

Halstead, William.... 694 852, 862, 878. 

Halverson, W. 11 795-7 Head, S. B. Bev 498 

Ham, Henry 561-2 Heaid, Geo. A., 474, 456-7, 852, 862; 

Hamble, Philip. 806, 788-9, 790, 878; Geo. W., 518; John A.. 518. 200, 565 

William F., 806 : 790. Healy, William H., 420, 366, 371, 396 8, 

Hamerson, John Bev., 372 9,382, 614, 698, 852. 

734. Heathman, Frank E Dr., 711, 795-7, 

Hamtield, August 742. 735 852; Squire E., 710, 694, 722; Elmus 

Hammond, En ward, 517, 170, 202 5 9, H., 712, 697; Hiram, Hiram Jr.,. 

212, 223, 482 3, 504, 561. Arthur, caivin, George & Willis 

Haucner, Abel Hicks, 710, 697-8, 855; D., 711. 

Barney, 7u9, 693-7; Juhn H., 710, Heilmick, Henry 654,668 

487;NancyA ,7u9,693;Adelbert E , Henderson, George, 713, 697 8; Geo. 

Meivin P., 710. W„ 519, 211, 483, 490, 502, 844; 

Hanke, Albert, Frank 824,252 James, 712, 694 7, 878; J. G. Bev., 

Hanna, J. C. Bev 757 372; Peter R„ 687 8; William, 713, 

Hansell, W 561 863; William A., 361, 381. 

Hanson, Claus. 341; Lars II , 6 9 878; Henery, J. A 750 

Mrs., 606; Leonard E. 6 >9, 2 5, 212, Henricks, Henry 654. 668 

503, 6012 3, 862, 878; JSieia, 342, Herrick. Alpha, 780; Charles E.,' 780- 

335-9, Minnie, 356. 8 9, 681, 690, 750-1, 788, 790. 

Hard Times, early period, 225 294; in Hernngton, M. D., 697, 788 9, 790 2 3; 

1873-77, 261; in Lizard, 65,> j. c., 757; H. W.. 737. 

Harder, Park C 528, 482-4. 749, 75') Herrold, Hiram, 749, 751 8; Philip, 759 

Hark, A. T 788 Heisom, Wamuel T., 420, 362; Syi- 

Harlan, J. T 455 7 vanus, 420. 

Harp, A. S 578 Hewlett, Alfred, 862, 561; George, 567 

Harper, Samuel 790 Hickey, James 156,650 

Harrington, Jeremiah W 825,792 Higgins, J. W, Dr., 769, 852 3; W. 

Harris, Asa W.. 609, 601 2; CuuiMes, h., 770; Charles, 681. 

617; H. W., 484; Samu-i N. 170, Highland City 191,563 

191-6-7, 203, 212, 248, 5615; Bud- Higtiways& bridges 216 

enck, 560 2; W. B, 536; Wilbur Hild, Bhinehard Bev 757 

II., 793 5; Vernon W., 818, 397. Hil Strom, C. F 538 

Harrison, B. M 370 Hilton, Joseph D., 713, 694-7, 711; A. 

Harrold, John J., Thomas 639, 640 w., 737. 

Hartman, J. H 487 Himan, Aaron ....343,336 

Hartwell, Bachael. . . .252, 254, 362, 419 Hinckley, Geo. H 788, 792 

Harvey, C. J., 790 -3; L)., 789; Helen H inn Bros., W. & J. G., 764, 754; 

M., 170; Ora, 179, 199, 200-7, 482-3, George, 757; William, 757. 

561-2, 846. Hobbs, Clarence D 699, 710 

Hastings, E. M., 297, 455 6, 465; G. M. Hocking, Henry 626 

Bev., 372. Hodd, B 536 

Hatleld, Charles L 628,626 Hoefing, Dietrick, 668, 656; Fred, 654 

Hathaway. Gen. W. 419. 207, 212, 252, Hog cholera and treatment, 530; 

361, 452. 789, 790, 847-9; Geo. P. Hogs, 865 

Bev., 757. Hogan, Edward, 544, James H , 543, 

Hatton, JamesS 490,504,856 536; Michael A., 580, 202, 573, 862 

Hauck, Geo. O., Valentine, 825, 487, Hollenberk, J. J 561 

505. Holmes, John A 544,536 7 8 

Hauser, Jacob 580,573 4 ji | sen , E. B 458 



362, 375. Homesteaders, after the war, 234. 292, 

Hawley, Charles A., 686, 681-2; George, 560; in C>idar & Bellville, 292; in 



888 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOW. 

Lizard, 655. 65; Historical Society, 97; Library, 

Hood, James, 562 Richard, 536 97; institutions & buildings, 83; 

Hoover, Abram 639 Normal School, 88; Univftrsitv, 85; 

Hopkins, J. L 202,749, 750-1-2 "The beautiful land," 732. 

Hoppy, Christ 545. 293 Ireland, A. W 485 

Hornady, E. S 368, 371-8 Irish, iu Lizard township. 677 

Humor. Squire F 826,378 Iron, zinc, lead 73 

Horsman, Samuel L 789 

Horses 865 J 

Horticulture, Kintslev, 687: Saylor, T , . , nnr , nne oir> „ n , 

647; Thompson, 591; Williams Jack *™' ^ "J re J' 20 ?A 205 \ g?' a 69 f-T 
312 799 7 8 ' 7 2; Andrew (Grant) 597-8, 601- 

Horton, Ambrose A.. 434; Geo. W. 2; ^ £■> 623 ' Jose PU, ^ town- 

484, 562-4 5; R. A. 536, 541. , *nip, 693. 

Hough, C. H.. . 572 James, John A , 176 7, 1917, 212, 483, 

Hoy t, Frank E. ' Rev '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 625 , 56 -> 84 g- 

Hrooek, Frank, 471. 454 5, 639; Frank Jan ssen, Herman . . ■••••••• • • • 654 

E.,472, 456 7. 461; Anthony, 472, Jar ™> ^ T }^ s T W ' 52 '' 2 l% * rank ' 

455- John 472 451 794-6-7, 853; Levi, ttev., 757;Henry, 

Hovenden, J.' H. Dr 769, 852 j?»> 176-8, 196 205 212 561; Wil- 

Hubbard, Judge 246 iam ^ 17 ?' ^V 7 ?^ 1 ? 1 ' 209 ' 212) 

Hubbell, Alex F., 580, 375-9, 380, 571-2, , 4 y7 > 5b , 1_2 5 w - H > 7J(M - 

357 ' ' Jeffries, Geo 699 

Hubel,"Wenzel,470, 453 7; William A., Jenkins, H. L., 700; Lumber Co, 458 

471 453 456 694 Jenkins Hesla Lumber Co 737,796 

Hudek,' Anthony.. '743, 503, 733 4 7, Jensen, F. P 458; Henry, 486; Mat, 

841! Joseph, 743, 733. 75 ^ f- p > 487 ! Pe ter, Clarence, 

Hughes, Geo. E, 421, 388; Samuel, T , 567,561. 

421, 251; Jared, 780, 750 1 8; R. E , Johnson, Amon Rev 602 

853 Johnson, August, 545, 339, 535; Aloert, 

Hull, L. , 853; R. F., 593-9; Mrs. R. 550; Charles, 485-7; Bros., 755; 

X 397 Claus, 567, 202, 561 2 5, 862; Daniel, 

Hul B e,' E. S '. 789, 792 3 669, 654; Frank 'V ., 750; George T , 

Hungerford, F. H. Rev 756-7 S 1 ',, 749 ' l 5 Jl 5 " 6 - 7 ' *™ ); £ e ° r & e * 

Hunt, C. M., 456, 474; Daniel W., 520, S 11 ^' 5 , 57 v! G ^ ?'» 54 * ; G K l V? 

169 483 4- 560 H > 553-3; John, 531; Jonn A , 545, 

Hunter, C. E'., 601; D. A. Rev., 757; 553; Jonn B, 546; Job n H 669, 

Robert, 484. 490, 862; Jacksou, 625 2 "9> 212, 654-5-6-7; J. R., 361, 380, 

Huntley, L. E. Rev 378, 602 398; Julia A , 557; M. Sophie Dr., 

Hutchins, Charles 681-2, 750 ^ Peter, 486; btephen D , 781, 

756, 770. 

, Joliffe.John B., 713, 229, 694 7 8; James 
J.,' 714, 855. 

Ibson, Peter G. , 421, 250, 366; Edward, J° ne r, W. H. . . . •••••••••• • • • • • • • 4 56 7 

409 397 Jones, A B., 490; A. W. 397; C- S., 

immigration 2H J56; O K 691; ^Robert C, 733 4 

Iowa Palls & Sioux City It. R. ... 248 _ 7g 9; S. C, 458 853; S. G. Rev , 372 

111. Central R. R 248 Jonsnn, Anton, 681; Jonn, Peter 686 

lncasof Peru 19 Jordan, John E. 398 H. C, 621-4 

Indians, along the Lizard, 132-5, 651; Jorgenson, Frank E 486 

inBellvillp, 134; Battles, 25; Josepl^or 1, Charles 486 

Battle at Pilot creek, 125; uames, Judicial districts 210 

& relics, 131; mounds, 132; last Julius John 671,654 

hunt of, 223; Johnny Green tribe, K 

652;. Massacres, Spirit Lake, 31; 

Springfield, 33, 812; New Ulm, 166; Kalsow, Fred 654-5 

treaties, 26,48; last troubles 42; Karnes. John 669 

Inkpaduta, 29; Coustawa, 129. Karr, Warren 447 

Industrial School, for Blind, 91; for Kay. Emmet, 826, 383, 398; (Jlaude. 
Deaf, 92, 168. 826. 555 

Inman, Benjamin L 560-1-2 Keck, A. H 625 

Iowa, Capital, 62; Capitol, 14, 83, 112; Kearns, Patrick, 422, 365; Michael J., 
Early History of, 15, 56, 65; Ex- 422, 572. 

porimental Station, 87; growth of, Keeler, Aug. C. Rev., 498, 625; Engel 



INDEX". 



bert, Mrs 393 

Kees, John A. Rev., 469, 459, 795; 

Frank A. D. Rev., 470, 795 
Kelleher. John, D M., 423; Thos F. 

Dr., 423, 307, 366; Jas. J., 423, 862 

Keller, Horace, 626 

Kelley, Chas., 669, 157, 196, 650-3-5 6, 

680; Chas. J.. 669, 247, 653, 678; 

Henry-, 689, 658. 

Kelso w, Rudolph, 669 

Kelly. William...... 423 

Kemm^r, Peter 734 

Kennedy Bros , 397; John, 424, 362-8; 

Joseph, 423; Thumas L , 424, 367, 

388. 392; Chas., 625, 670; Win, 

2^3, 439; Wm. C, 522, 483 4-9, 503, 

844, 850-7. 
Kenning, f!has F., 669, 654; Fred J., 

670, 397, 411. 
Kent, John B., 523, 483 7, 490 3, 505 

Kephart, Jacob E., 253 

Kerr, Sam'l H., .524, 485, 495, 852 

Kester, G. L.,.: 751" 

JOzer, Chas., 346, 336-9, 795 

Kibble, Richard, 686, 681 

Kidd, Benjamin 355 

Kief, John W., (see O'Kiefe) 623 

Kmg, Frank, Dr., 485-7 

Kinkead, J. T 788 

Kinsey, Geo 714 

Kintzley, Wm. P 688 

Klingbeil, Gust. . . . .^ 669, 654 

Klow, John 461 

Knight, A. C ,. 366 

Kopriva, John 733" 

Kreul Bros , Christian F. and Henry 

A., 766, 781; C. F., 756-7, 760, 878; 

Bernard, 644, 458, 640; Geo. R ,781, 
: 457; J. B , 456; John, 644, 639, 640; 

Wm. H,639. 
Kruchten, (see Crookten), John, 542, 

536; John W., 542. 

Krug, C. C 749 

Kuhn & Schmidt 737 

L 

Labor Day 326 

Ladd,C 4 397 

Lahey, M 293, 458 

Lake. Township, 619; divided, 328: 

County officers, 625; churches, 625; 

Gilmore City, ' 623; schools, 622; 

pioneers, sketches of, 626. 
Lakes in Iowa, 69; in Pocahontas 

Countv, 142; dry in 1894, 326; 

Clear Lake. 142, 680; Lizard, 142; 

Muskrat, 142; Owl, 748; Swan, 747 

Lamb, B. M 573; J. 487, 573 

Lampe, John G., 351, -336; Henry B. 

and Frank, 352, 339; George, 352; 

John H. 640. 
Lamnman, Clark R.,*582, 572; Stephen 

P., 583, 572, 878. 
Land Grants, 81, 242, 299; to Agricult- 



ural College, 245; to public schools 
246; to other counties, 246. 

Land Offices 241 

Landon, T. JD - 770 

Lane, Daniel 656, Mrs., 676 

Lange, Louie E., 782, 202, 307, 749, 
750-2-6. 

Langer, Frank 472, 454 

Langworthy, Jas. L., 57; Lucius, 397; 

Oscar A., 425, 366. 
Larson, Anthony, 339, 862; Chris, 681; 
G . 336; Horace M., 610, 601; John, 
337-9, 341; L. Rev., 538; Torkel, 

609, 596. 601-2. 

Lathrop, M .483-7, 490, 561 

Laurens, 752; churches and officers, 
756; business enterprises, 760; fire 
of 1898, 754; G. A. R. Post, 759; 
schools, 758; Standard, 769; Sun. 
768, 853, P. O., 749; Township, 195 

Laurens, Henry and John 753 

Lawler, Wm 3H1 

Lawrence, C. B. Dr .209, 851 

Lawson , John 340 

Lead, Zinc 73 

Leuhy , Michael A 629, 621 

Learned, P. 285 

Leavitt, Wm. J 4-58 

Lee, John 483-7, 490 

Leece, Sam'l E. Dr 826, 366 

Legg, Frieb and Robt. M ; 614 

Lehane, Jas 455-6 

Leithead, Calvin P.. 524, 483-6-7; Wm. 
C , 524: Chas. E Dr., 524, 851; El- 
bert A . 524, 851-2. 

Lommon, W. S. Rev 378 

Lemon, J K 586 

Lemp, John 424, 361-2, 392 

Lengren, C. P 293 

Lenihan, Thos. M. Rev., 292, 373, 458 
660. 

Levericb, Geo. W 749, 750-1-4 

Liddell, G- H 853 

Lieb, Louisa, 610; Henrv. 341; Fred, 
361-2; Louie J., 610, 602; Wm. C, 

610, 601. 

Lighter. Jos. H; 525, 316, 486-7, 490, 
506-7 853;county map, see addenda. 

Lilligard, Niels 673 

Lilly, Edward S., 583. 572; Elias and 
John. 584; Jos. 583, 572; Theodore, 
583, 573. 

Lilly Creamery 573 

Limestone beds 144 

Lincoln Township, 638; County offi- 
cers, 641; first marriage and ser- 
vices, 641; leading citizens, 641; 
R R lands, 244 
Lincoln, Frank J., 750: Old Abe, 728 
Lind, Hans A., 568, 483, 490: John M., 
569, 486; Marcus, 715, 694; Niels A. 
568. 
Lindell, Augusta, 536; John P. Rev., 



890 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

546,539. 362; Mary E., 363. 

Lindeman, F. W., 457, Fritz, 457, 863 Malmberg, C. Rev 537-8 

Lindhall, J. J 681 Manatt, F. E 751, 769 

Linehan, F. M 700 Map, coa! regions, Mississippi Valley, 

Linnan, Chas. F., 584, 398; Jas., 584; 150; Pocahomas county in 19U3, 

Michael W., 584, 314, 572-3. see addenda; in 1861, 194; of super- 

Linthurst, J. F 371 visors' districts, 204; of sections 

Loats, Albert G., 827, 337; Albert A., and townships, 140. 

827, 639, 640; Geo. A. s 827, 339. Marchbanks, J 734 

Locusts 256 Marcy, A. A.. Rev .- 372 

Lofquist, Julius 687; Carl G., 878 Marshall, Wm., 428, 208, 212, 250, 361; 

Logan, Columbus, 585; J. W., 788-9; A. J Rev., 697. 

Thomas. J , 574. Marshall Township, 679, 195; County 

Log cabins 653, 694 Officers, 683; incidents, 682; schools 

Lombard 394, 680 682, R. R.. lands, 244; sketches of 

Lone Rock 340 leading citizens, 683. 

Long, Andrew O.. 828, 336-9, 535; Geo. Marmon, Henry C 629, 624,853 

M., 768; Peter, 828, 339. Marquette and Joliet 514 

Lorimer, A. H 297, 564 855 Marriage, first, 198, 247; others, 316, 

Lost on the prairie, Chas. Hale, 230; 394-5; 451. 

Jolliffe and Struthers, 229. Martin, Sam'l S , 428. 375: Weston, 

Lothian, Jas. R., 523, 293; John W. 382; John, 620; W. J., 749. 

Rev., 526. 560; Robt* B., 525, 497-, Marvin ' 364 

560-1, 694, 701; Wm. M., 293, 488, Massacre, Spirit Lake, 31; Springfield, 

560. 33, 812; New TJlm, 166. 

Lotz, John 621-3 Masters, Wm. E. 806 

Loughead, Geo. N. 715, 699, 700; Sam'l Mather, Benj., 806, 788-9; Richard S., 

J., 697. 807, 529, 561, 845; Wm. R , 807, 749; 

Louisiana Province ..48,54 Bros. J. T and E. K , 769, 807. 

Lowrey, Gad C, 547, 361, 535; Jason Mat son, Wm., 527, 483, 508; W. F. Dr., 

H., 547, 205, 212, 535-6; Robt , 694-7 852. 

Lucas, David C 432, 368 Matt ox, C H. Rev 7 757 

Luce, A. W. Rev 757 Maubby, A. R.. 397; Bros. I. W. and 

Ludwig, Harry 769; H. W., 756 M. S , 397,878; L. S., 574. 

Luella, P. O "285, 789 Maxwell, Alex. G. 548, 536; C. J. Rev., 

Lufkin.Geo 362 538; J. C. Dr., 565; Sam'l N., 536. 

Lungren, Chas. P.(see Lengren).. 352 Mayview, P. 285, 695 

Lutheran churches 864 McADenny, Wm. N 561-2 

Lutz, J. S 796 McAlpin, Michael 343. 336 

Lyman, Sam'l B., 715; Sam'l W, 715, McAuliff, Martin, 343, 337; J,, 337; 

706. Thos., 344. 
Lynch, E. F., 682; T. F., 457, 8'-2; J. J., McBride, John E 623, 862 

760; Michael J., 426, 362, 572, Wm., McCabe, Patrick, 670. 163. 200, 650-6-7- 

425. 8; Jas. J. and Peter, 670. 

™ McCaffree, F. J. Rev., 497; G. E. and 

F S 853 

Mack, Edgar E 254 McCaffrey, D. F. Rev., 374, 387, 459 

Mackey, John B., 426, 375; John, 398 McCafferty, John 584 

MacVey, Thos. L, 715, 205-7, 210 2, McCarthy. Ann, Wm. and Michael, 

286, 297, 694-7-8, 702, Frank L. and 584, 878. 

Wm. Lee. 719, 697. McCaslin, R R . 733; W. R. Rev., 498 

Madden, CM 793; J. B., 789 McCartan. Bernard, 430, 201, 452; John 

Maher, Thos 626 J., 430, 3H2, 398, 572; Thos. F., 431, 

Mail, free delivery, 317; early routes, 202,212,361-2,374,452-6-7. 

285; R. F. D. routes, 317, and Ad- McCaulay, P. H. Rev 758 

denda. McClellan, Jas. N., 829, 205. 212, 366-8, 

Major, A E. Rev 757 387, 452; W. Boyd, 829, 458, 468. 

Malcolm, Augustus H.. 526. 171, 132, McCJurg, Chas 737 

169, 199, 202, 212, 215, 483, 490,562-5; McComb, David A. Rev., 219, 700, 878; 

Fred A., 526, 208, 490, 505, 862; Ora R. S., 314, 681-2, 750; Roderick, 

P., 526, 130-2. 483 862. 

Mallison, Jos , 427, 206, 212, 251,. 314, McCormick, Michael, 629: Michael M., 
361-2-6, 371, 380-8, 398; Jas. M., 630; Geo., 621; John, 629, 621-5; 



INDEX. 891 

Patrick, 630, 622-3. Minerals in Iowa 70 

McCready, Wm. Rev 280,496 Minkle, Wm 621 

McDermott, Bernard, 654, 670; John Misiiler, J. T 700 

J., 828. Missouri Compromise 55 

McDonald, J. W. Rev 459 Mitchell, Wm. L., 688, 681, 862; Wm. 

McEvoy, E. P "626 A., 700. 

McEwen, Alex., 719, 201, 316, 497, 694- Moe, Ole and Geo 617 

7-8-9,702,790,862; Wm. D. E?q., Monkelein, ADton N., 611, 596, 601-2; 

180, 197, 202-4-7, 210-2, 282-4-6, 461, Mrs., 6u6. 

484-7, 493-5, 505, 562-5, 751. 847; Montgomery, Chas. and Ira, 458, 863 

W r ill D. Jr., 842, 457, 495; W. Sam- Moody, L. W., 675; and Davy 603 

uel, £43, 495, 697-9; Jos., 679. ' Moore, Abner D., 338, 654; Arthur C , 

McEwen & Garlock 699 688; B. B., 654-5; Chas. J., 574; 

McFadzen, Henry 713 Fred E., 328; F. S. Rev., 700,791; 

McGrath, J. J 483-7, 513 Fred W., 688; Harry A., 750-1, 767; 

Mclntire Bros 458,486-7 J. E., 572; J. L., 485; Martin A., 

McKean, Bert 699,700 200, 657; T. R., 339; W. V., 760; 

McKee, Jas. N., 431, 296, 366-8, 395; Moore & Stacy, 755. 

Frank, 431, 426. Morrisey, Michael 656 

McKeogh, D. Rev 486 Morrison, Jos., 585, 572; Moses, 585; 

McKilvey, Wardale O 8il Peter M., 585, 545; Wm. A. 585, 

McKinnev, J. H., 750-7, 769; Sam'l W., 574-5. 

549, 536, 558, 862. Mortgages 295 

McLain, Chas., 688; Alex., 687, 681, 746; Morton, Jos 749, 750-1; Sarah, 397 

J. F., 682. Mosquitoes 225 

McLarney, Patrick 167, 650-6-8 Mott, Fred, 454-6; Geo., 454-5 

McMahon. Ed 487 Moultnn, Arthur, 829, 425; John, 829 

McManus, B\ W. Dr. 852 Mound Builders 16 

McNee, Wm. A 782,750-6-8,760-9 Moyer, C. B 623 

McPetrie, J. M 487 Mueller, Jacob 720 

McReynolds, W. E 339 Mulct Law. : 326, 859 

Medical Ass'n., 851;hospital, state,162 Mules 865 

Mellick, Edward 721 Mulholland, Dennis, 630, 623, 660; 

Melson, Geo , 500; E. J., 519; Kate H., David, 630, 621; Jas. J., 630, 62L; 

314; J., 621. John J., 630, 621-6; Wm. F , 63o. 

Methodist Churches 864 Mullen Bros , John P. and O. W., 830. 

Mercer, Jas., 429, 43, 201, 328, 361-2, 388; August, 654: Frank, 398; Mich- 

375, 381, 452, 503. ael J., 863; Hunter, 625-6; Mayo & 

Merchant, F. H., 788-9, 792-3-5; Peter, Go , 574; Terrenre. 830. ' 

585; Thos. W., 749, 750. Munson, Swan P., 549; Chas. A., 549; 
Meredith, Edwin A., 789, 790-3-4, 878; Walter B., 457. 

Thos., 712; T. E. 699. Murner, C. J 538 

Merrill, O A 536 Murphey, OrAo M. . . .783, 757,760,770 

Merwin, W. R. R • 682 Murphy, John, Patrick Jr., 55U; Pat- 

Messinger, B , 483; Dan'l, 654-5; M. P., rick, 550, 558; Peter, 455, 863; Thos. 

749, 750. 398. 

Metcalf, Abraham, 782; Fred A., 569, Murray, Hugh J, 831, 456-7-8, 580; J. 

197,207,561-2-5, 846, 854: J. H., A., 562; Martin, Michael, 659, 678; 

458; S. A,, 370; Wm. A , 592; Wm. M. H., 749. 

H.,561. ' Murtagh, Jos. Rev 758,769 

Meyer, Christian 548 Muskrat Lake, 747; slough 534 

Mick, Jas. M 686, 757 Muskrats 275, 697, 752 

Middlekauff, L. H. Rev 372 Myers, Philip 344, 337, 340 

Mikesh, Jas 473,458,862 Mygatt, A. S 487 

Miler, Winnie 699 

Millard, F 366 N 

Miller, Alba, 536; C W., 737, 793; Names changed, Lindell, 546; Rude, 

David, 200, 207, 212, 654-6-7, 670, 614; Olson, 832. 

789, 790, 847-9; G., 337; John, 769; Narey, E. E 760-9 

H.,561, J. B., 789; J. R., 750; Milo Naturalization Paper, first, 174, 247 

L., 640; Theo., 639, 640. Natural Resources of Iowa 65 

Mills, Andrew, 562-3, 215; G. W. and J. Neal, Wm. B., 831, 397; C. R. Rev., 757 

W., 733-4; H. F., 486; R. F., 361. Nebraska Relief 327 



892 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Needham, Horace M 585, 572 

Neelan W. A.. . 699 

Nelson,' Betsey', 349; Swan', 347. io," 202, 

316, 336-9, 503; Jas., 349; John A.. 

553-8; Martin, 602; N. M., 314; T. 

J., 749, 750-1. 

Nemick, Jos 454-5, 473 

Nichols, John O, 431; John D., 252; F. 

O., 760; Nelson (J., 831. 

Niece, Frank 816 

Niehouse, B. 336, 344 

Niemand, Peter H, 644, 639, 642; John 

H., 644, 639, 640. 
Nilsson, N. J., 749, 750 1; M. T., 769, 

770. 
Noah, Milton M., 783, 755-6, 760-9, 770 

Noble, V. A. 759, 769, 770 

Nolan, Christopher, 670, 656; Nicholas 

670. 

Norem, Andrew J 252 

Norman, A 344 

Northern Telephone Co 392, 768 

Northrop, Darius, 720; Chas., 720, 699; 

E., 694: F. D., 699; Theron D., 720 

Northwestern Land Co 508 

Norton, Herkimer L., 611, 597, 601; 

Mrs., 605; Stephen W., 611, 410, 

601; Elias S. and Nathan L., 612; 

Stephen Kev., 660. 
Nowlan, David Dr., 807, 789, 790-1-2-3- 

5-8, 878. 
Nowlen. Perry, 177, 191-6-7-9, 200-7, 212, 
- 246, 295, 561-2, 846. 

Nunda Township 195, 698 

Nursery, Williams 312, 799 

Nutting, E. J 771 

© 

Oakley, John 362 

Oatmeal 175 

O'Boyle, Michael and Thos 671 

O'Brien, John. 352, 340-1; John W., 

808. 201, 502, 733-4-7, 789, 793-4; 

John F., 8i)8, 795, (Wm. J.,) 878. 
O'Conner, James and Patrick, 586; M. 

M., 656. 
O'Donnell, Edward, 832, 366, 371, 398 

O'Hearn, Daniel :. 669 

O'Kiefe, Jas., 344, 336-9; Dan'l, 344; 

John W., 344, 339; J. W., (Lake 

Twp) 621-2-3. 

O'Malley, John 640 

O'Niel, James and John B., 586; John, 

670, 776, 878. 

O'Shea, Michael .....671, 159 

Odenmeller, T. F. Bev ....r. 757 

Okoboji Massacre 30 

Old Abe, the war eagle 728 

Oldaker, John, 630, 621-3; Aaron, 630 

Old People ••• 792 

Old Soldiers' and Settlers' Reunions, 

801. 
Olds, S. C. Bev 757 



Oleson, Louis 331; O. F., 789, 790 

Olney. Richard 752 

Olson, A. B., 601; John (Cedar), 433. 

252, 832; John (Lincoln), 639. 654; 

Gust F., 639; O. K., 483; Thus. M., 

733-4. 
Olssou, C. E., Rev. 550, 538; Gustave, 

John and Andrew, 644. 
Omtvedt, Anders T., 612, 601-2; Mrs., 

605. 

Onken, Wm 674 

Orcutt, Wm 694 

Osborne, Frank 675 

Osburn, Benj. F., 433, 361-2; Mrs. 382 

Osterman, W. H 398 

Ostrom, Andrew 750-1 

Otter, The 275 

Ovens, Hugh 621 

Overholt, Joseph..-. 709, 697 

Overton, S. R ..749, 750-6 

Owen, Wm. R.... ...... 344, 336-7 

Owens, M. E 203, 283, 654-8 

Oxen 661, 865 

P 

Paddock, W. D 640 

Paduska, Martin 455 

Pahre, Wm T 621-3 

Paige, F. W 769, 852 

Pallersells, Henry 361 

Palmer, 334, 356; Peter, 550: Press, 853; 

Rural mail route, see Addenda. 

Panic of 1873 260 

Pane, W. A.. Rev., 458-9; Rebecca, 101 
Parker, Frank J., 55Q, 455. 536; Nelson 

749, 751. 
Parks, J. H, 856; M. B., 336-9, 342, 

789, 792. 

Parradee, Louis, 713; L. M , 699 

Parrish, Felix W., 612, 596, 6012; 

Chas. E., 613; Isaac E., 612. 596. 

Paryin 564 

Pascal, John L , 639 

Patriotism, of Iowa, 107; of Pocahon- 
tas Co., 562, 660<5ii8, 863. 
Pattee, John F., 645. 206, 212, 455, 640; 

Chas F., 645,-601; Jos. E., 645, 64a, 

751; Wm. D, 645, 455, 639, 640. 
Patterson, G. A., 486; J. 793; Michael 

F. Dr., 434, 209 388, 448. 
Patty. Clay (J., 832, 397, 853; L. G. Dr , 

851. 
Payer, Frank j., 474,445; Jacob, 475; 

Joseph, 475, 841; Yit, 474, 454. 

Pearce, Henrv 536 

Pease, O. A., 209. 455-7, 475, 749, 750-1 

Pederson, John P 624 

Peed, Isaac W 749, 750 

People's Party 297, 307, 872 

Percing, J. C 788 

Perkins, Chas. Rev., 551. 379, 537; 

Chas. G., 551, 201, 361, 381-8, S36-7; 

Gustave, 537. 



INDEX. 893 

Perry, Clark 552 Population, 1859 to 1895, 291; early 

Peters, Carl, 574; liV.O, 575, 586 years, 234, JJ55, 865; in 1900, and 

Peterson, Alex., 552, 202, 502, 536-8; nativity of, see the may in Ad- 
Andrew P., 552; August, 613; Carl, < denda. 

613; Clias. P., 553, 337, 536, 558; Populist Party 318,872 

Christian, 345; Frank, 553, 536; Post, Alanscn, 375; Chas. H., 833; Fred 

Geo., 344; tf. J., 789; Gustave, 337- 770; N. B, 279, 362-6, 387, 397-8; 

9, 344; Jas F., 341; John, 554; J. Wilbur E , 834.' 

E., 760, 770; Jnhn O., 341, 611; Postm, R E 729,697 

John P., 344, 339; Louie, 508; Nels, Poitawattamies 22, 129, 135 

586; Peter, 344, 336, 554; S. G., 790; Potter, Jas. H.. 434; & Son. 397; John, 

Swan, 344, 341. C , 808, 789, 793-4-5-6, 878, Kufus 

Pettit, Johu, 779, 295, 749, 750, 760; S. C, 433. 

M., 293, 694-7. Poultry, Hakes Bros., 763; Hub-1, 701 

Pfeiffer, Grudfiey 833, 366 Powell, Sam'i W ^02,455,465,699 

Phelps, Thos 79.i Powhatan, Indian Chief, 116, 692, 729 

Phillips, Odver P., 688, 455, 681-2; Powhatan Township, 692; cemetery, 

Owea, 601, 615. 695; county officers, 762; Plover, 

Phoenix, C. M. Rev 700, 794 698; R R lands, 245; schuols, 697; 

Picking, Franklin. 586, 574 trials, 698; pioneers, sketches or, 

Pierce, Sylvester and Rooert 615 7o2. 

Pilkington, B W 574-5 Prairies, The 732,747 

Pilot Creek, battle 125 Prange, Aug. and 'Wm 554 

Pilot Rock 151, 482 Pre-emption Claims .7236, 560 

Piokerion, W. A. Liev 625 Presbyterian Churches 864 

Pinneo, Geo. O., 587, 572; Carlos E., Price, Edward, 435; Geo., 672, 654; Jas. 

587, 575. H., 672, 486: John W., 672: Warrick, 

Pioneer Dwellings, 227, 653; legisla- 452,386,492; Wm. P , 672, 159, 654 

tion, 58; period, 214, 653; school Priogle, h\ H 694 

house, 657. Process Butter ' 765 

Pirie, James S 721; W. E., 789 Proctor, Aaron, 750-1; Geo. W., 748, 

Pless. J. Rev 757, 769 750-1, 793; John D., 748, 750-1-2. 

Plover 699 Prohibition, in Cedar, 328, 361; sub- 
Plumb, Frank H., 475, 202-3, 457, 487, mitted to county in 1870 and 1882, 

507, 862, 878. 302; 861, 869, 872. 

Pocahontas, 456; Center, 280; in 1900, Public Schoo.s uf County, 846; state, 

457; churches, 459; name changed, . 102. 

462; newspapers. 463; schools, 456; Pulley, J. H. and H. R , 682; Jos. S., 

telephone, 458; graduates, see Ad- 608, 639, 610-1; Wm., 608. 

denda. Purgatory Slough 403,534 

Pocahontas, Democrat, 853; Herald, 

463, 853; Record, 462, 271, 304. 853; «3 

?" n L L r^ DS ki 6 9rQ° %? %'^f Q« eal > J o h n H. & Co. . : 749. 792 

( fumda), 286, 251, 269, 281, 304, 462, § uigley) Dermis arjd Tbos . . . 2 15, 562 9 

Pocahontas, The Indian Princess, 113, Quin 1 ^ n ^ ° hn ' 165 ' 650 < 656; Th0S " 

280, 303; descendants of, 121. Quinn,'Patrick, 353, 337-8-9; Andrew 

Pocauontas County established, 114; G 353 _ 339 M K abd Patri6k 

early settlement lbt>; organized, A 353 338 Edward 620 650; 

184; topography 141. JoLn F., 353 339, R, A Rev., 757 

Pocahontas County Associations: Bar ' ' ' 

Ass'n, 832; 3ible Society, 503; R 

Druggists, 853; Farmers' Insti- T^ arj hits 276 

lute, see Addenda: Medical, 853; j> affarj "£>' " ' 337 

Mutual Insurance, 502; Press 853; Ra f lroad ; E i; c ;i ons for Aid,' 299, ' 309, 

Sunday School, 854; Temperance ^ ^ Q2% m . gmn ^, 8l| 167; 

Alliance, Sr>7. lands. 245, 299; period of construc- 

Pohle, E. B 737 tion< 2 48, 303; wooing a, 460. 

Poland, C. H 253 Railroads, Des Moines & Ft. Dodge, 

Pollock Bros 486 299, 460; (C. R I. & P., 255, 461); 

Pool, W. H 794-5 Dubuque & Dakota, 301; Dubuque 

Pope, John E 328 & p ac ific, 249; Dubuque & Sioux 

Porath, August and W. C. Dr.... 574 City, 248; Chicago & Milwaukee 



894 



PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



(Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, Des 
Moines & Northwestern), 30o, 334, 
370; Chicago & Northwestern 
(Toledo & N. W.)i 254, 298, 300, 
398, 460; Illinois Central, 249; 
Iowa Falls & Sioux City, 248; 
Uowrie & Northwestern, 461, 756 

Rainier, M. T. Rev 459, 701 

Rake, Asher W., 613, 201, 596-7, 601-2- 

3, 613-8, 
Ralston, Wm. C, 475, 125, 203. 212, 
455-6-7, 487, 852. 

Ransom, M. C 486 

Ratcliff, John 527, 206. 212, 490-1 

Bathbun, Wm. W 587, 398, 571 

Raymond, LA 398 

Reagan, Jos. D 588, 573 

Reamer, Elmer T., 614, 601-2; Thomas, 
613, 597, 600-1-2; Mrs., 605; John 
A., 614. 

Recorders of County 212, 862 

Records, Early, Lost 10 

Redfield, Wm. J 398, 366-8 

Redman, (Jarl 654. 672 

Reed, Chas. G., 771; Jos. M., 834, 483; 
L. J , 682; Sam'l S., 527, 485-6, 491; 
UlysesS., 425, 574. 

Reedland, Andrew 354. 337 

Reever, W. II 758 

Reilly, Bernard, 588, 571, Bernard E., 
588, 571-2; John, 588. 

Reimer, John W 639, 640 

Reinhart, Ceo 749 

Relief Expedition to Spirit Lake. 35 
Reminiscences, Crossing the Lizard 
and Des Moines, 226. 

Remtsma, Nellie d 443 

Reniflf, Garrett R., 435, 392, 405; Elha- 
nan W., 436; Frank, 436, 366, 388 
Renken, Gerd, 654; Michael, 672, 654; 
Henry, 672. 

Republican Party 298 

Representatives in Congress and Leg- 
islature, 211,862. 

Resh, J. M 621-3 

Reyburn, Frank 209, 640 

Rice, Herman P., 588; D. A. 626; Wal- 
ter, 834; W. Rev 497. 

Rich, G. W 483-6 

Richards, A. W. Rev., 497, 794, 878; 

Wm. 361. 
Richey, Alfred H., 688, 202, 682-3. 775, 
862, 878. 

Rickman, J. B 536 

Riley, Geo., 612; John and Patrick, 654; 
Wilford. 543. 

Rinehart, J. F 623 

Ritchey, Solomon J 569, 561-2 

Rivard, P. L 458 

Rivers in Iowa 69 

Roads, bad, 297. 318; good, 318. 494; 

first ones, - 192-9, 216. 
Roberts, A.L., 419, 392-7; C. H., 486; 



D. P., 697; Hart. 398. 
Robinson, Joseph P., 436, 207, 212, 366- 

8, 397, 847-9, 878; Guy S., 437, 431, 

862. 

Rock, J. W., .251, 397 

Rockbeds, in Clinton, T, 144; Iowa, 70, 

145. 

Roehlk, Adam 749, 757 

Roewe. August, 749, 750-1; Thomas, 

487, 5627. 

Rogers, John, 483; W. R 485 

R .lie, John 120 

Rolfe, Old, anrt vicinity, 201, 563; 

farewell to. 281; postmasters, 565 
Rulfe, 484; in 1900, 485; no saloon, 488; 

banks, 494; churches, 496; schools,- 

490; public spirit, 492; egg-packing 

house, 5o5; Telephone Co , 505, 

768; roller mill, 506; R. F. D., 797 
Rolfe Argus, 316, 5U6; Renorter, 304, 

506; Reveille, 506, 853; Tribune, 

507, 853. 

Rorick, E. E. Rev 699, 700 

Rost, Arndt E., 672, 654; BenjamiD, 

654-5, 672. 

Rothe, L. A 376-9, 397-8 

Rouse, M. T 737 

Rowen, John E. Rev .496, 794 

Rowley, Geo. W., 694-7; Norman L., 

694. 

Royer. Melvin 397 

Rubendall, Frank 380 

Rubeus 299, 490 

Rude, Anton P., 615; Eric, 614; Eric 

P., 614, 601-2; Nis P., 6(4, 596, 

601-2, 641; Mrs. N. P., 605; Peter 

E , 614; William P, 615, 601. 

Ruff, J. J 561-2 

Runyon, William G 789, 790 

Rural free delivery, 626; Havelock, 

797; Laurens, 750, 798; Rolfe, 798; 

Fonda and Palmer, see Addenda. 

Rural Telephones 799 

Rush, W T 749 

Rusk, and Creamery 600 

Russell, Jason N , 744, 733-4,. 789; 

Harvey S , 745, 789; Morah F., 744, 

733-4, 789, 790, 878; John, 555; 

James P., 673, 656; Henry. 554, 601; 

John M., 673, 10, 233. 649, 656; 

John W., 161. '620, 650; Michael J., 

673, 656, 659, 678; Patrick, 639, 640; 

Philip, 673. 160, 203, 212, 247, 650-3- 

6-7. 660; Robert W., 361-6; William 

P., 673. 

Rutledge, A. T .491, 849 

Ryan, Patrick K 577, 681 

Ryon, John A., 809, 789; Andrew D., 

809, 

S 

Sac and Fox Indians 22, 52, 114 

Saddler, J. A 788 



INDEX. 895 

Salacek, Frank 694 110. 862. 

Saloon, The, 328, 757; none at Rolfe, Shanley, Patrick 574 

488; prohibited in deeds, 485; Shannon Ranch 463 

Oom c 5 d| S J 9, . , -o , ~ c -_ Shaw,- Prentice J , 721, 10, 314, 508,696- 
Samuelson August and Peter O , 555 7 . 8 . A i bert j., 7 22, 697; George S, 

Sanborn, George, 438; editor Fonda 722- Josiah 694 

Times, 289, 398, 853; publisher and Shaver! Nelson H ' 726 694 

proprietor of Pioneer History 10; S hea, Patrick . . . . .* ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ; 835 ; 361 

G. A. R., 380; Mgr. N. T. Co., 392, gheep 865 

768; 253, 361-6-8, 371, 451, 386 857; Sheldon, Juno R, 81.6,' 789, ' 793-4-5, 853 

fr\ kSa *' Ge0> B ' 862; Wllllam ' Shell man, F. W. 699 

a i 'w-ii-' ™„ ,™ Sheriffs of county 212,205,862 

Sandy William.. 527 482 Sherman, PerrvH., 835, 561 Frank 

Sanqu st, Jennie, 314; John L., 536-8, H . 835) 485 . 6i 528; , John ' F ., 835, 

a oM l A . Tr 44i „„; 483; Fred A., 835, 852; Russell L., 

Sargent, Amencus Y., 441 361; 654 William H., 562 3. 

4 be /n ™V t 42 ' 36 ?' 4 ^j Ge 2 r ^ e Sherman Township, 732, 195; county 
W, 441, 397; Isaac L., Edward I. officers, 737; schools, 734; inci- 

?«i d o°^ b 442; ir me T S B -' 4 3 dents, 735; R. R, lands, 244. 

361-2: Van BurenW. James W. . Sherwood, W. H 572 

Saum R T fc E ' ^ 878 " 7,n .70 Shetterly, Wm. 1 362 

baum, a. ij 750, 770 shideler, Geo. W. Rev 700, 794 

Saunders W. R 485-6 shields, Henry .675, 654-* 



Sauter, A. J 397 



Shimon, Aibert, 455-6; Thomas. 454 



laXii!'A H E.!'76-9:.::.v:.:. i™; m ^ tT e ' ■■ : 62<1 ' S 

So' «I« !?« ' n i *' 6 i 2, ' W-?' ShoW, Axel 684 

849, 856, 878; Calvin R. and Wil- shoemaker Pros, 749, 754; (J. H) & 

o kw-'m ' *™ Anderson (Eri) 755; Jacob P., 783, 

Saxby, William . . . 626 756 . 7 770 ^. p ; 78 ' 3 

Sayre, Charles A., Electa and M .hion, short E 337 

589; James A., 445. Hhule ' ri joh n V.'.'.*.'.'. '.'.'.'.'.' '. '. '. z". ". '. '. ! 749 

Scliee. Geo 4.<2, 758 Sh „ j M 734 j & w c 398 486 

Scherf , Peter 34 1 , 293 574 

Schmaing, Rernard 639 -J. K 494 S hupe, A. D , 456-7; H. R., 457; Rros., 
Schnug, George and J. H., 621;. J. E., 458 

ov, 845 ;-.! tt to ooa Shutt, Elias 388 

Schoentahl, Henry, 43, 834 sic, John 733-4 

Schon, John O. ... . . . . 354, 339 sm ' weil W m. O 810, 789, 793-5 

Sch0 ° 1 H '^? k f aadla ° d , 8 ' fl ^ 1; gruves ' Sidominadota 25,27 

338, 734; houses, 337, 658. Siebel otto 654 661 

Schools, public ... 846 slefklD ' f c. W. Dr 485-6 

Schoonmaker, Garrett, 673, 654-6 snbar j BCob 250-2. 437 

Schrader, Henry 454 gfl ' M j ' 398 

Schroeder, Charles, 339; William, 654, SimDSon ^ Jo V.,456-7-8';M.' G." .'.'.'.'.'.' 398 

669,673 Sinek, Jos. .....455-6 

SchryverRolla.... ............. 744 g . , t j 835< 34L 654; Jas . Jr 

Schultz, Alva L., 528, 316, 455-/, 490, 836" M. T 836 625. 

506,853. Skinner, cW. and Horace, 251-2, 361; 

Schuster, F. W 341 " M A 251 395 

Scott, A. J., 789; Edgar C. and Lucian glatpr ; H ^ g fi^. Qbed) 253; Tbos>) 

b., Ool-Z-9. oq 4 259 

Scranton, Ira V 483-4 !S]o9SOD ', navid, 176, 185-7, 197-9, 200, 

Seaman William F 518 gl2, 561-5, 659; Oscar, 205-6, 215, 

Sectlachka Anthony 454 5 2 '_ 5 Orlando, 221, 561. 

Sedlacek Anton ............ 8*1 S! hs . in Clinton, 154. 225; Devil's 

Seely, Elijah D., 528, 482-3-4, 856, 878; u] auc \ 149- Muskrat 142, 534: 

M. D , 286; Willard F, 528, 483-4 p. ?°atorv 142 558 * Sixteen Mile 

Seifert, Charles C, 835, 485; George, Purgatory. 14J, &&», bixtten mue, 

Mrs , 835; John, 835, 526. ™' 

Selzer, George P 398 Smeaton, David 443, 297 

Senators, State, 2U; U. S. from Iowa, Smillie, R. A. Dr 852 



896 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



Smith, Aaron, 733-4; Andrew, 483; C. 
W., 626; Fred C, 5?5, 535-6; Gen. 
F.. 561; Geo. W , 615, 597, 601-2, 
682; Mrs., 605: Guernsey, 169, 36, 
19b, 208,- 560-5; James, 169, 560; 
James S, 722, 314, 454, 471, 697-8 
700; J. 0., 626; J. M., 486; Joel, 722, 
694; Joel A , Rev., 497; H. D., 490- 
6 7: H. L, Rev., 641; L. D , 744, 
793; L G , 750, 768; M. A , 737 ; P. 
W., 694-7; Sylvester, 484; Thomas 
B., 836; T. O, 681. 
Smorkovski. Anton, 836, 337; Anton 
Jr.. 837,843. 

Snell, William 251, 361-2-6 

Snig£S, John, 769 Victor A., 863 

Snyder, Judge 247 

Sod, The, 43, 155; houses, 22?, 337, 675, 
733; school house, 601. 

. Sod.er, John . . 525-6, 558, 598 

Holestrom, John A 828 

Soe^de, John 4*8 

Boil. The 183, 309, 326 

Soldiers, Civil war, 562, 660. 215; 
Spanish war in Cuba, 508, 863; 
•Swedish, 546: Home, 96;monument, 
109; Orphan's Home, 95; Vote, 206, 
868. 
Sou hworth, Joseph, 784; Edwin H., 
784, 775; Fred J., 784, 480. 

Spain, J. Ml '.,. 681 

Spargur, Geo, W 625 

Speer, James 734 

Spence, George F r. ...529, 455, 490 

Spencer, H. M 770 

Spickler, S. H 749, 750 

Spielman, David, 438, 361, 536; Fred, 
438, 397; Jacob, 438, 397 8; Wm , 
252. 

Spiilman, A G 699 

Spirit Lake Massacre 27,41 

SpitsbarUi, J. W 397 

Sprage,Geo...:..252, 36!, 403, 654-6, 
675. 

Spratt, Geo. O , 789, 793-4 

Sprinystube, Wm 639 

SpurrUr, H E 750, 789, 790-2 

Squire, Geo. B 843 

Stacy, Frank 745, 733, 747 

Stahi, Hmry 339 

Stamper, R. E 621 

Starkev. WrB 733-4 

Starr, KranciS M., 476, 862; J. W. Dr., 

852. 
State, Board of Control, 99, 104; Exam- 
iners, 99, 103 
State Institutions, 83; Academy of 
Science. 98; Agricultural College, 
64. 86: C»p*tol, 14, 83, 112; h< spi- 
tals, 97, 106; Historical and Horti- 
eulnrral Societies, 98; Library, 
97; Normal School, 88, 90; Indus- 
trial Home for Blind, 91; Peniten- 



tiaries 97; University, 60, 85. 

Staynor, Geo 490 

Steckelburg, Htnrv 0., 673,654; Henry 
A., 674, 337. 878. 

Steele, Zadok W. Rev .699, 701 

Steen, Wm 814, 789, 790 

Stegge, Bernard, 476, 639; Bernard H., 
477; John H., 639, 457; Henry B,, 
477, 639, 640. 

Stein. C. T 434 5 

Steinbrink, Carl 67-,, _ul, 654 6 7 

Steiner, David a ad Wm. a :. . 590 

Steinhilber, S i56-7 8 

Sfcelpflutf, N 456-7,462,477 

Stemmin, Peter 751 

Stenson, Wm. W., 774, 201, 654-5-6-7-8 

Steinberg, Henry 694 

Stewart, Robt. C. 555, 361, 535-6 

Stevens, Julius F., 252; Geo. 694; John 
O, 366; Jos. O, 361. 

Stickney, Abiel 205, 483 

Stilts, Jacob , 253 

Stock Farms, Blandt-n. 356; Brodsky, 
704; Charlton, 463; Clinton, 808; 
Fuchs B-os ., 417; Lind, 568; Shan- 
non, 463; Swan Lake, 749; Williams, 
56y. 
Stock, restrained, 312; sales, 316, 569, 
704, 869, 870-1. 

Stocudale, J ulm M 190 

Stone, William, 722, 694, 878; Eliza 
Ann, 723, 792; Inyham, 723. 

Stott, John and William H 253 

Stoulil. Joseph, 843, -454; James, 455; 
We'ncii, 843. 

Stout, F. L 750 

Stover, Andrew J , 745; Jacob S., 746; 
Martin L , 746; Charles E., 745, 
486. 
Strauiht Bn s.. Lee S. and Guy H., 
388. 837; John, 180. 

Stram'berg, Jacob 712 

Stream, John II 361, 468, 

Strong, Ira, 723,-200. 697-8, 7<>2; 
Charles L., 725, 300, 694-9., 749, 751; 
Fannie N.. 726, 694, 792, 878; 
Edwin J., 725, George W., 726, 208, 
694-7-8, 702: Orlando W., 724, 751, 
Oscar I., 724, 205 7-8, 212, 694-7-8, 
702; Philander P., 725; Samuel 
N^ 724-5, 295, 698;. William B., 
725. 
Strong, James C, 810. 201, 258, 312, 
504, 700, 733-. 788, 793-8-9, 802; Alva 
A., 811, 751, 789, 790; Jason F., 811 

Strorg, Joseph 354, 336 

Strouse, John, 784 749; John B., 785, 

748; Alpheus H., 749, 750-1. 
Strut hers, Robert, 172, 529, 10, 169, 
191, 205-8, 212-7, 229, 483 497. 504, 
560-1-2-5; Andrew J. 529; Ellen, 
247: .lame's 838. 855; William, 837; 
William E , 529, 562, 573. 



INDEX. 891 

Sturdivan, Stephen F , 749, 754-8, 760 Thornberg, E. W. Rev 496 

Sullivan, Henry, 833; Jeremiah O., Ttiornton, Alonzo L., 477, 205, 212, 

838, 252, 361; T. U. Rev., 459,625, 680, 724; Alonzo R., 479, 10, 507, 

Sun, The focahontas, Laurens, 305, 853, 878; Mary E., 478, 2u5, 212, 

768, 853. 305; Lucius C, 478, 208, 212, 456, 

Sunday, W. A. Rev 378 681-2; Albert M., 689, 68o-l, 724; 

Sunday school Association, 854; con- Albert H. Dr., 691, 458, 852, 862; 

ventions, 857. Frank G., 690, 202, 212, 487, 603, 

Sunk Grove 396 749,750,770; Greene & Co., 680, 

Superintendents of county schools, 878. 

207,212,846. Thurber, Joseph 621-3,631 

Supervisors, of county, 200; districts, Tibbets, .(. M. Rev., 575, 641; Samuel, 

204, 328; proceedings, 214. 681, 749. 

Survey of county, 137; geological.. 99 Tilley, Henry, 530, 215, 490, 562-5; 
Surveyors, succession of county, 208, Edward, 530, Matthew, 530, 562. 

212,862. Timber claims, 239; culture, 76; 

Svedjie. John 352,878 natural, 141. 

Swalin, Charles and Jouu W., 828, 539 Time, standard adopted 304 

Swamplands 186-9,870 Times The Pocahontas, Fonda, 286, 

Swan Lake, 747; i-\ O 285, 749 251, 281. 304, 394, 853. 

Swan Lake township, 716, 195; county Timon, Ado'ph 540 

officers and schools, 751; incidents Tinkcom, Frank 690 

and trapping, 752; Laurens, 752; Tishenbanner, Frank J 630,624-6 

R R. lands, 245; pioneers, 771. Tobin, William 645, 639, 640, 654 

Swansoc, Joseph Rev., 556, 53S; John Tolan Bros 397 

P., 556, 543, Toll-fsrude, Christian H., 531, 10, 202, 

Swearingen, F. W 366 212, 455, 461, 595, 601-2 3, 878; Mrs. 

Swenson, Swen J., 838, 398, 87.d; Gus- C. H., 606; HaDS C, 616, 315, 571, 

taveT., 838, 382; Mary, 792, 838; 878; Mrs. H. C, 606; Elisha M., 

John, 538. 616, 601-2; Mrs. E. M., 606. 
Swingle, Fred, 442, 394, 857; Nellie R.', Toltecs 18 

363, 373, 857. Tomkins, W. C 794 

Symes, A. B., 486-7, 491; F. H., 487, Tool, J. R., 756; Floyd 776 

490. . Topography of county 141 

Synstelien, Matthew J. and Nils C, Tornado, of 1898, 358; of 1882, 395; of 

615, 878. 1893, 319. 

-. Townsend, H. & Co 458 

1 Toy, Jamps IT., 446; Palmer C 363 

Tabor, Edward B 289, 366, 443 Track laying machine. . . .301, 462, 574 

Taf t, Harrison 590 Trapping 235, 274 

Talbot, Charles 789,792 Tree exemptions 272 

Taylor, William, 444; James W., 749, Treasurers, county 203,212 

750-1; Edward, 863. Treaties, Indian 48 

Telephone, Iowa & Minnesota, 308; Trenary, Charles, 617, 611; Edward, 

Northern. 393, 763; rural, 767, 7 >9 617, 662; Leon C, 617, 640. 

Temperance Alliance 8tf Trials, privations, 225, 232, 261,696 

Terry, David 615. 6*1-2 Trites, Edward R 727, 694-7 

Thatcher, Islam C , 839, 202, 212. 561, Troutm-in, L, F. Rev 700, 784 

862. Trude, Solomon H. and James J., 839 

Thayer, David 253 Truelson, H 697 

Thomt, Anton, Alvis and Christ, Trustees, township 871 

689, 631. Tucker, Seth S 839 

Thomas. Henry. 726, 200, 561, 693-4-7- Tumbleson, W.J 793 

8, 702, 878; Daniel, 727, 697; C H., Turner, Frank J., 397-8; Julia A. 

750; F. C, 486-7, 490-1; George, (Johnson), 557; Ludwig D,, 556. 

681-2; James B., 812, 33, 697, Joel, Twin Lakps 748 

698, 727; Joshua, 727; Robert, 458; Tychsen, Hans 733-7 

Sylvester, 811, 789, 790-3. n 

Thomnson, Albert, 591; Frank, 591, 

202, 314, 572-3-4; Allen F., 591, 574; TJmbarger, Samuel... 694 

George E., 445, 252, 361; Cyru?, Underwood, H. M 485-6 

445; George H., 445, 252; Jamps, United Brethren church 864 

445, 397; John A., 362, 374, 445; Unity Presbyterian church, Old 

Richard P., 445; Thomas, 590. Rolfe, 218, 



898 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 

University, state, buildings ... 78, 110 Water 76, 329 

v Waterman, Charles, 711; Harry, 574 

v Watts, George, 592, 313, 502; Ai J., 

Vahy, John Rev 659 592. 

Van Alstine, Sewell, 531, 483, 878; Weaver, Abram B., 249, 446; James 

Mrs., 624, 856 7; Clarence L., 532, B, 446 

626; Rollin H., 532, 623-5; Leslie Webb, C. M M 485-7, 850, Litteny, 561 

H., 532, 623 5; Howard S., 531, 637 Weber, Henry R., 621, 862; Renkin J., 
Vance, John R. Rev., 625; Ulysses S., 621, 654-5-6. 

813,789,790-3-4-7, 847-9, 853, 862; Weddings 198,247,316,451 

William, 750. Weeks, JR. F 371 

Vandecar, John A 707 Weible, August W.. 840, 487, 505; 

Vanderhoof, William 789,790 Martin, 840; & Hauck, 486. 

Van Hooser, F. O. and 6. H 397 Weigert, Fred 354 

Van Natta, George, 726, 208, 212, 561, Weir, R. L 626 

697. Weittenhiller, PnilipS., 691, 757, 770 

Van Steenburg, W 623 Welander, David 536-8 

Van Valkenberg, Adam H., 675, 361 Wellington (W. E.) farm 603 

654-5-6 Wells Bros., A, E and A . A., 760; 

Varina, 573, 334; Churches 575 Anson E., 756, 789, 793-1-6; A. A., 

Vaughn, IraG., 617, 341; Harvey R., 794; Edward B., 574. 

617,654, Wells, flowing 154 

Veazie, Elijah 789 Welsh, John N., 361; Martin, 264, 842 

Vest, E. E 486 Wendell, Peter 354, 336-7 9 

Vestrum, A. H 602 Wengart, George 486 

Vetter, Fred W 654 W< stern Union Telegraph Co 249 

Viterna, John 454 Westlake, William W., 677, 654-6; 

Vittum, C. A ..736 Ella, 585. 

Volunteers, 11th Pa., 215, 562, 66j; Weston, M. P 794 

Spanish war in Cuba, 508, 863. Wheat 295 

Vosburg, James 697 Wheeier Grain & Coal Co., 761, 458, 

Votlucka, B. C 484, 845, 878 737, 754, 770; Gilbert G , 748, 750; 

w F. B.. 457; W. P., 486, 490-1, 505. 

w Whitaker, J. A 486-7 

Waddell, Herman 863 White, Andrew and Martm F., 578; 

Wagner, Peter 654,675 O J. & Son, 486; Frank, 862; 

Waite, Philo M 570,697 Julius, 483-4; Joseph, 485-6; J. D. 

Walkenhaur, W. C 455-6 & Son, 394; N. H, 770; W. T., 629 

Walker, Thomas 557, 535 Whitehead, Charles E 278 

Wallace, George, 557, 205, 212, 359, 536; Whitfield, A. J. Rev., 371-5; George 

James W., 557; John W., 479, 2(»3, F. Rev., 757, 773. 

212, 314, 654 5 6; David W., 675, Whitman, M 483 6 

479, 654-5; Samuel, 676; E. L., 720; Whitney, Alva L., 728, 694; Allen EL, 

J. D. Dr., 699; Wm. D., 863. 593; Charles H, 446. 43-5, 361; 

Wall Lake 70 Charles R. Dr., 447, 398, 851. 

Wallow, Anna 617 Whittlesey, E S 621-3 

Walsh, Michael, 676, 164, 315, 650-3, Wiese, John, 676, 623, 654; Michael, 

660; Mary, 247, 653; Philip, 676, 676, 654 6; John E., 677; William 

656. G., 677, 654. 

Ward, J. D., 799; Thomas C, 790-5, Wiewell, A. L 505 

814. Wilbur, Emma L., 338; R. M 548 

Warden, J. L 487,490-1 Wilcox, H. W., 338, 789, 790-2-4; W. 

Ware, 735; creamery and Savings A., 852. 

Bank, 736. Wilde, Ray E., 397; William 840 

Ware, Francis L., 735; J. A. Capt., Wilder, E. O..... 371 

460. Wilkinson, John 855 

Warford, J 561 Willey, H. T 601 

Warner, Isaac 253 Williams, Anton, 569. 483; David O, 

Warwick, J. H 361 814,312, 788-9, 792-9, 878; N. H., 

Washington township, 787, 195;county 485; Peter, 564; Major, 36. 

officers and schools, 790; Havelock. Williams township 253 

791, 902; R. R. lands, 244; great Wilson, E. W. Dr., 486, 852; Peter, 789 

longevity, 792. Winn, James P 863 

Wass, Andrew 535 Winnebagoes, The 23, 125, 131 



INDEX. 



899 



Winnie, E. K 862 

Winaor, C. E 769 

Winter, Peter 863 

Wiswell, E. R 486-7 

Witcraft, George 425 

Wolf, bounty, 199, 218,273; The prairie, 
273. 

Wolf, joeeph 84<0, 455 

Wolfe, Maurice, 840, 623, 640; M-., 623; 

John, Edward, Jerry, 841. 
Women, Pioneprs of Grant, 604; vote 

at Fonda, 395. 
Wcod, A. B. P., 447. 361-8, 376; Adel- 
bert 8., 448, 366-8, 370, 387, 392; 
Abram G., 448, 361-6-8; Lois A., 
368; George W., 449, 361; John M., 
449, 361; A. L., 749, 751-9; B. H., 
483; Edward D., 486; O. C, 536. 

Wood, from wells 46, 153, 473 

Woodin, David M 449, 571-2 

Woodward, L. C. Rev 575, 371 

Woolman, Lydia 792 

Wooing a Railroad 460 

Workman, John 769 

Worley, Benjamin 862 



Worral, J.T 750 

Wright, Charles G. Rev., 533, 501, 795; 
Edward Rev., 757; George H., 252; 
Rensselaer, 450. 361, 370, 395-7, 
575; Llewellyn R., 451; F. G„ 623, 
Geo. W. and Jacob, 749; Sidney 
E., 252, 361; W. S., 251, 371, 388. 

Wurtsbaugh, J. D 386, 852 

Wykoff, William M 841, 264 

Y 

Yerkes, Thomas. 790 

Ynhnke, Fred 536 

Young, Jeremiah, 727, 561, 693-4-7; 

Marion, 397; M. J., 694. 
Youngren, August, 770; F. O., 755, 769 
Yule, Geo. Rev 502, 795 

Z 

Zanter, Ferdinand 677, 654-5 

Zeigler, Charles A., 387; James S. 

Rev., 372-3, 703. 
Zieman, Amandus, 558, 536-7; William 

and Rudolph, 558. 




900 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 




VJi 



o 
SB 



•55 

h 
«3 

EC 



ADDENDA. 



Pocahontas bounty Farmers' Institute. 




meeting was held in 
the court house at 
Pocahontas, Monday 
evening, January 28, 
1904, for the purpose 
of effecting the or- 
ganization of a far- 
mers' institute in this 
county. .B. a. Foster served as chair- 
man and W. S. Clark as secretary of 
this meeting. After an address by 
Judge Quarton, F. E. Freeman gave 
a report of the Calhoun County insti- 
tute, which he had attended the 
previous week. W. S. Clark, F. E. 
Freeman, E. G. Fargo, J. A. Terry 
and O. P. Malcolm were appointed a 
committee of arrangements, with 
power to extend invitations to at 
least three representative men from 
each township to meet at Pocahontas 
on the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 
9th, for the purpose of effecting a 
permanent organization. 

At the meeting held Feb. 9, 1904, | 
the Pocahontas County Farmers'j 
Institute was duly organized. Nearly?; 
every township in the county was 
represented. The meeting was called 
to order by P>. B. Foster, who briefly 
stated its object. Henry Parsons 
secretary of the Calhoun County Far- 
mers'. Institute, was present and 
made some timely suggestions in re- 
gard to organization. Sixty persons 
were enrolled a? members. The 
membership was limited to farmers 
and the membership fee was fixed at 
fifty cents. About twenty five others 
paid a fee of twenty five cents and 
were enrolled as honorary members. 
The election of officers for the first 
year resulted as follows: President, 
Anthony Hudek, Pocahontas; vice 
president, Louis Brodsky, Poca- 
hontas; secretary, Rev. C. W. Clifton, 
Havelock; treasurer, J. M. Schall, 
Havelock:. Executive committee: 



O. F. Olson, Washington township; 
Fred Hawley, Marshall; Charles L. 
Gunderson," Center, Raymond Lilly, 
Dover; Gerhard B. Carstens, Lizard 
township. 

John Thompson, associate editor of 
the Farmer's Trioune, Dee Moines, 
addressed the meeting on the se- 
lection and breeding of seed corn. 
March 4th and 5th were selected as 
the time for holding the first annual 
institute. 

The first annual institute was held 
at Pocahontas March 4th and 5th, 
1904. Anthony Hudek presided and 
the constitution and by-laws present- 
ed by Charles L. Gunderson were 
adopted. The program was one of 
interest and profit to every one 
present. It included several ad- 
dresses by Prof. James Atkinson of 
the Iowa State Agricultural College 
at Ames, and a number of excellent 
papers and addresses by leading 
afarmers of the county. Among the 
1 atter were M. W. Linnan, who aa- 
gdressed the meeting on behalf of the 
liVleat Producers' Association, that 
had met to effect a county, organiza- 
tion on March 3rd, previous; Charles 
L. Gunderson, on the new road law; 
A H. Richey. on taxes aud assess- 
ments; Fred Hawley, on Poultry for 
Profit; J. C. Pattee, on the most 
prof! table house for the farm; W. E. 
Pirie, on Rural Telephones; C. M. 
Savior, on Bee Culture; B. C. Boysen 
of Sherman township, on tile drain- 
age; and J. H. Allen, Esq., on the 
new drainage law. 

Arrangements were made for the 
distribution of a peck of good seed 
corn, to the members of the organiza- 
tion soliciting it, on the condition 
that a bushel be returned from the 
crop thereof, accompanied with an 
account of its cultivation and results. 



Fonda and Palmer EuraB Routes. 



D. W. Newell, of the pnstoffice de- 
partment, in January 1904, visited 
and approved two routes from Fonda, 
that were established as follows: 

April 1, 1904, Fonda, No. 1,— J. R. 
Johnsun, carrier: North, through 
west Cedar and Dover, to the Lilly 



creamery: thence south by the 
Weaver school house to Fonda. 
Length 25 miles, area covered 39 square 
miles 105 houses. 525 people served. 

April 1, 1904. No. 2,— Aaron R. 
Peterson, carrier: South one half 
mile, east four and a half, north 



(901) 



902 PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA. 



through Colfax and Grant to Rusk; 
one north, two west, thence south to 
Fonda. Length 27 miles, area covered 
38 square miles, 110 houses, 550 people 
served. 

April 16, 1904, Palmer, No. 1, was 
established, Anthony Lars'on, carrier. 
This route extends south four miles 
to the south east corner of section 29, 



Bellville; east two miles, north three, 
then three miles east to the south 
east corner of section 7, Lizard; 
one mile north, two west, four 
north, two west, thence two south to 
the south east corner section 28, Lin- 
coln; one west, two south and two 
east to Palmer. Length 30 miles, 
125 houses, 625 people served. 



The First Graduates at Pocahontas. 



Pocahontas secured the erection of 
a tine brick public school building in 
1902-3. It is 61x76 feet and cost 
$2 >,00i>. The first class to graduate 
from this high school consisted of 
four persons and they graduated May 
27, 1904. 

The historic importance of this 
event appears in the statement of the 
fact that Pocahontas was the last of 
the seven towns founded in Poca- 
hontas county during the period, 
1870 to 1882, to send forth a class of 
graduates. It marks the end of a 
period of ten years, 1891-1904, during 
which the high schools of the county 
in the older towns were sufficiently 
developed to send forth their first 
classes or pioneer graduates. The 
first class consisted of 6 persons and 
they graduated at Fonda in 1894 In 
1904 tne number that graduated from 
the high schools of Pocahontas 
county, including Gilmore City, 
which is on the county line, was 47. 
Their names and the institutions 
represented were as follows: 

Fonda— Martha Eaton, Pearl 
Eaton. Anna Byrne, Velma Brown, 
Edith Brock, Flo Sargent, Katie Fitz- 
gerald. Sarah Weaver, Daisy Farrell, 
May Farrell, Wilbur Moffitt.Guy Wilde, 
Verne Wood, Fletcher Herralrt, — 13, 

Gilmore City— Gazella M. Warren, 
Florence Hogan, May lliggins, Guy 
E. Daniels,— 4. 

*Havelock — Walter Cleveland, 
Maud Smith, Mattie McCaffree, Jessie 
Poole, Gilford Greene, — 5. 

Laurens— Selma Carlson. Patricia 
Bunton. Dorothv Roehlk, May Arm- 
stead, Harold Winsor, David Beck- 



strom, Arnold Hakes,— 7. 

Plover — Lucy Shaw, Prentic J. 
Shaw, Arlo Stiaver, Wright Postin, — 4. 

Pocahontas — Mary Ellen Simpson, 
Grace Fritz, Helen Lydia Fritz, Gene 
Estella Wallace,— 4. 

Rolfe — Blanche Cuff, Pearl Snyder, 
Fae Squires, Mayme Crahan, Mae 
Kent, Don McEwen, Frank Ritchey, 
Linn Jorgenson, Gustave Everson, 
Roy Campbell, 10. Total, 47. 

Buena Vista College, established at 
Storm Lake in 1891, haviDg secured an 
endowment of $50,000 in 1902, sent 
forth its first class of four graduates 
from its Collegiate department, June 
9, 19u4. This fact is noted merely as 
a coincidence. 

It is easy to see from the facts just 
stated that Pocahontas county has 
entered upon a new educational era 
that suggests greater general intelli- 
gence on the part of the people. 
Almost forty years of the county's 
history had passed before the .first 
high school class was graduated. In 
ten years the annual output of gradu- 
ates has increased from six to forty- 
seven, or more than seven-fold. It 
will continue to increase with passing 
years. This greater intelligence of 
the rising generation will find its 
expression in even better educational 
facilities, in improved methods of 
road-making, drainage, crop, stock 
and fruit raising and, no doubt also, 
in the general management of the 
public affairs of the county. The 
forward movement made by 
the farmers of this county immediate- 
ly after the tour of Prof. Holden in 
April, 1904, when, from a special car. 



*Havf,lock Graduates. A correction of the list on page 794. 

1895. Brete O. JNowlan, from a ten-year course. 

1896.— Lucy W. Potter, A<la Grace Harvey, Emma Cornelia Gill, Grace D. Speer, F*iy C. 
Thomas, Myra Ella Harmon, John Raymond Tumbleson, Edward R. Nowlan, Litta 
Tnmbleson, Myrtle Luella Strong: also from the ten-year course. The course was then in- 
creased to twelve years and there were no graduates in 1897, 1900, or 1902. 

1898,— Lucy W. Potter, who continued her studies after completing the first course in 
1896. She was the first full -course graduate. 

1899,— Grace V. Smith, George A. Tumbleson.— 2. 

1901,— James A, Adams, Nina R. Seeright, John F. O'Brien,— 3, 

1903,— Blanche Spratt, Clara O'Brien, Mary Donohoe, Anna Goodchild, Lizzie Har- 
mon,— 5. Total, 21. 



ADDENDA. 



903 



he addressed them at Gil more City, 
Rolfe, Plover, Laurens, Ware, Poca- 
hontas and Palmer on the importance 
of planting and raising good seed corn, 
so as to secure three corn-bearing 
stalks at every hill and thereby in- 
crease the annual yield of that im- 
portant cereal twenty to thirty 
bushels an acre, is a eood practical 
illustration of similar forward move- 
ments along other lines, that will 
soon be made by the intelligent and 



enterprising people of Pocahontas 
county. As expressed by Cleveland 
Coxe: 

''We are living, we are dwelling 
In a grand and awful time; 

In an age on ages telling 
To be living is sublime. 

Oh, let all the soul within you, 
bar the truth's sake go abroad; 

Strike! let every nerve and sinew 
Tell on ages, tell for God." 



R Legend of Pocahontas ©©tinty, 

By C. M. Doxsee, Rolfe, Iowa. 



Not many hundred years ago, 

Before the white man came, 
To drive away the Indian 

Prom off this fertile plain, 
The re4 man's tribe, all up and down 

What now is Crooked Creek, 
Had staked his tents and lived on game 

Brought in from week to week. 

The elk and deer that roamed the field 

Soon fell an easy prey; 
The muskrat and the pra'rie dog, 

Each had its own best day; 
The crane in rammer left its wing 

And filled the boiling pot; 
And when a special feast was asked 

A tender dog was shot. 

The tribe increased as years went by, 

And maidens fair to see 
Had never made a visit, to 

Another tribe's tepee. 
Except when they would go as wife 

Of some young Indian brave, 
Who had traveled miles these girls 

From maidenhood to save. 

They had not looked upon a face, 

Except a dusky red; 
And when the white man first appeared, 

In fear the women fled. 
Not so the braves. They stood their ground, 

And old chief Powhatan 
Gave orders for his warriors bold 

To seize and bind the man. 

The warriors did as they were told, 

f\.nd brought him strongly bound 
Before the king of all the tribes, 

And placed him on the ground. 
The king then ordered all hi= braves 

Around this man to dance, 
To ascertain by this rude means 

What decree he should advance. 



When they had danced some three whole 
days, 

The old king heard a cry 
From a spirit, deciding that 

This man must surely die. 
The block was brought, his head was laid 

Upon the icy stone, 
And as the club was raised aloft, 

From one there came a moan. 

'Twas Pocahontas; to rescue 

The doomed she quickly ran. 
And in her Indian tongue exclaimed, 

'Kill me but spare tnis man." 
The king stood motionless and gazed; 

The hot b ood warmed his heart; 
He motioned to his braves and said, 

"Take this young -girl apart. 

"Unloose thn cords that bind this man, 

vVe'll let our captive free, 
And Pocahontas, my own brave girl, 

This land your own shall be." 
So they c i led it, Pooahontas, 

A name that stands today ; 
And the news of this girl's riches 

Reached white ears far away. 

Ere many moons had shed their light 

Upon this eventful place, 
The brave young girl of Crooked Creek 

Had married a pale faoe. 
John Rolfe is the name the pale face bore, 

And when he won her hand, 
He asked if she wo Ud notgive him 

One half her fertile land. 

This lpstshe said I will not grant, 
And brought her small foot down, 

But if 'twill suit you just as well 
I'll give to you this town. 

So Rolfe is the name they gave the town, 

To the county, Pocahontas 

With lertile fields and willing hands 
No power on earth can daunt us. 



*E E^ 3 - 






904 PIONEEE HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUFTY, IOWA. 




Pocahontas {Bounty, lo 

Per favor of J. H. Lighter, eiitor and proprietor of the f 
PALO A L T ,0 




f .P0ME3OY 



Reveille,— 1903. 

O U N T 




THE T0WKSHIPS. 

Arranged according to the date of their estab- 
lishment, and their population, Including 
their towns, in 1890 and 1900. 



Township 


Date Estab. 


1890 Pop 


,1900 


Des Moines, 93-31 


; j Feb. 19, 1859 


474 


658 


Lizard, 90-31 


Feb. 19, 1859 


624 


682 


Clinton, 92-31 


Sept. 15, 1860 


1077 


1731 


Rolfe 


1881 


529 


994 


Powhatan, 93-32 


Sept. 3, 1866 


648 


920 


Plover 


1883 


100 


187 


Bellville, 90-32 


June 6, 1870 


576 


801 


Palmer 


1899 




30 


Blanden 


1901 






Cedar, 90-34 


June 6, 1870 


1069 


1775 


Fonda 


1870 


625 


1180 


Grant, 91-33 


June 6, 1870 


455 


695 


Rusk 


1892 




15 


Dover, 91-34 


Sept. 6, 1870 


552 


804 


Lilly 


1897 




10 


Varina 


1899 




30 


Colfax, 90-33 


Sept. 4, 1871 


621 


765 


Swan Lake, 93-34 


Sept. 4, 1871 


899 


1661 


Laurens 


1881 


318 


853 


Lincoln, 91-32 


June 4, 1872 


396 


660 


Center, 92-32 


Sept, 8, 1874 


506 


1171 


Pocahontas 


1870 


300 


625 


Washington (93-33) Sept. 5, 1876 


450 


1201 


Havelock 


1882 


200 


397 


Lake, 91-31 


June 5, 1877 


490 


776 


Gilmore City- 


1884 


100 


204 


Sherman, 92-33 


Apr, 5, 1880 


341 


629 


Ware 


1900 




20 


Marshall. 92-34 


June 5, 1882 


420 


604 


Garfield,92-31,-see 


5 Sept 11,1903 


548 


737 


Clinton, sec 5, 92-31 Nov 12, 1903 


529 


994 


Pocahontas coun 


ty, Feb. 19, 1859 9553 


15339 



NATIVITY OF THE POPULATION 
OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY. 





1880 


1885 


1895 


1900 


England 




107 


135 


128 


Ireland 




188 


20S 


226 


Scotland 




30 


26 


34 


Wales 




4 


8 


7 


Canada 




143 


165 


148 


Norway 




117 


202 


171 


Sweden 




282 


581 


496 


Germany 




433 


781 


986 


Bohemia 




144 


145 


116 


Holland 




2 


5 


9 


Denmark , 




117 


189 


211 


Other countries 




33 


43 


91 


Total foreign birn 


1015 


1565 


2488 


2623 


" native born 


2698 


4587 


9954 


12716 


" population 


3713 


6154 


12442 


15339 



O U N \ T Y 

© MflNSON 



The Pioneer History of Pocahontas (Bounty 
Reviewed and ©ommended. 

Mr. C. H. Tollefsrude, ex-County Auditor, and compiler of the early history 
of Grant township. 

Rolfe, Iowa, July 23, 1904. 
Rev. R. E. Flickinger, My Dear Sir: 

Having had an opportunity to thoroughly examine the advance sheets of 
the Pioneer History of Pocahontas County, and having followed with much 
interest the serial as published in the Fonda Times, I wish to say that I 
had it a meritorious work. Its fullness, accuracy, freedom from prejudice, 
literary style and the excellent character of the portrait work will make it a 
volume of mnch worth to Pocahontas county people. It seems to cover, in a 
happy manner, everything desirable in a work of this kind, and places on 
record for the future an interesting and true story of our people, our past and 
present, our material, educational and religious growth to the present time. 

Your labor, research and perseverance, I trust, will be correspondingly 
appreciated by our people. For one I want to thank you very much for 
having undertaken and so excellently carried the work through. Personally 
I feel under obligation to you for the conscientious and thorough work you 
have done for our county and for future generations of our people. I shall 
certainly be delighted when the book Is in my hands. 

Yours Truly, 

C. H. TOLLEFSRUDE. 



Rev. J. F. Brennan, Pastor of Saint Mary's Catholic church, Fonda: 
Allow me to congratulate you on the excellence of your Pioneer History 
of Pocahontas County, Iowa. This history interested me very much as it 
appeared from week to week in the columns of the Fonda Times It must 
have tatien a vast amount of time and labor to accomplish the work. Let 
me express the hope, that an educated and enlightened public, such as we 
have, will appreciate the great work you have done in rescuing from oblivion 
the early history of one of Iowa's fairest counties. With best wishes. 
Aug. 1, 1904. Respectfully yours, 

J, F. Brbnnan, 

Hon. James J. Bruce, Rolfe, Representative in the 21st General Assem- 
bly of Iowa, and many years a member of the Board of County Supervisors: 

To the People of Pocahontas County: Rev. R. E. Flickinger has in 
course of publication a comprehensive history of Pocahontas county. I am 
well acquainted with the scope of the work from first to last, and cheerfully 
recommend the book to you as a very important and interesting history of 
the county and its people. Often we pay more than the cost of this history 
for a work of fiction to satisfy our natural desire for something new. Shall 
we not find in this record of facts and history of our people something inter- 
esting and valuable? Get a copy and you will appreciate it, as well as help a 
good work. 
Aug. 1, 1904. James J. Bruce. 

William D. McEwen, Esq., Rolfe, Ex-county Auditor, Clerk of the 
Court, County Judge and Treasurer of Pocahontas County: 

The Pioneer History of Pocahontas County is a work of great merit. The 
author has displaved a thoroughness of research seldom equaled in a work of 
this kind. .It is a clear, lucid and truthful history of the settlement and 
development of Pocahontas county. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I 
commend it to the people of Pocahontas county. Yours truly. 

Aug. 8, 1904. W. D. McEwen. 

(905) 



H: Few E Unsolicited Testimonials, 

to the correctness, completeness and general acceptableness of the Pioneer 
History of Pocahontas County, selected from many that have been received 
while the work was going through the press. 



Ebv. W. M. Beardshear, D. D., L. L. D., Ames, President of the 
Iowa State Agricultural College: 

Many thanks for the copies of your historic serial. I appreciate most 
fully the good work you are doing in the historic line. 

Sincerely, 
Nov. 12, 1904. W. M. Beardshear. 

Rev. William Y. Brown, D. D., former pastor of the Boone Presby- 
terian church, to a friend: 

I have glanced through the Pioneer History of Pocahontas County, a 
double column octavo volume, having now 800 pages printed, and I have been 
charmed with it. I have been perfectly amazed at the amount of work and 
its quality which Brother Flickinger has been able to do, 
July 12, 1902. Fraternally, 

W. Y. Brown. 

Rev. O. S. Bryan, Pastor of the M. E. church, Rolfe: 

Accept thanks for the copies of the Fonda Times, containing history of 
the Rolfe M. E. church. Your sketch is correct so far as I can see. I don't 
think I have anything to add. Your Bro., 

Jan. 15, 1901. O. S. Bryan. 

Rev. Geo. H. Duty, former pastor of the Presbyterian church at Rolfe: 
I was pleased with the history of the Rolfe (Presbyterian) church, and I 
must confess that the story as you have put it sounds much better than it 
seemed to me to be when those days were going by. I have passed through 
so many days since, which were so much harder, and with no seeming result, 
that the travels and the work of those days are accounted among my 
happiest. Very Truly, 

Feb. 20, 1901. Geo. H. Duty. 

Hon. Phineas M. Casady, Des Moines, ex-senator of Iowa: 
Copy of Fonda Times received. Accept thanks. The citizens of Poca- 
hontas county will certainly appreciate the well written history of their 
county. Yours Truly, 

Jan. 4, 1899. P. M. Casady. 



Hon. Samuel Calvin, Director of the Iowa Geological Survey, Des 
Moines: 

I have taken pleasure in looking over your manuscript; rind it correct 
and think it will present a very clear and very short statement of the Pale- 
ozoic formations as found in Iowa. 

Very Truly Yours, 
Jan. 30, 1899, Samuel Calvin, State Geologist. 

Prof. Amos N. Currier, Acting President of the Iowa State University, 
Iowa City: 

I have looked over your description of the Iowa State University and 
find it correct. I send you the newly made cut of the old Capitol building 
for your County Histoiy. I am well pleased with the appearance of the 
other cuts in the papers you have sent me. 

Very Truly Yours. 
"Nov. 21, 1898. Amos N. Currier, Acting President. 

Hon. Merton E. DeWolf, Laurens, representative in the 27th General 
Assembly of Iowa: 

The proof you sent is very satisfactory. I hear many favorable com- 

(906) 



TESTIMONIALS. 907 

merits on your work. I can but wonder how you find time for such exhaustive 

research. Yours Truly, 

Jan. 10. 1899. M. E. DeWolf. 



Mr. George Fairburn, President and Proprietor of Pocahontas County 
Bank, Fonda: 

I am very much pleased with the proofs of the portraits sent me for the 
Pioneer History. I have no doubt your history will be highly appreciated. 

Respectfully, 
Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 4 , 1899. Geo. Fairburn. 

Mr. Walter Ford, Clare, a pioneer of Lizard township, an early member 
of the Board of County Supervisors: 

I am in receipt of a copy of the Fonda Times, showing the early (1859) 
transactions in Pocahontas county. The article is very correct and the facts 
are carefully given. You surely ought to have great credit for your work and 
the pains taken. Respectfully, 

May 2, 1899. Walter Ford, 

Prof. James C. Gilchrist, Havelock, ex-President of the Iowa State 
Normal School, at Cedar Falls: 

I cannot refrain from complimenting the good work which you have done 
and are doing for the Christian cause, for society and good government. 
May you have health and strength to continue. 

Very Cordially Yours, 
Feb. 18, 1897. J. C. Gilchrist. 



Hon. Fred C. Gilchrist, Laurens, Representative in the 29th General 
Assembly of Iowa: 

I am exceedingly well pleased with your account of my father's life and 
works. The facts are correctly stated. 

Yours Truly, 
Nov. 19. 1902. Fred C. Gilchrist. 



Col. John B. Kent, Rolfe, Rspresentatiye in the 28th General Assembly 
of Iowa: 

I think you are doing a good work in writing an accurate history of 
Pocahontas county. A work such as you are writing, in which you gather 
the early history of our county before a great deal of it is forever obliterated, 
is of great value not only for the present but for future generations. 

Yours Truly, 
Feb. 21, 1901. J. B. Kent. 



Mr. Thomas L. MacVey, Jennings, Louisiana, ex-Recorder of Poca- 
hontas County: 

I have read your history of Pocahontas County up to date and must 
congratulate you on its correctness. It is a grand work and should be in 
the lihrarv of every home in the county. Yours in Haste, 

Nov. 24, 1902, Thomas L. MacVey. 



Mr. John M. Russell, San Francisco, Cal., a former resident of Lizard 
township: 

I sinceiiv wish your reverence much success in your laudable task of pro- 
ducing the History of Pocahontas County. It was much like a letter from 
mv distant home to receive the Fonda Times with your interesting narrative. 
April 2, 1902, John M. Russell. 



Miss Margaret E. Russell, Lizard township: 

I am so well pleased with the sketch of my father's life, Philip Russell, 
since he arrived on the Lizard, that I would like you would send me several 
copies of the Fonda Times containing it. I have looked carefully over all 
the proofs of the portraits sent me and I think they are excellent. I hope 



908 TESTIMONIALS. 

you will meet with success in your good work. 

March 8, 1899. Yours Respectfully, 

Margaret E. Russell. 

Prentice J. Shaw, Secretary and Treasurer of the Pocahontas County 
Mutual Fire & Lightning lusurance Co,, Rolfe: 

The write up of the Pocahontas County Mutual Insurance Co. for the 
Pioneer History, as it appears in the copy of the Fonda Times, is correct and 
in good shape. Please accept thanks not only from me but through me from 
our association. Yours Very Truly, 
Jan. 28, 1901. P. J. Shaw, Secretary. 

Capt. Francis E Beers, Gilmore City, captain of the Rolling Wave and 
of the first steamboat to reach Fort Dodge on the Des Moines'river: 

I hereby certify that the account, in the Pioneer History of Pocahontas 
County, of the trips of the Rolling Wave, a wheelboat, in 1858; and of the 
Charles Rogers, up and down the Des Moines river from Keokuk to Fort 
Dodge, in 1859, are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. This cer- 
tificate is given because the accounts I have hitherto read have been 
inaccurate in many of their statements. 
Feb 3, 1902. F. E. Beers. 

Mr. C H. Tollefsrtjde, Rolfe, ex-Auditor of the county, and early 
resident and historian of Grant township: 

I am highly pleased at the way the Pioneer Women of Grant township 
appear in the history, and thank you very much for arranging the matter 
relating to them so well. It seems to me that the Pioneer History, so far, 
has been admirably written iu an exceptionally happy and pleasing style. 
It has been very interesting, and I am glad you took hold of the work as you 
did and at the time you did. The future at least will appreciate your work 
of compiling the early history of the county and it will have a good and re- 
liable foundation on which to build continuations or future histories of 
Pocahontas county. Very Truly, 

June 10, 1901. C. H. Tollefsrtjde. 



Mr. John Frasee, Rolfe, a pioneer of Powhatan township: 
You are taking an exceedingly great amount of labor in getting up this 
history of our county. I hope the citizens will appreciate your labor and 
interest. Yours Respectfully, 

May 26, 1898. John Fraser. 

The Fonda Times, Aug. 4, 1898, George Sanborn, Editor: 
It is not necessary that we should say, that the Pioneer History of Poca- 
hontas County will be as thorough and accurate as it will be p< ssible to 

make it. 

The Pocahontas Record, Pocahontas, Port C. Barron, Editor, 1898: 
Rev. R. E. Flickinger is now at work on a historv of this county. There 
seems to be a demand for a complete history of the county and the old 
settlers have been so kind in furnishing facts in regard to its early history 
that the volume will probably be double the size it was first intended. Mr. 
Flickinger is an able writer and the book when issued will be well worth the 
price that may by charged; for those interested will secure a volume that 
will not only contain the biographies of all the leading citizens, but will have 
much of the early history of the county never before seen in print. We hope 
this venture will prove a financial success. 



The Pocahontas Sun, Laurens, Feb. 16, 1899, Louie E. Large, Editor: 
"We are in receipt of a neat booklet, entitled, The Story of Pocahontas, 
from the pen of Rev. R E Flickinger; the same beirg a chapter re- 
lating to Capt. John Smith and 1 he Indian Princess, Pocahontas, from the 
forthcoming Pioneer History of Pocahontas County. Mr. Flickinger is a 
natural historian and a strong writer; no matter whether the subject re- 
quires the narrative or descriptive style, it is always interesting and in- 
structive. He is endowed with a happy faculty of knowing just what to 
retain and what to omit. His history of the county will be an interesting one. 



FONDA TIMES. 909 



TIfae FdDinidla Tn 

Published at Fonda, Iowa, by the Fonda Publishing and 

Printing Company, L. W. Chandler, editor 

is the 

The Oldest, Largest and Best 

Newspaper in Pocahontas (bounty. 

Established at Old Rolfe, April 6, 1876. 
Transferred to Pocahontas, Oct. 10, 1876. 
Transferred to Panda, May 9, 1878. 

The name was changed from Pocahontas to Fonda Times, June 
21, 1894. It has been published by the Fonda Publishing and Printing 
Company since Jan. 1, 1901. 



Pocahontas County is one of the fairest in the State of Iowa. 
The soil of her gently rolling prai'ies is unsurpassed in productive- 
ness, and the people are both inLelligeui and progressive. One factor 
that has contributed greatly to the realization of the present develop- 
ment has been the local countv newspaper. When this county was a 
howling wilderness one local paper, 

THE POeaHONT/TS. now FONDA TIMES 

raised its voice and predicted its glorious future. In later years 
other newspapers have been established and, swelling the chorus of 
praise, people seeking new and comfortable homes, have heard of the 
attractions of Pocahontas County, believed, located and are now the 
possessors of happy homes, productive farms, thriving herds or flour- 
ishing business enterprises. The proprietors of the Times point with 
pride to the leading part perform' d by the Times in former years in 
printing frequent special editions to promote the public welfare; and 
now notes its valuable contribution to the literature of the county in 
the completion of the splendid volume, entitled, The Pioneer His* 
tory of Pocahontas County. 

The Fonda Times has the largest and best equipped printing 
office in Pocahontas County. AH job work is done in the neatest and 
prettiest manner. Special workmen are employed for doing book 
work. 



The members of the Fonda Publishing and Printing Company are 
M. G. COLEMAM, President. A. S. WOOD. 

J. P. MULLEN, Vice President. L. S. STRAIGHT. 

CLAY C. PATTY, Treasurer. E. H. FAIRBURN. 

L. W. CHANDLER, Secretary and Manager. 

It shall be the constant aim of its present managers to make The 
Fonda Times worthy the cordial support of every citizen and family 
in Pocahontas county. 



1899. 



£2% 



1904. 




ScxwraV G^lce *5o\i&a, &o\»a. 

Owns and operates the following exchanges: 
FONDA NEWELL STORM LAKE 

AURELIA SIOUX RAPIDS GILMORE CITY 

500 Miles of Pole Line 
1500 Miles of Wire Line 

Copper metallic circuit from Fort Dodge to Storm Lake. Toll lines 
in the following counties: 



POCAHONTAS 
BUENA VISTA 



HUMBOLDT 

SAC 



WEBSTER 
CHERUKEE 



600 Parmer Phones 

are connected with these lines and exchanges of the Northern Tele- 
phone Company. Persons who want to secure good, prompt 
and reliable service should talk over the Northern 
Telephone Company's lines. 



officers: 



LEE S. ST&AIGHT, Fonda, 
M. G. COLEMAN, Fonda, 
A. S. WOOD, Fonda 



LEE S. STRAIGHT. 



executive committee: 



GEORGE SANBORN. 



President. 
Secretary. 
Treasurer. 



LOUIS A. ROTHE. 



<ulation by 
►unties 




Lee 
Linn 

Oucas 
jyon 

.ladisou 
Mahaska 
Marion 
Marshall 
tills 
Mitchell 
Monona 
Monroe 
Montgomery 
Muscatine 



O'Brien 


16,985 


Dsceola 


8,725 


Page 


24,187 


Palo Alto 


14,354 


Plymouth 


22,209 


Pocahontas 


15,339 


Polk 


82,624 


Pottawattamie 




54,336 


Poweshiek 


19,414 


Ringgold 


15,325 


Sac 


17,639 


Scott 


51,558 


Shelby 


17.93S 


>ioux 


23,337 


otory 


23,159 


""ama 


24.585 


1 aylor 


18,784 


Union 


19,928 


Van Bnren 


17,354 


Wapello 


35,426 


VV arren 


20,376 


Washington 


20,718 


Wayne 


.17,491 


Webster 


31,757 


Winnebago 


12.725 


Winneshiek 


23,731 


Woodbury 


54.610 


Worth 


10,887 


Wright 


18,22- 



See Guide to Towns and General Statistics on Back. 




See Guide to Towns and General Statistics on Back. 



TED Towns and Cities in Iowa 

(CIAL U. S. CENSUS FOR 1900. 

u .ed. The Census Department has as yet issued only list of incorporated to 



\ 



. M4 3,777 Packwood..... J6 

... E3 659 Panama D5 

... 13 573 Panora F5 

... C3 718 Parkersburg 13 

... J5 2,007 Parnell K5 

... K5 4,102 Patoa F4 

... D6 410 Pauilina 03 

... 14 11,544 Peila 16 

... J6 332 Perry F5 

.. 16 322 Persia G5 

... H£ 6,746 Peterson D3 

.. E6 475 Pierson C3 

.. B3 280 Pilot Mound.... F4 

... H5 810 Plainfieid 13 

. K3 495 Pleasant Plain KG 

... L5 703 Pleasantville H6 

. . L7 725 Plover E3 

H5 366 Pacahontas E3 

..'. H7 400 Polk G5 

... F5 428 Pomeroy E3 

. . C3 432 Portsmouth C5 

. . . B3 389 Postville K3 

.. H3 200 PrairieCity H5 

. .. N4 385 Prescott E7 

. D2 485 Preston N4 

.. H6 585 Princeton N5 

... J7 849 Primghar C2 

... G5 317 Pulaski J7 

... C6 328 Radcliffe H4 

. . C5 4,010 Eandolph C7 

. . 12 245 Rathbun 17 

... H5 768 Redding F7 

... C5 383 Redfield F5 

B5 384 RedOak D7 

. M4 281 Reinbeck 14 

... L2 674 Rpmseu C3 

. . H5 917 Rhawick G3 

. .. J5 1,210 Rhodes H5 

. .. L4 2,104 Riceville 155 

... 14 502 Richland J6 

... L8 748 Ridgeway J3 

. . . C5 200 Rippey F5 

... 17 6S2 Riverside K6 

. . L6 948 Riverton C7 

... 14 200 Rockford H2 

... 17 1.420 Rock Rapids B2 

... F7 1,729 RockValley B2 

. . K7 4,109 Rockwell City E4 

... L5 1.629 Rockwell H3 

. . B4 507 Roland H4 

... G7 949 Rolfe F3 

.. L6 14.073 Rome K7 

... 17 1,758 RoseHill J6 

... 13 1.268 Rudd 12 

... C6 921 Russell H7 

... H5 2,472 Ruthven E2 

... L2 543 Sabula N4 

... E3 762 Sac City E4 

... J2 2,339 St. Ansgar 12 

... 13 570 St. Charles G6 

... L7 1,003 Salem K7 

... E7 600 Salix B4 

... H4 268 Sanborn C2 

... J6 1252 Scballer D4 

... H5 3,682 Schleswig D4 

... L6 398 Scranton E5 

12 1,209 Searsboro 15 

... J6 683 Seymour H7 

... L2 616 Shannon City F7 

... H2 1,271 Sheffield H3 

... G6 287 Shelby D5 

... K5 533 Sheldahl G5 

... U6 913 Sheldon C2 

.. C2 599 Shell Rock 13 

... D4 1,432 Shcllsburg K4 

.. K3 5,142 Shenandoah D7 

... G4 99; Sibley C2 

. L5 692 Sidney C7 

. J6 238 Sigourney J6 

... B4 1,933 Silver City 06 

... L4 263 Sioux Center B2 

.... B3 1,457 Sioux City B4 

. . . F6 359 Sioux Rapids D3 

... 12 2,734 Slater G5 

... G7 2.505 Sloan.... B4 

... J6 9,212 Smithland 04 

.. K2 670 Solon K5 

... C4 396 South English J6 

... J7 18,197 Spencer D2 

... M4 780 Spillville K2 

... K5 664 Spirit Lake D2 

... 07 732 Springville L4 

BE EASILY DETERMINED. 



284 
221 
958 
1,164 
318 
328 
617 
2,623 
3,986 
361 
521 
358 
315 
320 
280 
738 
200 
625 
438 
910 
316 



446 
593 
456 
814 
302 
645 
373 
270 
311 
509 
4,355 
1,203 
835 
350 
476 
804 
534 
371 
395 



1.080 

1,766 

1.054 

1.222 

830 

557 

994 

.255 

253 

381 

636 

787 

1.029 

2.079 

60S 

412 

548 

387 

1,247 

661 

233 

983 

263 

1.703 

380 

' 688 

692 

200 

2,282 

839 

511 

3,573 

1.289 

1,143 

1,952 

438 

810 

33,111 

1,005 

426 

643 

435 

397 

319 

3,095 

356 

1,219 

599 



Stacyville 12 490 

Stanhope G4 297 

Stanton D7 404 

Stanwood L5 415 

State Center H5 1,008 

Steamboat Rock. .... 14 410 

StormLake E3 2,169 

Story City.... G4 1,197 

Stratford G4 458 

Strawberry Point K3 1,012 

Stuart... F6 2,079 

Sumner J3 1.437 

Superior D2 200 

Sutherland D3 722 

Swaledale H3 240 

Swan H5 406 

SweaCity F2 322 

Tabor C7 934 

Tama 15 2,649 

Templeton E5 321 

Thayer F7 394 

Thompson G2 450 

Thornburg J6 267 

Thornton H3, 299 

Thor F3 274 

Thurman 07 409 

Tiugley F7 488 

Tipton L5 2,519 

Titonka .. F2 224 

Toledo 15 1,941 

Traer 14 1,458 

Tripoli. J3 655 

Union F6 589 

Urbana K4 223 

Vail D4 578 

ValleyJunction G5 1,700 

Vanhorn J5 484 

VanMcter G5 407 

Van Wert G7 306 

Victor J5 612 

Villisca E7 2,211 

Vincent F3 200 

Vinton J4 3,499 

VolgaCity K3 444 

Walcott M5 362 

Walker K4 505 

WallLake.... D4 659 

Walnut D6 878 

Wapello L6 1,398 

Washington K6 4,255 

Washta C3 431 

Waterloo J4 12,580 

Waucoma J2 540 

Wankoe G5 292 

Waukon L2 2,153 

Waverly J3 3,177 

Wayland K6 594 

Webster City G4 4,613 

W oilman K6 654 

Wellsburg 14 203 

Wesley G2 730 

WevtBend F3 538 

West Branch L5 617 

West Burlington .... L7 1,044 

Westchester K6 209 

Westgate J3 260 

We ^t Liberty L5 1,690 

West Mitchell 12 207 

AVest Point L7 654 

Westside D4 396 

WestUnion K3 1,935 

What Cheer J6 2,746 

Wheatland M5 475 

Whiting B4 572 

Whittemore F2 522 

Whitten 14 217 

Williamsburg K5 1,100 

Williams G4 500 

Wilton M5 1,233 

Winfield L6 820 

Winterset G6 3,039 

Winthrop K4 618 

Wiota E6 218 

Woodbine C5 1,255 

Woodburn G7 467 

Woodward G5 550 

Woolstock G3 274 

Worthington L4 288 

Wyoming L4 794 

Zearing..... H4 38d 



Population of the I 
by States and Territor! 



STATES 

Alabama 1,828,69 <* 

Arkansas 1,311,5( •■■ 

California 1,48">,05 

Colorado 539,700 

Connecticut 908,355 

Delaware 184,735 

Florida 528.542 

Georgia 2,210.331 

Idaho 161,772 

Illinois 4.821,550 

Indiana 2,510,402 

Iowa 2.231.8C3 

Kansas 1,470.485 

Kentucky 2.147.174 

Louisiana l,3Hl,625 

Maine 694.466 

Maryland 1.190,050 

Massachusetts 2,805,346 

Michigan 2.420,98: 

Minnesota 1,751,394 

Mississippi 1.551,270 

Missouri 3,106,605 

Montana 343,323 

Nebraska 1,008,5:>9 

Nevada 42.335 

New Hampshire 411,58b 

New Jersey 1.883.669 

New York 7,268^3 

North Carolina ...... I,893,ol0 

North Dakota 319,140 

Ohio 4,157,54£ 

Oregon 413,530 

Pennsylvania 6.302,112 

Rhode Island 428,556 

South Carolina 1,340,316 

South Dakota 401,570 

Tennessee 2,020,616 

Texas 3,048,710 

Utah 276,749 

Vermont . 343,641 

Virginia 1,854,184 

Washington 518,103 

West Virginia 958,800 

Wisconsin 2,069,042 

Wyoming 92,531 

Total for 45 states . . 74,610,523 



TERRITORIES 

Alaska 63,441 

Arizona 122,931 

District of Columbia. 278,718 

Hawaii 154.001 

Indian Territory .... 391.960 

New Mexico 195,310 

Oklahoma 398.245 

Total for 7 territories 1,604.606 



General Statistics for Iowa. 



Population 2, 

No. School Houses 

No. Colleges 

Miles of Railroad 

Head of Cattle 4 ; 

Head of Horses and 

Mules 1 

No. Bushels of Corn 

raised per year — 345. 
No. Bushels of Wheat 

raised per year — 
No. Bushels of Oats 

raised per year... 



231,853 

13,861 

20 

9.20 1 

442,01;. 



010,621 
055,040 
,298,350 
,833,330 



33i- 



Note — A few 



Population and Location of all INCORPORATED Towns and Cities in Iowa 

having a population of over 200, as given by the OFFICIAL U. S. CENSUS FOR 1900. 

towns having over 2 oo people do not appear on this list, by reason of not being incorporated. The Census Department has as yet issued only list 



of incorporated tc 



NAMK 

Aekloy 

Adair 

A.I. I 

Alton 

Agency. 

Alir.worl.il 

Akron 

All, hi 

Albion 

Allh'11 

Algona 

A rerun 

Allison 

AltaVista''.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.. 

Alum 

AIImmi.ii 

Alvord 

Aini-H 

AnumoBii 

Aodretf 

Anliun 

Aiilin. ... 

AlltlH.M 

ApUoBton 

Arcadia 

Arlim... 

ArllJiKlnli 

A. In.iiK 

Arnolds Pari 
Aehton 

Allirl Inn 

Al.lliiil.lc: 

Aid. uric 

Aiciliili'iic 

Amelia 

Aurora 

Ayrnlilre 

Iliulunr. 
in. Hi.. y 

ii win 

Hanorofl 

M&ruoiOlty 

in. n. .-in 

II '•■••Ml. 

it." 

IIiivii"! 

Iln 

ii nun 

n. .ii.. i .1 

iii'in. riiiiim 

Ilolluvuo 

Hell 

n i 

iii,iiiiiii,.ikiii. 
[looton 

It I ■ >■ . Ill-' Ii ii r i. 

Illllll .I..W.I 

llllmoliurd 
HUuirao 

llln.1.1 

Ill 1, LI 

II 

II.... i|. .i I.. 

I Inililit 

II ,., 

II... .I.ii 

lll.Ml.llllll. 

Ill'iill-..!'. 

I II 

III lull 

Ill iitow 
III III 

II Mil, 

lliiiriiliil>iiiil.iir 

Illllllll,, 

Kuril, >r.l,,ii . 

Hurl 

llllsmiy 

':il Ill .. . 

i' ill, -ii. I.. r. .. 

Cilhulir 

('aiimncllo 

t'mnlwIilHn 

I'lintitl 

I'arllsl 

unroll, . 

NOTE 



3.HI I II., i ,.l •■ 



I.,|... .'....,i 
i. ii.. ron 

Eldim 

Eldora 

BWrKlge., 
i Ii 

Elkader - . 
Fikport. .. 



Ellsworth ... 

Elmo 

i . . , '. 

I i.iiiii-i i ,r. 

Kpworth 



:«4 Humboldt. 



K3 035 Independence 
La 1.321 Indlanola ... 



B76 Ireton . 



Mil Collins. 



II) 210 I 

H 626 I ,M..rvll, • . 

17 1,212 I Mrs ..— 

U 076 lalruau:... 

K3 374 1,'alrflcld... 

K7 3.270 Farloy 

03 1,415 I arinhiKt'i I 

13 Mil I arnliamvlll 



Fontonolle 

forest Oltj 

i orl ah, in ion. 
l.'ort Dodjjo. ... 

FnrlMadlson... 
Foster 

Franklin 

I niirii. ikaburg ,. 



I ..I I,u'.. I ii,,,, 

:,,! 

Conway 



I.IK7 Corning . 



".I , ounqll mini > 



i", cryulnl Lnku. 



[Inlloi Uontor 

Iiaiihurv ..... 

I,,, rcnuort 

Davlsi'lty 

i ,.,\ ton 

lliriil.iir I'lly . 

hi nil 

Illlllllllll 

DooD Blvor, ,. 



I . ii 



F.7 MB Harrison. . 



(14 n;(5 lliirrnanlll 

m il,l (ilhiuin 

11/ l.i,. 'HI „i'lly... 

CO ", 02 olinloraok 

lid 208 (lli'iiwood 

.i « UlliUlen 

Ml 7.1 52 (Inl llluld 

|i'7 208 II iinli'11 

02 240 Gnwrlu 

KO 601 (JruoU.lii«iT 

CI 237 liraml.lunilion 

Ii 802 Grand Mound... 



:i.."'l l.'raiivllli. 

017 Grovhy .... 

'■ray 

:»I7 Orooloy... 

3.2111 l.ll'i'llr 

.i.i GrocnQold 

4n:i Grimes 



•,in iii.iiu in 

■ hi -..ii Da 

inn rioi Holnoa OH 

ww Do goto ,. i. a 



DowIM 

III 'Hit 
Ill 

Donnellson 

Hi ...ii 

linn i II v 
Hon . 

iiriiki ivllli 

t,i,i,,,,|i,, 



Id 2,8SI Fahlyvlllo 



tlrliiiiell 

Grllwold 

Grundy Center . 
Uutlirlo (Jontor . 
Uuttonborg ... 
Hamburg 



Kolly 

Kensiilt . 
KollWOOO 

Keokuk . 
Keosuunu; 



m 12.102 Klngsloy . 



1)4 456 Lueona 

G7 051 Ladora 

02 1,288 Lake City.. 

J4 IH2 LakoMllfs.. 

14 470 Lake Park . 

C2 3(14 Lakovlow . . 



117 3,040 Laporte . 

E4 7113 Larch woo 

OH 028 Lsurons 

G3 254 Lnwlcr.. 

Fl Osl Lo Olnlre 

E2 388 Lcdyard . 

F4 1,113 Le Grand 

MB 855 Lehigh .. 

G7 326 l.oland .. 

E4 240 Lo Mars 



F0 1.300 Llmesprlni 

G5 200 Linden... 

15 3,800 Lluovllle. 

DO 1)00 Lisbon.... 

14 1.322 Llscomb.. 



Hancock .. 

Illllvourt,.. 

II:,, I:, n 

Harper . 



llornlck 

lll,S|„TS 

Hi I' 

lludsou... 



II 210 Malv 



Lorlmor... 

Lowdoo 

Low Moor 

Lynn vllle ".'.'.' 

McGregor ... 

M.'lnliii' .. . 

Mneedoubi .. 
Miicksburg 
Madrid ... .. 

Malcom 

Mallard.. . 



Manning 

Hansen... 
Mnplolon. 



B2 628 Maquoketa. . . 

F3 1.474 Marathon ..... 

117 945 Marble Rock.. 

1)4 1.867 Marcus 

1)7 2110 Marengo 

Kl 3.IV.I1 Marion 

U0 3,201 Marne 

I!2 4T7 Mal^balllown 

J2 306 Martiusburg 

K5 7.1B7 Marysvlllo. .. 



2,301 Jackson junction.... J3 200 



K7 4.6SII Kalona . 



Mauilre 
Maxwell . 
Mayiiaiil 



Mllo 

M'llton ... 
Mini, urn. 



C3 720 Mitchell . ... 

D5 203 Mitch, 'llvillf 

10 4IU Modalo 

G3 2.12 Mondamlu 

I<7 267 Mon mom h .. 



Montour 

Montrose 

Moorbead — 

Moravia 

Morning Sun . 



853 Ml, Vernon . 

(110 Movllle 

0.17 Murray .... 

2)7 Muscatine. 



Ncolll 

Nevada 

New Albln . 



New Market 

New I'roviileiiee. 

New Sharon 

Newton 

> leliols 

North riSlCh':" 
North Metlr, gor. 

Northwood 

Norwalk 



HO 1.132 Oelweln 
F8 534 Ogdcn . 



05 1.021 Orient . 



BY USC OF THE INDEX LETTER FOLLOWING NAME OF A TOWN. ITS LOCATION 



INslan 

Oto 

Ottumwa 

Oxford J, in, -lion 

Oxford 

Faciilo Junction. 



IS Parkerslmig 

07 I'arnell.. „.. 

02 I'aton 

JO I'auilina 

144 I'etla 

82 Perry 

22 Persia 

'40 Peterson 

i75 Plerson 

W0 Pilot Mound 



Pleasantvllle . 

Plover 

Pacabontas . . . 



Portsmouth . . . 

Postvllle 

Prairie City... 



N4 385 Prescott 



Pulaski...! 

KadclllTe.. 
Randolph 



Koduoia... 
Bed Oak... 

Iieinbeck . 



Khodcs 

liicevllle . 
Ulchland.. 
ltidgeway . 



TJI 


948 


ltiverlon ... 


II 


200 


Kockford... 


17 


1.420 


Koclt Rapids 
Rock Valley 


1i'7 


1,720 


l<7 


4.10!) 


Rockwell OH 


1.5 


1.021) 




114 


507 


Roland 


(JV 


049 


Rolte 


l.n 


14.0,3 




17 


1,758 


Rose Hill . . . 



Rudd . 
Russell . . 

Uuthven 
Sal.ula — 
Sac City 



Sanborn ... 
Schaller... 
Hchleswlg . 



LO 398 Scranton 



L5 692 Sidney 

JO -2118 Sigourney 

B4 1,933 Sliver Oily 

L4 203 Sioux Center. , 

B3 1,457 Sioux Oity 

FO 359 Sioux Rapids .. 

12 2.734 Slater 

G7 2.505 Sloan 

JO 0,212 Smltbland 

K2 OTO Solon 

1'4 396 South English.. 

J7 18,197 Spencer 

M4 780 Spillvllle 

K5 064 Spirit Lake .... 

07 732 Sprlngville 



958 Stanton 

1,164 Stanwood 

318 State Center 

328 Steamboat Rock . . . 

617 Storm Lake 

2.623 StoryOity 

i,986 Stratford. 

301 Strawberry Point. 

521 Stuart 

358 Sumner 

315 Superior 

320 .Sutherland 

280 Swaledale 

738 Swan 

200 SweaCity 



910 lompletou.. 

310 Thayer 

984 Thompson .. 

808 Thorn burg .. 

440 Thornton ... 



311 Tripoli 

509 Union 

1.355 Urbana 

1,203 Vail 

835 ValleyJunetlon... 

350 Vanhorn 

476 VanMcter 

804 Van Wert 

534 Victor 

371 Villisca 

395 Vincent 

698 Vinton 

687 VoIgaOlty 

1.080 Walcott 

1,700 Walker 

1.0.54 Wall Lake 

1.222 Walnut 

830 Wapello 

557 Washington 



L2 610 Shannon City h"l 



Population of the U 
by States and Territori 



45S Arkansas 



Connecticut... 
Delaware 

Florida 



FT 394 Kentucky 

G2 450 Louisiana 

J6 267 Mniuo 

113 299 Maryland 

F"3 274 Massachusetts .. 

07 409 Michigan 

F7 4S3 Minnesota 

L5 2,519 Mississippi 

F2 224 Missouri 

15 1.941 Montana 

14 1,458 Nebraska 

J3 055 Nevada 

F6 589 New Hampshire. 

K4 223 New Jersey 



North Dakota.. 

Ohio 

Oregon 



1.4711 405 
2.117.174 
1.3SI.025 
694.460 
1 190.0.V1 
2.SO.vl!!i 
S 1211,11s.' 
1.751,394 
l.:V.1.270 
3.10(1,01.5 

■m:i.:cm 

1,008,01 J 

42.335 



J5 612 Peunsyl 



Rhode Island ... 

F3 200 South Carolina . 

J4 3.499 South Dakota. . . 

K8 444 Tennessee 

M5 302 Texas 

K4 505 Utah 

D4 659 Vermont 

DO 878 Virginia 

L6 1,308 Washington .... 

K6 4,255 West Virginia... 

03 431 Wisconsin 

J4 12,580 Wyoming 



1,854,181 

518. 103 
tlas.HOO 



Wankee . 

Waukon 
Wavcrly 



Westchester ', 

Westgiite 

Wert Liberty . 



Total for 45 states.. 74,010,623 



TEHRITOR1ES 



K0 (154 Alaska 

14 203 Arizona. 

G2 730 District!, f Columbia. 

F3 538 Hawaii 

L5 617 Indian Territory .... 



278.71" 
151.001 
301.9(1(1 



Wcstside . . . 
West Union. 
What Oheer. . 



Wliittcmore 

Whltteu 

Williaiusbuig., . 

Williams 

Wlllou 

Wlnlield 

W'inlcrset 

Win! loop 

Wiota 

Womiblne 

Wooiltmrn 

Woodward 

Woolstock 

Worthington ... 
Wyoming 



Total for 7 territories 1,004.600 



General Statistics for Iowa. 

Population 

No. school Houses 

No. Colleges 

Miles or Railroad . 
Head of Cattle .... 
Head of Horses and 

Mules 1,010,621 

No. Bushels of Corn 

raised per year. . . .346,065,040 
No. Bushels of Wheat 

raised per year.... 21,298,350 
No. Bushels of Oata „.„,~, 

raised per year... 138,833,330 



IN THE S"ATE CAN BE EASILY DETERMINED. 



